A Look at The Tentative 2010 Roster
by FaulkFan on May 20, 2010 6:28 PM CDT
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Hey there TST community this is the first time I have tried to write something up for this blog so do not rip me up too badly. Okay, lets get on to look at the tentative lineup that the Rams are showing as their starters right now. (All the stats come from a mix of NFL.com and advanced NFL stats)
via static.nfl.com
QB: A.J. Feeley
Everyone who has been following the Rams knows why Spagnuolo has Feeley here as a starter right now. He requires that every rookie earn his spot on the roster and nobody gets a free ticket for a starting position. Since it is pretty likely though that Feeley will start at least the first few games of the year based on how Spagnuolo says he wants to handle his rookie quarterback. We should look at some of Feeley’s other starting stints. Feeley’s best stint of being a starter was when he was playing for the Eagles back in 2002. Even that though was not great with 6 touchdowns, 5 interceptions and a 55.8 completion percentage over a 6 game period with 5 starts. These numbers just scream back-up quarterback. It shows that he is somebody who at his best will not be the one that will lose the game for you. His only other real starting stint came when he was handed the starting job in Miami. This starting stint can best be described as a train wreck he finished his stint as a starter with 11 touchdowns, 15 interceptions, and a 55.3 completion percentage. Also according to advanced NFL stats his Win Probability Added (WPA) was a horrid -3.82 and his Estimated Points Added (-78.3). Finally I hope for the Rams sake that A.J. Feeley does not have to play that much this season because having an extended stint of A.J. Feeley is not going to be good for our win percentage.
RB: Kenneth Darby
Kenneth Darby is another one of those practice squad guys that Devaney was able to find that can play decently when counted upon, and after that being said I really hope that Steven Jackson will be completely ready by the time the season comes around. His stats from 2009 were not horrible, but they also definitely do not say that he can come in and play at a high level either. In 2009 if the 51 yard run that he had off of a fake punt is taken away he averaged a measly 3.88 yards per carry. Which is below what is expected of a starting running back in the NFL of at least 4.0 yards per carry. All in all advanced NFL stats probably exemplifies what Kenneth Darby is, he is guy who will not lose you the game, which is shown by a WPA of -0.03 and an EPA of 2.6. On a side note I am little curious why Chris Ogbonnaya was not at least given half the reps because he looked pretty good in the limited action that was seen from him.
via strategerie.files.wordpress.com
FB: Mike Karney
Mike Karney when healthy which can be a big if at times could be the starting lead blocker for almost any team in the league. Outside of lead blocking though there is not much to him he will plow through somebody without the ball, but he is nobody that you should hand the ball off too and expect to get a lot of yards. That is okay though because he does exactly what the Rams brought him to do lead block for the best player on our team Steven Jackson.
C: Jason Brown
Jason Brown was the only lineman that was able to start all 16 games last season for the Rams other than Alex Barron. He was the big free agent acquisition of one year ago and he has so far proved his worth by being the anchor in the middle of our offensive line and making it a lot easier for Steven Jackson to get those all important yards up the middle.
RG: Adam Goldberg
The ultimate back-up lineman for the Rams is at the moment penciled in as the starter in the right guard, which is actually where he saw some of his best work in 2009. He is one of the most flexible linemen on the team with being able to play 4 out of the 5 positions on line. I would not be surprised at all to see Goldberg starting day one at guard, with his main competition being John Greco once Jacob Bell gets back from his injury.
RT: Phil Trautwein
I will be honest here I am a little surprised to see Trautwein here after being a URFA that Devaney picked up last year after the draft. He has not seen that much action so far, so the jury is still out on him, but as long as Roger Staffold develops along as expected I fully expect him to be the starter come opening day.
LG: John Greco
I am glad to see that Greco is finally in Spagnuolo’s good graces enough to even be considered for this spot even though as soon as Jacob Bell comes back Bell will almost inevitably be the starter. This especially after what happened last season when he was having trouble until the end of the season when injuries had devastated our line to even get into the active roster. It is also good to see, on a side note, the third round pick from the 2008 draft at least becoming a decent backup
LT: Jason Smith
This is exactly what everyone was calling for last year before the concussion killed his season, because those false starts by the former left tackle that will not be named were really pissing a lot of people off. As long as Smith continues right where he left off last year before the concussion I fully expect him to have a very successful season and career that will hopefully follow.
TE: Billy Bajema
Bajema is a blocking tight end that can catch the occasional football so the only reason that he is here is that Daniel Fells is injured and the other two tight ends have definitely not shown enough to warrant even a thought of being the starter at this moment. One big plus though is that he does catch the ball when it is thrown at him since last season he had caught 72.7% of the passes thrown his way. On another side note I am really excited to see what comes from Onuban because the initial reports so far are very encouraging.
WR: Mix of Laurent Robison, Brandon Gibson, Danny Amendola, and Donnie Avery
When the season starts I personally think that it will end up being Laurent Robinson as the number one receiver and Donnie Avery as the speedy deep threat to go along with him. Amendola and Gibson I think will end up sharing time with Gilyard in the slot. Also I would like to go out on a limb and say that I am very optimistic about this group of wide receivers. Especially since I see Avery and Robinson having a couple of relatively big season compared to what we have seen out of our WR’s recently. Looking at advanced NFL stats though really shows how much Avery struggled last year with a WPA of -0.39, an EPA of -13.0, and a catch percentage of only 48.5%. Robinson on the other was the only full time wide receiver with both a positive EPA and WPA which were .11 and 12.2 respectively, and I believe that had he played the entire season those number would only have gotten better. Now on to whom I see as the slot receivers, Gilyard is only a rookie and has not even had close to enough of a sample size to even judge him yet. Amendola though has and what he has shown is the ability to be a solid contributor out of the slot, along with also being pretty good in the return game. He really excels because of his quickness off the line, but lacks in that break away speed. Finally Gibson, he was a rookie last year and showed some real glimpses of greatness, though I do not feel that he will do enough to be a starter. I think he will be a solid contributor because of his ability to pick up some yards after the catch.
DE: James Hall and Chris Long
I cannot wait to see Long get back to the side that he played in college with Little most likely headed to retirement. I say this especially after the Arizona game last year where he was able to play over the right tackle because during that game he appeared like the number two pick in the draft should appear, dominant. So if Long can really build on what we saw last year, we could be in for a truly breakout season from him. James Hall on the other hand is just one of those guys who is a solid leader and who is going to most likely end up playing only half of the snaps just due to his age, but that does not diminish how much he can affect this team. This is because he contributes just as much when he is not playing as when does because he shows those young guys how to really prepare for the game on Sundays.
via www.giantsfootballblog.com
DT: Clifton Ryan and Fred Robbins
Ryan is one of the last remnants from the piss poor Linehan era, and he rightfully deserves to be a starter on this team. He is a solid contributor who just kept going for team that did not play well at all last year. Fred Robbins is a guy that is a lot like James Hall, a veteran guy who has solid production on the field, but is just as much of a contributor in the locker room. On the field he will hopefully be that situational big body that the Rams have been missing since they got rid of Ryan Pickett.
MLB: James Laurinaitis
Laurinaitis is going to be the starter at middle linebacker as long he is on this team for a long time unless something crazy happens. He was the true steal of last years draft and got looked over by the Associated Press’s DROY because of the bad team that he is playing on. Hopefully this year he will be even better because as long as the linemen are able to keep the offensive lineman off of him he will succeed. When he did struggle last year it was because the defensive tackles allowed the opposing offensive lineman to get the second level and block him out of the play.
via www.panthers.com
SLB: Na’il Diggs
Honestly I agree with VanRam on this one I am surprised that Vorbora is not in this spot because he played very solidly last year especially before the suspension that he had to serve in the middle of the season. Diggs though I think is best suited for the SLB spot because he is too old to effectively cover the tight end, but should still have good enough instincts to take down the ball carrier when he comes his way.
WLB: Bobby Carpenter
Personally I really like the trade for this guy because it got rid of a guy that was no way in the long term future for this organization and got a player that works a lot harder and could theoretically be a solid WLB now that he is back at his more natural position. I say this especially because of what he excelled at in Dallas, coverage. It is something that is essential in the WLB and also something that the Rams have lacked in the last few years. Carpenter also just in general projects better to the 4-3 than to the 3-4 making him a much better fit in the Rams system than the Cowboys. So in the end I believe that Carpenter will really turn his career around with the switching to his natural position, which is the one that he also excelled at in college.
S: James Butler and Craig Dahl
If OJ Atogwe gets signed he will definitely be a starter, and it is something that Bill Coats over at the PD seems very sure will happen before June 1st. I on the other hand am a little more skeptical. So assuming Atogwe is not back I think Dahl can be a decent starter, even though he probably projects better as a SS. Butler though is another one of Spagnuolo’s guys from New York who is a pretty good SS and who can also play coverage pretty well. A guy though who cannot be forgotten is the dark horse in this Kevin Payne, who has graced TST with some very interesting tidbits about his life. In the end if Atogwe gets signed I think we have a very good pair of safeties, but if he does not I think they are just very average.
via stlrams.com
CB: Ron Bartell and Justin King
Bartell got his pretty good-sized contract in the offseason last year and like many other Rams before him he underperformed. Hopefully that was because of the injury he was trying to push through because if he does not get back to his form that got him that contract, it could be an ugly year for the Rams. Justin King on the other hand is best suited as a nickel corner and as long as Bradley Fletcher comes back healthy Fletcher will be the starter on opening day moving King back to the slot.
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Nice pics, but Lord, I hope not! AJ Feeley? Kenneth Darby? That's a recipe for 0-16 in my book.
What about Bradford, Jackson, Fells, Saffold, Bell, Fraley, Gilyard, Gibson, Payne, Atogwe and Fletcher? You think Jackson, Bell and Atogwe won’t be healthy enough to play and you don’t want to use any rookies during the easiest part of our schedule?
hmmm....
he is reviewing the actual spring starting roster… can’t rip him for that
Rasmus can hit lefties
cardinalred
St. Louis Sports blog
by stlcardsfan4 on May 21, 2010 12:22 AM CDT up reply actions
I think Feeley gives them the best chance to win in the very beginning
Could there really be a legitimate reason why only 5 rookie QBs in the last 40 years have started all the games of their rookie year?
Bradford is an impressive passer but I seriously doubt he comes in a knows half as much as a veteran like Feeley does about pro defenses. Just being more accurate and having a good arm doesn’t mean you are ready to run an offense. Thats like using combine performances to decide your draft….in other words, physical isn’t everything.
Not that Feeley is destined for Honolulu, but since Bradford just got to this level doesn’t it make sense that he might need a couple of weeks to shake off the rust and develop the ability to read at a faster speed?
Oh, I forgot - thank you for the entertaining post, FaulkFan
I agree with you that Feeley’s best is only being the one that will not lose the game for you. Maybe I didn’t sound that way above. I just think the rookie QB needs a minute to get up to speed.
If you're right about rookies, and you may be, we better get someone besides Feeley under center.
Else we’ll very likely start the easiest part of our 2010 schedule with home losses. This Feeley experiment reminds me of other Ram QB flops like Bert Jones, Dan Pastorini, Jeff Kemp, Chris Miller, Gus Frerotte, Kyle Boller, etc. Guys that are just good enough to get you beat. Maybe no one will pay Bulger’s ridiculous asking salary, and he’ll come back a season for what he’s really worth; about $1-2M.
Actually, I thought Chris Miller
was pretty good until too many concussions left him too foggy to run the team any longer.
I’m not sure Bulger would want to come back here for another year. If he decides to play at all this year it probably will be for a team that is better at protecting the passer and has a chance to be a winner.
You might be right about Bulger. But I really don't think any team with a chance to win is likely to think Bulger can get 'em there.
btw. I think the Rams offensive line may be vastly improved this year. Smith, Brown and Saffold can anchor things. Bell, Fraley, Setts, Goldberg may end up being ok. And things will definitley be better without slug Barron and headcase Incognito. Karney can block and maybe Fells or one of the new TEs can too. Regarding Miller, he had talent, but by the time he came to us he was done physically.
Unless a team is really desperate
I think they would just sign Bulger as the backup behind their starter, but I don’t know that he would be unhappy with that it it was for a solid team. However, teams like Arizona that are dying for a decent QB might just take a shot at making him the starter. And of course he might just decide to retire.
Bradford > Bulger
with that said, Bulger was clearly the best QB on our team last year and while that’s not saying much, i would love to have him back until bradford is ready
point being, he could make positive contributions to any team… probably not make playoffs…. arizona maybe only because our division is TERRIBLE
i could see him being best QB in division if he goes to arizona – bradford – rookie stats always suck, smith – bust as far as im concerned, leinert – sucks
Rasmus can hit lefties
cardinalred
St. Louis Sports blog
by stlcardsfan4 on May 21, 2010 11:53 PM CDT up reply actions
ahh sorry
*Hassellback – washed-up
leinart would be arizona starter otherwise
Rasmus can hit lefties
cardinalred
St. Louis Sports blog
by stlcardsfan4 on May 21, 2010 11:54 PM CDT up reply actions
Besides JL, who do you see that makes you love them?
I’m having trouble seeing that many good LBs.
dude diggs and carpenter!
unless we resign togs which i dont see happening i think our linebackers will be the best part of our defense
Wow! I hope that happens because all your optimistic views
come true and not because the other positions are so bad. I’m afraid I’m a pessimist on our LBs and I’m afraid we’ll still have JL and not much else. I see them as more likely being our weakest group and not our best. Still, like I say I hope you are right.
no way bro.....
D-line is easily the weakest area of our defense…..i mean Long is our best pass rushing threat, and i dont even think i would call him a threat to QB’s more of an annoyance
He's seeing the 'maybe' factor ...
… and I like the positiveness.
Maybe Na’il Diggs can play at a high level one more year.
Maybe Carpenter is really good in a 4-3 and was mis-cast in a 3-4.
Maybe Vobora will continue to grow as a player.
Maybe one of the rookies will pan out.
I’d say one of the 4 is likely the most we can hope for and if we only get one, I hope it isn’t #1.
Still, I like the positive outlook.
I can take a beating ... I'm a Rams fan.
+1 midas spot on!
i think Carpenter was miscast, and i think Selvie will pan out….that leave Vobora and Diggs rotating at SLB which looks very promising
Robert mathis actually had an excellent season with the colts wieghing in at 235
I believe it was from 03-05 (combined sack total of 25.5). And he currently plays for them at 245 so Selvie’s wieght shouldn’t be too much of a problem
Per fas et nefas - Latin translation="By Any Means Necessary"
definitely agree
I think that 2 of those are reasonably likely to pan out. I think Carpenter will be at least a decent OLB and i think that by the end of the season Vorbora will grow into a pretty good starter.
Justin King
Is looking like Denzel in that photo
Per fas et nefas - Latin translation="By Any Means Necessary"
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