[UtahRam]

My God, we're extending Stafford already?? Isn't that how we got in trouble in the first place? lol

[Indrid Cold]

gonna have to revise this post now that it seems clear that part of the trade deal was the lions agreeing to clear goff completely from the rams books, i.e. as part of the deal the lions took on goff's $22.2 in dead money.... so as hard as it is to believe, the lions will in effect spend $69m in cap space for goff's services in 2021, or 39% of their total cap: $22.2m in dead money for goff + $19.0m in dead money for stafford + a $27.8m cap hit for goff.

I have a hard time believing this is true. The Spotrac tweet assigning the dead money to the Rams is probably correct and the website isn't.

[Elvis]

Does this change anything?

[moklerman]

I think it's pretty safe to say that if a QB has a good year, he had a decent O-Line in front of him. I doubt Detroit's O-Lines were twice as bad.

When the RAMS picked up Sullivan and Whitworth in 2017 we all saw Goff going from an 0-7 QB to a Pro Bowl QB. In 2018, that O-Line was even better, gelled together, stayed healthy and helped Goff and the team get to the Super Bowl. The last two years the line has fallen apart, been inconsistent and we watched Goff struggle. If Stafford has a good year in 2021 it's because we fixed the O-Line issues. I'm 100% sure of it.

I'm just looking at the numbers. Total sacks and more importantly, sack % for Stafford with the Lions was about twice as bad as Goff had the last two years.

And that's if everything else remains the same. IMO, just like Brady did with TB compared to Winston the year before, Stafford's experience and ability will help cut down on sacks and make our OL's number even better. The narrative has been that the Rams OL has been a problem the last couple of years but I think it's clear it isn't nearly as bad as an OL with REAL problems. Like Detroit's.

Even if one wants to just look at the last two years, the Rams OL has been FAR superior than the Lions'. But Stafford's production at QB was still much better than Goff's. Look at some of Stafford's other Lions teams and OL's and it becomes easier to understand just how much the chips have been stacked against him.

So, I don't really understand the logic of Stafford having a good OL because his numbers were good, but the team was still bad. But Goff's numbers were bad because he must have had a bad OL even though the team won 10 games and was in the playoffs.

IMO, Stafford has put up good numbers in spite of a bad team and poor OL. Goff has put up bad numbers even though he had a good OL and really good team.

[aeneas1]

You're prob right, McVay could have had more success with a middle of the road QB if one had been on hand. But it seems like they had a chance to go after an elite guy and dump a contract on a guy who's a bottom half of the league performer without the McVay system to prop him up.

didn't see much propping up in 19/20? i did see defenses continuing to have success vs mcvay's scheme, as they have since the end of 2018, so much so that he tried to run a lot of 12, albeit without much success.

will be interesting to see what mcvay will try to do with stafford, for example stafford ranked 19th in pass attempts from play-action last season whereas rams qbs have ranked top 3 since mcvay's arrival, it's mcvay's bread and butter, stafford also threw 76% of passes from the shotgun last year, unlike what the rams have done... will mcvay ask stafford to run his system or will mcvay make a lot of tweaks to conform to how stafford has played?

whatever the case, it sure will be nice if mcvay can finally start having consistent success against the defensive looks that have continued to give him trouble for two straight years, it sure will be nice if stafford can help him with this... that said, stafford did great when pressured last season, top 5 iirc, albeit he's been up and down in that department throughout his career.

[aeneas1]

I have a hard time believing this is true. The Spotrac tweet assigning the dead money to the Rams is probably correct and the website isn't.

right? crazy.

[moklerman]

didn't see much propping up in 19/20? i did see defenses continuing to have success vs mcvay's scheme, as they have since the end of 2018, so much so that he tried to run a lot of 12, albeit without much success.

will be interesting to see what mcvay will try to do with stafford, for example stafford ranked 19th in pass attempts from play-action last season whereas rams qbs have ranked top 3 since mcvay's arrival, it's mcvay's bread and butter, stafford also threw 76% of passes from the shotgun last year, unlike what the rams have done... will mcvay ask stafford to run his system or will mcvay make a lot of tweaks to conform to how stafford has played?

whatever the case, it sure will be nice if mcvay can finally start having consistent success against the defensive looks that have continued to give him trouble for two straight years, it sure will be nice if stafford can help him with this... that said, stafford did great when pressured last season, top 5 iirc, albeit he's been up and down in that department throughout his career.

We don't really know that McVay has struggled to adjust. In fact, there is plenty of all-22 video out there that shows positive plays for the taking and Goff not taking them. That isn't McVay, that's Goff. But, it's true, McVay ran out of tricks to prop Goff up but there isn't really anything wrong with the scheme or offense.

This will be the best QB McVay has had to work with and likely the best team that Stafford's ever been on. I look forward to it.

As far as Stafford and Goff and their relative play action passing, I'm sure Stafford will be perfectly comfortable benefiting from a real running game and the open looks he gets in play action. I'd guess that his shotgun % was so high because they rarely had a running game. They had to pass.

I think it's exciting to imagine Stafford on an offense that is gaining positive yardage on first and second down and throwing on third and short. Defenses not being able to stack the box because Stafford can handle a Cover Zero. Running lanes opening up because defenses won't be able to squat on the short routes. Play action becoming lethal again because the threat of one of the best deep passers is under center.

Oh, the possibilities.

[WestCoastRam]

I'm not gonna link the whole article cause it really is worth it to get a sub to the Athletic but this needs to be read (and there's definitely more in the article than just this):

https://theathletic.com/2356069/2021/01 ... ade-lions/

But in 2019 and 2020, there was a growing sense, according to people within the organization, that as defenses began to “solve” McVay’s widely acclaimed offensive system and he began to counter-adjust, that Goff was falling behind.

The Rams had the NFL’s No. 1 defense in 2020, but finished 18th in scoring and had the ninth-most inconsistent offense in the league according to the Football Outsiders variance metric. That inconsistency needled at McVay, and the Rams’ inability to put the pieces together on offense was a point of stress throughout the year.

McVay especially became frustrated with Goff’s turnovers — 38 in his last 31 regular-season games, the most in the NFL during that span — and even issued public criticism of Goff for the first time after the Rams lost to San Francisco in Week 12.

“Our quarterback has to take better care of the football,” McVay all but spat.

McVay’s decision to speak critically in public about Goff for the first time wasn’t just a sign of things to come, but also seemed to serve as a message to his locker room, where some frustration rippled during the latter half of the season — the message being that an underperforming player would not be coddled, regardless of that player’s status.

There was also some belief that part of McVay’s frustration stemmed from the fact that the changes he made to the offense this season, which were supposed to ease Goff’s discomfort when facing pressure and help him progress into higher-probability plays, simply did not take. The turnovers persisted, even though Goff totaled a career-low in air-yards per attempt as the offense opted toward those shorter, lower-risk concepts. The Rams also lacked a true “deep threat” receiver who could have stretched the field, but that was by design, because they were moving toward those shorter pass concepts and catch-and-run plays.

[Elvis]

A little more from Jourdan:

https://theathletic.com/2356069/2021/01 ... ade-lions/

McVay appreciated Wolford’s processing speed and how, even when his pocket broke down, Wolford was able to move and reset his launch point. The Rams could run more of the longer-developing plays (which were absent from a Goff-led offense this year) with Wolford or a similarly mobile quarterback, one who could move away from the pressure without having the play fully break down in the process.

Defenses have successfully pressured Goff with four players — creating less favorable offensive situations downfield — but Wolford’s ability to move demanded more attention with extra rushers. Free rushers couldn’t cover the bootlegs the Rams love to use, because Wolford got into them faster and moved them away from that pressure when needed. Against the Cardinals, whose defensive game plan dared Wolford to throw in an effort to contain the Rams’ run game, McVay appreciated how his entire offense and the quarterback weren’t dependent on successfully running the ball.

Those also are qualities Stafford possesses, and the Rams hope to utilize them over the next two to three seasons, with Wolford’s small sample size serving as a piece of the blueprint.

[CanuckRightWinger]

LES SNEAD MAY HAVE SOME WEAK POINTS, BUT MAKING BLOCKBUSTER TRADES AIN'T ONE!

I haven't been a fan of Goff since he rang up a SuperBowl worst (Tie with 1971 Miami) points total of 3.
I also thought Goff lost us games singlehandedly...eg. Pittsburgh in 2019 and Miami, SF, and Seattle in 2020.

Ergo, I am damm glad we jettisoned Jared OverpaidWeakLeader! Goff....
and his fat fooking contract! Hopefully Demoff, Pastoors et al learn a lesson from the misadventures of Gurley's & Goff's premature and over-generous long contract extensions!!!

Also, I am surprised at guys here talking about Mathew Stafford's W-L record!
Let's remember that he was playing for the perpetually mismanaged Detroit Lions, eh!
Like how many different OCs' Systems did Stafford have to play thru since his 2009 Lions rookie year huh?
So you play for a shit team for all those years, in arguably the worst NFL city for quality-of-life....
and you just go out and throw for thousands of yards every year and keep your mouth shut and perform. Sounds like a leader type to me.

Yeah, yeah....Stafford has more miles on his chassis than the 26 year old Goff, but I like MS's pocket presence, elusiveness, mobility, throwing motion, deep ball, etc etc better than Goff's stale bag of snakes. In general, Stafford, even at 32 looks to be the better athlete than Goff, to these old eyes.

McVay gets his guy, and depending on what the final-final verdict is on 2021 Dead Money that Los Ramos have to eat on account of Goff, I enthusiastically support this mega typical blockbuster-type Snead trade.

Kudos to McSnead for pulling this off deal for a very accomplished QB....
for basically the same price as Seattle paid for that safetyman who doesn't even know what end of a cigar to light! Sure we also had to throw in that 2021 Third Rounder.....but it's the Compensatory 3rd we got for our Scout Exec, Holmes moving to the Lions GM spot.....so to me, that 3rd Rounder....it's a wash.

Now.....can we please draft some Big Fuglies to protect our new star Quarterback!!

Finally, for those who are actually feeling sorry for Jared Goff.....his ill-advised (for the Rams) Contract Extension from Los Ramos had
$110 Million USD
Guaranteed Money
.....and the kid is only 26 years old.

...yeah, yeah....what a heart-wrenching story!!!