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Random Ramsdom: March 28: Los Angeles Rams - Getting Back To Football

Hopefully, the pointless drama of the last couple weeks has now subsided and we can focus on the next big offseason event for the Rams: the NFL Draft. I'm looking forward to seeing the next Pro Bowler(s) the Rams select this year!

By Frank "Dubs" Dobozy

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Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

Twitter Talk

"Multiple sources" suggest Howard Balzer can't make up his mind as to whether he's a Rams fan or not. He sure as hell created a big enough stink last week with his accusations regarding Michael Sam, the Rams, Hard Knocks and the NFL (as an unbiased reporter of course). Watch the interview Balzer did in January, then check out his contradictory comments to me on Twitter:

He sure is...

As a follow up to my article published last week:

Now when you step off a plane in Los Angeles, the Rams are front and center:

Very classy words from Rodger Saffold:

Rams prepare for LA reality: Los Angeles Daily News

Moving, traffic, multiple facilities are all part of the relocation from St. Louis to Los Angeles. But as Coach Jeff Fisher surmises:

"Our approach is that the rest of the league doesn’t care what we’re doing. There’s 31 other teams getting ready for the offseason program and training camp and the regular season. We’ve got to do the same thing. The sooner we get set up and ready to go, the better off we’ll be. I’m not looking at this as a distraction or an excuse."

2016 NFL Mock Draft: Walter Football

Walter updates his five round mock. The Rams select WR Laquon Treadwell in the first round, TE Hunter Henry and LB/S Su'a Cravens in the second round, QB Christian Hackenberg in the third round and CB Kevin Seymour in the fourth round. The first three picks are the highlights of this Rams mock draft.

Ten most underrated defensive prospects in 2016 NFL Draft: NFL.com

The three players I'm particularly high on from Gil Brandt's list: DT Vernon Butler, S Keanu Neal and LB Deion Jones. I believe all three will be prominently featured on the Rams' draft board.

Are Rams in position to move up for a top quarterback: ESPN NFL Nation

As Nick Wagoner notes (and I agree):

"In reality, moving from 15 to 1 is probably too steep of a cost for the Rams, especially for a quarterback that doesn't come with the pedigree of other recent No. 1 overall picks at the position. The move to six would seem more plausible, especially if both Goff and Wentz are on the board at that spot."

Draft Prospect Highlight Reel: WR - Sterling Shepard - Oklahoma

Free Agency grades for NFC West teams: Pro Football Focus

PFF doesn't like the Rams' moves this offseason, giving them a mediocre "C+" for their efforts thus far. My grade? A solid "B".

The reason why Keenum is uninspiring: ESPN Radio Los Angeles 710

Rodgers and Markazi share their thoughts on all things Rams-related.

How the Rams might be setting up to actually land a decent quarterback: CBS Sports

Is the Rams' offseason stance regarding the quarterback position just a smokescreen leading up to the draft?

"Fisher and Snead are pretty good at their jobs and nice human beings. But let’s not pretend they’re not willing to lie to the media about the idea of where they sit on the quarterback. Any half-decent GM or coach should be willing to spin up some half-truths, and the Rams front office is no different."

NFL's brain trust drops the ball: Sports On Earth

As respected writer Mike Lupica so perfectly opines:

"Clearly Roger Goodell now pays, in a lot of ways, for the institutional ignorance about head injuries that existed for generations in his sport, ignorance that later became willful neglect. You don't think it was willful neglect? Of course it was, or the league wouldn't have written a $765 million check to settle concussion-related lawsuits brought by nearly 5,000 former players, some of that money from the settlement funding medical exams, concussion-related compensation and medical research."

NFL's flawed concussion research and ties to tobacco industry: New York Times

The NFL was put on the defensive because of this article last week, rushing to deliver a statement on the piece, a statement contradicting much of what was written by the Times. Yet again, another bad PR week for the NFL.

On RG3, Rules and NFL's Reaction To Concussion Story: MMQB

Peter King takes us through the week that was in the NFL.

Stat Facts Of The Week: Turnover Differential

Team Turnover Differential Statistics
Team Takeaways Giveaways Turnover Differential
1 Carolina Panthers 39 19 20
2 Kansas City Chiefs 29 15 14
3 Cincinnati Bengals 28 17 11
4 Arizona Cardinals 33 24 9
5 New England Patriots 21 14 7
6 New York Giants 28 21 7
7 Seattle Seahawks 23 16 7
8 New York Jets 30 24 6
9 Buffalo Bills 25 19 6
10 Washington Redskins 27 22 5
11 Minnesota Vikings 22 17 5
12 Green Bay Packers 22 17 5
13 St. Louis Rams 26 21 5
14 Houston Texans 25 20 5
15 Pittsburgh Steelers 30 28 2
16 New Orleans Saints 22 20 2
17 Oakland Raiders 25 24 1
18 Miami Dolphins 16 19 -3
19 Chicago Bears 17 21 -4
20 San Diego Chargers 20 24 -4
21 Denver Broncos 27 31 -4
22 Philadelphia Eagles 26 31 -5
23 Indianapolis Colts 25 30 -5
24 San Francisco 49ers 12 17 -5
25 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23 28 -5
26 Detroit Lions 18 24 -6
27 Atlanta Falcons 23 30 -7
28 Cleveland Browns 21 30 -9
29 Jacksonville Jaguars 18 28 -10
30 Baltimore Ravens 14 28 -14
31 Tennessee Titans 19 33 -14
32 Dallas Cowboys 11 33 -22

It's a widely held belief that winning the turnover battle is important to a teams success on the field. For the 2015 season, the Rams ranked tied for 10th in the league in Turnover Differential (+5). The Rams were 4-3 in games with a positive Turnover Differential and 3-6 in games with an even or negative Turnover Differential.

Rams GM Les Snead is interviewed by Rich Eisen, on The Rich Eisen Show, Thursday, March 24:

Keenum will be starting QB to begin OTA's: Los Angeles Rams Official Website

Yes, THAT's OTA's, not the first game of the regular season, as was mistakenly reported by just about everyone. All because of one incorrect, ill-advised tweet from a reporter who didn't listen correctly to Les Snead's words in this interview.

Rams head out of St. Louis, prepared for Los Angeles beginnings: ESPN NFL Nation

My sincere hope is that all fans of the Rams from the St. Louis area will continue to follow and cheer on the team that was theirs for 20 years.

Are we all wrong? Maybe Case Keenum is the Rams' guy: Cover 32 Rams

I'm going to wait until the NFL draft is over before evaluating the Rams' QB situation. For now, I'll stick with my December prediction of the Rams rolling with the three-headed monster (Keenum, Foles, Mannion) into the 2016 regular season. Any of the three could end up as the starter.

Chase Reynolds hopes to follow Rams to LA: Montana Missoulian

Reynolds is one of three Rams Free Agents (Wes Welker and Greg Zuerlein are the other two) still looking for work this coming season. I expect the Rams to re-sign Reynolds at some point. He's been a core special teams contributor for the last three seasons.

Rams exit could come with $19 million parting gift: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

The Rams have the right to buy their former practice facility at Rams Park (valued at $19M) for $1 in 2024. The Jones Dome Authority believes otherwise and is suing the Rams to eliminate the purchase option.

"I think it would be bad form and in bad character," said Dave Peacock, co-chairman of the effort to build the riverfront football stadium, along with attorney Bob Blitz. "Just because you have the right to do something doesn’t make it right."

On This Day In Sports History

1899 - August Anheuser Busch Jr. (brewing magnate and sports executive) is born on this day. Mr. Busch passed away in 1989 at the age of 90.

1963 - The AFL's New York Titans become the New York Jets.

Turning up the heat on NFL coaches: Sports On Earth

What would it take for Jeff Fisher to get fired? Kenneth Arthur believes a 5-11 record (without an extension) would pretty much seal Fisher's fate.

Q&A with Rams coach Jeff Fisher: Los Angeles Daily News

Vincent Bonsignore talks with Rams head coach Jeff Fisher on a range of topics: Case Keenum, the move, Free Agency and the challenges ahead for the Rams' offense.

3 trades the Rams could make in the NFL Draft: Chat Sports

I don't support any of the three trades suggested by the author. If the Rams do trade up, it should be to #6 (Baltimore Ravens). If they trade down, Houston at #22 and Minnesota at #24 are more likely trading partners.

Rams should avoid drafting Laquon Treadwell: Ramblin' Fan

This is very well-reasoned article and a strong counterpoint in the "draft Treadwell if there at 15" argument.

Los Angeles Rams Mock Draft: Rounds 1-2: isportsweb

In this mock, the Rams select WR Josh Doctson in the first round, followed by QB Connor Cook and S Justin Simmons in the second round.

ESPN's Nick Wagoner shares his thoughts on Rams happenings of the past week:

Stedman Bailey was shot twice in the head last year but could make a miraculous return to the NFL with the Los Angeles Rams. Mike Florio says Bailey is a guy we should all be rooting for:

Los Angeles Rams Weekly Salary "Re-Cap"

The Rams have close to $4.9 million in available salary cap space remaining to spend (with all additional 2016 financial obligations taken into consideration) as of 11:00 pm, Sunday March 27. I'll be publishing a complete salary cap update later in the week.

Los Angeles Rams Current Roster & Depth Chart

C Tim Barnes Demetrius Rhaney Eric Kush
RG Jamon Brown Cody Wichmann Brian Folkerts
LG Rodger Saffold Garrett Reynolds David Arkin
RT Rob Havenstein Andrew Donnal
LT Greg Robinson Darrell Williams Isaiah Battle
TE Lance Kendricks Cory Harkey Justice Cunningham
WR Tavon Austin Stedman Bailey Kain Colter
WR Kenny Britt Nick Toon Isiah Ferguson
WR Brian Quick Bradley Marquez Deon Long
RB Tre Mason Trey Watts Malcolm Brown
RB Todd Gurley Benny Cunningham Zach Laskey
QB Case Keenum Nick Foles Sean Mannion
PK
P John Hekker
LS Jake McQuaide
DT Aaron Donald Doug Worthington Louis Trinca-Pasat
DT Michael Brockers Ethan Westbrooks
DE William Hayes Eugene Sims
DE Robert Quinn Quinton Coples Matt Longacre
MLB Alec Ogletree Bryce Hager
OLB Mark Barron Zack Hodges Matthew Wells
OLB Akeem Ayers Cameron Lynch
CB E.J. Gaines Coty Sensabaugh Marcus Roberson
CB Trumaine Johnson Lamarcus Joyner Eric Patterson Troy Hill
SS Tim McDonald Jr. Maurice Alexander
FS Cody Davis Christian Bryant
65 Players Total

Blast From The Past: Classic Rock Monday: Jimi Hendrix - Hey Joe

Please have a great Monday and a Ramtastic week!!

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