Random Ramsdom: Sunday 8/1 - It's August ALREADY

by VTramsFan on Aug 1, 2010 6:52 AM CDT

It's August already... I don't know about you, but when I see "August" on my calendar, I start to get pretty darn excited! Football is HERE !! Camp has started, all our draft picks are signed, AND we're pretty healthy too!

OK there's plenty to talk about... may as well start with the story of the week:

*Sam Bradford Signs... for REAL. LINK HERE WITH VIDEO Bradford becomes the highest paid NFL rookie of all time, and most likely NO other NFL rookie will ever be paid that much again due to CBA talks. Bradford and the Rams agreed to a six year, $78m contract, with $50m guaranteed. On a side note, he COULD potentially earn up to $86m if he reaches all incentives (which haven't been disclosed yet).

Note: I've seen a lot of people posting negative comments about Bradford making this kind of money on various message boards... Listen, don't hate the playa'. He's just doing what anyone else would be doing if they were in the same shoes.. heck, wouldn't YOU?

*More On Bradford - Excited to be a Ram... Jim Thomas answers the question regarding Sam Bradford's willingness to play for us. LINK HERE There's NO question the kid is excited to play for us, and here's a quote from Rams executive Kevin Demoff, "I talked to Sam earlier tonight, and he's very excited. I'm excited that every fan will want to see the beginning of a new era with him and the Rams and our other new players."

Let's end this particular conversation shall we? He signed, he's here, he said he wants to be here, etc etc.. case closed.

*And even MORE on Bradford - Training Camp SIGHTING... Mark it down, 2:53pm July 31, 2010.. that's when Sam Bradford first stepped onto a St. Louis Rams practice field LINK HERE Looks like he even got some reps with the first team, which is really encouraging.

*Onobun Is Eager - Coach Spags is "hopeful" for the young man, and says he is, ".. so eager". Man wouldn't it be something if he progressed enough to contribute substantially this year? Taking nothing away from Fells of course... but a target like this guy would REALLY be helpful. LINK HERE

*Speaking of helpful, Donnie Avery bulked up to 193 lbs... He's ready to have a healthy, break out season, and many experts are predicting he could emerge at season's end with 1000+ yards receiving. This is BIG news for a team so sorely lacking a #1 receiving threat. LINK HERE Talk is cheap.. so we'll see what happens...

*Have a look at what StLouisToday.com writers depict as the most interesting battles in camp. Nice little read! LINK HERE

*A Little Off Topic BUT - Cowboys Dez Bryant out 4-6 weeks - This is unrelated to the Rams, but with some people screaming his name during our pre-draft chats here at good ole TST, I thought this could be noteworthy. LINK & VIDEO OF a DISTRAUT Jerry Jones HERE Looks like a high ankle sprain. It's also important to note that the Cowboys top three draft picks are now ALL injured... did they pick up our ex-strength and conditioning coach or what?

That's about it for now... with a bit of a "lull" today as far as football goes, you may as well watch the NASCAR race today from Pocono at 1pm est. And don't say you're not interested in seeing cars drive in circles, because today is one of the three occasions per season where... they do NOT drive in a circle. Pocono is a triangle... The other two? Road courses... Sonoma and Watkins Glen..

Factoid: i've been to Pocono Raceway a few times and it's a GREAT atmosphere. Did you know it has the largest toilet facility in the world? "Long John". In 1990 they removed all of the old 375 toilets and replaced them all with "Long John", the biggest toilet facility in the world, with 1000 stalls, to be sure fans had no lines.

Enjoy your Sunday everyone.

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I doubt this will happen but if its true, I'm glad we didn't draft Suh

YahooSportsNFL

A nasty holdout coming on. RT @mortreport: Word is Ndamukong Suh’s reps asked 4 more than Bradford. $90 mill x 6 yrs. $56 mill guaranteed.

Onubon > Gates

by Carneros on Aug 1, 2010 11:12 AM CDT reply actions

The holdout is legit according to many a source

though I haven’t seen those figures. The reasoning is that for 90% of the league, Suh would have been the first overall pick. Plus, being less of a bust factor than a QB, his agents are pushing hard for at least a close to Bradford deal. Yikes. Just glad we got our guy in so we can get to work.

You don't seem to want to accept the fact you're dealing with an expert in guerrilla warfare, with a man who's the best, with guns, with knives, with his bare hands. A man who's been trained to ignore pain, ignore weather, to live off the land, to eat things that would make a billy goat puke. In *St. Louis* his job was to dispose of enemy personnel. To kill! Period! Win by attrition. Well, *Steven Jackson* was the best.

by 3k on Aug 1, 2010 11:41 AM CDT up reply actions

Yea I don't doubt the holdout

I doubt that he’ll make more than Bradford though. If he gets 45 million guaranteed I’d say he did very well and I wouldn’t be surprised to see something around there.

Onubon > Gates

by Carneros on Aug 1, 2010 4:41 PM CDT up reply actions

Ha ha ha this is good stuf lmao

by rams210 on Aug 2, 2010 1:38 AM CDT up reply actions

Yea his agents have that sort of history (holdouts)

"The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall." - Vince Lombardi

by VTramsFan on Aug 1, 2010 11:18 AM CDT reply actions

While I'm quite happy with Bradford, Suh would've been my 1st choice IF we'd had any semblance of a QB.

But, we didn’t. Bulger, Boller and Null reminded me of the three stooges. Acquiring Feeley was the pits. So we hadda go QB. If one had a crystal ball I suppose picking Suh 1st and Clausen 2nd would’ve been a coup. I think Suh is gonna be a monster to reckon with for years to come. His presence on the Ram defensive line (our worst weakness) accompanied by a pretty decent Chris Long and having JL behind him would’ve instantly moved our “D” rating up 5 notches. But, it didn’t happen. So we’ll have to hope that our offense can help make up for the free ride opponents will get from our existing Front Four. While things overall look better to me this year (heck, we’ve got a cake walk schedule) the talking heads like King, Clayton, Don and co. still think we’re crap. And they get paid to analyze this stuff to the nth degree. They were right last year…

by RamChop on Aug 1, 2010 12:59 PM CDT reply actions

The analysts were wrong

when they assumed everyone considered Clausen a first round talent. Most of the 32 teams skipped on him twice. So saying getting Clausen and Suh would have been a coup isn’t a concensus. The best evaluators of QB talent think that Bradford is the best QB coming out since Palmer. I do agree with you in that our D line and outside LBs suck and that will take more time. But you can’t fill every position every year.

If you love something, set it free. If it doesn't come back, find it and kill it.

by gomer7 on Aug 1, 2010 2:13 PM CDT up reply actions

I think Bradford is very likely better than Clausen.

But remember, our illustrious TST predictors had Clausen listed as our #1 pick. That’s why I don’t generally participate in such tripe. However, considering getting Suh and Clausen versus Bradford and Saffold, it remains to be seen which combo has the greatest value.

by RamChop on Aug 1, 2010 8:47 PM CDT up reply actions

That was one person who picked Clausen first.

And a lot of people didn’t want to let him, myself included. I never liked Clausen but I also didn’t think he would fall that far.

Onubon > Gates

by Carneros on Aug 1, 2010 9:02 PM CDT up reply actions

Clausen is not in the same league as Bradford not even close

I will take Bradford and Saffold any day of the week

by rams210 on Aug 2, 2010 1:34 AM CDT up reply actions

I'm the one that picked Clausen first overall.

I didn’t want Bradford at all and picked Clausen to placate those that insisted we can’t take a DT first overall.

I’ve been drinking the Bradford water lately so for no logical reason I am now excited to have him.

I can’t wait for him to get hit and prove me wrong.

I can take a beating ... I'm a Rams fan.

by Midasknight on Aug 2, 2010 6:00 PM CDT up reply actions

I'm with you

I wanted Clausen but hell I’m happy with my team. I’m not really unhappy with the double of Bradford and Saffold either.

by CoachConnors on Aug 6, 2010 12:05 PM CDT up reply actions

Until Bradford shows something

everyone will rate us as crap…

"The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall." - Vince Lombardi

by VTramsFan on Aug 1, 2010 6:12 PM CDT up reply actions

Yea

but who cares what we are rated.

If you love something, set it free. If it doesn't come back, find it and kill it.

by gomer7 on Aug 1, 2010 9:13 PM CDT up reply actions

Things do look better then last year...

last year was just a roster purge of bad contracts and players from the prior regime. This year is more building – still weak and/or inexperienced in areas – but building none the less.

The point I wanted to make though is about your comment, made by others as well, on the “cake walk schedule.” Is our schedule easier? YES. But the Rams are one of the worst (arguably THE worst) teams in the NFL so we are looking up to all teams. Essentially my point is that no games are gimmes – there is not one game (I am no pessimist, but I am a realist) I can look at on the sked and say “W” inequivocally. I can see more games on the sked we have a chance to win, but I still keep my gaurded optimism with a rookie QB, a weak and/or inexpeirenced WR/DL/OL at 3 wins – anything over that is gravy.

And yes, that would be both an improvement and good season, with one caveat. Bradford plays and sees his game improve (well the team in general – but Sam the most) as the season moves along.

I should be working right now...

by gorams77 on Aug 1, 2010 10:31 PM CDT up reply actions

We've been purging overrated and spent players for 3 years now.

I think getting rid of people that either lost or never had NFL skills and had become accustomed to perennial losing will have a much greater positive impact this year than our free agent acquistions. Our new free agent players suck for the most part. They’re basically backups to supplement a team comprised largely of backups. And, outside of Sam, our 2010 draft picks were dubious at best. Even last year’s number 1 pick, Jason Smith, is looking like the biggest bomb since Ryan Leaf. Let’s just name a few of the dumpees from the last few years; Holt, Pace, Witherspoon, Tinasomoa, McMichael, Bulger, Boller, Green, Lenon, Chavous, Drew Bennett, Drew Hill, Barron, Incognito, Carriker, Tye Hill, Brian Leonard, Joe Klop, Looker, Gado, Wroten, and many many more. When you’ve got to get rid of that many players, many of whom were high draft choices, you’re gonna be number 32 in the NFL rankings. And, even with all these cuts we’re still saddled with a host of lame guys like James Hall, Kenneth Darby, Obog, Toston, Vobora, Adenyaju, Setts (IR), Greco, Ah You, Burton, etc., that would be 2nd or 3rd string on most NFL teams. Plus, don’t forget the underperformers like Chris Long, Jacob Bell, Jason Smith, Donnie Avery, etc. These guys have GOT to start living up to their highly paid contracts. So again, the above departures can only help us. Many more players will probably exit, some unexpectedly, by end of training camp. Our truly talented players can be counted on the fingers….

by RamChop on Aug 3, 2010 2:03 PM CDT up reply actions

To get back to the Rams,

here’s a quote from the St. Louis paper on what Adam Goldberg had to say about Bradford after the first practice.

“How ‘bout that bleepin’ kid? I mean, how ‘bout him, huh? He’s so cool and calm for a rookie. Doesn’t act like anything gets to him. I couldn’t believe how even-keeled he was out there. Walked into the huddle like he’d been there all his life. Now we’ll have to see how that all works when another team’s blitz package is thrown at him. But man, today he walked right into the huddle and took control. Fraley and I looked at each other and both of us said ‘Hmmmmm’. We noticed right away how the kid had immediate command as soon as he came into the huddle.”

Before the draft there were those who worried he wouldn’t be able to take command of the offense and the huddle – that he was too low key and lacked leadership. Looks like those concerns can be put to rest. He’s ready to take over as soon as he gets a handle on the Rams offense, how NFL defenses work, and the speed of the game. No worries about being able to lead the team.

by andyhawk on Aug 1, 2010 5:59 PM CDT reply actions

That was my worry

He always seemed to be shy and soft spoken during press conferences. He seems to be getting more comfortable now. But I don’t care how he shy he is around the media if he can play and command a team. It does have to be a weird situation. He’s a rookie and he’s just trying to fit in and get up to speed, but it is also his team, and he has to act (for lack of a better word) like it is.

Onubon > Gates

by Carneros on Aug 1, 2010 6:21 PM CDT up reply actions