[SWAdude]

The Rams have certainly been unconventional. They gave up a 2 for Watkins, a 2 for Peters, a 1 for Cooks, a 3 for Fowler. But like i said earlier, we have a ton of first round talent on our team.

You see trouble ahead? Maybe, we're in kind of uncharted waters but the results have been excellent so far. Conventional wisdom is wrong a lot.



Again, you're missing the point. The Rams traded a 2nd round pick for Peters, a probowler taken with the 18th pick in the draft. We're not lacking in first round talent on this team.



You basically wanted Snead fired for not taking Forrest Lamp 2 years ago and yet our Oline play has been very high.

Maybe they know what they're doing? The results certainly say they do...

You both have excellent points from my chair.

I lean towards Elvis on this one. I see us using a 1st round on someones talents that deserve a 1st round veteran money. I see us getting all but guaranteed players and paying them their due without wasting a pick no matter the money. We then draft in later rounds, find a gem like Kupp or Johnson in the lot and some adequate depth.

The weakness is we likely would not get a Gurley or Donald with this approach. But i don't think that is as big a deal as it may feel right now.

I really like how this team is being built for the future.

[PARAM]

You basically wanted Snead fired for not taking Forrest Lamp 2 years ago and yet our Oline play has been very high...…….

…...and Forrest Lamp has appeared in 2 games the last 2 years (0 starts).

[ramsman34]

I get the premise Max that the first and second round is where your find the highest rated players. But, ratings don't always translate. 50% of the first round, or thereabout, crap out. As long as they manage the cap well and can develop players, does it matter where they get the talent from? And, we SHOULD be picking at or near the bottom of the round for a while. So sure, we have a decent shot at getting higher rated player at all positions in the first - but it's not much different than the second. In fact, I would rather have multiple seconds and thirds than a low first and low second. But that's just me. Now if they trade UP to get a bonafide, can't miss stud - great!

Let's wait and see how they guys they took in 17, 18, and now 19 pan out through this SB window we are in now. You may be right. But I have more faith in their identifying, acquiring, and developing players the way they have been. And so far, so good.

[PARAM]

I get the premise Max that the first and second round is where your find the highest rated players. But, ratings don't always translate. 50% of the first round, or thereabout, crap out. As long as they manage the cap well and can develop players, does it matter where they get the talent from? And, we SHOULD be picking at or near the bottom of the round for a while. So sure, we have a decent shot at getting higher rated player at all positions in the first - but it's not much different than the second. In fact, I would rather have multiple seconds and thirds than a low first and low second. But that's just me. Now if they trade UP to get a bonafide, can't miss stud - great!

Let's wait and see how they guys they took in 17, 18, and now 19 pan out through this SB window we are in now. You may be right. But I have more faith in their identifying, acquiring, and developing players the way they have been. And so far, so good.

So if we look at who we have starting in 2019 (preliminarily) with the #pick they were….

Top 10 in red; Top 20 in blue; first round in green

LT Whitworth #55
LG Noteboom #89
C Allen #111
RG Blythe #248
RT Havenstein #57
QB Goff #1
RB Gurley #10
WR Kupp #69
WR Woods #41
WR Cooks #20 (Trade)
TE Higbee #110

DE Donald #13
DT Day #195 / Gaines #134
DE Brockers #14
OLB Fowler #3 (Trade)
OLB Matthews #26 (UFA)
ILB Littleton UDFA
ILB Kiser #147
CB Peters #18 (Trade)
CB Talib #20 (Trade)
S Johnson #91
S Weddle #37 (Trade)

9 first rounders; 4 we drafted and 5 we acquired. We have acquired more than we have drafted.

[RamsFanSince89]

As it turns out, it’s with the Patriots, who have back-to-back picks at No. 133 and 134. After both sides confirmed that New England didn’t plan on picking the player Los Angeles wanted at No. 134, McVay, who’s on the phone with the Pats, spells out the terms of the deal: L.A. gets No. 134 and No. 243 in exchange for No. 162 and No. 167.

Anyone know how each side confirms the other team isn’t picking a particular player other than stating his name? That’s a lot of strategy to give away, it seems.

[max]

Both Kupp and Johnson were, "plug-in" studs.
Noteboom, by all appearances, could've been a day one starter somewhere on the OL, if the Rams had needed. Graded out as best rookie tackle in preseason (I know, it's just preseason) and looked 100% comfortable in his brief regular season exposures.

Lot's of teams passed on Kittle. Everett has been a disappointment, compared to him... but his performance actually fits perfectly, in his class, when you look at draft position. We should also remember it took him a little while to get going this past season because of injury.

Depends on your definition of "stud."

To me, Kupp and Johnson are fine players, but not studs by my definition.

Beckham is a stud.
Earl Thomas is a stud.

[PARAM]

You're talking about Superstars, not plug-in studs.

How many Superstars and Studs are on each NFL roster? Not many. Who are our superstars? Donald, Talib, Whitworth and Gurley. Studs? Goff, Cooks, Woods, Kupp, Peters, Havenstein? You don't need Superstars to win Superbowls. In fact, many times those Superstars eat so much cap, you have less money for the studs and then some of them get complacent because 'they've got their $'. You're not getting to the big dance that way. We haven't used a first round pick to make a selection the last three drafts. And we're 24-8 going into 2019. Even if we just hold serve and go 10-6, that's 34-14. Awesome and quite an accomplishment without the use of a first round pick......except two for Goff and one for Cooks.