Category Archives: LA Rams
Jared Goff’s 5-2 L.A. Rams, Carson Wentz’s 7-1 Eagles meet Dec. 10 – Los Angeles Rams Blog- ESPN
Jared Goff has a chance to prove that the Rams were right to pick him number one over Eagle’s Carl Wentz in the 2016 draft.
Transcript Of McVay;Snead Pre-Draft Pres Conference
Rams’ GM Les Snead and Head Coach Sean McVay held a pre-draft press conference on Tuesday. The following is an excerpt from the transcript which appeared on TheRams.com
(On how needs of the team play into building the draft board and when needs override best player available)
Snead:
“I think you always try to set your board with not taking needs into play. Obviously, if you really need something, you might be desperate and then all of the sudden, you’re making players better than what they are. So you try to do that, for sure. I always say this, ‘Best player available is always speculative.’ That’s our best player available, time will tell – it’s usually about three years later whether you were right. But I do think there’s a blend of common sense in this thing where there are some definite needs that will help us as a team in 2017 and the future. Then, there are some times where, guess what, a really good football player falls that may not be your A or B need, but you can always use a really good football player, especially if there’s buy-in and he’s going to start and help us. It’s a blend of that, I think.”
McVay:
“Yeah, I think exactly what Les said. When you look at free agency and the draft, you certainly evaluate your own roster and then you develop your needs based on your evaluation of your current players in place. I think the thing that he said that is critical is that you do have needs, but you don’t want to overreach for a need – meaning, if you have a specific player valued at that spot and you don’t get a certain guy at that spot, you don’t then go to the next guy because of it being a need. But I think when you look at it, there’s a certain position that might have a little bit more depth at, you’ll lean towards that need. But I don’t think you want to reach for it. He and his staff have don’t an excellent job of being able to listen to our coaching staff’s evaluation of our current players that we have and how that dictates and determines how we’ll move forward, both on offense and defense and with ‘Bones’ (Special Teams Coordinator John Fassel) on special teams. And I feel very good about where we’re at, collectively, as an organization, going into Thursday.”
Kershaw Saves the Day and Gruden Optimistic about Goff, McVay and Other Tidbits
I am sitting here at my desk and gazing at laptop’s screen while wondering what to write today, MY mind has been wandering in so many directions. Should I write about the Dodgers victory over the Rockies last night? How about Jon Gruden’s comments about Jared Goff and Sean McVay? Maybe I can write about the Rams signing a Patriots’ castoff. So many topics and too little time, so I guess that I’ll briefly write about them all.
I am going to tread the day that we ever lose Clayton Kershaw. If you ever need somebody that can be the clutch for an uplift, he is the one you want because he comes through all the time and last night he came through for the Dodgers.
The Dodgers went into last night’s game after a disappointing Wednesday night loss to the Rockies and adding to their three-game losing streak. They faced the division leading Rockies for the last time in their series and needed to avoid a series sweep, but one obstacle stood in their way. The last time Kershaw faced the Rockies he gave up two back to back home runs for a lifetime first and lost the game 2-4.
But, Kershaw blasted through that obstacle last night. While he did give up two runs, they were not back to back and they were the only two. While Kershaw did his part, the others scored four runs to break their losing streak get a 4-2 victory.
The Dodgers will be in Arizona Friday night to face the Diamondbacks with Ales Wood on the mound in place of Rich Hill.
Jon Gruden is optimistic about Jared Goff and Sean McVay. Before I proceed, I would like to make this disclaimer. McVay had been an assistant coach for Gruden when he coached the Buccaneers. He also had been Jay Gruden’s offensive coordinator. There could be some bias here coming from Gruden, but here is what he has to say about Goff:
“He came out early — a true junior,” Gruden said on a conference call Wednesday. “I don’t think he’s a hundred percent what he’s going to be physically; I still think he’s going to get stronger, I think he’s going to mature physically. I do think that he went into a difficult situation. That’s an offensive line that has struggled; that’s a receiving corps that has struggled. And his inexperience — I think that’s a difficult combination for a young quarterback. And I think that’s a big reason why they were 0-7 when he was the starter.”
Now His thoughts about McVay:
“I just think he’s going to bring a real positive, upbeat presence to the offensive side of the ball,” Gruden said. “And fortunately for him, he’s hired one of the best defensive minds in all of football over the last 25 or 30 years [in coordinator Wade Phillips]. I think they have a unique battery there — a young, energetic offensive coach who’s proven he can get the job done, and a very, very good, experienced defensive coach on the other side.”
All I can say is that I am not a Goff hater because I believe that he got a raw deal under Fisher and his offensive cohorts. Some people compare his play to Carl Wentz of the Eagles and that is an unfair comparison. The Eagles had a much better head coach and offensive staff. I am looking for a better performance from Goff given the positive changes in the Rams’ offensive staff.
Gruden’s quotes come from an article written by ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez which could be read by clicking here.
The LA Times’ Gary Klein reported yesterday that the Rams claimed Patriot castoff lineman Tre Jackson off waivers. The Patriots drafted out Florida State 2015 according to Klein who also wrote that he did not play a single game in 2016 because of a knee injury. In 2015, he started in nine games as a right guard.
I wonder if this pickup just to have competition at that the guard position. While I am little concern about his missing last season because of his knee, I will take a wait and see position before beginning to gripe.
You can read Gary Klein’s piece in the NY Times by clicking here.
This is it, for now, peace out.
Les Snead The Second Worst GM in The League Could Have Peyton Manning in HIs Future
Remember last season when you had to decide between losing and winning and you knew that losing would finally get rid of Jeff Fisher? Well, we may have to make that hard choice again, but this time it will be about the removal of Les Snead. Why am I bringing up Les Snead fate?
Well, Les Smead was the topic of conversation yesterday after Rotoworld’s GM Rankings and Les Snead came in second to last as reported by Joe McAtee of Turf Show Times. Here what Rotoworld had to say about Les Snead:
Les Snead still has his job, but he no longer has his alibi. With Jeff Fisher gone, there’s no one to hide behind. Snead has to own a roster that’s been historically inept on offense and riddled with underachievers on defense. To his credit, Snead has approached 2017 with a sense of urgency. He replaced Fisher with his polar opposite, making offensive-minded Sean McVay the youngest head coach in NFL history. Next, he lured LT Andrew Whitworth from the Bengals, filling a hole the Rams have had since Orlando Pace left St. Louis. Letting Kenny Britt walk in favor of Robert Woods was questionable, but clearly at the behest of his new head coach. Snead’s biggest problems as he untangles the headphone cords of the Fisher era are directly related. He doesn’t have a first-round pick. He flushed it down the toilet in last year’s calamitous trade for Jared Goff. With no signal caller or first-rounder, it’s going to be hard to get this gas guzzler out of neutral. It will likely end up a job for another man.
Last year they ranked at 18 and this year he is at 28 and there is a good reason for such a drop. That would be last season poor record, his alleged tumulous relationship with Fisher, and last year trade up in the draft for Jeff Goff. though the jury is still out on Goff. You can hammer any or all of those issues and I am sure you can think of more reasons, but I don’t want to turn this into a bash Snead post. This is because of a post I published Saturday.
Saturday, I published that the Rams are extremely interested in Sean Payton for a front office position and possibly in the realm of GM but the article that I had gotten did not mention what Snead’s fate would be should Manning accept.
The article went on to suggest that he would have the same type of position occupied be John Elway of the Denver Broncos. Elway holds two positions. He is the executive of football operations as well as the teams’ general manager which gives him total control of the team football operations. I am not sure how much control the Rams will offer Manning.
Will Manning come to the Rams and how much of an effect will it have on Snead? Keep this in mind that the Rams are not the only team interested in Manning. There are two other teams also interested Manning and one of them being Indianapolis. But if were to decide to go with the Rams, in the beginning, I do not foresee Snead’s immediate removal. I don’t see him getting as much power as Elway has now, bit I could see gaining power over time and possibly pushing Snead out the door.
This year Snead has to really push hard to disprove his title of being the second worst GM in the NFL because he could have Manning breathing down his neck. Even without the pressure of Manning breathing down his neck, he still has to make the right decision in the draft and bring in the right people to help head coach Sean McVay and his assistant coaches build a successful team this season. So whether or not Manning comes the team he has to turn this team around because if he doesn’t that title of the second worst GM won’t be the only thing he has to worry about.
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