Simmons: Brown to Open Training Camp as Starting RT

[NateDawg122]

Oh boy....I've heard that somewhere before...Now Kromer knows how to evaluate guys that haven't completed ONE block in his scheme....ok

I'm guessing that one of the best active O-line coaches knows more about evaluating players than you do. You can still evaluate a players athletic ability, technique, and mental aptitude before they put on the pads. Coaches make player evaluations without pads on all the time.

 

[BonifayRam]

That's an interesting comment. I hope the Jamon's and others development part is on point. I'm not sure if we get the real answer as to the Greg Robinson evaluation.

Not going to happen.....far too much negative material has been established & categorized & placed in a sealed player information file deep in the Ram Organization. I would think that the Rams Org. is greatly releaved to have pulled this trade off & ready to move off as fast as it can on this GRob situation. Singing Happy Trails lets get on with the business of making this Ram team a winner! Sing it Jamon!

 

[NERamsFan]

What's also forgotten in all this is the fact that GROB was going to be a f/a come next off-season and so with AD, Ogeltree and Tru our top contractual priorities, there was no way we were going to be able to reserve funds for GROB, whether his play merited a raise or not; just not enough money to go around. It's what happens when you have a surplus of picks from a blockbuster trade (granted, some picks didn't pan out) and contracts start all coming up for due.

Ultimately, the guy just never showed enough from the neck up and while I was under the impression via his social media accounts that he was putting in the time, it also appears the guy never really had the ethic. No amount of pad work with our new coaching staff was going to fix him, it was too late and the trade/trade ramifications was honestly the best case scenario with him.

Good riddance, on to TC!!

 

[A.J. Hicks]

We had a player that the staff viewed most likely as a back up caliber player. He was going to get paid more than what you'd typically pay that caliber player. They were locked in on having to pay this player.

The Lions had their Left tackle go down and they needed a replacement player.

That gave us an opportunity to move that money/player to a partner for a return.

 

[Mojo Ram]

I'm still a little confused how they are evaluating LINEMEN without pads....?
Honest question?

Seems like BS....

Attitude, work ethic. Could be a number of things unrelated to pure ability.

 

[Merlin]

Oh boy....I've heard that somewhere before...Now Kromer knows how to evaluate guys that haven't completed ONE block in his scheme....ok

C'mon man... Mental mistakes is your answer. In OTAs nobody gets hit. In camp QBs get touched, hit, rolled up on, etc when you block the wrong guy or otherwise have your head up your @$$ as an OL.

Kromer was like "Get this piece of trash the F out of here." I guarantee that. Otherwise they'd keep him around as a depth option and hope maybe he starts to get his head on straight. There is a lot more behind the scenes with this whole thing.

 

[DaveFan'51]

I'm still not sold on Brown at Tackle! Right now I prefer Havenstein at RT and Brown at RG, but I know McVay and Kromer are waaay better at making that decision than I am!

 

[Jacobarch]

Here is an offenisive Line Depth Chart.

LT....Whitworth, Murphy
LG...Saffold, Wichmann, Kozan
C...Sullivan, Rhaney, Blythe, Eldrenkamp
RG...Havenstein, Donnal
RT...Brown, Donnal, Williams, Dunn

IMHO, Rams will keep 9 come September Morn.

Don't forget Donnal can play LT as well. If memory serves me correctly, he did a pretty good job at it too.

 

[Ram65]

Didn't know I was defending him....more, how can you truly evaluate line play or players without the physical component of padded practices?
Also, with the injuries many of our linemen have suffered, wouldn't it be wise to keep a lil experience out there for depth?

The evaluation at this stage has more to do with the ability to execute the assignments in the playbook with proper technique. This is what Robinson could never get, though he is plenty physical enough. This is also why McVay said that the lineups are far from etched in stone. It's a process that begins from the neck up and will be finally evaluated with pads on the grass.

This could be the reason or part of it champ.

I would like to know exactly why they send GRob packing before camp. We can only speculate as to why the Rams didn't wait as @BonifayRam said above they aren't going to tell us. Could be the lack of picking up the playbook and technique. Kromer had film and the OTA's to evaluate him and now it's time to move on. The Rams can use the cap savings and I hope they have the depth to move forward.

 

[Zero]

Oh boy....I've heard that somewhere before...Now Kromer knows how to evaluate guys that haven't completed ONE block in his scheme....ok

He knows a hell of a lot better than any of us,and that includes you.
So relax and let the man do his thing.

 

[yrba1]

That's a lot of overhaul on the O-line for one offseason. Really hoping the results swings the pendulum in favor of us getting a good, sustainable O-line.

 

[BonifayRam]

That's a lot of overhaul on the O-line for one offseason. Really hoping the results swings the pendulum in favor of us getting a good, sustainable O-line.

Currently

LT- Whitworth/ Williams
LG- Saffold/ Wichmann
OC- Sullivan/ Rhaney
RG- Havenstein/ Donnal
RT- Brown/ Donnal / Murphy

vs

End of 2016 season:

LT-Robinson/Murphy
LG- Saffold/ Brown/ Arkin
OC- Barnes/ Rhaney
RG- Brown/ Wichmann
RT- Donnal/ Havenstein

Yep & it was needed in the worse way. Saffold is the only current starter from last season that has remained in the same post.

 

[den-the-coach]

Don't forget Donnal can play LT as well. If memory serves me correctly, he did a pretty good job at it too.

Only played LT for a half against the Saints and it's the first time he had played LT since High School. Now, if that is going to be the case I need to see more of him at that position in preseason before I'm convinced, but it was impressive that he went out there and did not look out of place.

 

[bdfitz]

So what did the other teams offer? Us giving them a 6th round pick? lol

“It was something where a couple other teams had expressed some interest,” McVay said. “Fortunately we were able to get a thing done that we felt was good for both Detroit and the Rams.”

 

[den-the-coach]

Currently

LT- Whitworth/ Williams
LG- Saffold/ Wichmann
OC- Sullivan/ Rhaney
RG- Havenstein/ Donnal
RT- Brown/ Donnal / Murphy

Have Williams at LT where he did play plenty at USF and looked good in 2015, but no so good in 2016. Will be interesting to see if the 2nd team is Pace Murphy at LT or Daryl Williams?....I like this depth chart.

http://www.rotoworld.com/teams/depth-charts/NFL.aspx

 

[Jacobarch]

Only played LT for a half against the Saints and it's the first time he had played LT since High School. Now, if that is going to be the case I need to see more of him at that position in preseason before I'm convinced, but it was impressive that he went out there and did not look out of place.

I thought it was very impressive. Even the announcers said something about it when he was out there. I mean it was against the Saints Dline so it's not saying much but he did a better job than Grob lol.

 

[LACHAMP46]

Oh boy....I guess I opened a can of worms....Ask any professional football player.....current or former...there is no way to tell who is an effective lineman without pads on....this isn't just my opinion, but current players and coaches that will attest to this.

I'm guessing that one of the best active O-line coaches knows more about evaluating players than you do

Maybe...but there is no way to tell who's doing what effectively without pads.

In camp QBs get touched, hit, rolled up on, etc when you block the wrong guy or otherwise have your head up your @$$ as an OL.

They also can get touched, hit, rolled up on, etc if you get ran over and know exactly what to do. What's your point?

He knows a hell of a lot better than any of us,and that includes you.

Again, this isn't a "I know more than Kromer" debate. I'm simply stating, he can't have any idea how effective Brown is or how ineffective Robinson is, WITHOUT PADS AND CONTACT IN A PRACTICE, SCRIMMAGE, OR GAME. If the plan is to coach them up...because we've been without coaching for what, 5 years, why not give it some time? Hell, with the way players, especially Saffold, Sullivan, Havenstein, or Brown...why not hold onto a former starter for depth? Was he a negative influence? Say so...Lazy...say that...unable/unwilling to follow instructions...let that leak. Because if someone goes down, or Robinson looks awesome in Detroit, it's gonna be another shit-storm of what's wrong with the Rams FO...can't evaluate players...can't coach players...releasing a number 2 overall player for a 6th round pick is....just...meh, I'm thru...he's gone...It'd be the same if we just released or traded Tavon or Tru....or EJ .....any player that started for a 6th round pick. You might as well just hold on to them.

AND NOW ANOTHER LT, TERRON ARMSTEAD, GOES DOWN....IMAGINE THE BIDDING WAR.....IS THIS THE THREAD ABOUT MAKING HASTY DECISIONS????

 

[OldSchool]

Oh boy....I guess I opened a can of worms....Ask any professional football player.....current or former...there is no way to tell who is an effective lineman without pads on....this isn't just my opinion, but current players and coaches that will attest to this.
Maybe...but there is no way to tell who's doing what effectively without pads.

They also can get touched, hit, rolled up on, etc if you get ran over and know exactly what to do. What's your point?

Again, this isn't a "I know more than Kromer" debate. I'm simply stating, he can't have any idea how effective Brown is or how ineffective Robinson is, WITHOUT PADS AND CONTACT IN A PRACTICE, SCRIMMAGE, OR GAME. If the plan is to coach them up...because we've been without coaching for what, 5 years, why not give it some time? Hell, with the way players, especially Saffold, Sullivan, Havenstein, or Brown...why not hold onto a former starter for depth? Was he a negative influence? Say so...Lazy...say that...unable/unwilling to follow instructions...let that leak. Because if someone goes down, or Robinson looks awesome in Detroit, it's gonna be another crap-storm of what's wrong with the Rams FO...can't evaluate players...can't coach players...releasing a number 2 overall player for a 6th round pick is....just...meh, I'm thru...he's gone...It'd be the same if we just released or traded Tavon or Tru....or EJ .....any player that started for a 6th round pick. You might as well just hold on to them.

AND NOW ANOTHER LT, TERRON ARMSTEAD, GOES DOWN....IMAGINE THE BIDDING WAR.....IS THIS THE THREAD ABOUT MAKING HASTY DECISIONS????

I'm still just amazed you're defending GRob here. Of all the things I thought I'd be reading this off season you telling us we shouldn't have traded our worst player was not anywhere near the list. Hell I don't think even Oprah could sell that on her book club.

 

[LACHAMP46]

I'm still just amazed you're defending GRob here. Of all the things I thought I'd be reading this off season you telling us we shouldn't have traded our worst player was not anywhere near the list. Hell I don't think even Oprah could sell that on her book club.

Decker is hurt...the Lions starting LT......Now New Orleans LT is hurt...both from shoulder injuries....we should know shoulders well from our own Roger Saffold...So one reason is insurance...The second, we should have waited for just such a situation to arise before shopping Greg. What was the rush? It's offseason...the worst we could have done was..what, cut him?!? Negotiate from a position of strength. These two injuries provided that.

My last point is, I'm not sure Brown or any other player is a better (see available) RT on our roster...

I get the culture change....if his attitude was awful, shoulda cut/traded him sooner...

 

[OldSchool]

Decker is hurt...the Lions starting LT......Now New Orleans LT is hurt...both from shoulder injuries....we should know shoulders well from our own Roger Saffold...So one reason is insurance...The second, we should have waited for just such a situation to arise before shopping Greg. What was the rush? It's offseason...the worst we could have done was..what, cut him?!? Negotiate from a position of strength. These two injuries provided that.

My last point is, I'm not sure Brown or any other player is a better (see available) RT on our roster...

I get the culture change....if his attitude was awful, shoulda cut/traded him sooner...

So you're more upset that we only got a 6th. A guy who has sucked eggs on game tape for 4 years with only 1 year left on his contract and that will pay him $3+ million. I get we could have waited to see if a bidding war passed but would Detroit after the other 3 guys they signed be interested in a bidding war a week or month or 2 months after? There's no guarantee when the trade was made that somebody else would have gotten hurt and we might have been able to swindle somebody for a 5th rounder instead of a 6th. Hindsight is all good and fun but there's no way to know if we could have gotten more than what we did for this horrible player.

As for him being better than anybody we have at RT on the roster I find that hard to believe having watched the other options over the last 2 years. It may have happened but there are a lot of things that may happen. We can wish on them if we want but it sounds like a waste of time hoping GRob would be better than somebody else on the roster.

Edit: also didn't we negotiate from a position of strength? They had a need we had something to fill that need. We didn't need to trade him but we could and we got something for it.