One practice today at 3:50.
Just about all the Rams news I'm getting comes from stltoday's Rams page, Bill Coats' blog on stltoday, and Nick Wagoner's blog on stlouisrams.com. Coverage of training camp continues to be good and thorough.
* Jackson holdout day 7. Jackson will be up to $105,000 in potential fines if he doesn't report today. According to Information Week, that's what the average business technology manager makes in a year. That's also the price of a top-of-the-line 2009 Corvette.
* Linehan rips into team. Practices have been getting progressively sloppier the last couple of days, but got better again yesterday after a midfield tirade. Considering his shaky job status, Linehan had better show assertiveness managing his team. I think he's running camp the right way; there's no indication it's anything like a country club up there. My big issue is that Linehan better work Jackson like a dog once he ever shows up.
* Standout players: Leonard Little, Derek Stanley, Dan Kreider.
Little appears to be his old self again after a toe injury basically grounded him last season. If he could come back and have an eight-plus sack season, it would be huge for the Ram pass rush and the whole defense.
Stanley seems to make a highlight-reel play or two every day. It's boiling down to him and Dane Looker for the sixth WR slot, assuming they keep only six.
Kreider is also doing well in practice. If he makes the team, I believe he will improve the team by at least one win. The offense's incompetence in 3rd- and 4th-down short-yardage situations proved very costly last season, which was highly frustrating, because it could have been corrected by having a fullback on the roster who has any idea what he's doing. Kreider, I feel, can be that guy.
* Injuries.
Mark Setterstrom's out a couple of days due to a strained leg muscle. John Greco, another rookie having a very good camp by all accounts, has moved up to 1st-string RG in Setterstrom's absence. There are a lot of minor injuries all over the roster, including - surprise! Drew Bennett, who has a sore knee, and - surprise! Tye Hill, who has a bruised thigh. Blame for the rash of injuries seems to be going to Field Turf, which I always thought was supposed to be so great for reducing injuries. This is the first time the Rams have done all of their training camp practicing on the fake stuff, and it seems to be creating faster wear-and-tear on the players.
Huh. Rams Park has grass and is 600 miles CLOSER. Thanks for moving camp again, Coach.
* Ticket bundling plan won't work.
I was enthusiastic about the Rams' single-game ticket sale strategy yesterday, which attempts to make Cowboys and Bears fans buy tickets to a second game in order to get a ticket to see their favorites. It shouldn't have taken a day for me to figure out it wouldn't work, but it did. (Also, single-game tickets don't go on sale until tomorrow.)
The Rams' plan has no effect on PSL owners selling their seats. As we saw last year, Steeler and Packer fans filled the all-PSL lower bowl and flooded the whole upper tier of the Dome, also PSL country. The Rams' ticket office can only affect the four little corners of the Dome used for general admission.
The Rams' mindset is in the right place, but in reality, there's no reason to expect Cowboy Nation won't be well-represented in the Dome October 19, and there's little chance of preventing the Bears from having a home game in the Dome on November 23.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Traning camp headlines 7/30
Morning and afternoon practices today.
* Steven Jackson holdout day 6. Jackson's total potential fine for unexcused absence is now $90,000, enough to pay for two years' tuition and room and board at Harvard. Meanwhile, St. Louis' sports media overwhelmingly, from what I've heard, is on the Rams' side in negotiations, that Jackson ought to have signed the $7 million a year offer already and gotten into camp.
But just as overwhelmingly, they're ignoring Jackson's receiving statistics. They're ignoring the growth of the salary cap when comparing old contracts. They're downgrading Jackson for having fewer total rushing yards and ignoring that he has much fewer carries. It's a little lazy, I think, that they're just all piling on the fans' side because we're mad that a rich football player under contract can get away with violating that contract.
To recap other long posts I've made: yards-per-carry and durability are definitely fair issues to downgrade Jackson for compared to other RBs. I would not say to pay him as much as LaDainian Tomlinson. Except, LT's contract from 2004 is worth a lot more in today's dollars, more like $11 million a year than the $7.5 million he signed for.
Is Steven Jackson 80% the player LaDainian Tomlinson is? I think so. Maybe his market value is more like $9 million a year then.
And I'm sticking to that. I think the Rams are lowballing him.
* Donnie Avery to return kicks, but not for a while now.
Avery is the Rams' first option to return kickoffs right now. This is a good move. Avery's probably the fastest player the Rams have put back there in the St. Louis era. And unlike Chris Johnson, MARTZ, Avery actually has experience at the task, averaging over 28 yards a return his senior year, with a TD return. He has the speed to be very dangerous back there, certainly more than anybody the Rams have put back there recently.
Unfortunately, Avery is now going to be down for a couple of weeks due to what's described as a crack in his pelvic bone. Hard as it may be to believe from its description, this isn't considered a serious injury.
Let's hope Avery heals up nicely. I really like the idea of asking him to return kickoffs.
* Other injuries.
Mark Setterstrom missed time yesterday due to numbness in his left leg. Josh Thompson's torn plantar fascia ended his Ram career with an injury settlement. He has been replaced by 6'3", 315-lb defensive tackle Henry Smith, a rookie free agent from Texas A&M let go by New England last month. Either Smith has grown an inch since draft day, or somebody's lying about his height, which had been listed at 6'2". Chris Draft has been out the last couple of days with a sore lower back
* The under-the-radar injury.
OJ Atogwe hasn't worked much at all in camp due to his hamstrings. Then again, Brian Burwell reported seeing him with a bag of ice on his left knee. What's going on here? It's starting to become worrisome, since Atogwe's one of their best defensive players.
* Single game tickets on sale today.
Come on, Rams Nation; let's try to get a couple of home games on local TV.
The Rams have started using a policy with single-game tickets I totally approve: the Chicago game has been bundled with the Giants game, and the Dallas game has been bundled with the Buffalo game. You have to buy both. Other teams, for sure the Chargers and Big Dead, have employed this policy to keep their stadiums from being overrun by the visiting team's fans, which we all know has been a big problem in the Dome the last couple of years. A determined-enough Bears or Cowboys fan will always be able to find their way in, but I'm glad to see the Rams trying out ways to help us fans of the home team.
* Steven Jackson holdout day 6. Jackson's total potential fine for unexcused absence is now $90,000, enough to pay for two years' tuition and room and board at Harvard. Meanwhile, St. Louis' sports media overwhelmingly, from what I've heard, is on the Rams' side in negotiations, that Jackson ought to have signed the $7 million a year offer already and gotten into camp.
But just as overwhelmingly, they're ignoring Jackson's receiving statistics. They're ignoring the growth of the salary cap when comparing old contracts. They're downgrading Jackson for having fewer total rushing yards and ignoring that he has much fewer carries. It's a little lazy, I think, that they're just all piling on the fans' side because we're mad that a rich football player under contract can get away with violating that contract.
To recap other long posts I've made: yards-per-carry and durability are definitely fair issues to downgrade Jackson for compared to other RBs. I would not say to pay him as much as LaDainian Tomlinson. Except, LT's contract from 2004 is worth a lot more in today's dollars, more like $11 million a year than the $7.5 million he signed for.
Is Steven Jackson 80% the player LaDainian Tomlinson is? I think so. Maybe his market value is more like $9 million a year then.
And I'm sticking to that. I think the Rams are lowballing him.
* Donnie Avery to return kicks, but not for a while now.
Avery is the Rams' first option to return kickoffs right now. This is a good move. Avery's probably the fastest player the Rams have put back there in the St. Louis era. And unlike Chris Johnson, MARTZ, Avery actually has experience at the task, averaging over 28 yards a return his senior year, with a TD return. He has the speed to be very dangerous back there, certainly more than anybody the Rams have put back there recently.
Unfortunately, Avery is now going to be down for a couple of weeks due to what's described as a crack in his pelvic bone. Hard as it may be to believe from its description, this isn't considered a serious injury.
Let's hope Avery heals up nicely. I really like the idea of asking him to return kickoffs.
* Other injuries.
Mark Setterstrom missed time yesterday due to numbness in his left leg. Josh Thompson's torn plantar fascia ended his Ram career with an injury settlement. He has been replaced by 6'3", 315-lb defensive tackle Henry Smith, a rookie free agent from Texas A&M let go by New England last month. Either Smith has grown an inch since draft day, or somebody's lying about his height, which had been listed at 6'2". Chris Draft has been out the last couple of days with a sore lower back
* The under-the-radar injury.
OJ Atogwe hasn't worked much at all in camp due to his hamstrings. Then again, Brian Burwell reported seeing him with a bag of ice on his left knee. What's going on here? It's starting to become worrisome, since Atogwe's one of their best defensive players.
* Single game tickets on sale today.
Come on, Rams Nation; let's try to get a couple of home games on local TV.
The Rams have started using a policy with single-game tickets I totally approve: the Chicago game has been bundled with the Giants game, and the Dallas game has been bundled with the Buffalo game. You have to buy both. Other teams, for sure the Chargers and Big Dead, have employed this policy to keep their stadiums from being overrun by the visiting team's fans, which we all know has been a big problem in the Dome the last couple of years. A determined-enough Bears or Cowboys fan will always be able to find their way in, but I'm glad to see the Rams trying out ways to help us fans of the home team.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Traning camp headlines 7/29
One practice today at 3:50.
* Steven Jackson holdout day 5. Nothing brewing. Jackson's potential fine total is now up to $75,000, which would pretty much get you a top-of-the-line 2008 Corvette. Jim Thomas has a thorough article up this morning even though Jackson's agent Eugene Parker won't return his calls. Jackson has to report to camp by August 8th or he will lose a year toward becoming eligible for free agency. Thomas explains it all.
So let's see if Jackson holds out till that bitter end, by which point he'd tally up a total fine of $210,000. There have been no talks between Parker and Jay Zygmunt since Zygmunt demanded Jackson report to camp.
* Jackson offer $7M a year?
Thomas' article today also reveals the Rams have offered Jackson $7 million a season. Supposedly that places him among the top 4 backs in the NFL. Supposedly it would put Jackson behind only Clinton Portis, Larry Johnson and LaDainian Tomlinson, though that's not what I got out of my lengthy post on the subject yesterday.
A couple of things. Even I could figure out yesterday that $7M is less than the average of Reggie Bush's or Darren McFadden's contract, and Adrian Peterson is just under that mark. And as I said yesterday, when I suggested Jackson is probably worth $9 million a year (his numbers are as good as Johnson's, and it's laughable to pay him less than Portis, who averages just over $7M), it's dishonest not to include Shaun Alexander's contract when assessing the RB market. Not only is $7 mil not top-four money from Jackson's standpoint; how big a deal is $7 million when the current franchise tag is $6.5 million? Ooh, the Rams think Jackson is $half-a-million better than the sixth-best back in the league!
I also completely disagree with Thomas' contention that the offer "exceeds Jackson's production thus far in his NFL career". Thomas leaves out Jackson's receiving statistics, for one thing, and just suggests that Jackson's TD total is comparably low without accounting that the RBs he's being compared to have tended to be their team's only goal line weapons, or close to it. (Though trust me, as his FFL GM a couple of times, I can say Portis does NOT fit in that category.)
Get ready for whiplash here, because I'm on the verge of switching sides in this dispute.
Yes, Steven Jackson should get his ass in camp.
But yes, the Rams are lowballing him, even at $7M a year. If he signs a deal for that, the city ought to throw a parade for him, and he ought to fire his agent.
* Jackson offer four years?
Unless it's some kind of Freudian slip, Brian Burwell today seems to be suggesting that Jackson is after a - 4-year deal?
"You have to wonder why in the face of last year's 3-13 madness, management would do anything willingly that would pile on additional chaos to an otherwise upbeat offseason. Why not get the deal done now, lock him up for four years and be done with it?"
Really? Just four years? For Jackson, that's about the worst contract length I can think of. Jackson's negotiating leverage for the next contract, in 2012 when he's 29, is much worse than even 2011 when he's 28. The closer you are to 30, the worse your leverage is going to be. Over 30, forget it. I'd figure he'd look for a contract that would carry him into his lower 30's.
If they're going after a four-year deal, then this deal right here is going to be the biggest of Steven Jackson's career. No way do you do that in this market for $7M a year. If I'm Eugene Parker, and the Rams are offering a 4-year deal, I'm not even picking up the phone until the total deal gets up to $8M a year.
* Victor Adeyanju out with broken finger.
He has returned to St. Louis to have pins inserted into his broken middle finger. He's expected to be ready to go for the regular season with one of those cool big clubs on his hand. A broken middle finger, though, is really going to impact his ability to drive in the St. Louis area.
* Personnel moves.
The Rams have added 5'9" 170-lb CB Cortney Grixby - oh, great, another smurf - and 6'4", 327-lb OT Julius Wilson. Grixby helps pick up the slack with Fakhir Brown out injured, while Wilson, though he was cut by the Dolphins, who don't exactly have an offensive line feared around the league, is apparently so great the Rams actually sent the Turk out to the practice field to cut rookie FA Stephen Sene on the spot. Dude, that is harsh.
So we'll see what the Julius Wilson Era has in store.
* Steven Jackson holdout day 5. Nothing brewing. Jackson's potential fine total is now up to $75,000, which would pretty much get you a top-of-the-line 2008 Corvette. Jim Thomas has a thorough article up this morning even though Jackson's agent Eugene Parker won't return his calls. Jackson has to report to camp by August 8th or he will lose a year toward becoming eligible for free agency. Thomas explains it all.
So let's see if Jackson holds out till that bitter end, by which point he'd tally up a total fine of $210,000. There have been no talks between Parker and Jay Zygmunt since Zygmunt demanded Jackson report to camp.
* Jackson offer $7M a year?
Thomas' article today also reveals the Rams have offered Jackson $7 million a season. Supposedly that places him among the top 4 backs in the NFL. Supposedly it would put Jackson behind only Clinton Portis, Larry Johnson and LaDainian Tomlinson, though that's not what I got out of my lengthy post on the subject yesterday.
A couple of things. Even I could figure out yesterday that $7M is less than the average of Reggie Bush's or Darren McFadden's contract, and Adrian Peterson is just under that mark. And as I said yesterday, when I suggested Jackson is probably worth $9 million a year (his numbers are as good as Johnson's, and it's laughable to pay him less than Portis, who averages just over $7M), it's dishonest not to include Shaun Alexander's contract when assessing the RB market. Not only is $7 mil not top-four money from Jackson's standpoint; how big a deal is $7 million when the current franchise tag is $6.5 million? Ooh, the Rams think Jackson is $half-a-million better than the sixth-best back in the league!
I also completely disagree with Thomas' contention that the offer "exceeds Jackson's production thus far in his NFL career". Thomas leaves out Jackson's receiving statistics, for one thing, and just suggests that Jackson's TD total is comparably low without accounting that the RBs he's being compared to have tended to be their team's only goal line weapons, or close to it. (Though trust me, as his FFL GM a couple of times, I can say Portis does NOT fit in that category.)
Get ready for whiplash here, because I'm on the verge of switching sides in this dispute.
Yes, Steven Jackson should get his ass in camp.
But yes, the Rams are lowballing him, even at $7M a year. If he signs a deal for that, the city ought to throw a parade for him, and he ought to fire his agent.
* Jackson offer four years?
Unless it's some kind of Freudian slip, Brian Burwell today seems to be suggesting that Jackson is after a - 4-year deal?
"You have to wonder why in the face of last year's 3-13 madness, management would do anything willingly that would pile on additional chaos to an otherwise upbeat offseason. Why not get the deal done now, lock him up for four years and be done with it?"
Really? Just four years? For Jackson, that's about the worst contract length I can think of. Jackson's negotiating leverage for the next contract, in 2012 when he's 29, is much worse than even 2011 when he's 28. The closer you are to 30, the worse your leverage is going to be. Over 30, forget it. I'd figure he'd look for a contract that would carry him into his lower 30's.
If they're going after a four-year deal, then this deal right here is going to be the biggest of Steven Jackson's career. No way do you do that in this market for $7M a year. If I'm Eugene Parker, and the Rams are offering a 4-year deal, I'm not even picking up the phone until the total deal gets up to $8M a year.
* Victor Adeyanju out with broken finger.
He has returned to St. Louis to have pins inserted into his broken middle finger. He's expected to be ready to go for the regular season with one of those cool big clubs on his hand. A broken middle finger, though, is really going to impact his ability to drive in the St. Louis area.
* Personnel moves.
The Rams have added 5'9" 170-lb CB Cortney Grixby - oh, great, another smurf - and 6'4", 327-lb OT Julius Wilson. Grixby helps pick up the slack with Fakhir Brown out injured, while Wilson, though he was cut by the Dolphins, who don't exactly have an offensive line feared around the league, is apparently so great the Rams actually sent the Turk out to the practice field to cut rookie FA Stephen Sene on the spot. Dude, that is harsh.
So we'll see what the Julius Wilson Era has in store.
Monday, July 28, 2008
What's a fair deal for Steven Jackson?
I have been crunching a lot of numbers trying to figure out what a fair deal for Steven Jackson would amount to. One thing I understand for sure is that it takes a long time to figure out a fair deal.
Jackson no doubt wants to be paid at least in line with his NFL running back peers.
Some of the big RB contracts of recent years:
LaDainian Tomlinson (2004): 8 years, $60 million. He'll be 33 when it runs out.
Larry Johnson (2007): 6 years, $45 million. Also 33 at end of contract.
Reggie Bush (2006): 6 years, $62 million. Rookie contract.
Adrian Peterson (2007): 6 years, $40.5 million. Rookie contract.
Darren McFadden (2008): 6 years, $60 million. Rookie contract.
Shaun Alexander (2006): 8 years, $62 million. Contract would have gone on until he was 37, but he was cut.
Let's mention here that Jackson has been a terrific bargain so far in NFL terms. The contract he's not honoring right now was for $7 million -total- over 5 years. I read that this weekend and thought it was a misprint. You mean it wasn't, like, $27 million? The Rams have gotten excellent productivity out of their investment in Jackson so far.
Now, you or I or Jay Zygmunt could offer Jackson $8 million a year, call him one of the NFL's highest-paid RBs, and leave it at that. That wouldn't be completely honest, though, because the salary cap has gone up a lot since LT got his megadeal. So let's real quickly pro-rate those peer contracts:
Tomlinson: $87M for 8 ($11M a year)
Johnson: $48M for 6 ($8M)
Bush: $71M for 6 ($12M)
Peterson: $43M for 6 ($7M)
McFadden: $60M for 6 ($10M)
Alexander: $71M for 8 ($9M)
For argument's sake, I'm throwing out the rookie contracts at this point, while taking care not to blame Jackson for asking why he shouldn't get paid more than Reggie Bush. The veterans are more valid comparisons.
Let's see where they all stood statistically prior to signing their current contracts, compared to where Jackson is now (numbers approximate):
Jackson 2006-8: 43 games, 3576 yards, 4.27 a carry, 26 TDs rushing, 837 carries
171 rec, 1397 yards, 8.2 a catch, 6 TDs receiving + 1 passing TD
LT 2001-2003: 48 games, 4564 yards, 4.46 a carry, 37 TDs rushing, 1020 carries
238 rec, 1581 yards, 6.64 a catch, 5 TDs receiving + 1 passing TD
LJ 2005-2006: 32 games, 3539 yards, 4.83 a carry, 37 TDs rushing, 752 carries
74 rec, 753 yards, 10.2 a catch, 3 TDs receiving
SA 2003-2005: 48 games, 5011 yards, 4.78 a carry, 57 TDs rushing, 1050 carries
80 rec, 545 yards, 6.8 a catch, 7 TDs receiving
Except in the very glaring deficit in TDs, Jackson compares well to all three of these superstar RBs. I have him at 4.93 yards a touch. LT's at 4.88. Johnson's at 5.2, Alexander 4.9.
There are some things to note. Johnson in two years was pretty equal to what Jackson's done the last three. Alexander had FIVE excellent seasons prior to his megadeal, with no missed games. Tomlinson signed his deal very early in his career; he's been ringing up numbers like this, or, as in 2006, outrageously better, for seven years.
But it's also worth noting that except for 2006, Jackson's never really been the centerpiece of his offense the way the other three have. And in 2006, he had one of the best combined-yardage seasons in NFL history. He's hardly ever been the focus of a run-oriented offense in his career, especially near the goal line, where you could argue Tomlinson, Alexander and Johnson were their team's only scoring weapons.
If you're Steven Jackson, you're going to say you're at least as good as LaDainian Tomlinson, and that's how you should be paid. I'd say that's wrong. LaDainian's more durable, faster, a better runner, a better receiver, a better scorer. He's a more proven commodity. He's an automatic Pro Bowler. Jackson hasn't been.
I feel Jackson compares very well to Alexander and Johnson, though. He's a more versatile receiver, has produced as well even though he hasn't gotten to play in a run-oriented offense as much, and isn't basically his team's only scoring weapon.
I'd actually call $9 million a fair deal for Jackson on an annual basis, though his relative youth merits more, and I'd be willing to pay a little more a year now to get a shorter contract. I wouldn't doubt that Jackson would be after as much as eight years; that's what Tomlinson and Alexander got. Jackson is 25 now; such a contract would run out when he's 33, same deal Tomlinson and Johnson got. Of course, we saw what happened to Johnson and Alexander right after they got their big contracts, and Jackson's already shown durability issues in his career so far. An eight-year offer to Jackson would be a crazy one, even in the beyond-the-looking-glass world of sports, though 8 years for $70-75 mil would probably qualify as a coup for the Rams.
7 years, $65-66 million sounds like solid middle ground, and I'm considering that the fair offer when determining who the "bad guy" is in the Jackson negotiations. The Rams don't "have" to pay that. They can always franchise Jackson for about $7 mil and draft a rookie. Right now, that's sounding like the McFadden plan for the 2008 draft suggested, and Jackson's making that idea look good with his holdout.
There's no question that Jackson is the "bad guy" in negotiations right now because of that holdout, so I'd urge him once again to get his ass in camp.
Jackson no doubt wants to be paid at least in line with his NFL running back peers.
Some of the big RB contracts of recent years:
LaDainian Tomlinson (2004): 8 years, $60 million. He'll be 33 when it runs out.
Larry Johnson (2007): 6 years, $45 million. Also 33 at end of contract.
Reggie Bush (2006): 6 years, $62 million. Rookie contract.
Adrian Peterson (2007): 6 years, $40.5 million. Rookie contract.
Darren McFadden (2008): 6 years, $60 million. Rookie contract.
Shaun Alexander (2006): 8 years, $62 million. Contract would have gone on until he was 37, but he was cut.
Let's mention here that Jackson has been a terrific bargain so far in NFL terms. The contract he's not honoring right now was for $7 million -total- over 5 years. I read that this weekend and thought it was a misprint. You mean it wasn't, like, $27 million? The Rams have gotten excellent productivity out of their investment in Jackson so far.
Now, you or I or Jay Zygmunt could offer Jackson $8 million a year, call him one of the NFL's highest-paid RBs, and leave it at that. That wouldn't be completely honest, though, because the salary cap has gone up a lot since LT got his megadeal. So let's real quickly pro-rate those peer contracts:
Tomlinson: $87M for 8 ($11M a year)
Johnson: $48M for 6 ($8M)
Bush: $71M for 6 ($12M)
Peterson: $43M for 6 ($7M)
McFadden: $60M for 6 ($10M)
Alexander: $71M for 8 ($9M)
For argument's sake, I'm throwing out the rookie contracts at this point, while taking care not to blame Jackson for asking why he shouldn't get paid more than Reggie Bush. The veterans are more valid comparisons.
Let's see where they all stood statistically prior to signing their current contracts, compared to where Jackson is now (numbers approximate):
Jackson 2006-8: 43 games, 3576 yards, 4.27 a carry, 26 TDs rushing, 837 carries
171 rec, 1397 yards, 8.2 a catch, 6 TDs receiving + 1 passing TD
LT 2001-2003: 48 games, 4564 yards, 4.46 a carry, 37 TDs rushing, 1020 carries
238 rec, 1581 yards, 6.64 a catch, 5 TDs receiving + 1 passing TD
LJ 2005-2006: 32 games, 3539 yards, 4.83 a carry, 37 TDs rushing, 752 carries
74 rec, 753 yards, 10.2 a catch, 3 TDs receiving
SA 2003-2005: 48 games, 5011 yards, 4.78 a carry, 57 TDs rushing, 1050 carries
80 rec, 545 yards, 6.8 a catch, 7 TDs receiving
Except in the very glaring deficit in TDs, Jackson compares well to all three of these superstar RBs. I have him at 4.93 yards a touch. LT's at 4.88. Johnson's at 5.2, Alexander 4.9.
There are some things to note. Johnson in two years was pretty equal to what Jackson's done the last three. Alexander had FIVE excellent seasons prior to his megadeal, with no missed games. Tomlinson signed his deal very early in his career; he's been ringing up numbers like this, or, as in 2006, outrageously better, for seven years.
But it's also worth noting that except for 2006, Jackson's never really been the centerpiece of his offense the way the other three have. And in 2006, he had one of the best combined-yardage seasons in NFL history. He's hardly ever been the focus of a run-oriented offense in his career, especially near the goal line, where you could argue Tomlinson, Alexander and Johnson were their team's only scoring weapons.
If you're Steven Jackson, you're going to say you're at least as good as LaDainian Tomlinson, and that's how you should be paid. I'd say that's wrong. LaDainian's more durable, faster, a better runner, a better receiver, a better scorer. He's a more proven commodity. He's an automatic Pro Bowler. Jackson hasn't been.
I feel Jackson compares very well to Alexander and Johnson, though. He's a more versatile receiver, has produced as well even though he hasn't gotten to play in a run-oriented offense as much, and isn't basically his team's only scoring weapon.
I'd actually call $9 million a fair deal for Jackson on an annual basis, though his relative youth merits more, and I'd be willing to pay a little more a year now to get a shorter contract. I wouldn't doubt that Jackson would be after as much as eight years; that's what Tomlinson and Alexander got. Jackson is 25 now; such a contract would run out when he's 33, same deal Tomlinson and Johnson got. Of course, we saw what happened to Johnson and Alexander right after they got their big contracts, and Jackson's already shown durability issues in his career so far. An eight-year offer to Jackson would be a crazy one, even in the beyond-the-looking-glass world of sports, though 8 years for $70-75 mil would probably qualify as a coup for the Rams.
7 years, $65-66 million sounds like solid middle ground, and I'm considering that the fair offer when determining who the "bad guy" is in the Jackson negotiations. The Rams don't "have" to pay that. They can always franchise Jackson for about $7 mil and draft a rookie. Right now, that's sounding like the McFadden plan for the 2008 draft suggested, and Jackson's making that idea look good with his holdout.
There's no question that Jackson is the "bad guy" in negotiations right now because of that holdout, so I'd urge him once again to get his ass in camp.
Training camp headlines 7/28
Morning and afternoon practices today.
Most of the reactions to yesterday's session made possible by Nick Wagoner's stlouisrams.com blog (which I can actually link to today).
* The Rams have just lost Victor Adeyanju for 2-4 weeks due to a broken finger. Better put out a casting call for defensive linemen, especially tackles, pronto. Can we thank Claude Wroten enough for being such a stupid fuck-up, btw?
* Jackson holdout, day 4. No new news. Bill Coats is humorously keeping a running total of Jackson's promised fine for failing to honor his contract, which today should go up to $60,000. According to the Census Bureau, the median household income in the United States in 2006 was $48,201. Just for perspective.
* The unqualified star of camp so far is Randy McMichael. He is being used a ton in the Saunders offense and they are getting him the ball downfield for big plays. This sounds like great news, after Linehan completely wasted McMichael last season. My impression, though, is that Rams TEs have always seemed to get the ball in practice a lot more than they do in reality. It's also worth noting the Ram defense has rarely excelled at covering the TE. I know it's something they struggled at early in last year's training camp.
At the same time, though, it looks like the "Saunders effect" is really being felt here and that McMichael will be a valuable contributor to the offense this year, as well as a nice sleeper pick among FFL TEs.
* Culberson makes a move on first string LB.
Quinton Culberson has moved up to the first unit in practice, though Scott Linehan emphasizes Chris Draft is still the starter. Sounds like everything is still on track, though, for Culberson to become the starter, with the versatile Draft backing up all three LB positions (likely playing a lot of WLB after Pisa Tinoisamoa inevitably gets hurt). We all know Culberson makes lots of plays, so here's hoping he capitalizes on his big chance here.
* James Hall continues to tear it up. Yeah, it's funny how your team using the #2 pick in the draft at your position lights a fire under your butt. Wagoner's enthusiasm that the Rams are suddenly deep at DE seems misplaced here. Hall has never been more than, in Mike Claiborne's immortal words, "just a guy". Maybe he will be more effective in a lesser role as part of a DE rotation, but he's also a guy who's having a career season if he tops 5 sacks, and I think he's played on one team with a winning record in 8 seasons. He's not a difference-maker.
* David Vobora and Chris Chamberlain continue to play impressively at LB.
Chamberlain already has two interceptions - I think that's more than I saw in three different days of practice last season. The Rams wouldn't dare hit on both seventh-round draft picks, would they? These two players' stories will be very interesting to watch.
* Bruce Gradkowski, otoh...
Gradkowski's signing seemed to be a good correction to what I thought was a big draft day mistake by the Rams in failing to pick up a QB to replace Brock Berlin. Well, maybe not so much. Gradkowski's inaccurate passing so far is keeping Berlin in the race.
Do you know how awful a QB has to be to have difficulty beating Brock Berlin out for a job? Linehan preferred having NO third-string QB last year to having Berlin! Berlin more than justified that assessment with his completely-overwhelmed performance in Cincinnati last December.
I haven't heard how some of the later-drafted rookie QBs are faring so far in this year's camps, but keep an eye out for a fiasco in the making here at third-string QB. Again.
How hard can it be to get this position right? Is Jamie Martin available?
* Sporting News Today plug.
I thought it was worth an update to give a full recommendation to Sporting News' online magazine, Sporting News Today. SNT has a lot of what I miss in the print magazine. Baseball box scores are back! Transactions are back! Reporting on minor sports is back! This may make up somewhat for the decision to grossly cut back the print mag to a biweekly publication; we'll see. Right now it looks like the magazine's online and offline presences will work very well together.
Use IE to access Sporting News Today, though; I only get error pages trying to access it in Firefox.
Most of the reactions to yesterday's session made possible by Nick Wagoner's stlouisrams.com blog (which I can actually link to today).
* The Rams have just lost Victor Adeyanju for 2-4 weeks due to a broken finger. Better put out a casting call for defensive linemen, especially tackles, pronto. Can we thank Claude Wroten enough for being such a stupid fuck-up, btw?
* Jackson holdout, day 4. No new news. Bill Coats is humorously keeping a running total of Jackson's promised fine for failing to honor his contract, which today should go up to $60,000. According to the Census Bureau, the median household income in the United States in 2006 was $48,201. Just for perspective.
* The unqualified star of camp so far is Randy McMichael. He is being used a ton in the Saunders offense and they are getting him the ball downfield for big plays. This sounds like great news, after Linehan completely wasted McMichael last season. My impression, though, is that Rams TEs have always seemed to get the ball in practice a lot more than they do in reality. It's also worth noting the Ram defense has rarely excelled at covering the TE. I know it's something they struggled at early in last year's training camp.
At the same time, though, it looks like the "Saunders effect" is really being felt here and that McMichael will be a valuable contributor to the offense this year, as well as a nice sleeper pick among FFL TEs.
* Culberson makes a move on first string LB.
Quinton Culberson has moved up to the first unit in practice, though Scott Linehan emphasizes Chris Draft is still the starter. Sounds like everything is still on track, though, for Culberson to become the starter, with the versatile Draft backing up all three LB positions (likely playing a lot of WLB after Pisa Tinoisamoa inevitably gets hurt). We all know Culberson makes lots of plays, so here's hoping he capitalizes on his big chance here.
* James Hall continues to tear it up. Yeah, it's funny how your team using the #2 pick in the draft at your position lights a fire under your butt. Wagoner's enthusiasm that the Rams are suddenly deep at DE seems misplaced here. Hall has never been more than, in Mike Claiborne's immortal words, "just a guy". Maybe he will be more effective in a lesser role as part of a DE rotation, but he's also a guy who's having a career season if he tops 5 sacks, and I think he's played on one team with a winning record in 8 seasons. He's not a difference-maker.
* David Vobora and Chris Chamberlain continue to play impressively at LB.
Chamberlain already has two interceptions - I think that's more than I saw in three different days of practice last season. The Rams wouldn't dare hit on both seventh-round draft picks, would they? These two players' stories will be very interesting to watch.
* Bruce Gradkowski, otoh...
Gradkowski's signing seemed to be a good correction to what I thought was a big draft day mistake by the Rams in failing to pick up a QB to replace Brock Berlin. Well, maybe not so much. Gradkowski's inaccurate passing so far is keeping Berlin in the race.
Do you know how awful a QB has to be to have difficulty beating Brock Berlin out for a job? Linehan preferred having NO third-string QB last year to having Berlin! Berlin more than justified that assessment with his completely-overwhelmed performance in Cincinnati last December.
I haven't heard how some of the later-drafted rookie QBs are faring so far in this year's camps, but keep an eye out for a fiasco in the making here at third-string QB. Again.
How hard can it be to get this position right? Is Jamie Martin available?
* Sporting News Today plug.
I thought it was worth an update to give a full recommendation to Sporting News' online magazine, Sporting News Today. SNT has a lot of what I miss in the print magazine. Baseball box scores are back! Transactions are back! Reporting on minor sports is back! This may make up somewhat for the decision to grossly cut back the print mag to a biweekly publication; we'll see. Right now it looks like the magazine's online and offline presences will work very well together.
Use IE to access Sporting News Today, though; I only get error pages trying to access it in Firefox.
Between the lines, 7/28
Again, see also Nick Wagoner's stlouisrams.com blog.
* Position battle at center heating up.
Richie Incognito has reportedly settled down after a bad first day of camp, and coaches are ready to rotate him and Brett Romberg at the center position now. In Incognito's defense, he has flipped from guard to center a lot in his career, which certainly will account for a slow start this year. If he's dialed in now, there should be a super competition at center.
* Defensive line depth takes another whack as Josh Thompson suffered the second significant injury of camp. He's out up to a month after tearing a plantar fascia. For Thompson's sake, let's hope he's not an injury settlement footnote in NFL history, because it seems like he has a little game. The Rams are beyond thin on the d-line right now, though, and had better hit the waiver wire.
* Position battle at center heating up.
Richie Incognito has reportedly settled down after a bad first day of camp, and coaches are ready to rotate him and Brett Romberg at the center position now. In Incognito's defense, he has flipped from guard to center a lot in his career, which certainly will account for a slow start this year. If he's dialed in now, there should be a super competition at center.
* Defensive line depth takes another whack as Josh Thompson suffered the second significant injury of camp. He's out up to a month after tearing a plantar fascia. For Thompson's sake, let's hope he's not an injury settlement footnote in NFL history, because it seems like he has a little game. The Rams are beyond thin on the d-line right now, though, and had better hit the waiver wire.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Traning camp headlines 7/27
One practice this afternoon.
* Jackson holdout, day 3. No new news. I do have to say I disagree with the people who say it'll be no big deal if Jackson misses a couple of weeks in camp, because he'll be worked very lightly and will barely be used in the first couple of preseason games, which Bill Coats suggested at the start of camp.
I disagree COMPLETELY with this approach. Jackson, like many of the Rams' starters, needs to be working his ass off in training camp, and needs plenty of live snaps in preseason games. Scott Linehan tried the strategy of leaving Jackson in the garage last preseason. Come the regular season, it failed spectacularly. Jackson lost the Carolina game with two fumbles, something he rarely does and something that showed he was still knocking off a sizable amount of rust even though the games were counting now. He needs the contact, he needs the live action in preseason, to be ready for the regular season.
And how much did resting Jackson last preseason help save him from injury? None, he was already out of the lineup BY WEEK FOUR! Who knows, maybe preseason contact can actually toughen a player up for the regular season?
That's the most distressing thing to me about this holdout. Well, that and the lack of integrity in honoring a legal contract. Jackson needs to have his ass in camp, where he needs to be working it off, to be ready for the regular season. Otherwise, the only history we have on him says he's going to be rusty week 1 in Philadelphia. Nobody wants that.
* Fakhir Brown out 2-3 weeks with a slightly-torn rotator cuff. Eh, I wonder how much the Rams' brass is counting on him not to pull a Wroten anyway. Big opportunity here for Ron Bartell to shine, maybe his last chance considering the young CBs stacked up behind him.
* Early stars of camp: Keenan Burton and Chris Chamberlain. Donnie Avery also looked good once he finally showed up for practice. Good to see the very early returns to at least know the Rams haven't picked up a bunch of stiffs. Though as I noted in another post, Burton, who was frequently injured last year, has already developed tendinitis.
* Attendance: 400 yesterday morning, 600 yesterday afternoon. One-third or one-fourth of what they would have had in St. Louis. So if Scott Linehan's goal in moving training camp 600 miles away was to kill fan participation, congratulations, coach, you've done it.
* Jackson holdout, day 3. No new news. I do have to say I disagree with the people who say it'll be no big deal if Jackson misses a couple of weeks in camp, because he'll be worked very lightly and will barely be used in the first couple of preseason games, which Bill Coats suggested at the start of camp.
I disagree COMPLETELY with this approach. Jackson, like many of the Rams' starters, needs to be working his ass off in training camp, and needs plenty of live snaps in preseason games. Scott Linehan tried the strategy of leaving Jackson in the garage last preseason. Come the regular season, it failed spectacularly. Jackson lost the Carolina game with two fumbles, something he rarely does and something that showed he was still knocking off a sizable amount of rust even though the games were counting now. He needs the contact, he needs the live action in preseason, to be ready for the regular season.
And how much did resting Jackson last preseason help save him from injury? None, he was already out of the lineup BY WEEK FOUR! Who knows, maybe preseason contact can actually toughen a player up for the regular season?
That's the most distressing thing to me about this holdout. Well, that and the lack of integrity in honoring a legal contract. Jackson needs to have his ass in camp, where he needs to be working it off, to be ready for the regular season. Otherwise, the only history we have on him says he's going to be rusty week 1 in Philadelphia. Nobody wants that.
* Fakhir Brown out 2-3 weeks with a slightly-torn rotator cuff. Eh, I wonder how much the Rams' brass is counting on him not to pull a Wroten anyway. Big opportunity here for Ron Bartell to shine, maybe his last chance considering the young CBs stacked up behind him.
* Early stars of camp: Keenan Burton and Chris Chamberlain. Donnie Avery also looked good once he finally showed up for practice. Good to see the very early returns to at least know the Rams haven't picked up a bunch of stiffs. Though as I noted in another post, Burton, who was frequently injured last year, has already developed tendinitis.
* Attendance: 400 yesterday morning, 600 yesterday afternoon. One-third or one-fourth of what they would have had in St. Louis. So if Scott Linehan's goal in moving training camp 600 miles away was to kill fan participation, congratulations, coach, you've done it.
Injury report 7/27
Fakhir Brown came down with the first significant injury of this year's training camp, a slight tear in his left rotator cuff that will keep him down for two to three weeks. The biggest beneficiary here will be Ron Bartell, who's very quietly in the walk year of his contract and will benefit by getting all the field time he can.
That appears to be the only significant injury. Probably the next most worrisome is Victor Adeyanju's tight hamstring. Throw in the Claude Wroten debacle, and that defensive line is getting pretty thin, and it simply isn't good enough to be that thin. They need eight healthy guys on that unit, though Scott Linehan inadvisably plans to go with 7.
The other injury of interest is that Keenan Burton is playing with tendinitis. My biggest objection to trading up to draft Burton was the smorgasbord of injuries he had his senior year.
Doesn't look like that's letting up any.
(This post not intended to be a comprehensive injury report.)
That appears to be the only significant injury. Probably the next most worrisome is Victor Adeyanju's tight hamstring. Throw in the Claude Wroten debacle, and that defensive line is getting pretty thin, and it simply isn't good enough to be that thin. They need eight healthy guys on that unit, though Scott Linehan inadvisably plans to go with 7.
The other injury of interest is that Keenan Burton is playing with tendinitis. My biggest objection to trading up to draft Burton was the smorgasbord of injuries he had his senior year.
Doesn't look like that's letting up any.
(This post not intended to be a comprehensive injury report.)
Between the lines 7/27
I can only go by what I've read, but it seems like Brett Romberg has an edge over Richie Incognito right now in the position battle at center. Incognito struggled early in the first practice, causing at least three fumbled snaps, and he and Trent Green appeared to have words with one another at one point.
Criticizing the third-round pick of Incognito in '05 has seemed at times to be one of my poorer calls. You have to admire the guy's mauler personality, you have to admire that he'll stand up for his teammates. He's also been a pretty capable blocker. He has all the physical tools and seems to be someone who can be developed into one of the best offensive linemen in the league.
Of course, the Rams drafted Incognito high even though he blew out a knee at that year's Combine and couldn't even play. He hasn't been able to stay healthy ever since, including missing a significant amount of play last year.
Then there's the bad penalties Incognito repeatedly takes, a fair offshoot of the knucklehead personality traits he showed in college at Nebraska, where he was suspended a couple of times for anger issues before finally getting kicked off the team before he could even play his senior year.
So yeah, anger management issues, blown knee, didn't play his senior year. Let's draft him in the third round!
Incognito's physical abilities have been enough to justify that pick. His psychological abilities, though, aren't showing the growth that they need to be at this point in his career. Turning around and snapping at Trent Green is not a good sign that this guy has his act together.
I'm looking for Romberg to win the center job, with Incognito sliding over to RG and Mark Setterstrom backing up both positions, until the enigmatic Incognito inevitably pulls that one stunt so stupid the Rams can't live with it any more.
Criticizing the third-round pick of Incognito in '05 has seemed at times to be one of my poorer calls. You have to admire the guy's mauler personality, you have to admire that he'll stand up for his teammates. He's also been a pretty capable blocker. He has all the physical tools and seems to be someone who can be developed into one of the best offensive linemen in the league.
Of course, the Rams drafted Incognito high even though he blew out a knee at that year's Combine and couldn't even play. He hasn't been able to stay healthy ever since, including missing a significant amount of play last year.
Then there's the bad penalties Incognito repeatedly takes, a fair offshoot of the knucklehead personality traits he showed in college at Nebraska, where he was suspended a couple of times for anger issues before finally getting kicked off the team before he could even play his senior year.
So yeah, anger management issues, blown knee, didn't play his senior year. Let's draft him in the third round!
Incognito's physical abilities have been enough to justify that pick. His psychological abilities, though, aren't showing the growth that they need to be at this point in his career. Turning around and snapping at Trent Green is not a good sign that this guy has his act together.
I'm looking for Romberg to win the center job, with Incognito sliding over to RG and Mark Setterstrom backing up both positions, until the enigmatic Incognito inevitably pulls that one stunt so stupid the Rams can't live with it any more.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Training camp headlines 7/26
Morning and afternoon practices scheduled today.
* Steven Jackson's holdout continues. Jay Zygmunt draws a hard line, though.
My apologies to Bryan Burwell, who nailed exactly what Steven Jackson was going to do. Shame on me for giving Jackson the benefit of the doubt, that he was more about team than himself, that he had the integrity to honor his contract.
Steven Jackson had no fucking business complaining about Rams ticketholders coughing up their seats to Steelers, Packers and Bears fans the last couple of years when he won't even honor his own god damn contract.
Jay Zygmunt and the Rams are completely in the right here. They tried to open negotiations with Jackson early this year. His original agent dumped him. Then he didn't tell the Rams who his new agent was. Nevertheless, the Rams still made him an offer Thursday night that would have made him one of the highest paid running backs in the NFL.
Jackson and his agent rejected that offer yesterday afternoon and announced that Jackson wouldn't report to camp.
Zygmunt said, fine, he's under contract, he'll be fined for every day of practice he misses. And we're not re-opening negotiations until he reports to camp.
Bully, I say, for Jay Zygmunt. There was no reason for this situation to escalate into what it has. Players under contract almost never hold out in the NFL any more, but Eugene Parker's apparently out to become the new Carl Poston. His two marquee clients, Jackson and Devin Hester, have both disrespected their existing contracts in prima donna negotiating ploys, though it's worth noting that Hester's back in Bears camp after a one-day holdout.
Even Rashad, er, Burwell, agrees now that the next step is for Jackson to report to camp. I disagree with Burwell's attitude toward the player/owner contractual relationship. Kurt Warner, Isaac Bruce, Marc Bulger, Torry Holt, Leonard Little, and many others didn't choose to do business the way Jackson and Eugene Parker have. Truly, no Ram player has chosen to do business this way in 10 years, when Jerome Bettis held out and turned himself into a St. Louis football pariah. Hell, even Pace and Carl Poston never pulled their negotiating stunts while Pace was under contract.
Steven Jackson needs to get his petulant ass in training camp. Now.
* Donnie Avery signed to a 4-year deal.
As I posted earlier, the key negotiating ploy here? One very good practice by Keenan Burton. Chuckle.
* Conservative football?
Rush Limbaugh has been making noise that he's interested in buying the Rams.
First off, all of the people in the press who like this or that player or owner - for instance, Steven Jackson - because they're always good for a quote should LOVE Rush Limbaugh. St. Louis' sportswriters should be begging for Rush to buy the team, politics aside, as it should be when you're reporting sports.
But for real, even though Limbaugh just agreed to a deal worth something like 300 or 400 MILLION DOLLARS, even he wouldn't appear to be rich enough to become the majority owner of the Rams. The Rosenblooms' share of the team is valued in that neighborhood. I don't estimate that Rush has the independent wealth to buy that share, and he has already conceded that he would have to go into significant debt to pull off such a purchase. He's more fantasizing out loud than anything else.
Which is a shame, because the man is a huge football fan and I believe he'd be a lot of fun to have around as an owner. But it ain't going to happen.
* Yesterday's crowd was estimated at about 250.
Actually, that compares to some of the weekday crowds the Rams drew in St. Louis last year. It will be interesting to see how well this weekend's practices are attended.
* Rare props for St. Louis media.
My original fears that training camp coverage would be sparse in the local media this year have so far been unfounded. The St. Louis media is all over camp so far. Fox-2 is doing a half-hour report from training camp tonight. I think all the local channels have sent their sports anchors north, at least for now. And Nick Wagoner, Howard Balzer, Jim Thomas and Bill Coats are all turning in yeoman work so far. Coverage has definitely exceeded my expectations so far.
* Steven Jackson's holdout continues. Jay Zygmunt draws a hard line, though.
My apologies to Bryan Burwell, who nailed exactly what Steven Jackson was going to do. Shame on me for giving Jackson the benefit of the doubt, that he was more about team than himself, that he had the integrity to honor his contract.
Steven Jackson had no fucking business complaining about Rams ticketholders coughing up their seats to Steelers, Packers and Bears fans the last couple of years when he won't even honor his own god damn contract.
Jay Zygmunt and the Rams are completely in the right here. They tried to open negotiations with Jackson early this year. His original agent dumped him. Then he didn't tell the Rams who his new agent was. Nevertheless, the Rams still made him an offer Thursday night that would have made him one of the highest paid running backs in the NFL.
Jackson and his agent rejected that offer yesterday afternoon and announced that Jackson wouldn't report to camp.
Zygmunt said, fine, he's under contract, he'll be fined for every day of practice he misses. And we're not re-opening negotiations until he reports to camp.
Bully, I say, for Jay Zygmunt. There was no reason for this situation to escalate into what it has. Players under contract almost never hold out in the NFL any more, but Eugene Parker's apparently out to become the new Carl Poston. His two marquee clients, Jackson and Devin Hester, have both disrespected their existing contracts in prima donna negotiating ploys, though it's worth noting that Hester's back in Bears camp after a one-day holdout.
Even Rashad, er, Burwell, agrees now that the next step is for Jackson to report to camp. I disagree with Burwell's attitude toward the player/owner contractual relationship. Kurt Warner, Isaac Bruce, Marc Bulger, Torry Holt, Leonard Little, and many others didn't choose to do business the way Jackson and Eugene Parker have. Truly, no Ram player has chosen to do business this way in 10 years, when Jerome Bettis held out and turned himself into a St. Louis football pariah. Hell, even Pace and Carl Poston never pulled their negotiating stunts while Pace was under contract.
Steven Jackson needs to get his petulant ass in training camp. Now.
* Donnie Avery signed to a 4-year deal.
As I posted earlier, the key negotiating ploy here? One very good practice by Keenan Burton. Chuckle.
* Conservative football?
Rush Limbaugh has been making noise that he's interested in buying the Rams.
First off, all of the people in the press who like this or that player or owner - for instance, Steven Jackson - because they're always good for a quote should LOVE Rush Limbaugh. St. Louis' sportswriters should be begging for Rush to buy the team, politics aside, as it should be when you're reporting sports.
But for real, even though Limbaugh just agreed to a deal worth something like 300 or 400 MILLION DOLLARS, even he wouldn't appear to be rich enough to become the majority owner of the Rams. The Rosenblooms' share of the team is valued in that neighborhood. I don't estimate that Rush has the independent wealth to buy that share, and he has already conceded that he would have to go into significant debt to pull off such a purchase. He's more fantasizing out loud than anything else.
Which is a shame, because the man is a huge football fan and I believe he'd be a lot of fun to have around as an owner. But it ain't going to happen.
* Yesterday's crowd was estimated at about 250.
Actually, that compares to some of the weekday crowds the Rams drew in St. Louis last year. It will be interesting to see how well this weekend's practices are attended.
* Rare props for St. Louis media.
My original fears that training camp coverage would be sparse in the local media this year have so far been unfounded. The St. Louis media is all over camp so far. Fox-2 is doing a half-hour report from training camp tonight. I think all the local channels have sent their sports anchors north, at least for now. And Nick Wagoner, Howard Balzer, Jim Thomas and Bill Coats are all turning in yeoman work so far. Coverage has definitely exceeded my expectations so far.
Between the lines 7/26
Per Howard Balzer's blog, these were the Rams' offensive line units Friday:
1st string: Orlando Pace, Jacob Bell, Brett Romberg, Mark Setterstrom, Alex Barron
2nd string: Brandon Gorin, Roy Schuening, Richie Incognito, Dustin Fry, John Greco
Nick Wagoner's camp report, which I would link to if the Rams' website weren't a slow piece of shit, mentions that Pace pancaked Chris Long during one-on-one drills, but Chris bounced back later against Adam Goldberg. That's good to hear, because if Long can't beat Goldberg pretty regularly, like the rest of the NFL's defensive linemen, he's in early trouble. Also nice to hear Pace is back to his old form, and that my boy Schuening is getting a good look.
Not as good to hear that James Hall pancaked Jacob Bell. Hall looked pretty good last summer, too, then disappeared in the regular season. Jacob Bell should be neutralizing him with ease.
Biggest surprise so far is that Goldberg isn't listed as part of either of the first two units. This is pretty much a make-or-break training camp for Fry, so maybe he's just being given as good a shot as possible.
1st string: Orlando Pace, Jacob Bell, Brett Romberg, Mark Setterstrom, Alex Barron
2nd string: Brandon Gorin, Roy Schuening, Richie Incognito, Dustin Fry, John Greco
Nick Wagoner's camp report, which I would link to if the Rams' website weren't a slow piece of shit, mentions that Pace pancaked Chris Long during one-on-one drills, but Chris bounced back later against Adam Goldberg. That's good to hear, because if Long can't beat Goldberg pretty regularly, like the rest of the NFL's defensive linemen, he's in early trouble. Also nice to hear Pace is back to his old form, and that my boy Schuening is getting a good look.
Not as good to hear that James Hall pancaked Jacob Bell. Hall looked pretty good last summer, too, then disappeared in the regular season. Jacob Bell should be neutralizing him with ease.
Biggest surprise so far is that Goldberg isn't listed as part of either of the first two units. This is pretty much a make-or-break training camp for Fry, so maybe he's just being given as good a shot as possible.
Donnie Avery finally signs
News is on the wire that Donnie Avery and his agent have stopped being idiots, and that he signed a 4-year deal during this morning's workouts. He's expected to be in this afternoon's practice.
What made all of this funny was the unabashed hype that came out of Mequon all day yesterday making fellow rookie WR Keenan Burton sound like the next coming of Jerry Rice. Blatant posing by the Rams to hurry Avery's ass along, willingly echoed in every press report I heard and saw from yesterday.
Yeah, I hope Burton is tearing it up, but the amount of excitement over the guy after one practice borders on ridiculous. But if some hype was what was needed to get Avery off his ass, good for the hype. And again, good for Burton.
The other possibility is that Avery's signing was triggered by Philip Merling being signed right in front of him, so they had their "bracket", though by all accounts, the Rams had already made a very fair offer that Avery easily could have agreed to and gotten into camp on time. I don't know if Avery and his agent are lazy, stupid, or both, but he's created a hurdle for himself on the playing field now that he'd better clear with hard work and capable play.
What made all of this funny was the unabashed hype that came out of Mequon all day yesterday making fellow rookie WR Keenan Burton sound like the next coming of Jerry Rice. Blatant posing by the Rams to hurry Avery's ass along, willingly echoed in every press report I heard and saw from yesterday.
Yeah, I hope Burton is tearing it up, but the amount of excitement over the guy after one practice borders on ridiculous. But if some hype was what was needed to get Avery off his ass, good for the hype. And again, good for Burton.
The other possibility is that Avery's signing was triggered by Philip Merling being signed right in front of him, so they had their "bracket", though by all accounts, the Rams had already made a very fair offer that Avery easily could have agreed to and gotten into camp on time. I don't know if Avery and his agent are lazy, stupid, or both, but he's created a hurdle for himself on the playing field now that he'd better clear with hard work and capable play.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Training camp headlines 7/25 (updated)
Camp officially opens at 9:15 this morning; first practice is late this afternoon.
* Orlando Pace will practice.
The all-pro LT and one of the team's linchpins will not be placed on the PUP list, which was being considered. His reps will be limited.
Though no one ever liked his summer holdouts, Pace is one guy who's proven he can hit the regular season running without a lot of training camp work. Heck, he may be better off without it. The Rams appear to be playing it very smart here by keeping Pace mostly under wraps.
* Jackson negotiations
With (almost) all of the 2008 draft class signed, focus shifts to Steven Jackson's contract. Jackson is in his walk year. Jackson was granted permission, says Scott Linehan, to skip the team charter up to Mequon and travel on his own, an arrangement that seems to have caught everyone else with the team by surprise and has led to speculation that Jackson is actually going to stage a holdout.
Brian Burwell has immediately started stirring that pot in what seems to be his ongoing attempt to become Ahmad Rashad to Jackson's Michael Jordan. Jackson's agent has already advised Devin Hester to hold out on the Bears. And besides, Jackson deserves to hold out, says Burwell. He deserves to use his leverage.
Well, no, he doesn't. He's under a contract and should have the integrity to honor it. Kurt Warner did. Isaac Bruce did. Marc Bulger tossed the idea of a holdout around last year but didn't miss any practices. Does Jackson deserve a new contract? Definitely, though I'd sure like to see him play more than, oh, one season in a row without missing chunks of it injured. I'd like to see him pick up a blitz every now and then so he has a QB to play with. And it's not like he's making minimum wage now. But yes, it's reasonable to say Steven's career thus far merits a megadollar contract. And the Rams made a good-faith effort to get negotiations going this year, but Jackson's agent curiously bowed out and bogged the process down.
The front office is doing the right thing here, so far. It's on Jackson to follow suit by reporting to camp like he's supposed to, though again, it's fairly wild speculation right now that's saying he won't.
Update: Jackson was not at this morning's team meeting and can officially be considered a holdout. There is no valid reason for Jackson not to be in camp at this point; his presence is not required at negotiations. Glass half-full, this may mean he and the team are really close to a new deal, though again, his ass should be in camp right now. Glass half-empty, he and his agent are pulling an all-too-familiar prima donna negotiating ploy. And his ass should still be in camp.
Either way, and I'm hoping for the best, get your ass in camp, Jackson. Show some integrity and honor your contract.
* Where the f-ck is Donnie Avery?
Linehan believes Avery will be in camp in time for the first team meeting. RamView thinks it's completely stupid that Avery's agent and he have dawdled around for this long. Let's hope Linehan is mostly right and Avery is at least on the field for practice this afternoon.
Update: Avery also missed this morning's meeting. He may not officially be considered a holdout because he doesn't have a contract, but he's a holdout as far as I'm concerned. It is flatout stupid at this point that Avery is not under contract. Devin Thomas, one pick behind Avery, and also a wide receiver, signed a 4-year, $4.83M contract with the Redskins TWO WEEKS AGO. My rudimentary research of this year's and last year's contracts in Avery's area of the draft show he's in line for a 4-year deal in the $5M - $5.2M range. There is no fathomable reason this couldn't have been figured out and agreed to by reasonable people by now. This is stupid, wretched timing for a rookie who needs all the reps he can to polish his route-running skills and fight the perception that he shouldn't have been the first WR taken in the '08 draft. And for a team that doesn't need its top offensive pick falling behind from the get-go.
* Orlando Pace will practice.
The all-pro LT and one of the team's linchpins will not be placed on the PUP list, which was being considered. His reps will be limited.
Though no one ever liked his summer holdouts, Pace is one guy who's proven he can hit the regular season running without a lot of training camp work. Heck, he may be better off without it. The Rams appear to be playing it very smart here by keeping Pace mostly under wraps.
* Jackson negotiations
With (almost) all of the 2008 draft class signed, focus shifts to Steven Jackson's contract. Jackson is in his walk year. Jackson was granted permission, says Scott Linehan, to skip the team charter up to Mequon and travel on his own, an arrangement that seems to have caught everyone else with the team by surprise and has led to speculation that Jackson is actually going to stage a holdout.
Brian Burwell has immediately started stirring that pot in what seems to be his ongoing attempt to become Ahmad Rashad to Jackson's Michael Jordan. Jackson's agent has already advised Devin Hester to hold out on the Bears. And besides, Jackson deserves to hold out, says Burwell. He deserves to use his leverage.
Well, no, he doesn't. He's under a contract and should have the integrity to honor it. Kurt Warner did. Isaac Bruce did. Marc Bulger tossed the idea of a holdout around last year but didn't miss any practices. Does Jackson deserve a new contract? Definitely, though I'd sure like to see him play more than, oh, one season in a row without missing chunks of it injured. I'd like to see him pick up a blitz every now and then so he has a QB to play with. And it's not like he's making minimum wage now. But yes, it's reasonable to say Steven's career thus far merits a megadollar contract. And the Rams made a good-faith effort to get negotiations going this year, but Jackson's agent curiously bowed out and bogged the process down.
The front office is doing the right thing here, so far. It's on Jackson to follow suit by reporting to camp like he's supposed to, though again, it's fairly wild speculation right now that's saying he won't.
Update: Jackson was not at this morning's team meeting and can officially be considered a holdout. There is no valid reason for Jackson not to be in camp at this point; his presence is not required at negotiations. Glass half-full, this may mean he and the team are really close to a new deal, though again, his ass should be in camp right now. Glass half-empty, he and his agent are pulling an all-too-familiar prima donna negotiating ploy. And his ass should still be in camp.
Either way, and I'm hoping for the best, get your ass in camp, Jackson. Show some integrity and honor your contract.
* Where the f-ck is Donnie Avery?
Linehan believes Avery will be in camp in time for the first team meeting. RamView thinks it's completely stupid that Avery's agent and he have dawdled around for this long. Let's hope Linehan is mostly right and Avery is at least on the field for practice this afternoon.
Update: Avery also missed this morning's meeting. He may not officially be considered a holdout because he doesn't have a contract, but he's a holdout as far as I'm concerned. It is flatout stupid at this point that Avery is not under contract. Devin Thomas, one pick behind Avery, and also a wide receiver, signed a 4-year, $4.83M contract with the Redskins TWO WEEKS AGO. My rudimentary research of this year's and last year's contracts in Avery's area of the draft show he's in line for a 4-year deal in the $5M - $5.2M range. There is no fathomable reason this couldn't have been figured out and agreed to by reasonable people by now. This is stupid, wretched timing for a rookie who needs all the reps he can to polish his route-running skills and fight the perception that he shouldn't have been the first WR taken in the '08 draft. And for a team that doesn't need its top offensive pick falling behind from the get-go.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Third-round 2006 reflections
RamView liked the start the Rams got off to in the 2006 draft. In the first round, the Rams traded down, didn't take a QB, and still got the player they wanted in Tye Hill, the best pure corner in the draft who didn't have any injury flags. (Sadly, Hill has turned out to be injured half the time as a pro, while Antonio Cromartie, hitting that draft with a blown ACL, has turned out to be an all-pro.) And given their needs at the TE position, Joe Klopfenstein looked like a smart pick in the second round.
Had RamView been running that draft, the first two picks likely would have been Brodrick Bunkley and Klopfenstein. So maybe you don't want RamView in your war room.
Actually, though, there are other times you'd want RamView, or anybody else on earth, for that matter, in your war room, considering the hash the Rams made of the third round. They got nothing but arrests and suspensions out of the THREE (!) picks they had that round.
#68 was acquired from the Broncos in the trade in the first round where the Rams moved down and let Denver take Jay Cutler. The Rams used the pick on one Claude Wroten, who had been arrested earlier in 2006 with so much marijuana in his car that the authorities considered prosecuting him as a drug dealer. Wroten wasn't allowed to participate in the NFL Combine that year. There was every reason to believe he was a highly risky pick. But the Rams, perhaps because the pick was free, sort of, pulled the trigger.
And shot themselves in the foot. Wroten has more failed drug tests in his career than sacks, and goes down in the record books as another miserable failure of a knucklehead draft pick.
Meanwhile, RamView had been pining away all day, starting in the second round, for Alabama DE Mark Anderson, who tore it up at the Combine and met a huge need on a defensive line that already wasn't pressuring QBs very well. Anderson went on to score 12 sacks that season, leading all rookies and finishing right behind Leonard Little, who had 13. And though Bears Nation seems to have considered Anderson's 2007 season a disappointment, he still had five sacks, which is more than 3 times Wroten's career total, and would have made him third on the Rams in sacks last year, with just a half-sack less than all the 2007 Rams DEs COMBINED.
Now at pick #77, their "own" pick for the third round, the Rams took Stanford LB Jon Alston, a LB/safety tweener-type RamView couldn't really figure out a use for while I scratched my head trying to figure out why the Rams weren't doing more to bolster their pass rush. Apparently, the idea was to turn Alston into the Haslett defense's "buck end". We saw how that worked out. Alston rarely got onto the field and was cut in training camp last year, after just one season, for repeatedly blowing assignments.
Meanwhile, RamView wouldn't shut up about this Jerious Norwood kid. The Rams needed depth at RB, and still available here was a guy who blistered a sub-4.4 40 at the Combine, and as an explosive runner spelling Steven Jackson, would give opposing defenses nightmares. And as I've said a million times, it's hard to go wrong with SEC running backs. True, Norwood has turned into Michael Turner's luggage-carrier in Atlanta, but you don't have to watch him for long - last year's Rams-Falcons game, for instance - to see the guy is fast, explosive and a big play waiting to happen. He's dangerous as a runner and a receiver. He'd certainly be a far cry better than Antonio Pittman or Travis Minor.
Late in that third round, the Rams surprised everybody by trading up into pick #93 to take USC TE Dominique Byrd. This was a hard pick for RamView to argue against, in part because I was gassed from a long day of draft-watching and got caught off guard, but also because the Rams still needed players at TE, and Byrd had shown good on-field production. What I will say is that a team that also still needed DTs after taking Wroten passed on prospects such as Domata Peko, Barry Cofield and Kyle Williams to pick another guy who ended up with more career arrests than impact plays. I know I was a Kyle Williams (oddly, from LSU like Wroten) fan, at least. And you can accuse me of hindsight for listing Peko, but hey, it's not like the Bengals have ever been a draft juggernaut. A pure pass rusher like Elvis Dumervil, who had 12.5 sacks last year, and 21 in two seasons for Denver, was also available, though like many, I was worried Elvis was too small to hold up.
In any event, which draft is better?
Tye Hill, Joe Klopfenstein, Claude Wroten, Jon Alston, Dominique Byrd?
or
Brodrick Bunkley (had similar numbers to Adam Carriker last year), Klopfenstein, Mark Anderson, Jerious Norwood, Kyle Williams?
Maybe I'll go ahead and put in for the next Rams war room opening anyway. (Though I might wait and see what kind of pro player Limas Sweed turns out to be first.)
Had RamView been running that draft, the first two picks likely would have been Brodrick Bunkley and Klopfenstein. So maybe you don't want RamView in your war room.
Actually, though, there are other times you'd want RamView, or anybody else on earth, for that matter, in your war room, considering the hash the Rams made of the third round. They got nothing but arrests and suspensions out of the THREE (!) picks they had that round.
#68 was acquired from the Broncos in the trade in the first round where the Rams moved down and let Denver take Jay Cutler. The Rams used the pick on one Claude Wroten, who had been arrested earlier in 2006 with so much marijuana in his car that the authorities considered prosecuting him as a drug dealer. Wroten wasn't allowed to participate in the NFL Combine that year. There was every reason to believe he was a highly risky pick. But the Rams, perhaps because the pick was free, sort of, pulled the trigger.
And shot themselves in the foot. Wroten has more failed drug tests in his career than sacks, and goes down in the record books as another miserable failure of a knucklehead draft pick.
Meanwhile, RamView had been pining away all day, starting in the second round, for Alabama DE Mark Anderson, who tore it up at the Combine and met a huge need on a defensive line that already wasn't pressuring QBs very well. Anderson went on to score 12 sacks that season, leading all rookies and finishing right behind Leonard Little, who had 13. And though Bears Nation seems to have considered Anderson's 2007 season a disappointment, he still had five sacks, which is more than 3 times Wroten's career total, and would have made him third on the Rams in sacks last year, with just a half-sack less than all the 2007 Rams DEs COMBINED.
Now at pick #77, their "own" pick for the third round, the Rams took Stanford LB Jon Alston, a LB/safety tweener-type RamView couldn't really figure out a use for while I scratched my head trying to figure out why the Rams weren't doing more to bolster their pass rush. Apparently, the idea was to turn Alston into the Haslett defense's "buck end". We saw how that worked out. Alston rarely got onto the field and was cut in training camp last year, after just one season, for repeatedly blowing assignments.
Meanwhile, RamView wouldn't shut up about this Jerious Norwood kid. The Rams needed depth at RB, and still available here was a guy who blistered a sub-4.4 40 at the Combine, and as an explosive runner spelling Steven Jackson, would give opposing defenses nightmares. And as I've said a million times, it's hard to go wrong with SEC running backs. True, Norwood has turned into Michael Turner's luggage-carrier in Atlanta, but you don't have to watch him for long - last year's Rams-Falcons game, for instance - to see the guy is fast, explosive and a big play waiting to happen. He's dangerous as a runner and a receiver. He'd certainly be a far cry better than Antonio Pittman or Travis Minor.
Late in that third round, the Rams surprised everybody by trading up into pick #93 to take USC TE Dominique Byrd. This was a hard pick for RamView to argue against, in part because I was gassed from a long day of draft-watching and got caught off guard, but also because the Rams still needed players at TE, and Byrd had shown good on-field production. What I will say is that a team that also still needed DTs after taking Wroten passed on prospects such as Domata Peko, Barry Cofield and Kyle Williams to pick another guy who ended up with more career arrests than impact plays. I know I was a Kyle Williams (oddly, from LSU like Wroten) fan, at least. And you can accuse me of hindsight for listing Peko, but hey, it's not like the Bengals have ever been a draft juggernaut. A pure pass rusher like Elvis Dumervil, who had 12.5 sacks last year, and 21 in two seasons for Denver, was also available, though like many, I was worried Elvis was too small to hold up.
In any event, which draft is better?
Tye Hill, Joe Klopfenstein, Claude Wroten, Jon Alston, Dominique Byrd?
or
Brodrick Bunkley (had similar numbers to Adam Carriker last year), Klopfenstein, Mark Anderson, Jerious Norwood, Kyle Williams?
Maybe I'll go ahead and put in for the next Rams war room opening anyway. (Though I might wait and see what kind of pro player Limas Sweed turns out to be first.)
Rams sign Justin King
In a little brighter news, the Rams signed 4th-round pick Justin King to a three-year contract, so with players due to report today, and practices due to start tomorrow, everybody's under contract from the '08 draft except Donnie Avery. Apparently the holdup on Avery is that Philip Merling, who was picked right in front of him, hasn't signed with the Dolphins yet.
I call bullshit on that. Devin Thomas, drafted right behind Avery, is signed, as is Kenny Phillips, drafted two picks ahead of Avery. There is very little secret what Avery's going to make as the #33 pick.
Repeating an earlier post, it's probably more important to Avery to get into camp on time than it was for Chris Long. Avery's agent needs to quit screwing around and get Avery's ass in camp. Now.
I call bullshit on that. Devin Thomas, drafted right behind Avery, is signed, as is Kenny Phillips, drafted two picks ahead of Avery. There is very little secret what Avery's going to make as the #33 pick.
Repeating an earlier post, it's probably more important to Avery to get into camp on time than it was for Chris Long. Avery's agent needs to quit screwing around and get Avery's ass in camp. Now.
Claude Wroten, freaking idiot
Firmly cementing his status as one of the biggest freaking idiots to piss away an NFL career, and as one of the league's biggest draft busts of recent years, fucking idiot Claude Wroten has been suspended for a year by the NFL for violating the league's substance abuse policy.
I don't know if I should be more disappointed by Wroten's complete idiocy, or that nobody's really surprised he finally toked his way out of the league.
Claude will be remembered most for:
* Howard Balzer's radio rant against drafting him right after he was picked,
* that time he tore off the door of his girlfriend's apartment and got arrested,
* that time he got suspended for four weeks,
* and that time he got suspended for a year.
Howard, and most of us in Rams Nation, knew in our bones in 2006 that drafting Wroten was a very bad idea, and the fucking idiot didn't do a god damn thing to prove otherwise. As Jim Thomas mentions more diplomatically in his article, what a colossal clusterfuck the Rams made of the third round of the 2006 draft. Three picks and nothing but arrests and suspensions to show for it.
As for Claude Wroten, who Scott Linehan should have cut last season in the first place, may you never darken the door of Rams Park or any other NFL facility again.
Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Wroten is banned for 1 year by NFL
By Jim Thomas
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
07/24/2008
If there was any doubt about the third round of the Rams' 2006 draft being a disaster, Wednesday's suspension of defensive tackle Claude Wroten makes it official.
The Rams had three third-round picks that year, and none of them will play a down for the Rams in 2008.
Speedy but undersized linebacker Jon Alston was released by the team at the end of training camp last year. He subsequently signed with Oakland.
After a couple of scrapes with the law, tight end Dominique Byrd was cut shortly after this year's draft. One of the lasting memories of Byrd at Rams Park is that he occasionally was asked to stand up during position meetings because of his penchant for falling asleep at work.
And now Wroten. The No. 68 overall pick in '06, and the first of the third-rounders that year, he was suspended for the entire 2008 season for violating the league's substance abuse policy. According to an NFL statement, Wroten cannot be reinstated any sooner than May 30, 2009.
"We're moving on," coach Scott Linehan told the Post-Dispatch Wednesday night. "That's it. It's a league matter. The league has informed him he will not be eligible for the league season and training camp."
Wroten entered training camp as the backup to La'Roi Glover at the "3-technique" position, and the No. 4 tackle overall in the defensive line rotation. So in that sense, his suspension had negligible impact on the depth chart.
"It doesn't change much," Linehan said. "He was back a little bit in the depth."
Glover and Adam Carriker remain the starters. Clifton Ryan remains the top backup, and now could play even more this season. The Rams probably will take seven defensive linemen into the regular season, with defensive ends Leonard Little, Chris Long and James Hall, and end-tackle swingman Victor Adeyanju, joining Glover, Carriker and Ryan among the final 53.
So barring an injury at training camp, the Rams don't feel a pressing need to find a replacement for Wroten. But in the larger picture, the suspension has to rate as a huge disappointment to the organization. He was drafted as the eventual successor to Glover, who turned 34 earlier this month and is entering the final year of his contract. But by the time the suspension is lifted, the team will have received only 25 tackles and 1½ sacks from Wroten.
Wroten was suspended for the first four games of the 2007 season for an earlier violation of the NFL's substance abuse policy, and his stock dropped in the '06 draft because of marijuana-related issues in college at Louisiana State.
I don't know if I should be more disappointed by Wroten's complete idiocy, or that nobody's really surprised he finally toked his way out of the league.
Claude will be remembered most for:
* Howard Balzer's radio rant against drafting him right after he was picked,
* that time he tore off the door of his girlfriend's apartment and got arrested,
* that time he got suspended for four weeks,
* and that time he got suspended for a year.
Howard, and most of us in Rams Nation, knew in our bones in 2006 that drafting Wroten was a very bad idea, and the fucking idiot didn't do a god damn thing to prove otherwise. As Jim Thomas mentions more diplomatically in his article, what a colossal clusterfuck the Rams made of the third round of the 2006 draft. Three picks and nothing but arrests and suspensions to show for it.
As for Claude Wroten, who Scott Linehan should have cut last season in the first place, may you never darken the door of Rams Park or any other NFL facility again.
Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Wroten is banned for 1 year by NFL
By Jim Thomas
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
07/24/2008
If there was any doubt about the third round of the Rams' 2006 draft being a disaster, Wednesday's suspension of defensive tackle Claude Wroten makes it official.
The Rams had three third-round picks that year, and none of them will play a down for the Rams in 2008.
Speedy but undersized linebacker Jon Alston was released by the team at the end of training camp last year. He subsequently signed with Oakland.
After a couple of scrapes with the law, tight end Dominique Byrd was cut shortly after this year's draft. One of the lasting memories of Byrd at Rams Park is that he occasionally was asked to stand up during position meetings because of his penchant for falling asleep at work.
And now Wroten. The No. 68 overall pick in '06, and the first of the third-rounders that year, he was suspended for the entire 2008 season for violating the league's substance abuse policy. According to an NFL statement, Wroten cannot be reinstated any sooner than May 30, 2009.
"We're moving on," coach Scott Linehan told the Post-Dispatch Wednesday night. "That's it. It's a league matter. The league has informed him he will not be eligible for the league season and training camp."
Wroten entered training camp as the backup to La'Roi Glover at the "3-technique" position, and the No. 4 tackle overall in the defensive line rotation. So in that sense, his suspension had negligible impact on the depth chart.
"It doesn't change much," Linehan said. "He was back a little bit in the depth."
Glover and Adam Carriker remain the starters. Clifton Ryan remains the top backup, and now could play even more this season. The Rams probably will take seven defensive linemen into the regular season, with defensive ends Leonard Little, Chris Long and James Hall, and end-tackle swingman Victor Adeyanju, joining Glover, Carriker and Ryan among the final 53.
So barring an injury at training camp, the Rams don't feel a pressing need to find a replacement for Wroten. But in the larger picture, the suspension has to rate as a huge disappointment to the organization. He was drafted as the eventual successor to Glover, who turned 34 earlier this month and is entering the final year of his contract. But by the time the suspension is lifted, the team will have received only 25 tackles and 1½ sacks from Wroten.
Wroten was suspended for the first four games of the 2007 season for an earlier violation of the NFL's substance abuse policy, and his stock dropped in the '06 draft because of marijuana-related issues in college at Louisiana State.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Rams ownership ranked 22nd among NFL owners
Michael Silver has a lengthy article on yahoo.com today ranking the NFL owners, or at least in this case, the 17th-best owner through the worst. Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez came in 22nd in Silver's estimation.
You'll see that most of the franchises in the bottom half of Silver's ratings are either historically-bad teams or teams with stadium issues that may be looking to pull up stakes.
Silver on Rams ownership:
"I love the way Rosenbloom, who took over the franchise after mother Georgia Frontiere’s death in January, reacted after I wrote a story stating that he and his sister Rodriguez were shopping the franchise: He issued a denial which insisted, “I can assure you I have every intention of keeping the Rams in St. Louis.” Right, and I can assure you I have every intention of losing five pounds before I hit the road for my training camp tour … oops. Last week Rosenbloom stuck to his story, explaining that he had hired a Baltimore firm specializing in sports investments merely to field inquiries from interested buyers, a role he portrayed as “simply returning these people’s phone calls.” Translation: The Rams are in play, and there’s a chance that whomever buys the franchise will look to return it to Southern California. The one potential savior, minority owner Stan Kroenke (who has a 40-percent stake), would have to sell off his interest in the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and NHL’s Colorado Avalanche to satisfy the NFL’s rules against cross-ownership of pro teams in other NFL cities. Kroenke is so highly regarded that some of his NFL peers might push for the rule to be waived, but that would be a long shot; Broncos owner Bowlen, for one, would figure to be highly scrutinizing of such an arrangement. In the meantime, the Rams have a capable CEO in Shaw, who likely won’t be around to solve the stadium issues that, barring substantial improvements to the Edward Jones Dome or a new facility in St. Louis, will result in the team being able to get out of its lease in 2015."
Interesting points from the article:
* In 1995, Jacksonville unbelievably got an expansion team over St. Louis, largely on the strength of the reputation/schmoozing abilities of its owner-to-be, Wayne Weaver. A mere 12 years later, who's considered the worst owner in the NFL? What city has one of the worst stadiums, which it has to close off huge portions of to achieve "sellouts"?
* Bidwill got his billion-dollar dome, and just (oops) TWO YEARS LATER, the Big Dead already can't sell out the place? And seriously, they don't fly in draft prospects? Warms my heart to see him entrenched near the bottom, though. He belongs there.
* How bad do owners 23-32 have to be, when St. Louis' ownership ranks ahead of them for basically having done nothing so far? They just took over, they haven't made any significant decisions, and they've never run a football team before! And they're ranked ahead of ten other owners!
Anyway, I have little intention of reading the second half of Silver's ratings when they come out, since I'm sure super-annoyances Jerry Jones and Robert Kraft will be 1-2. Also, I have no clue how Daniel Snyder can blow all the money he does on spectacular free agent failures (Adam Archuleta, anyone?), change head coaches on a whim, meddle in everything, and charge fans admission to get into training camp, and be in the top half of NFL owners.
That counterfeits Silver's rankings for me right there.
You'll see that most of the franchises in the bottom half of Silver's ratings are either historically-bad teams or teams with stadium issues that may be looking to pull up stakes.
Silver on Rams ownership:
"I love the way Rosenbloom, who took over the franchise after mother Georgia Frontiere’s death in January, reacted after I wrote a story stating that he and his sister Rodriguez were shopping the franchise: He issued a denial which insisted, “I can assure you I have every intention of keeping the Rams in St. Louis.” Right, and I can assure you I have every intention of losing five pounds before I hit the road for my training camp tour … oops. Last week Rosenbloom stuck to his story, explaining that he had hired a Baltimore firm specializing in sports investments merely to field inquiries from interested buyers, a role he portrayed as “simply returning these people’s phone calls.” Translation: The Rams are in play, and there’s a chance that whomever buys the franchise will look to return it to Southern California. The one potential savior, minority owner Stan Kroenke (who has a 40-percent stake), would have to sell off his interest in the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and NHL’s Colorado Avalanche to satisfy the NFL’s rules against cross-ownership of pro teams in other NFL cities. Kroenke is so highly regarded that some of his NFL peers might push for the rule to be waived, but that would be a long shot; Broncos owner Bowlen, for one, would figure to be highly scrutinizing of such an arrangement. In the meantime, the Rams have a capable CEO in Shaw, who likely won’t be around to solve the stadium issues that, barring substantial improvements to the Edward Jones Dome or a new facility in St. Louis, will result in the team being able to get out of its lease in 2015."
Interesting points from the article:
* In 1995, Jacksonville unbelievably got an expansion team over St. Louis, largely on the strength of the reputation/schmoozing abilities of its owner-to-be, Wayne Weaver. A mere 12 years later, who's considered the worst owner in the NFL? What city has one of the worst stadiums, which it has to close off huge portions of to achieve "sellouts"?
* Bidwill got his billion-dollar dome, and just (oops) TWO YEARS LATER, the Big Dead already can't sell out the place? And seriously, they don't fly in draft prospects? Warms my heart to see him entrenched near the bottom, though. He belongs there.
* How bad do owners 23-32 have to be, when St. Louis' ownership ranks ahead of them for basically having done nothing so far? They just took over, they haven't made any significant decisions, and they've never run a football team before! And they're ranked ahead of ten other owners!
Anyway, I have little intention of reading the second half of Silver's ratings when they come out, since I'm sure super-annoyances Jerry Jones and Robert Kraft will be 1-2. Also, I have no clue how Daniel Snyder can blow all the money he does on spectacular free agent failures (Adam Archuleta, anyone?), change head coaches on a whim, meddle in everything, and charge fans admission to get into training camp, and be in the top half of NFL owners.
That counterfeits Silver's rankings for me right there.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
NFL refereeing: what the league (appears to) think
It's always been frustratingly difficult to figure out who the NFL thinks its best officiating crews are. The only time the league ever tips its hand is when it makes playoff assignments. They're merit-driven, with the best officials (so they think) assigned to the most important games. Certainly the best way to do things. However, most years, the NFL has used "all-star" crews in the postseason. So to some degree, the crews doing playoff games aren't the crews we were all subjected to in the regular season.
Anyone who knows me knows I come away from most games thinking the officiating sucked. For me, it's pretty much a matter of which crew sucks the least. But it certainly would be useful to know if the league thinks the crew sucks, too, both to validate or invalidate my opinion of the crew, and to know what quality of refereeing we should expect before, or should have expected after, a game.
So, based on this past season's playoff assignments, I've aspired to determine who the NFL thinks its best officiating crews are. I tried to weight the crew's ranking by the importance of the games each of its members worked. Here's what I came up with, listed Casey Kasem-style.
17. Peter Morelli. Darnit, I like the Morelli crew, because the Rams almost always win games they call. But Morelli was the only member of his crew to work the playoffs. Every other crew had at least two members qualify, making Morelli's the league's worst.
16. Gene Steratore. Just two of his crew members worked the playoffs. He also hasn't been a referee very long as far as I can tell, so I'm not sure he was actually eligible to work a playoff game himself.
15. Tony Corrente. A big departure from the coaches' ratings; they have him third. Though I feel this crew's improving, I doubt many Rams fans who have seen them butcher many calls in favor of Corrente's hometown Whiners are surprised to see them here. Just two crew members made the playoffs.
14. Larry Nemmers. Again, not a big surprise. He didn't work the playoffs; only two of his crew did. Not exactly leaving on a high note, Nemmers retired after the 2007 season.
13. Walt Coleman. This surprises me a lot, because the best-officiated Rams game last year was by this crew. But Coleman and two of his crew didn't get to ref anything more significant than the Redskins-Seahawks wild card game, while the rest stayed home.
12. Bill Leavy. Head linesman Gary Slaughter worked the Super Bowl, so theoretically, he's the best head linesman in the league. But none of the rest of the bunch even worked a playoff game.
11. Ron Winter. I am stunned this crew comes out ahead of Coleman's, because any time I see them, they're simply awful. Umpire Roy Ellison worked the NFC Championship, though, and the side judge also worked a game, enough to get them this far up.
10. Bill Carollo. He's worked conference championship games in the past, but dragged his crew's rating down by failing to qualify for a playoff assignment this year. Three of his judges did playoff games.
9. Scott Green. Green called the Jagwires-Steelers playoff game, while two of his crew went on to the Super Bowl: side judge Larry Rose and field judge Boris Cheek. Three of the crew missed the playoffs completely, though.
8. John Parry. If Parry hadn't been ineligible as a first-year referee, this whole crew would have gone to the playoffs. Umpire Tony Michalek worked the Super Bowl.
7. Gerry Austin. Yes, the crew the NFL's coaches and I think is the worst ranks this high in the league's eyes. Everyone but the back judge worked in the playoffs, and line judge Carl Johnson was in the Super Bowl. Notably, the back judge would have been the guy who BUTCHERED the non-fumble non-TD non-recovery the Big Dead got here last October. Seriously, if this crew is supposedly all good enough to work the league's highest-profile games, what the hell happened that week? They were all drunk? Because drunk referees would have called that game better. Austin has plenty of time to get drunk now if he wishes, mercifully retiring after the 2007 season.
6. Ed Hochuli. Hochuli's line judge didn't work the playoffs, or this highly-regarded crew would have finished higher. Back judge Scott Helverson worked the Super Bowl.
5. Jerome Boger. The top five crews graded out very closely the way I chose to do it. All five crews had every member work at least one playoff game. Neither Boger nor his umpire, who I'm considering the two most important officials, worked past the divisional round, so they narrowly lose on the third tiebreaker.
4. Walt Anderson. Despite this crew not knowing pass interference if it smacked them in the face, they all worked the playoffs, and two of them worked in the conference championship games.
3. Jeff Freaking Triplette. How can this be, when I'm convinced they've been the worst crew in the league for years, and the coaches ranked him first-to-last? Yet, that was Triplette and three of his crew members working the AFC Championship game, and the rest all worked in the earlier rounds. This crew is consistently the most awful crew I see, but the NFL thinks four of its members rank among the top three in their profession!
Not to put the kibosh on the last two crews, but the fact that the league appears to have such regard for the Triplette crew kind of shoots down this whole analysis as fas as I'm concerned. It's akin to naming Drew Bennett to the Pro Bowl.
2. Terry McAulay. He refereed the NFC Championship; his head linesman was also there to freeze his ass off. McAulay and Parry were the two referees who didn't work Rams games in 2007.
1. Mike Carey. At least this matches up with the coaches' poll. Carey won the tiebreakers by way of his role as the referee of the Super Bowl, though none of the rest of his crew made it past the divisional round.
So, congratulations to Mike Carey, whose crew I'm willing to declare is the best in the NFL. As for all you crews 4 through 17, you're behind JEFF FREAKING TRIPLETTE, step up your games!
Anyone who knows me knows I come away from most games thinking the officiating sucked. For me, it's pretty much a matter of which crew sucks the least. But it certainly would be useful to know if the league thinks the crew sucks, too, both to validate or invalidate my opinion of the crew, and to know what quality of refereeing we should expect before, or should have expected after, a game.
So, based on this past season's playoff assignments, I've aspired to determine who the NFL thinks its best officiating crews are. I tried to weight the crew's ranking by the importance of the games each of its members worked. Here's what I came up with, listed Casey Kasem-style.
17. Peter Morelli. Darnit, I like the Morelli crew, because the Rams almost always win games they call. But Morelli was the only member of his crew to work the playoffs. Every other crew had at least two members qualify, making Morelli's the league's worst.
16. Gene Steratore. Just two of his crew members worked the playoffs. He also hasn't been a referee very long as far as I can tell, so I'm not sure he was actually eligible to work a playoff game himself.
15. Tony Corrente. A big departure from the coaches' ratings; they have him third. Though I feel this crew's improving, I doubt many Rams fans who have seen them butcher many calls in favor of Corrente's hometown Whiners are surprised to see them here. Just two crew members made the playoffs.
14. Larry Nemmers. Again, not a big surprise. He didn't work the playoffs; only two of his crew did. Not exactly leaving on a high note, Nemmers retired after the 2007 season.
13. Walt Coleman. This surprises me a lot, because the best-officiated Rams game last year was by this crew. But Coleman and two of his crew didn't get to ref anything more significant than the Redskins-Seahawks wild card game, while the rest stayed home.
12. Bill Leavy. Head linesman Gary Slaughter worked the Super Bowl, so theoretically, he's the best head linesman in the league. But none of the rest of the bunch even worked a playoff game.
11. Ron Winter. I am stunned this crew comes out ahead of Coleman's, because any time I see them, they're simply awful. Umpire Roy Ellison worked the NFC Championship, though, and the side judge also worked a game, enough to get them this far up.
10. Bill Carollo. He's worked conference championship games in the past, but dragged his crew's rating down by failing to qualify for a playoff assignment this year. Three of his judges did playoff games.
9. Scott Green. Green called the Jagwires-Steelers playoff game, while two of his crew went on to the Super Bowl: side judge Larry Rose and field judge Boris Cheek. Three of the crew missed the playoffs completely, though.
8. John Parry. If Parry hadn't been ineligible as a first-year referee, this whole crew would have gone to the playoffs. Umpire Tony Michalek worked the Super Bowl.
7. Gerry Austin. Yes, the crew the NFL's coaches and I think is the worst ranks this high in the league's eyes. Everyone but the back judge worked in the playoffs, and line judge Carl Johnson was in the Super Bowl. Notably, the back judge would have been the guy who BUTCHERED the non-fumble non-TD non-recovery the Big Dead got here last October. Seriously, if this crew is supposedly all good enough to work the league's highest-profile games, what the hell happened that week? They were all drunk? Because drunk referees would have called that game better. Austin has plenty of time to get drunk now if he wishes, mercifully retiring after the 2007 season.
6. Ed Hochuli. Hochuli's line judge didn't work the playoffs, or this highly-regarded crew would have finished higher. Back judge Scott Helverson worked the Super Bowl.
5. Jerome Boger. The top five crews graded out very closely the way I chose to do it. All five crews had every member work at least one playoff game. Neither Boger nor his umpire, who I'm considering the two most important officials, worked past the divisional round, so they narrowly lose on the third tiebreaker.
4. Walt Anderson. Despite this crew not knowing pass interference if it smacked them in the face, they all worked the playoffs, and two of them worked in the conference championship games.
3. Jeff Freaking Triplette. How can this be, when I'm convinced they've been the worst crew in the league for years, and the coaches ranked him first-to-last? Yet, that was Triplette and three of his crew members working the AFC Championship game, and the rest all worked in the earlier rounds. This crew is consistently the most awful crew I see, but the NFL thinks four of its members rank among the top three in their profession!
Not to put the kibosh on the last two crews, but the fact that the league appears to have such regard for the Triplette crew kind of shoots down this whole analysis as fas as I'm concerned. It's akin to naming Drew Bennett to the Pro Bowl.
2. Terry McAulay. He refereed the NFC Championship; his head linesman was also there to freeze his ass off. McAulay and Parry were the two referees who didn't work Rams games in 2007.
1. Mike Carey. At least this matches up with the coaches' poll. Carey won the tiebreakers by way of his role as the referee of the Super Bowl, though none of the rest of his crew made it past the divisional round.
So, congratulations to Mike Carey, whose crew I'm willing to declare is the best in the NFL. As for all you crews 4 through 17, you're behind JEFF FREAKING TRIPLETTE, step up your games!
NFL refereeing: what the coaches think
ESPN.com recently polled the 32 NFL head coaches to get their opinion of the best and worst referees. The co-winners, with 8 votes each, were Mike Carey and Ed Hochuli. Interestingly, Carey and Hochuli also respectively drew 3 and 4 votes for worst referee. So Carey wins the title on plus-minus advantage.
The coaches' overall list:
1. Mike Carey +5
2. Ed Hochuli +4
3. Tony Corrente +3
4. Bill Carollo +3
5. Walt Coleman +2
6. Bill Leavy +1
7. John Parry +1
Almost all of the next group of referees failed to receive either a best or a worst vote. Larry Nemmers, however, received two of each.
8. Larry Nemmers 0
8. Walt Anderson 0
8. Jerome Boger 0
8. Scott Green 0
8. Terry McAulay 0
8. Peter Morelli 0
8. Gene Steratore 0
8. Ron Winter 0
I have to say I generally agree with the coaches' assessments, especially when we get to the worst two refs in a minute. Carey's abilities finally caught up to his reputation this year, and he was superb in his postseason work, which included the Super Bowl. I wouldn't have Corrente quite as high as #3, but this crew seems to me to be improving, and his call of the Rams-Ravens game was one of the best-called Rams games last year. I'd pick Coleman for the best-called Rams game, the home loss to Seattle. Flawless work.
Most of the middle group belongs where they are. I've always found Nemmers mediocre at best. The Anderson and Winter crews are clueless on pass interference. I won't get on Morelli too much because the Rams always seem to do well in games he calls. He, Green and Hochuli called the Rams' three wins last year. McAulay and Parry did not call a Rams game last year.
Winter's only at the bottom here alphabetically, but he belongs there. And it's certainly no surprise to learn the bottom two.
15. Jeff Triplette -3
Triplette in my eyes has been the worst or second-worst referee in the league for a long time. I'd be hard-pressed to name a Rams game the crew's ever called well, and after Triplette stared right at a brutal cheap shot by Derek Smith on Marc Bulger during week 2's home loss to the Whiners and kept his flag buried deep in his back pocket, I declared he wasn't fit to referee prison football games.
And the last ranking warms my heart.
16. Gerry Austin -6
The terrible refereeing of this crew of buffoons single-handedly turned what should have been a Rams 35-23 win over the Big Dead last October into a 34-31 loss. There were terrible penalty calls, terrible missed penalties, terrible spots, and in particular, a terrible call on an end zone "fumble recovery TD" for Arizona that wasn't a fumble, an (Arizona) recovery, or a TD, that Austin couldn't even get right after replay.
Austin and Nemmers retired after the 2008 season, so I'm hopeful the quality of NFL refereeing will take a jump upward.
We fans aren't supposed to know anything, especially the ins and outs of what's supposed to make a refereeing crew good or bad, but I have to say I don't really find any significant flaws in how the NFL's coaches rate the referees.
The shocker's coming in the next post, in which I determine who the league thinks its best referees are. I'll just say Mike Pereira and company see things a -lot- differently than me or the coaches.
The coaches' overall list:
1. Mike Carey +5
2. Ed Hochuli +4
3. Tony Corrente +3
4. Bill Carollo +3
5. Walt Coleman +2
6. Bill Leavy +1
7. John Parry +1
Almost all of the next group of referees failed to receive either a best or a worst vote. Larry Nemmers, however, received two of each.
8. Larry Nemmers 0
8. Walt Anderson 0
8. Jerome Boger 0
8. Scott Green 0
8. Terry McAulay 0
8. Peter Morelli 0
8. Gene Steratore 0
8. Ron Winter 0
I have to say I generally agree with the coaches' assessments, especially when we get to the worst two refs in a minute. Carey's abilities finally caught up to his reputation this year, and he was superb in his postseason work, which included the Super Bowl. I wouldn't have Corrente quite as high as #3, but this crew seems to me to be improving, and his call of the Rams-Ravens game was one of the best-called Rams games last year. I'd pick Coleman for the best-called Rams game, the home loss to Seattle. Flawless work.
Most of the middle group belongs where they are. I've always found Nemmers mediocre at best. The Anderson and Winter crews are clueless on pass interference. I won't get on Morelli too much because the Rams always seem to do well in games he calls. He, Green and Hochuli called the Rams' three wins last year. McAulay and Parry did not call a Rams game last year.
Winter's only at the bottom here alphabetically, but he belongs there. And it's certainly no surprise to learn the bottom two.
15. Jeff Triplette -3
Triplette in my eyes has been the worst or second-worst referee in the league for a long time. I'd be hard-pressed to name a Rams game the crew's ever called well, and after Triplette stared right at a brutal cheap shot by Derek Smith on Marc Bulger during week 2's home loss to the Whiners and kept his flag buried deep in his back pocket, I declared he wasn't fit to referee prison football games.
And the last ranking warms my heart.
16. Gerry Austin -6
The terrible refereeing of this crew of buffoons single-handedly turned what should have been a Rams 35-23 win over the Big Dead last October into a 34-31 loss. There were terrible penalty calls, terrible missed penalties, terrible spots, and in particular, a terrible call on an end zone "fumble recovery TD" for Arizona that wasn't a fumble, an (Arizona) recovery, or a TD, that Austin couldn't even get right after replay.
Austin and Nemmers retired after the 2008 season, so I'm hopeful the quality of NFL refereeing will take a jump upward.
We fans aren't supposed to know anything, especially the ins and outs of what's supposed to make a refereeing crew good or bad, but I have to say I don't really find any significant flaws in how the NFL's coaches rate the referees.
The shocker's coming in the next post, in which I determine who the league thinks its best referees are. I'll just say Mike Pereira and company see things a -lot- differently than me or the coaches.
Mr. Irrelevant in da house
7th-round pick David "Mr. Irrelevant" Vobora has signed a three-year contract, making it six down, two (Donnie Avery, Justin King) to go...
Vobora Agrees to Terms
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer
Only a couple of days after agreeing to a contract with one seventh round linebacker selection, the Rams came to terms with the other Tuesday afternoon.
Linebacker David Vobora, who earned the Mr. Irrelevant title when he was the last pick in the 2008 Draft, agreed to a three-year contract with the team on Tuesday.
Vobora is expected to compete for a backup linebacker spot and work on special teams in this preseason.
The former Idaho Vandal had a big senior season, racking up 148 tackles and a sack in his final year.
Vobora’s signing leaves just two draftees unsigned. Receiver Donnie Avery (second round) and cornerback Justin King (fourth round) have yet to reach deals.
Coach Scott Linehan said Tuesday he expects no issues with having the entire draft class in camp on time.
Vobora Agrees to Terms
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer
Only a couple of days after agreeing to a contract with one seventh round linebacker selection, the Rams came to terms with the other Tuesday afternoon.
Linebacker David Vobora, who earned the Mr. Irrelevant title when he was the last pick in the 2008 Draft, agreed to a three-year contract with the team on Tuesday.
Vobora is expected to compete for a backup linebacker spot and work on special teams in this preseason.
The former Idaho Vandal had a big senior season, racking up 148 tackles and a sack in his final year.
Vobora’s signing leaves just two draftees unsigned. Receiver Donnie Avery (second round) and cornerback Justin King (fourth round) have yet to reach deals.
Coach Scott Linehan said Tuesday he expects no issues with having the entire draft class in camp on time.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Chris Chamberlain will be at training camp; RamView, not so much
With seventh-round pick Chris Chamberlain's signing yesterday (three years), it's five down, three to go for the Rams to get their 2008 draft class signed. Still left: 2nd-rounder Donnie Avery, 4th-rounder Justin King, and David "Mr. Irrelevant" Vobora.
It's looking increasingly unlikely, though, that RamView will get up to Wisconsin this year to check out how these guys fare in training camp. It's possible to see four practices this weekend, if I feel like expending a vacation day and driving twelve hours to see seven hours of practices. And report for work Monday morning after getting home after midnight Sunday night. And that assumes all practices are open to the public as Concordia University's training camp schedule seems to indicate. It won't feel real good to drive 400 miles and find out practice is closed or rained out. The second weekend's out due to other commitments, and there are no other weekend practices before the Rams break camp, so it's either this weekend or bust. And it's really looking like bust.
I'd be all over these practices if the Rams had kept them in St. Louis. My thanks again to Scott Linehan for moving training camp six hours away.
It's looking increasingly unlikely, though, that RamView will get up to Wisconsin this year to check out how these guys fare in training camp. It's possible to see four practices this weekend, if I feel like expending a vacation day and driving twelve hours to see seven hours of practices. And report for work Monday morning after getting home after midnight Sunday night. And that assumes all practices are open to the public as Concordia University's training camp schedule seems to indicate. It won't feel real good to drive 400 miles and find out practice is closed or rained out. The second weekend's out due to other commitments, and there are no other weekend practices before the Rams break camp, so it's either this weekend or bust. And it's really looking like bust.
I'd be all over these practices if the Rams had kept them in St. Louis. My thanks again to Scott Linehan for moving training camp six hours away.
Chris Long signed
Not exactly a news flash, since it's Monday morning, but the Rams got first-round draft pick Chris Long signed to a six-year contract. That's very good work by both parties getting Chris signed in time for training camp. And the Rams have done a good job lately getting their draft picks signed on time.
Being a typical fan, though, I'll move on to the next complaint; the Rams had better have Donnie Avery on board in time for camp (though there is little reason to expect otherwise). Offense being harder than defense, I'd argue it's more important for Avery to be in camp on time than it is for Long. As the 33rd overall pick, Donnie is basically a first-rounder. Furthermore, he's the lucky guy expected to be the replacement for Isaac Bruce. He's also the guy the Rams are expecting to come in and stretch defenses; the Ram offense needs him. (Though, if he does flop, I like Al Saunders' chances of overcoming that much better than Scott Linehan's.) Keenan Burton has picked up a lot of fans in Rams Nation, and he's signed, but he's not the field-stretcher.
Long is here, which is great. Now the Rams need to get Avery in.
Being a typical fan, though, I'll move on to the next complaint; the Rams had better have Donnie Avery on board in time for camp (though there is little reason to expect otherwise). Offense being harder than defense, I'd argue it's more important for Avery to be in camp on time than it is for Long. As the 33rd overall pick, Donnie is basically a first-rounder. Furthermore, he's the lucky guy expected to be the replacement for Isaac Bruce. He's also the guy the Rams are expecting to come in and stretch defenses; the Ram offense needs him. (Though, if he does flop, I like Al Saunders' chances of overcoming that much better than Scott Linehan's.) Keenan Burton has picked up a lot of fans in Rams Nation, and he's signed, but he's not the field-stretcher.
Long is here, which is great. Now the Rams need to get Avery in.
The race to L.A.
Something in St. Louis Rams fans' favor, working against the team's hypothetical future move back to L.A., is that the Rams could be pretty far back in line. Look at this list of teams whose stadium leases are due to expire soon:
2010 - Oakland, New Orleans
2011 - Minnesota
2012 - Buffalo
2014 - St. Louis
Besides the four teams soon to become the NFL franchise equivalent of unrestricted free agents, you've also got the Jagwires, Whiners and Chargers pretty actively looking to improve their stadium situations.
My prediction has been that L.A. will have two teams again by 2020, thinking Rams and Jagwires, but by the time the Rams are clear of the Dome lease, L.A. may not have room for them, with at least six other teams spoiling to move, excluding Buffalo, widely considered a lock to move to Toronto in the near future. The Rams may not even make San Antonio's short list, which I'd believe includes the Vikings and the Saints.
Where would the Rams move if L.A. and San Antonio's openings are filled? Not to any current NFL city; if those cities were, or became, attractive enough to draw the Rams, they'd keep their old teams. So where? Oklahoma City doesn't have the juice to steal another major sports franchise, do they? Memphis? Mexico City (Las Ovejas?) Speaking of "Las", would the NFL dare to move into the city built on what it considers its biggest taboo? (Would Al Davis give them a choice, if he lives long enough?)
NFL 2020
---------
AFC East: Patriots, Jets, Dolphins, Toronto
AFC North: unchanged
AFC South: Colts, Titans, Texans, L.A. Jagwires
AFC West: Chargers, Broncos, Chiefs, VEGAS Raiders
NFC East: unchanged
NFC North: Bears, Lions, Packers, San Antonio
NFC South: unchanged
NFC West: Seahawks, Big Dead, Whiners, L.A. Rams
At least the Rams will be staying in the country...
2010 - Oakland, New Orleans
2011 - Minnesota
2012 - Buffalo
2014 - St. Louis
Besides the four teams soon to become the NFL franchise equivalent of unrestricted free agents, you've also got the Jagwires, Whiners and Chargers pretty actively looking to improve their stadium situations.
My prediction has been that L.A. will have two teams again by 2020, thinking Rams and Jagwires, but by the time the Rams are clear of the Dome lease, L.A. may not have room for them, with at least six other teams spoiling to move, excluding Buffalo, widely considered a lock to move to Toronto in the near future. The Rams may not even make San Antonio's short list, which I'd believe includes the Vikings and the Saints.
Where would the Rams move if L.A. and San Antonio's openings are filled? Not to any current NFL city; if those cities were, or became, attractive enough to draw the Rams, they'd keep their old teams. So where? Oklahoma City doesn't have the juice to steal another major sports franchise, do they? Memphis? Mexico City (Las Ovejas?) Speaking of "Las", would the NFL dare to move into the city built on what it considers its biggest taboo? (Would Al Davis give them a choice, if he lives long enough?)
NFL 2020
---------
AFC East: Patriots, Jets, Dolphins, Toronto
AFC North: unchanged
AFC South: Colts, Titans, Texans, L.A. Jagwires
AFC West: Chargers, Broncos, Chiefs, VEGAS Raiders
NFC East: unchanged
NFC North: Bears, Lions, Packers, San Antonio
NFC South: unchanged
NFC West: Seahawks, Big Dead, Whiners, L.A. Rams
At least the Rams will be staying in the country...
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Long expected to sign soon
Per the Post-Dispatch. Just get him in camp on time...
Rams Notes: Team expects to sign Long soon
By Bill Coats
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Tuesday, Jul. 15 2008
After meeting for a second time with Chris Long's agent, Rams executive Jay
Zygmunt said he foresees no snags in the negotiations that would make the
team's first-round draft pick late for training camp.
"We remain very optimistic that we're going to be able to get everything worked
out and that Chris will be in camp on time," Zygmunt said after talks with
agent Marvin Demoff on Monday in Los Angeles. "Marvin expressed how important
that is to Chris, and we expressed how important it is to the Rams."
Zygmunt, the Rams' president of football operations and general manager, said
he and Demoff first met last week and will meet again soon, perhaps even today.
Repeated attempts to reach Demoff have been unsuccessful.
Long, a 6-foot-3, 279-pound defensive end out of the University of Virginia,
was the No. 2 overall draft selection. He has been designated the starter at
right end by Rams coach Scott Linehan.
The picks on either side of Long have been under contract for some time:
— The Miami Dolphins signed No. 1 overall pick Jake Long, an offensive tackle
from Michigan, to a five-year, $57.75 million contract, which included a $30
million guaranteed bonus, five days before the April 26-27 draft.
— Former Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan, the No. 3 pick, received a
six-year, $72 million deal from the Atlanta Falcons on April 20 that included a
guaranteed $34 million, as the third pick.
Also, Darren McFadden, a running back from Arkansas taken fourth by the Oakland
Raiders, signed a six-year, $60 million contract, with $26 million guaranteed,
on June 6.
Training camp opens next week in Mequon, Wis. Players are to report to
Concordia University on July 24, with the first practice scheduled for the next
morning.
The Rams have signed three of their eight draftees: tackle John Greco (third
round pick), wide receiver Keenan Burton (fourth) and guard Roy Schuening
(fifth). Others yet to come to terms are wide receiver Donnie Avery (second),
cornerback Justin King (fourth), and linebackers Chris Chamberlain (seventh)
and David Vobora (seventh).
Zygmunt said he and his assistant, Samir Suleiman, "have meetings scheduled for
the rest of the week" with the players' representatives. "Obviously, the higher
picks get highest priority right now," Zygmunt added. "That's what we're
focused on."
Rams Notes: Team expects to sign Long soon
By Bill Coats
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Tuesday, Jul. 15 2008
After meeting for a second time with Chris Long's agent, Rams executive Jay
Zygmunt said he foresees no snags in the negotiations that would make the
team's first-round draft pick late for training camp.
"We remain very optimistic that we're going to be able to get everything worked
out and that Chris will be in camp on time," Zygmunt said after talks with
agent Marvin Demoff on Monday in Los Angeles. "Marvin expressed how important
that is to Chris, and we expressed how important it is to the Rams."
Zygmunt, the Rams' president of football operations and general manager, said
he and Demoff first met last week and will meet again soon, perhaps even today.
Repeated attempts to reach Demoff have been unsuccessful.
Long, a 6-foot-3, 279-pound defensive end out of the University of Virginia,
was the No. 2 overall draft selection. He has been designated the starter at
right end by Rams coach Scott Linehan.
The picks on either side of Long have been under contract for some time:
— The Miami Dolphins signed No. 1 overall pick Jake Long, an offensive tackle
from Michigan, to a five-year, $57.75 million contract, which included a $30
million guaranteed bonus, five days before the April 26-27 draft.
— Former Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan, the No. 3 pick, received a
six-year, $72 million deal from the Atlanta Falcons on April 20 that included a
guaranteed $34 million, as the third pick.
Also, Darren McFadden, a running back from Arkansas taken fourth by the Oakland
Raiders, signed a six-year, $60 million contract, with $26 million guaranteed,
on June 6.
Training camp opens next week in Mequon, Wis. Players are to report to
Concordia University on July 24, with the first practice scheduled for the next
morning.
The Rams have signed three of their eight draftees: tackle John Greco (third
round pick), wide receiver Keenan Burton (fourth) and guard Roy Schuening
(fifth). Others yet to come to terms are wide receiver Donnie Avery (second),
cornerback Justin King (fourth), and linebackers Chris Chamberlain (seventh)
and David Vobora (seventh).
Zygmunt said he and his assistant, Samir Suleiman, "have meetings scheduled for
the rest of the week" with the players' representatives. "Obviously, the higher
picks get highest priority right now," Zygmunt added. "That's what we're
focused on."
Thursday, July 10, 2008
The last time they met
The Rams are going to need to reverse a lot of history if they're going to make any run to respectability in 2008. If they repeat what they did the last time they played the teams on this year's schedule at the scheduled sites, they're going 4-12. And that includes a highly freaking unlikely win at New England.
The whole rundown, with links:
Week
1 @ Philadelphia, 12/1/2002: Lost 10-3. Andy King makes onto the Rams' All-Worst Team with just one career start.
2 vs. NY Giants, 9/15/2002: Lost 26-21. Freaking Sehorn.
3 @ Seattle, 10/21/2007: Lost 33-6. Seattle plays Tapps for Linehan, or so I'd have thought.
4 vs. Buffalo, 12/10/1995: Lost 45-27. Bills haven't been here since the Dome's first year, before RamView's existence. Link is to Jim Thomas' highly-entertaining game account.
5 @ Washington, 11/24/2002: Lost 20-17. WUERFELLED!
6 vs. Dallas, 9/29/2002: Lost 13-10. The two teams have exactly switched positions from where they were that fateful day.
7 @ New England, 11/18/2001: Won 24-17. The Rams OWN them in their place! j/k
8 vs. Big Dead, 10/7/2007: Lost 34-31. Maybe the referees will wear glasses this year?
9 @ NY Jets, 10/21/2001: Won 34-14. Remember the days when the Rams got criticized for running up the score?
10 @ Whiners, 11/18/2007: Won 13-9. Whiners will be a lot different on offense next time these two meet.
11 vs. Chicago, 12/11/2006: Lost 42-27. Maybe I should have counted this as a home game for the Bears?
12 vs. Miami, 9/30/2001: Won 42-10. Warner and the Rams shocked the league's then-#1 defense, especially with that play right before halftime.
13 @ Big Dead, 12/30/2007: Lost 48-19. And STILL Linehan didn't get fired.
14 vs. Seattle, 11/25/2007: Lost 24-19. Gus Frerotte makes his only lasting impression on Rams Nation.
15 vs. Whiners, 9/17/2007: Lost 20-13. Can't wait for Isaac to run wild in their secondary again, though. Oh.
16 @ Atlanta, 1/15/2005: Lost 47-17. That recently, these two moribund squads actually met in a playoff game. See? There's always hope. The Ram special teams may even improve someday!
You could say I've made this worse than it looks; after all, the Rams beat Atlanta and Washington the last time they played them, didn't they? Yes, but the opposite is true of their last meetings with New England and Miami (and boy, did I not take that loss particularly well.)
Like I said, the Rams have a lot of history to reverse.
The whole rundown, with links:
Week
1 @ Philadelphia, 12/1/2002: Lost 10-3. Andy King makes onto the Rams' All-Worst Team with just one career start.
2 vs. NY Giants, 9/15/2002: Lost 26-21. Freaking Sehorn.
3 @ Seattle, 10/21/2007: Lost 33-6. Seattle plays Tapps for Linehan, or so I'd have thought.
4 vs. Buffalo, 12/10/1995: Lost 45-27. Bills haven't been here since the Dome's first year, before RamView's existence. Link is to Jim Thomas' highly-entertaining game account.
5 @ Washington, 11/24/2002: Lost 20-17. WUERFELLED!
6 vs. Dallas, 9/29/2002: Lost 13-10. The two teams have exactly switched positions from where they were that fateful day.
7 @ New England, 11/18/2001: Won 24-17. The Rams OWN them in their place! j/k
8 vs. Big Dead, 10/7/2007: Lost 34-31. Maybe the referees will wear glasses this year?
9 @ NY Jets, 10/21/2001: Won 34-14. Remember the days when the Rams got criticized for running up the score?
10 @ Whiners, 11/18/2007: Won 13-9. Whiners will be a lot different on offense next time these two meet.
11 vs. Chicago, 12/11/2006: Lost 42-27. Maybe I should have counted this as a home game for the Bears?
12 vs. Miami, 9/30/2001: Won 42-10. Warner and the Rams shocked the league's then-#1 defense, especially with that play right before halftime.
13 @ Big Dead, 12/30/2007: Lost 48-19. And STILL Linehan didn't get fired.
14 vs. Seattle, 11/25/2007: Lost 24-19. Gus Frerotte makes his only lasting impression on Rams Nation.
15 vs. Whiners, 9/17/2007: Lost 20-13. Can't wait for Isaac to run wild in their secondary again, though. Oh.
16 @ Atlanta, 1/15/2005: Lost 47-17. That recently, these two moribund squads actually met in a playoff game. See? There's always hope. The Ram special teams may even improve someday!
You could say I've made this worse than it looks; after all, the Rams beat Atlanta and Washington the last time they played them, didn't they? Yes, but the opposite is true of their last meetings with New England and Miami (and boy, did I not take that loss particularly well.)
Like I said, the Rams have a lot of history to reverse.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Davenport interested in Big Dead, Lions
Dammit, I knew it!
Detroit Free Press
Report: RB Davenport interested in playing for Lions
Running back Najeh Davenport is reportedly interested in playing for the Lions and Arizona Cardinals, he told NFL radio according to www.nflgridirongab.com.
Pittsburgh released the backup running back recently after the team couldn't work out a trade for him.
The Lions might want to add another running back after cutting Kevin Jones. The team still has Tatum Bell, third-round pick Kevin Smith, Brian Calhoun, Artose Pinner and Aveion Cason.
Davenport rushed for a career-high 499 yards last season and averaged 4.7 yards per carry. But he was ineffective as a starter in the Steelers' final two games after Willie Parker broke his leg.
Davenport was held to 25 yards on 16 carries in a 31-29 wild-card playoff loss to Jacksonville. That was after he gained 27 yards on 12 attempts in a season-ending loss at Baltimore.
The Steelers recently drafted running back Rashard Mendenhall on the first round and signed third-down back Mewelde Moore, moves that meant Davenport had little chance of making the team. The team also wanted to keep second-year back Gary Russell.
Davenport played with the Green Bay Packers from 2002-04. He was in the final year of a contract worth $1 million in 2008.
In April, Davenport was acquitted of a misdemeanor domestic violence charge in Cleveland Municipal Court. He was accused of slapping and punching the mother of his 5-year-old son at her Cleveland home in October.
In 2002, Davenport was arrested at his alma mater, the University of Miami, accused of breaking into a university dormitory and defecating in a woman's closet. He denied the accusation. According to published reports, he was charged with one count of criminal mischief and one count of burglary. But the charges were dismissed in exchange for Davenport teaching a series of football clinics.
Detroit Free Press
Report: RB Davenport interested in playing for Lions
Running back Najeh Davenport is reportedly interested in playing for the Lions and Arizona Cardinals, he told NFL radio according to www.nflgridirongab.com.
Pittsburgh released the backup running back recently after the team couldn't work out a trade for him.
The Lions might want to add another running back after cutting Kevin Jones. The team still has Tatum Bell, third-round pick Kevin Smith, Brian Calhoun, Artose Pinner and Aveion Cason.
Davenport rushed for a career-high 499 yards last season and averaged 4.7 yards per carry. But he was ineffective as a starter in the Steelers' final two games after Willie Parker broke his leg.
Davenport was held to 25 yards on 16 carries in a 31-29 wild-card playoff loss to Jacksonville. That was after he gained 27 yards on 12 attempts in a season-ending loss at Baltimore.
The Steelers recently drafted running back Rashard Mendenhall on the first round and signed third-down back Mewelde Moore, moves that meant Davenport had little chance of making the team. The team also wanted to keep second-year back Gary Russell.
Davenport played with the Green Bay Packers from 2002-04. He was in the final year of a contract worth $1 million in 2008.
In April, Davenport was acquitted of a misdemeanor domestic violence charge in Cleveland Municipal Court. He was accused of slapping and punching the mother of his 5-year-old son at her Cleveland home in October.
In 2002, Davenport was arrested at his alma mater, the University of Miami, accused of breaking into a university dormitory and defecating in a woman's closet. He denied the accusation. According to published reports, he was charged with one count of criminal mischief and one count of burglary. But the charges were dismissed in exchange for Davenport teaching a series of football clinics.
Rams sign Burton
The Rams have signed 4th-round pick Keenan Burton to a three-year deal.
Surprisingly, this news actually comes from the Rams' website. Link
Three down, five to go. (Long, Avery, King, Chamberlain, Vobora)
I don't know if it's sillier that the Rams don't have anything done with Chris Long when the rest of the top 4 picks are already signed, or that neither of the seventh-round picks have signed yet. Hell, Vobora got a trip to the Playboy Mansion out of the Rams drafting him; he should be paying them.
Surprisingly, this news actually comes from the Rams' website. Link
Three down, five to go. (Long, Avery, King, Chamberlain, Vobora)
I don't know if it's sillier that the Rams don't have anything done with Chris Long when the rest of the top 4 picks are already signed, or that neither of the seventh-round picks have signed yet. Hell, Vobora got a trip to the Playboy Mansion out of the Rams drafting him; he should be paying them.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Will Chiefs fans stand for this?
As if to prove this is a really, really slow news time in the world of football, Yahoo is trumpeting on its main page today that the Kansas City Chiefs have banned standing up during games.
Well, maybe not so much. Looking at Arrowhead's stadium policies, I don't see a list of rules that would seem to be that much different than any other stadium's, though maybe Arrowhead's could use a re-wording. Their policy is to discourage fans from "standing and/or obstructing the view of other fans". The Edward Jones Dome's policy is worded, "Excessive standing that obstructs the view of others seated in the area." EJD's policy, as worded, does a better job of finding a happy middle ground than Arrowhead's does, not that I suspect Arrowhead's policy has ever actually been enforced, since they always seem to have 70,000+ fans standing all game. I don't see Chiefs fans getting kicked out of games for standing this season or in the future.
The new part is that an aggrieved fan can send a text message to one of Arrowhead's "Fans First Booths" to register a complaint. (Ah, technology!) This is being widely scorned by "real" fans, and I agree to some degree. Fans ought to be able to resolve problems amongst themselves. If I were causing a problem, I'd want a chance to correct a reasonable complaint myself without getting the stadium ushers into it. But I think texting can be a good backup option to have for particularly obnoxious offenses or offenders. It's just not the first option I would try.
The first option I would try is to politely ask you to sit down. Because I'm sitting down. I paid for a SEAT. I don't want to stand up for three hours to be able to see a football game I paid $75 to get into. You didn't buy a beer not to drink it. You didn't buy nachos not to eat them. You didn't gas up your car not to drive it. So use your seat. Stand up and cheer big plays, stand up and celebrate plays, but other than that, RamView doesn't need to see your backside when I'm trying to see the game.
Having said all that, I have to add that I have encountered almost no problem with other fans my whole life as a sports fan attending live events. Being a sit-downer supposedly makes me an awful fan, and this appears to be a huge difference between KC, where they stand all game, and STL, where we sit all game, and we can because the ushers enforced the limited-standing rule from the very beginning.
I think sitting down = bad fan is horsecrap. I make plenty of noise for my team, and yes, I'm on my feet for big plays. I just don't see the need to be on my feet the whole game. I'm watching the game, I'm not playing it.
What should I get for my $75? A terrific view from my near-midfield seat when everybody's sitting down, or an obstructed view all day from that same seat, which I don't even get to use?
Well, maybe not so much. Looking at Arrowhead's stadium policies, I don't see a list of rules that would seem to be that much different than any other stadium's, though maybe Arrowhead's could use a re-wording. Their policy is to discourage fans from "standing and/or obstructing the view of other fans". The Edward Jones Dome's policy is worded, "Excessive standing that obstructs the view of others seated in the area." EJD's policy, as worded, does a better job of finding a happy middle ground than Arrowhead's does, not that I suspect Arrowhead's policy has ever actually been enforced, since they always seem to have 70,000+ fans standing all game. I don't see Chiefs fans getting kicked out of games for standing this season or in the future.
The new part is that an aggrieved fan can send a text message to one of Arrowhead's "Fans First Booths" to register a complaint. (Ah, technology!) This is being widely scorned by "real" fans, and I agree to some degree. Fans ought to be able to resolve problems amongst themselves. If I were causing a problem, I'd want a chance to correct a reasonable complaint myself without getting the stadium ushers into it. But I think texting can be a good backup option to have for particularly obnoxious offenses or offenders. It's just not the first option I would try.
The first option I would try is to politely ask you to sit down. Because I'm sitting down. I paid for a SEAT. I don't want to stand up for three hours to be able to see a football game I paid $75 to get into. You didn't buy a beer not to drink it. You didn't buy nachos not to eat them. You didn't gas up your car not to drive it. So use your seat. Stand up and cheer big plays, stand up and celebrate plays, but other than that, RamView doesn't need to see your backside when I'm trying to see the game.
Having said all that, I have to add that I have encountered almost no problem with other fans my whole life as a sports fan attending live events. Being a sit-downer supposedly makes me an awful fan, and this appears to be a huge difference between KC, where they stand all game, and STL, where we sit all game, and we can because the ushers enforced the limited-standing rule from the very beginning.
I think sitting down = bad fan is horsecrap. I make plenty of noise for my team, and yes, I'm on my feet for big plays. I just don't see the need to be on my feet the whole game. I'm watching the game, I'm not playing it.
What should I get for my $75? A terrific view from my near-midfield seat when everybody's sitting down, or an obstructed view all day from that same seat, which I don't even get to use?
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