Where we at?

[Ram_Rally]

The young guys have had a year to learn and grow; our secondary should be better. I hope.

Well our corners are actually pretty well aged. Williams and Witherspoon are both 30 or older. And this is year 4 for Durant, but maybe there's some room for improvement there.

 

[AZRams]

I think we're a contender but our secondary is on the weak side among those teams. Might not matter if our offense is great and our defensive front eats opposing QBs though.

Great secondary play creates coverage sacks. Perhaps the opposite can be true if the front is relentlessly getting to/affecting the QB.

 

[Merlin]

Great secondary play creates coverage sacks. Perhaps the opposite can be true if the front is relentlessly getting to/affecting the QB.

Certainly true. The two are symbiotic in that way. And I think last season the front was so good in the latter half of the season that the secondary benefitted greatly. Not to take away from some great plays by them of course. But clearly the weakest part of this defense is the secondary.

Hopefully we win it all this year. But if not I'd imagine we go get a top corner with one of those two high picks. A corner who can erase top draws would put this defense into rare levels of dominance.

 

[Karate61]

And I think last season the front was so good in the latter half of the season that the secondary benefitted greatly.

That is a great point. We all noticed the dline coming together late in the season. We also noticed the secondary coming on late in the season and into the playoffs. I never put the two together, but the secondary must have been the beneficiary of the dline coming alive. If this is true, the defense should be improved this coming season all together as I would anticipate the dline maybe even getting better than this last year.

 

[RamFan503]

That is a great point. We all noticed the dline coming together late in the season. We also noticed the secondary coming on late in the season and into the playoffs. I never put the two together, but the secondary must have been the beneficiary of the dline coming alive. If this is true, the defense should be improved this coming season all together as I would anticipate the dline maybe even getting better than this last year.

I still think it’s a little column A and a little column B. A secondary that locks up the receivers can make a line look good and vice verse.

We can all hope that both were improving and that will continue.

A lot is said about an Oline jelling. But a secondary also has to get into a groove where they feel confident that their teammates will be where they think they’ll be.

This is part of why I’m not overly excited about getting Ramsey back. While I think he still has a lot of what it takes to be a great addition, he tends to point at other players when a big play happens around him.

And for the record, it should have been clear to all the refs that he was grabbed by the facemask in that big TD in the SB. There’s no way I put that play on him.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

I think we adequately & directly addressed the significant holes in this team, enough so that I think we're definitely considered a playoff contender -- i.e., if we don't make the playoffs, it will be a downer.
Defense - The D-line is frightening; I have christened them "the Choir of Chaos". Adding Stewart & Poona is significant, as they provide the anchor in the middle & the speed on the fringes at OLB. If we kept it the same as '24, we'd be good, but adding these 2 makes us a complete nightmare for offenses.
ILB was a huge hole. Paul & Speights & Landman are great additions to what was a very lackluster room. Paul especially gives us that sideline-to-sideline LB that we've been missing.
I also thought we'd add more at CB. There's still time, though, and Kinchens, Witherspoon & Durant were coming along nicely towards the end of the season, so maybe we actually are OK there.
Offense - we really, really needed to add playmakers, especially with the decline & departure of Kupp. Adams, Ferg, & Hunter round out our complement of playmakers at all 3 levels nicely. Getting Higgs back for a full season would be terrific, we saw the difference he makes when he's in the lineup. Adams gives us a true downfield threat, and Ferg.... he's a sneaky TE. He's VERY good at getting open, seamlessly switching from blocking to getting open. Not dominantly athletic, but will make nice plays for us. When he is on the field, he *has* to be accounted for.
So yes, all in all I think we in a great position to go deep this year. (Achilles heel: LOT, as has been mentioned)

Agreed. This was Shula’s scheme. I’m sure there was a learning curve. Things got better as the season went on.

 

[Pupped]

So.. Roster wise.. where are the Rams at, in your mind? Are they better or worse than they were at the end of the season, in your mind? Compared to the start of last season?

Not a super deep dive.. but.. general thoughts:

Quarterback:
Same, and that's not a bad thing.

Running back:
Better. Corum has a year experience now and Hunter is an excellent addition, imo. I like that they have someone to work in who has a little more juice.. and who also runs hard.

WR:
Better. I hate saying that reflects in a negative way at all on Cooper Kupp.. so this is NOT taking any shot at him. But Davante is a significant upgrade, in my mind.. especially because of specific fit. Kupp may thrive again in a system where he's got two outside guys to take pressure off him and allow him to find space. Davante creates his own space.. puts a different kind of pressure on defenses.. and may actually open more up for guys like Tutu and Whittington. Also.. Tutu is better than a lot think.. and I think Whittington is going to take a step. I also think that there's more to squeeze from Smith.

TEs:
Appreciably better than the start of last season and slightly better than at the end. Ferguson is interesting.. I think he impacts the WR mix quite a bit.. I can see him taking on a lot of motion stuff and being a super-sized Puka in motion actions. Higbee came back and looked better than I expected.

Oline:
Should be better? Sounds like Shelton is penciled in as starter.. but I'm curious if Limmer can get in the weight room enough to make a difference there and beat him out. At worst, depth at center should be better. No experienced swing tackle is a bit of a concern. I wonder what they really think of Leveston? There's no reason to think he *can't* be a solution.. but it's unknown. The UDFA guy is very intriguing from a physical profile standpoint.. but.. who knows with that?

Safeties:
Slightly better. I just think with a full season for the young players.. and having, essentially the same unit come back, is a big, big plus. They need to be creative and they can be. I think they may be a real strength.

Corners:
Who knows? Lol. Apparently, they're happy with them. Seems there's some smoke around Ramsey coming back. We'll see. So many question marks.. but there's still some real potential with Forbes and Durant.

Linebackers:
Better. I think. I mean.. we have to see Paul in action, he's a rookie. But.. he seems like a fantastic addition and Landman feels, at worst, like an upgrade on 1st and 2nd down over Reeder or Rozeboom. I think Speights will take a big step.. love, love what I saw from him.

OLBs:
Better. I hope. I think Verse will continue to improve and I hope he can figure out what's behind so many of his missed tackles. If he cleans that up.. he starts moving into DPOY conversations. A truly special player who I expect to get even better. BY is what he is.. limited.. but plays hard and has some good qualities. Losing Hoecht hurts.. but I'm intrigued by Stewart and believe he may be every bit as good, if not better. Even as a rookie.

DL:
Better. Definitely better. Adding ford and then Hamilton MORE THAN MAKE UP for losing Bobby Brown.. and Poona is just an absolute perfect fit for what they needed to add on first and second downs. Hamilton is intriguing.

If the additions on offense compliment each other the right way.. the offense can go from pedestrian to good or very, very good. If they can stay healthy.. and if someone like Ferguson can be better as a rookie than expected? They may be fire. Ferguson, Watkins and Hunter create the possibility of more explosive plays, imo.. Corum too.

They still can make additions.. but it's a very solid roster.. and, oh.. did I mention? They got an extra first rounder in next year's draft for, basically, a high fourth round pick. Amazing.

Just bumping this as an evaluation point.. what would've been the 1/4 mark of the season..

I'm feeling pretty damn good about my pre-season thoughts!

Oline.. still has interior issues.. and Havenstein doesn't look great. Wondering if he's going to get better and if it's just a health issue.

Corners.. yup...

TE.. bummed we haven't really seen T-Ferg yet

LBs.. been good!

So.. I'm feeling good, overall. They really could use health.. and possibly a trade.. to help the Oline.. and need to keep looking for another Corner.

So far.. so good!!

 

[Snaz]

Only that Stafford and Adams not quite where they can be. The drops and obvious forced targets are issues. But hopefully nowhere to go but up with that one.

OL is an issue in Pass Protection. We thought it wouldn't be.

 

[RamBall]

I feel pretty good about the team, still same concerns OL and CB. Losing Witherspoon hurts, he has the size to not be mistreated by big WRs. I love the effort and intensity of the guys we have, but wish we had that 1 guy that just cant be pushed around. Forbes is too light and gets ragdolled.

 

[bubbaramfan]

Ramball, was it your birthday day yesterday? Mine too.

Rams struggling in red zone bothers me. Avila never healthy. Interior OL issues.

Still a better team overall than last year.

I firmly believe McVay has been keeping TuTu in his back pocket, waiting for just the right situation as what presented itself in zSunday:s game.

The cat is out of the bag now.

Just heard Avila is out for Whiner game. One good season and now he:s worthless. Ugh TC j

 

[RamFan503]

Ramball, was it your birthday day yesterday? Mine too.

Happy belated birthday Bubba.

 

[Memento]

Happy belated birthdays, @RamBall and @bubbaramfan !!!!

 

[RamBall]

Ramball, was it your birthday day yesterday? Mine too.

Rams struggling in red zone bothers me. Avila never healthy. Interior OL issues.

Still a better team overall than last year.

I firmly believe McVay has been keeping TuTu in his back pocket, waiting for just the right situation as what presented itself in zSunday:s game.

The cat is out of the bag now.

Just heard Avila is out for Whiner game. One good season and now he:s worthless. Ugh TC j

Happy belated birthday, thats right it was both of our birthday the Thursday night game vs viqueens in 2018.

 

[tklongball]

So far our Run Defense is better than I thought it would be. Big plus there.

 

[Merlin]

Defense is looking good everywhere but corner. I'm real happy with the way the safeties are playing. Offball backers are clearly better. Front 7 overall is elite, though they do fuck up contain quite often.

Offense overall is just suffering due to the interior OL. Is that mainly due to missing Avila? We'll see. Not a fan of Shelton.

It's hard to complain about this roster given how good it is. But we do have some key issues right now that are hurting us and if the OL doesn't sort soon it could increase chances of Stafford missing time. Or playing through injury that makes him look like shite, which is almost as bad.

 

[dang]

Just bumping this as an evaluation point.. what would've been the 1/4 mark of the season..

I'm feeling pretty damn good about my pre-season thoughts!

Oline.. still has interior issues.. and Havenstein doesn't look great. Wondering if he's going to get better and if it's just a health issue.

Corners.. yup...

TE.. bummed we haven't really seen T-Ferg yet

LBs.. been good!

So.. I'm feeling good, overall. They really could use health.. and possibly a trade.. to help the Oline.. and need to keep looking for another Corner.

So far.. so good!!

More juice at CB is a must!

 

[LARAMSinFeb.]

Looking at team stats, our O (surprising to me) is doing better than our D (middle of the pack in most stats, except sacks #1). But I think that's because we've played the Eagles and Colts?

 

[Pupped]

One thing I didn't see coming was a Byron Young breakout. He's absolutely taken a step and is really letting his athleticism shine.

 

[rdlkgliders]

Happy belated boys
@bubbaramfan & @RamBall

My main concern is interior OL stability.
It is quite a bit more concerning than the CB situation for me.
Dedich had a solid game against Indy but Hav struggled a bit.
We have consistency issues but are good enough to overcome them.

This usually changes in the playoffs

 

[Virginia_Ram]

Stafford is second in the NFL in passing yardage and Puka is first in receiving yardage. We are a force to be reconned with! Ram On!