Walter: Are you crazy?

[Matt McGuire]

Look I know I'm being nitpicky. But can you please explain how you give 4 stars to the Colts DL? I'd give 2. They suck at DT. I think Mathis is overrated. Freeney was a disappointement last year.

http://www.walterfootball.com/offseason2008ind.php

[MMONTERO]

Actually, man if you just look at the Colts line, they rock man. I mean, just look at em man. They're huge, dude. They're bigger than you. They're bigger than me. I bet they could take over the world, man. And if they got injured the guys behind them are still bigger than us man. If we had to play them, we'd be totally boned man, totally boned. =P

[Joey_Potter]

Honestly Matt the simple fact we all scour so much for info on sports and talk as much as we do makes us all a little nuts. That being said I dont know why they don't take the Top 10 posters on Walterfootball.com, wrap them in strait jackets, and ship them all off solitary confinement,

[MMONTERO]

Honestly Matt the simple fact we all scour so much for info on sports and talk as much as we do makes us all a little nuts. That being said I dont know why they don't take the Top 10 posters on Walterfootball.com, wrap them in strait jackets, and ship them all off solitary confinement,

I think I'm like 13th so I'm all for wiping out some competition =P But yeah... we really do seem bored right now. It's just that offseason lull.

[DistantRam]

Seeing that I'm a newbie and can't start a new thread, I thought it best to post in this one....

Does Walter honestly believe that the Rams will go 4-12 this year? Okay, we're probably going to get annihilated by the Patriots and Cowboys but every other game on our schedule is winnable: McNabb is not the player he was and the Philly offence is rubbish: we can beat them; The Giants' luck has got to run out sooner or later; the Bills and Skins are decent sides but we can beat them; the Jets, Dolphins and 49ers are rubbish; Seattle haven't got Josh Brown to bail them out any more; Arizona will probably make the mistake of relying on Matt Leinart instead of Kurt Warner this year.

Admittedly, there are concerns about the fitness of Pace, Bulger, Jackson and others and I'd have liked to have seen more depth in the secondary but if things click the Rams can surprise a lot of people this year. I'm not saying that we're going to go 14-2, obviously, but we can at least go 9-7 and squeeze into the playoffs.

[Blazedestin]

Seeing that I'm a newbie and can't start a new thread, I thought it best to post in this one....

Does Walter honestly believe that the Rams will go 4-12 this year? Okay, we're probably going to get annihilated by the Patriots and Cowboys but every other game on our schedule is winnable: McNabb is not the player he was and the Philly offence is rubbish: we can beat them; The Giants' luck has got to run out sooner or later; the Bills and Skins are decent sides but we can beat them; the Jets, Dolphins and 49ers are rubbish; Seattle haven't got Josh Brown to bail them out any more; Arizona will probably make the mistake of relying on Matt Leinart instead of Kurt Warner this year.

Admittedly, there are concerns about the fitness of Pace, Bulger, Jackson and others and I'd have liked to have seen more depth in the secondary but if things click the Rams can surprise a lot of people this year. I'm not saying that we're going to go 14-2, obviously, but we can at least go 9-7 and squeeze into the playoffs.

No?

Pace is 33 and unreliable. There's not much behind him when he goes down. Not if, when. You're lacking at WR short of Torry Holt. Sorry, but Donnie Avery should barely have been in the top 10 WR's chosen. He was a third round prospect.

Bulger is always injured, in part due to Orlando Pace always being injured. You have two reliable receivers, one of them being Steven Jackson. Chris Long should make an immediate impact on defense (6-8 sacks), but the rest of the DE's combined for TWO sacks. You lost your best LB in Brandon Chillar. Tye Hill in retrospect was not a 1st round prospect. Your secondary is weak.

4-12 is a bit harsh, but the Rams won't do better than 6-10.

[DistantRam]

Pace is 33 and unreliable. There's not much behind him when he goes down. Not if, when. You're lacking at WR short of Torry Holt. Sorry, but Donnie Avery should barely have been in the top 10 WR's chosen. He was a third round prospect.

Bulger is always injured, in part due to Orlando Pace always being injured. You have two reliable receivers, one of them being Steven Jackson. Chris Long should make an immediate impact on defense (6-8 sacks), but the rest of the DE's combined for TWO sacks. You lost your best LB in Brandon Chillar. Tye Hill in retrospect was not a 1st round prospect. Your secondary is weak.

4-12 is a bit harsh, but the Rams won't do better than 6-10.

Yes, Orlando will almost certainly get injured. But our line is solid, if not spectacular, when everyone else is healthy. Barron knows that he's on his last chance and is reportedly working hard to improve in off-season. Greco and Schuening are solid acquisitions, even if we can't expect much from rookies in the trenches. Richie Incognito and Mark Setterstrom are very underrated guys. Jacob Bell is a very good FA signing. Saunders likes to run with a blocking TE and Becht can do that, while McMichael's figures were poor last year because he had to stay back and block all the time.

One of the great misconceptions of the draft is that Avery would still have been available in the third round. There is no way he would have lasted beyond the end of the second on account of his speed and question marks about all the other receivers in what was, admittdly, a mediocre year for wideouts. Keenan Burton is already reported to be doing well in preseason training.

Long won't reach double figures in his first season, as you point out, but Little was injured a lot and is still capable, even at his age. Carriker will be all the better for his rookie learning season, while Ryan is another potential improver. Our best LB is Will Witherspoon, not Brandon Chillar, while Pisa Tinoisamoa is also good... when fit. Culberson and Draft aren't big names but they're solid players.

As I said, our secondary needs depth: Chavous isn't getting any younger and the rest are erratic. Still, Justin King could break into the cornerback ranks, more likely at the expense of Fakhir Brown than Tye Hill, while Josh Brown will help us in tight games.

I don't expect miracles from this Rams team but 4-12 is way too harsh. If (and it is a big "if") everyone stays healthy, the playoffs are possible: let's face it, the NFC West is just about the weakest division in the league.

[Blazedestin]

Yes, Orlando will almost certainly get injured. But our line is solid, if not spectacular, when everyone else is healthy. Barron knows that he's on his last chance and is reportedly working hard to improve in off-season. Greco and Schuening are solid acquisitions, even if we can't expect much from rookies in the trenches. Richie Incognito and Mark Setterstrom are very underrated guys. Jacob Bell is a very good FA signing. Saunders likes to run with a blocking TE and Becht can do that, while McMichael's figures were poor last year because he had to stay back and block all the time.

One of the great misconceptions of the draft is that Avery would still have been available in the third round. There is no way he would have lasted beyond the end of the second on account of his speed and question marks about all the other receivers in what was, admittdly, a mediocre year for wideouts. Keenan Burton is already reported to be doing well in preseasontraining.

Long won't reach double figures in his first season, as you point out, but Little was injured a lot and is still capable, even at his age. Carriker will be all the better for his rookie learning season, while Ryan is another potential improver. Our best LB is Will Witherspoon, not Brandon Chillar, while Pisa Tinoisamoa is also good... when fit. Culberson and Draft aren't big names but they're solid players.

As I said, our secondary needs depth: Chavous isn't getting any younger and the rest are erratic. Still, Justin King could break into the cornerback ranks, more likely at the expense of Fakhir Brown than Tye Hill, while Josh Brown will help us in tight games.

I don't expect miracles from this Rams team but 4-12 is way too harsh. If (and it is a big "if") everyone stays healthy, the playoffs are possible: let's face it, the NFC West is just about the weakest division in the league.

Barron sucks and will suck this year. Everyone's trying hard in the offseason. We're hearing nothing but good things about John Beck and Brodie Croyle, for god's sake. I don't care that everyone's saying "He's doing so much better this offseason!". With Pace on the line and at 100%, the Rams are an okay blocking unit. Without Pace, they completely suck.

If Avery was going to be a 2nd round pick no matter what, then he'd have been a complete letdown for some team. He's fast as hell but shows limited route running abilities and did not play against top tier competition. This WR class wasn't "Mediocre" like you claim. It had tons of #2 WR talent, but no truly elite prospects. It was deep as hell.

Witherspoon isn't great, and Tinoisamoa is healthy maybe half the time. He's missed 12 games the last two years. If you're putting faith in Justin King, don't. He was getting worse as time went on. I don't care what everyone else says, despite his physical gifts, he was a 4th round prospect. I think he'll bust in the NFL.

I see eight games that are winnable, and that's about it. And that requires you to sweep the Cardinals (Unlikely) and the 49'ers (Very possible).

[DistantRam]

I think he'll bust in the NFL.

And that's what it all boils down to: personal opinions. I hope that, as far as the Rams' prospects for 2008 are concerned, yours is wrong and mine's right, but only time will tell.

[Blazedestin]

Well, the guy got drafted entirely on his physical gifts. He ran a 4.33 or something crazy like that at the combine. Doesn't change the fact that he got burned day in and day out.

[DistantRam]

True, but who's to say that better coaching and playing with better players won't bring about any improvement? If the guy's got speed and adequate size, it's just the technical side of his game which needs work. Get him to cover Torry Holt- still one of the best in the NFL- in training and he'll have to learn.

[Blazedestin]

That philosophy hasn't helped Tye Hill much now, has it?

On topic,

The Indy D-Line isn't a 2 star stop unit. They're surprisingly effective at run stopping (3.8YPC). Their pass rush is anemic when Dwight Freeney isn't in the lineup, but he should be back. Robert Mathis should be more effective since Dwight's healthy, and Marcus Howard was brought in. Probably not a 4 star elite unit, but 3 stars is perfectly reasonable.

[DistantRam]

That philosophy hasn't helped Tye Hill much now, has it?

So because it hasn't worked (thus far) for one player means it's guaranteed to fail for another?

Back on topic, I'd agree with you: 3 stars for the Colts' d-line.

[Leo Fender]

Seeing that I'm a newbie and can't start a new thread, I thought it best to post in this one....

The whole newbie not being allowed to start threads is an attempt to avoid spambots. I think that after 10 posts you should be able to start threads.

[NoNonsenseCoach]

Look I know I'm being nitpicky. But can you please explain how you give 4 stars to the Colts DL? I'd give 2. They suck at DT. I think Mathis is overrated. Freeney was a disappointement last year.

http://www.walterfootball.com/offseason2008ind.php

I think Mathis is just as good as Freeny/