So who had (after 4 games)….?

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FrantikRam

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They have got to keep Stafford healthy, or the season will quickly turn to crap.


Unlike Super Bowl contenders like the Chiefs or Bills. Those bum QBs can easily be replaced and those teams will just keep on trucking
 

OnceARam

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I did. Drafted Puka late for a keeper and because I drafted Akers, I handcuffed him with Williams.

Chess Game GIF by Envy

I'm not sure if drafting Cam negates your foresight, but no one expected his self-destruction after the training camp he had.
 

oldnotdead

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I predicted a min 10-7 record with 11-6 feasible. I didn't break down individual games but looked at the Ram roster and the schedule. I felt we stood a good chance to have a winning record going into the bye and still do.

I really felt good about the OL with late addition Dotson looking pretty good. I think they give Noteboom time to completely heal if Jackson can play. I have always liked Shelton and felt over the long haul he would be the better center. So with Shelton and Dotson to pay next year it's another reason I don't see Havenstein and his $14.7M cap on the roster. They will need the $6.5M they would get to pay Shelton, Dotson and Noteboom (rework his contract to reflect RT). Noteboom would be who they need at swing OT/OG this year.

Dotson looks better at RG than Corbett did. Next year they can carry McClendon as their swing OT and McAllister as their backup C/OG.
I knew this OL would be good once they decided upon starters and because of that I knew Stafford would have time and the run game would revive.

The Eagles will be a big test, but no bigger than the 49ers. I see the game as a toss up. The team making the fewer mistakes wins. I felt this team should go into the bye at least 5-4 then make a run after the bye picking up 5-6 wins. When the Rams make the playoffs and I have consistently said I think they will, it will be like the 2021 season, the luck of the draw, and anything can happen.

The way this team is shaping up then next year will be a legit run at another Lombardi. With luck, some team will hire Morris as a HC. Snead should shop him to the Chargers. With the Bears, Panthers, and possibly the Chargers all potentially looking for HC next year if Morris isn't hired he won't be. Hopefully, the changes Pleasant has made will get him hired. Then Aubrey can take over and drop this silly Fangio front. We all saw how it sucked with Miami this week when facing a balanced offense with a good QB.

Williams is a good RB I've always said that. But the dropoff behind him is big. If Snead can get Taylor he needs to do it not just for this year but going forward.

They could get Ochaun Mathis back next week. Unlike Hoecht he knows how to play DE.
 

PARAM

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Kyren Williams with more rushing yards than Josh Jacobs?

Tutu Atwell with more receiving yards than DK Metcalf?

Tyler Higbee ranked 4th in receiving yards among TEs?

All of this happening with Cam Akers being benched then traded after one game and Cooper Kupp shelved for the first 4 games?

Gotta love those pleasant surprises!
Yeah if Ram fans were told before the season, "4 games in your Rams are going to have a receiver a tick shy of 10 receptions per game and another averaging 5.5", most probably would have said, "yeah, Kupp being Kupp and VJ waking up". Undoubtedly a few would add, "and if we also had Creed Humphrey in the middle of our O line we might start .500 or better".
 

den-the-coach

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I'm not sure if drafting Cam negates your foresight, but no one expected his self-destruction after the training camp he had.
Drafted Akers late, but I felt Williams would get carries later in the year, so that is why I handcuffed them. Was shocked that Akers now lands in Minneapolis.
 

den-the-coach

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And a top 15 defense!

That is a surprise, so far, too.
Considering everyone on the board doesn't like our Defensive Coordinator, I would agree. I guess DB Coach Aubrey Pleasant & Assistant Head Coach Jimmy Lake is making Morris more aggressive.;)
 

Tano

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Considering everyone on the board doesn't like our Defensive Coordinator, I would agree. I guess DB Coach Aubrey Pleasant & Assistant Head Coach Jimmy Lake is making Morris more aggressive.;)
I didn't like his soft zone that he ran last year. And the Tampa Bay game almost did it for me with Morris.

But I have also said that when he does play a more aggressive defense that he does a good job.

I definitely think Morris listens to his coaches on how they should play a game and I have to think Pleasant and Lake have talked to Morris about playing more aggressively with his CBs.
 

Loyal

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Yeah if Ram fans were told before the season, "4 games in your Rams are going to have a receiver a tick shy of 10 receptions per game and another averaging 5.5", most probably would have said, "yeah, Kupp being Kupp and VJ waking up". Undoubtedly a few would add, "and if we also had Creed Humphrey in the middle of our O line we might start .500 or better".
I know we joke about the Tutu/Creed situation, but Creed Humphrey is a pro bowler since being a rookie and would have been a rock in the middle of our Oline last year and this year. Could you imagine Having Avila and Humphrey in the middle of our Oline? Damn...

However, I have high hopes for Tutu this year.
 

den-the-coach

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I definitely think Morris listens to his coaches on how they should play a game and I have to think Pleasant and Lake have talked to Morris about playing more aggressively with his CBs.
I was stoked when they added both Pleasant & Lake to the coaching staff and I cannot believe the difference of the secondary from last year to this year, even Derion Kendrick has looked solid IMHO.

Last season the DB Coaches were Jonathan Cooley & Chris Shula, this year, they brought back Pleasant added Lake and moved Shula back to coaching ILB's and moved Linebacker Coach Chris Beake to the Secondary to assist Pleasant. So fat, it has made a major difference.
 

PARAM

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I know we joke about the Tutu/Creed situation, but Creed Humphrey is a pro bowler since being a rookie and would have been a rock in the middle of our Oline last year and this year. Could you imagine Having Avila and Humphrey in the middle of our Oline? Damn...

However, I have high hopes for Tutu this year.
It's not about Creed Humphrey. It's about Tutu Atwell. Unfortunately, some fans can't separate the two. Creed would have been a pro bowler for us in 2021 and it would have made us Champions with a pro bowl center. Last year it would have made us what? 6-11? 7-10? Tutu Atwell is helping THIS year and as far as I can tell, the Chiefs O line isn't dominating anybody. The Chiefs aren't winning because of Humphrey and the O line. Mahomes is running for his life. But that's more because his receivers can't get open, not bad protection. However, in spite of Creed Humphrey and their O line, without the WRs it's more work for Mahomes. My point was for 2 years I read about the dumb assed move by McSnead in the 2021 draft. Now it's paying off as Atwell is proving to be a legit NFL receiver and we've already got 1 Lombardi in the bank. Just pointing out the sometimes silliness of fandom.
 
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Loyal

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It's not about Creed Humphrey. It's about Tutu Atwell. Unfortunately, some fans can't separate the two. Creed would have been a pro bowler for us in 2021 and it would have made us Champions with a pro bowl center. Last year it would have made us what? 6-11? 7-10? Tutu Atwell is helping THIS year and as far as I can tell, the Chiefs O line isn't dominating anybody. The Chiefs aren't winning because of Humphrey and the O line. Mahomes is running for his life. But that's more because his receivers can't get open, not bad protection. However, in spite of Creed Humphrey and their O line, without the WRs it's more work for Mahomes. My point was for 2 years I read about the dumb assed move by McSnead in the 2021 draft. Now it's paying off as Atwell is proving to be a legit NFL receiver and we've already got 1 Lombardi in the bank. Just pointing out the sometimes silliness of fandom.
People used to say that Aaron Donald didn't win any games until we got a franchise QB (Goff and Stafford). I remember crazy people screaming for a an AD trade for draft ammunition. But then he sealed the NFCCG and the Super Bowl in 2021. A dominant Oline is more important than a good receiver and that's not silliness.
 

jrry32

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Who had Puka Nacua #1 in the NFL in receptions and #2 in receiving yards?
 

PARAM

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A dominant Oline is more important than a good receiver and that's not silliness.
Not if you don't have a RB to gain yards or a WR to catch balls. There's a reason every one of KC's opponents have either been in the game till the end or won, save the Bears. Mahomes has Kelce and little else. That may be their achilles heel this year. And there's little Creed Humphrey can do about it. :laugh1:
 

TexasRam

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I decided I was going to take Kelce in my draft in RD 1 if available. He scored 100 fantasy points more than the next guy Andrews last year and the point gap in TE gets ridiculous after that. So I took Kelce at #3 overall.

I decided ahead of time that if I took Kelce then I would take Stafford at the end of the draft to compensate for missing out on RB/WR in RD 1. Stafford wasn’t getting drafted in any 10 team mock drafts and I did at least 20 mock drafts.

Stafford was top 5 fantasy QB in 2021 and I knew we rebuilt our Oline and he would eventually have a great season in pass yards when Kupp got back.

Here is the fun part:

I have a personal policy about being a Ram homer and drafting Rams and since I knew I was drafting Stafford, I passed on another Ram - Puka at the end of the draft even though it was clear he could be a draft steal based on ROD training camp reports and preseason.

After week 1 I picked up Puka who no one still knew about and figured was a one week fluke, and I also picked up Kyren Williams since I could see him outplaying Cam and eventually getting the lead role. I also picked up Tutu and Maher since the Rams offensive line was balling out.

So here I am back to being a Ram
Homer but leading my league in points with the following starters:

Stafford
Keenan Allen
Puka
Pollard
Kyren Williams
Godwin
Kelce
Maher
Philly D

And Tutu on my bench
:laugh1::fistbump1:

Here are my top scorers from last week:

1696479014470.png
 
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oldnotdead

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I knew Puka was going to be good just not this quickly. He has not hidden the fact that he has modeled his game after Kupp and now with him coaching him up it's been the difference, I follow the UW Husky program and liked Puka when he was with them. I was disappointed in his leaving but understood why he did. So yeah I've known about Puka for a long time. But his being this good this fast is amazing and wonderful. Just shows if Coop wants to take up coaching he will always have a home in LA.

That said, he got a lot of his technique and training regime from EForce Sports in Portland, OR. That said if he opened his own academy once he retires he will never lack for business.
 

Londoner

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It's just a shame that Kupp's return will probably mean that Puka doesn't get to break the all-time rookie receiving yards record, set in 1960 by Bill Groman with 1,473 yards for the Oilers. Puka is on course to absolutely destroy that mark, but won't get as many targets once Coop is back.
 

Loyal

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It's just a shame that Kupp's return will probably mean that Puka doesn't get to break the all-time rookie receiving yards record, set in 1960 by Bill Groman with 1,473 yards for the Oilers. Puka is on course to absolutely destroy that mark, but won't get as many targets once Coop is back.
If Puka gets an average of 60 yards per game after Kupp returns, that's about 1380 for the year..... That's damn good.