Our defense for next year

by Marmie is the best on Apr 27, 2009 9:30 AM CDT Comment 12 comments

I was very happy that the Rams were able to snap up James Laurinaitis in the second round and add depth at DT and CB. call me crazy, but I think our defense will be very good next season; and I'll tell you why.

First, we have a lot less black holes than last year. Corey Chavous is gone and we now have two solid linebackers instead of just one. Also, Ron Bartell solidfied himself as a starter last year.

Second, our existing talent will get better. Chris Long had an excellent rookie season for a DE. Not too many guys do better than 4 sacks their rookie year. I think he will break out and get double digit sacks this year. Carriker will continue his development as a DT and so will Ron Bartell at CB. Also, opposite of Bartell will be Hill, Fletcher, or King. Anyone of those three could step up and be a good NFL starter.

Yes the other DE is a little bit of a problem; Little was only playing on 3rd downs last season. But, I think that can mitigated by running a different system. Something that no one really talked about is the new formation that we ran. It was a 3-4 or a 3-3-5, whichever you want to call it. We had three lineman, three linebackers and five DBs. But, we always had Jason Craft blitz. If we run a similiar scheme this year, I think we will be very successful.

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LIttle is protected some

because Spagnuolo is a big situational/rotational guy

which is something that should help get more out of all the players

by VanRam on Apr 27, 2009 10:24 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

It was a modified 3-3-5

And it had inconsistent success; that being said, I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing it this year with some creative blitz packages.

Jay Zygmunt, now that you have fired yourself, please have yourself hired by Seattle. Thanks.

by 3k on Apr 27, 2009 11:40 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Inconsistent Success

The 3-3-5 that we ran had inconsistent success, but at least it had success. From watching the last 3 games of the season, I feel like this scheme worked really well. If Fakhir Brown and Corey Chavous/Todd Johnson didn’t blow so many plays, our defense would have been pretty good at the end of the year. Those two guys were just black holes that the other team could pick on. I think that those black holes will be filled by solid players this year and hopefully make the Rams the defense an asset to the team.

Remember the great 2004 and 2005 Rams teams...

by Marmie is the best on Apr 28, 2009 9:00 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I feel bad for Ron Bartell.

He has to cover Fitzgerald twice, Crabtree twice, and T. J. too-long-of-a-last-name-to-remember-how-to-spell-it, twice.

S-St. Louis, R-Rams, D-Dallas, M-Mavericks, A-Arizona, D-Diamondbacks.

by srdmad on Apr 27, 2009 4:48 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Carriker???

Somebody correct me if I am wrong but didn’t Carriker play DE in college?? why did we change him to a DT? was it his size or what… if he doesn’t develop at DT this year is there a chance he could be put at the end again if we don’t bring back Little after this year.. I just really liked this guy when he came out and I think he is a DE more than a DT… I might be wrong but tell me why we made him a DT ?? Long and carriker to me would be good bookends… I know Carriker bulked up but can he slim down and go back to his position in college?

by Uncfan1 on Apr 27, 2009 6:06 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

You’re right, he was a DE in Nebraska. I definitely think that could be an option, especially if our new 4th Round DT pans out to be that beast of a run stopper up the middle. I would still like to see the Rams make a play to get a new DE either in free agency or during the draft though.

by kickasskeever on Apr 27, 2009 9:05 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I believe

he was a defensive end in a 3 – 4 scheme, not a 4 – 3. That doesn’t translate well to playing DE in our system. The Rams did sign a DE in free agency today. D’Marco Farr knew who he was and was pretty excited about it. He played for Kansas or KState, but I can’t remember his name. It sounded like he is a good pash rusher.

by andyrose on Apr 27, 2009 11:40 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Ian Campbell

Biography:
One of the nation’s premiere pass rushers… An All-America, national award (Bednarik, Hendricks, Lombardi, Nagurski) and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year candidate.

A two-time team captain and team leader who possesses outstanding speed and plays with tremendous determination.

2007: Campbell named a first team All-Big 12 linebacker by the league’s coaches and second team All-Big 12 linebacker by the Associated Press, the Kansas City Star and the Waco Tribune-Herald. He currently ranks sixth all-time at K-State with 16 career sacks, tied for third in school history with seven fumble recoveries.

Campbell started all 12 games at either end or linebacker. He recorded 45 tackles, including a team-best 11 tackles for loss. He led the Big 12 with four fumble recoveries, which also was one shy of the school record.

2006:
Campbell is one of five Wildcats to start all 13 games. He earned consensus first team All-Big 12 honors from the league’s coaches, The Associated Press, Kansas City Star, Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News. He was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year by the Houston Chronicle, semi-finalist for the Hendricks Award, honorable mention All-American by CNN/SI.com.

Campbell finished third on the team in total tackles with 67 and led the Wildcats in both tackles for losses (17.5) and sacks (11.5). His tackle total ranked No. 1 among all Big 12 defensive linemen, led the Big 12 and ranked 18th nationally in tackles for losses, sack total tied the K-State single-season record, while ranking No. 2 in the Big 12 and 10th nationally.

Campbell also ranked third in the Big 12 with three fumble recoveries in conference games, collected at least one sack in 9-of-13 games.

2005: Campbell appeared in 10-of-11 games, totaled seven tackles, recorded two stops vs. both North Texas and Colorado. Blocked a punt vs. Missouri that was returned for a score. He earned team’s Purple Pride award as the top walk-on, displaying quality play, leadership and work ethic.

from Scouts.com

by shostag on Apr 28, 2009 3:20 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Why wasn't he drafted

is he undersized?

The Personal Finance Playbook.

by Toddius on Apr 28, 2009 8:47 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

He's 6 - 3 1/2, 265

The knock on him is that he isn’t quick enough. He had a relatively slow time in the 40 at the combine.

by andyrose on Apr 28, 2009 11:06 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Good Signing

He’s gonna have a chip on his shoulder, something to prove. Not a bad trait for a DE/OLB. Combine stats are nothing compared to game tape or stats. The big 12 is a tough conference too. Lots of offense, and lots of competition for those defensive accomplishments.
I also agree with UNC, on Carricker. We have too often in the past moved people out of their natural positions. Hopefully we get away from that.

by dbcouver on Apr 28, 2009 1:59 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Carriker sucks

You can scratch Carriker from your list ,what a wasted #1 pic that was,and we need to get Pisa out of there and replace him with a solid LB,every thing else is looking good

by james535 on May 2, 2009 8:15 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs