Rams give Cooks crazy money

SoulfishHawk

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It's just my own opinion, but people acting like they are going to the Super Bowl already is way too premature.
I'll believe it's gonna' work out when I see it. And they still have to stay healthy. Putting together a so called "super team" doesn't automatically equal a title. They clearly are being crowned. Just not by me.
 

Ramfan128

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Coug_Hawk08":2jibfgl9 said:
SoulfishHawk":2jibfgl9 said:
Way too many psycho's on that team, and way too many guys to pay.

they have only gotten better. Not every team has to be built for a dynasty — obviously some of these guys will move on and get paid more elsewhere next year or the year after. But, they have a real shot at winning it all right now, and that’s really all you can hope for as a fan of the team.

Lots of wild personalities, but as long as they win and no one gets suspended, they should be better than fine.


Yea for the next three-four years, they should be contenders every year.

After that it depends on Goff and how the roster is shaped.

Personally, I think teams biggest downfall is paying a non elite QB. I like Goff, but unless he develops like Aaron Rodgers did (unlikely), I would be happy if the Rams decided to let him walk and keep roster loaded with talent. Eventually I believe a team will make that decision.

Having a solid QB with a rookie salary is a bigger advantage than having an above average QB paid at $30 million.
 

Ramfan128

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SoulfishHawk":2fb0vusv said:
It's just my own opinion, but people acting like they are going to the Super Bowl already is way too premature.
I'll believe it's gonna' work out when I see it. And the still have to stay healthy. Putting together a so called "super team" doesn't automatically equal a title. They clearly are being crowned. Just not by me.



I mean, there were times during the season where the Rams had better advanced metrics than the 1999 team. And while many have talked about having to play a "first place" schedule, we randomly drew the Saints and Vikings last year on top of playing the Eagles and Cowboys (with Zeke).

And while you can say this kind of thing every year, it's worth noting that if the Rams had beaten the Eagles last year and then played the starters and beaten the Niners in week 17, that's a 13-3 team with a first round bye. Doubt the Eagles win the super bowl.

That's only relevant to why I don't think the Rams are being overrated at all - they were actually a better team than the 11-5 record last year and then laid an egg against the Falcons - that's a concern - but then the team went out and got much, much better.

You have to have watched the Rams games to truly get a grasp for just how much better the Rams got - Ogletree was one of the worst rated MLBs against the run last year - Littleton, the man that will take his place, will be an upgrade for what he will be asked to do. Quinn had a good 5 game stretch, but mostly collected sacks last year because of Donald's pressure up the middle.

On the flip side, Suh at NT is a massive upgrade - we were playing Ethan Westbrooks and Tanziel Smart there last year..

Trumaine Johnson was overrated as well - Kayvon Webster was solid but not spectacular. Talib and Peters are MASSIVE upgrades over those guys - especially for what the CBs are asked to do in this system.

And then you have Cooks over Watkins - Watkins missed all of TC last year, Cooks has been here since day 1. That's a huge deal.

The Rams were one of the best teams in the NFL last year with average QB play - from a young QB with potential and a lot of room to get better. We had some injury luck on the OL, but that's why we spent several draft picks to bolster the OL depth.


The only thing stopping me from being flat out confident that the Rams will win the superbowl are that for all our upgrades, the Eagles are adding the best young QB in the NFL to a team that won the superbowl, and the Vikings added Richardson and Cousins. These three teams are stacked on a level that I haven't seen in one conference.

I also believe it's unprecedented for a team to have added players the caliber of Suh, Cooks, Peters and Talib in one offseason. People keep talking about the dream team Eagles but I think maybe one of their FA signings would be on this level.
 

SoulfishHawk

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We'll see. I had Rams fans telling me they were gonna' roll thru the playoffs last year. Haven't won a playoff game since 2004. I expect them to be good, but great? Maybe if everything lines up just right for them.
 

sdog1981

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RedAlice":1xymt6j6 said:
sdog1981":1xymt6j6 said:
For a second I was worried about the Rams.

They added nothing but cancerous powder kegs to the roster this past offseason. This could be the spark that blows the whole locker room up. We are about to see if boy genius can keep the team together, his age will be a liability when trying to talk to players like Shu.

You have got to be kidding me!!!!!!!

This is like the dumbest comment I have seen on the Rams yet. Well, let's play the games.

Used to be good conversation here.


Go back and look what the 2010 Eagles did when they added a ton of free agents in one season.

Then go watch this video about the 1993 Huston Oilers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0bwkThXMOc

I knew you were a Rams fan but I did not know you were ignorant of NFL history. The Rams will disappoint this year and the locker room will be the reason.
 

ApnaHawk

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The deal ianf as bad as people think. He's an upper tier talent who got abor 20 gaurenteed. The real issue is the injury clause. I hope he stays healthy because otherwise that's a lot of money to be on the books for. They have plent of space to sign their other guys. What I don't understand is however is why the Rams are taking care of new comers instead of their own?

If the team does not perform like it does, you know tension will build in that locker room. The fact that they haven't paid their cornerstone Aaron Donald is not a good sign at all. I know Rama will say that he will get taken care of. I understand that. I'm sure he will. I do know he feels slighted not matter what his camp has to say. This is some real disrespect to the man that has put his heart and soul out for a team that was a bottom dweller just until last year.
 

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Thepeelsessions":15c7p5sw said:
getnasty":15c7p5sw said:
You have to wondering why this is his 3rd team in 4 years?
Exactly. He's not worth that money. At all. He is very one dimensional. He's a lot like Paul Richardson. Can take the top off occasionally, but without Paul's ability for the spectacular catch. Cooks is a very overrated receiver.

Very accurate assessment. He's a phenomenal deep threat against a soft zone where he can get a free release. However if your corners can get their hands on him immediately off the line and play bump-and-run, he folds. For example, last year we played the Patriots in Week 2. Marshon Lattimore shadowed Cooks for most of the game and was in direct coverage of Cooks for 43 snaps until he came out and entered concussion protocol from friendly fire. Of those 43 snaps, 29 were pass plays and 14 were runs. On those 29 pass coverage snaps, Cooks was targeted only 3 times with Lattimore relinquishing a lone catch for 15 yards (the play he was concussed by Vonn Bell) and tallied two PBU's. The remaining 26 snaps, Cooks was smothered and rendered ineffective. His final stat line was 2 receptions for 37 yards and 0 TD's. He only had a 22 yard catch because of the bum we had as a #4 CB last year.

He won't go up and get you those spectacular catches, nor will he lay out to get you those tough yards whether he's near the sticks or not. In fact, I'd bet these resident Rams fans will begin to notice before the end of the first quarter of the season how much out of his way Cooks will go to avoid contact, including going down and giving himself up early and even sliding down.

He runs average to above-average routes but the only way he'll get separation is due to his sheer speed and nothing to do with his route running prowess. As someone who watched Cooks his first 3 years in the league, I'd say the Rams overpaid by about $40M, especially considering he'll be seeing Sherman and Peterson twice per year on top of having to face all of the following this year alone: Casey Hayward/Jason Verrett, Xavier Rhodes, Chris Harris Jr., Darius Slay, and of course, Marshon Lattimore. All corners that play bump-and-run coverage very effectively and can eliminate Cooks from the game. That's 9 games off the top where Cooks may pull his Houdini act. That $81M deal will look very different if he's shut down even half of those games. But what do I know, I only watched him for 3 years.

Ramfan128":15c7p5sw said:
Doubtful that there will be an implosion. Cooks is a good locker room guy - paying him is a good thing. And if you look at the Rams cap situation they have plenty of it for the next few years.

Because crying about his lack of targets in a blowout win screams "team first" and promotes locker room chemistry, right?

ESPN: Brandin Cooks hints at frustration after getting zero targets Sunday

PFT: Brandin Cooks is growing frustrated with Saints’ offense

Brandin Cooks reportedly growing upset with role in Saints offense

This was after a 49-21 blowout win against, ironically enough, your Rams in 2016. At that point in 2016, he was 3rd in receptions/game and targets/game behind Michael Thomas and Willie Snead IV. Wonder if he'll be all hunky dory as the 3rd option behind the establish rapports Goff has with Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp or if he'll revert to his old ways and throw a temper tantrum like a giant toddler again...

Ramfan128":15c7p5sw said:
I mean, there were times during the season where the Rams had better advanced metrics than the 1999 team. And while many have talked about having to play a "first place" schedule, we randomly drew the Saints and Vikings last year on top of playing the Eagles and Cowboys (with Zeke).

Y'all didn't randomly draw us and the Vikings, y'all drew us and the Vikings because all three of our teams finished 3rd in our divisions in 2016.
 

RedAlice

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SoulfishHawk":1qy57v63 said:
We'll see. I had Rams fans telling me they were gonna' roll thru the playoffs last year. Haven't won a playoff game since 2004. I expect them to be good, but great? Maybe if everything lines up just right for them.


Not this Rams fan. I have never said that.
 

RedAlice

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sdog1981":21cb53wq said:
RedAlice":21cb53wq said:
sdog1981":21cb53wq said:
For a second I was worried about the Rams.

They added nothing but cancerous powder kegs to the roster this past offseason. This could be the spark that blows the whole locker room up. We are about to see if boy genius can keep the team together, his age will be a liability when trying to talk to players like Shu.

You have got to be kidding me!!!!!!!

This is like the dumbest comment I have seen on the Rams yet. Well, let's play the games.

Used to be good conversation here.


Go back and look what the 2010 Eagles did when they added a ton of free agents in one season.

Then go watch this video about the 1993 Huston Oilers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0bwkThXMOc

I knew you were a Rams fan but I did not know you were ignorant of NFL history. The Rams will disappoint this year and the locker room will be the reason.

I'm well aware of the 2010 Dream Team Eagles. This is not even comparable.

You can wish it is though. :179417:

The Rams locker room will be a huge dissapointment for sure: to you.
 

adeltaY

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Wow some of my fellow Hawks fans are trying SUPER hard to convince themselves and others that nearly every move the Rams made this off-season is going to backfire. Ridiculous.

On the other hand, the Rams were very lucky with injuries, or lack thereof, to their key players. The only major starter I can recall getting hurt for a major period of time was Kayvon Webster, who was solid at CB2 as aforementioned. Did any OL starter miss a game? I think they were pretty consistently healthy up front, and that's a huge deal. Big Whit is getting up there in age and as good as he was last year, he definitely dropped off from his past few years' level of play (#1 pass protecting tackle). I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I think he allowed more sacks this year than the past few years in Cincy combined. It'll be interesting to see how their OL depth is.... at least they have an OL though :(

Greg Zuerlein also had his career best year kicking. It's unlikely he will repeat that feat as he nailed 38/40 FGs. He had a similar percentage in 2013, but only kicked 28 FGs that year. Regression in the kicking game can cost games - Hawks fans are especially aware of this after last season.

The offseason acquisitions still greatly outweigh these potential regressions. Talib's been around the league and he won the SB with the Broncos as a FA as a key leader of that vaunted defense. Peters is a turnover machine. Suh showed no decline in play since signing a mega deal with Miami. Cooks may be overrated, but having a guy to stretch defenses vertically drastically increased the diversity of possible playcalls for McVay. The Watkins effect was a big deal for the Rams last year despite Sammy's "underwhelming" stats. Cooks gives them that and possibly better chemistry with Goff. They're going to be good barring something crazy, accept it and hope we show up and play them tough. Go Hawks!
 

Ramfan128

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IronSaint":2c0aqj0t said:
Thepeelsessions":2c0aqj0t said:
getnasty":2c0aqj0t said:
You have to wondering why this is his 3rd team in 4 years?
Exactly. He's not worth that money. At all. He is very one dimensional. He's a lot like Paul Richardson. Can take the top off occasionally, but without Paul's ability for the spectacular catch. Cooks is a very overrated receiver.

Very accurate assessment. He's a phenomenal deep threat against a soft zone where he can get a free release. However if your corners can get their hands on him immediately off the line and play bump-and-run, he folds. For example, last year we played the Patriots in Week 2. Marshon Lattimore shadowed Cooks for most of the game and was in direct coverage of Cooks for 43 snaps until he came out and entered concussion protocol from friendly fire. Of those 43 snaps, 29 were pass plays and 14 were runs. On those 29 pass coverage snaps, Cooks was targeted only 3 times with Lattimore relinquishing a lone catch for 15 yards (the play he was concussed by Vonn Bell) and tallied two PBU's. The remaining 26 snaps, Cooks was smothered and rendered ineffective. His final stat line was 2 receptions for 37 yards and 0 TD's. He only had a 22 yard catch because of the bum we had as a #4 CB last year.

He won't go up and get you those spectacular catches, nor will he lay out to get you those tough yards whether he's near the sticks or not. In fact, I'd bet these resident Rams fans will begin to notice before the end of the first quarter of the season how much out of his way Cooks will go to avoid contact, including going down and giving himself up early and even sliding down.

He runs average to above-average routes but the only way he'll get separation is due to his sheer speed and nothing to do with his route running prowess. As someone who watched Cooks his first 3 years in the league, I'd say the Rams overpaid by about $40M, especially considering he'll be seeing Sherman and Peterson twice per year on top of having to face all of the following this year alone: Casey Hayward/Jason Verrett, Xavier Rhodes, Chris Harris Jr., Darius Slay, and of course, Marshon Lattimore. All corners that play bump-and-run coverage very effectively and can eliminate Cooks from the game. That's 9 games off the top where Cooks may pull his Houdini act. That $81M deal will look very different if he's shut down even half of those games. But what do I know, I only watched him for 3 years.

Ramfan128":2c0aqj0t said:
Doubtful that there will be an implosion. Cooks is a good locker room guy - paying him is a good thing. And if you look at the Rams cap situation they have plenty of it for the next few years.

Because crying about his lack of targets in a blowout win screams "team first" and promotes locker room chemistry, right?

ESPN: Brandin Cooks hints at frustration after getting zero targets Sunday

PFT: Brandin Cooks is growing frustrated with Saints’ offense

Brandin Cooks reportedly growing upset with role in Saints offense

This was after a 49-21 blowout win against, ironically enough, your Rams in 2016. At that point in 2016, he was 3rd in receptions/game and targets/game behind Michael Thomas and Willie Snead IV. Wonder if he'll be all hunky dory as the 3rd option behind the establish rapports Goff has with Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp or if he'll revert to his old ways and throw a temper tantrum like a giant toddler again...

Ramfan128":2c0aqj0t said:
I mean, there were times during the season where the Rams had better advanced metrics than the 1999 team. And while many have talked about having to play a "first place" schedule, we randomly drew the Saints and Vikings last year on top of playing the Eagles and Cowboys (with Zeke).

Y'all didn't randomly draw us and the Vikings, y'all drew us and the Vikings because all three of our teams finished 3rd in our divisions in 2016.



Nothing about NFL scheduling is random - what I meant by that comment is that many people have said the Rams will now play a first place schedule - we played one last year. I'm not sure the last time that three third place finishers and a fourth place finisher all rose up and won their divisions - I'm guessing it's never happened. Hence the "random" comment.

As for Cooks - you probably have a better grasp than I do at this point. I've just heard McVay talking about how he's a high character guy. He's also very young, and we have him relatively cheap this season - his extension will kick in next year and for the next few years we have around $100 million in cap space, so I don't think this will hurt at all.
 

Ramfan128

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RedAlice":6b57ni4d said:
SoulfishHawk":6b57ni4d said:
We'll see. I had Rams fans telling me they were gonna' roll thru the playoffs last year. Haven't won a playoff game since 2004. I expect them to be good, but great? Maybe if everything lines up just right for them.


Not this Rams fan. I have never said that.


Me neither. I admit I thought we would beat the Falcons, but didn't see us beating the Vikings.
 

Ramfan128

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adeltaY":1n5rf43w said:
Wow some of my fellow Hawks fans are trying SUPER hard to convince themselves and others that nearly every move the Rams made this off-season is going to backfire. Ridiculous.

On the other hand, the Rams were very lucky with injuries, or lack thereof, to their key players. The only major starter I can recall getting hurt for a major period of time was Kayvon Webster, who was solid at CB2 as aforementioned. Did any OL starter miss a game? I think they were pretty consistently healthy up front, and that's a huge deal. Big Whit is getting up there in age and as good as he was last year, he definitely dropped off from his past few years' level of play (#1 pass protecting tackle). I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I think he allowed more sacks this year than the past few years in Cincy combined. It'll be interesting to see how their OL depth is.... at least they have an OL though :(

Greg Zuerlein also had his career best year kicking. It's unlikely he will repeat that feat as he nailed 38/40 FGs. He had a similar percentage in 2013, but only kicked 28 FGs that year. Regression in the kicking game can cost games - Hawks fans are especially aware of this after last season.

The offseason acquisitions still greatly outweigh these potential regressions. Talib's been around the league and he won the SB with the Broncos as a FA as a key leader of that vaunted defense. Peters is a turnover machine. Suh showed no decline in play since signing a mega deal with Miami. Cooks may be overrated, but having a guy to stretch defenses vertically drastically increased the diversity of possible playcalls for McVay. The Watkins effect was a big deal for the Rams last year despite Sammy's "underwhelming" stats. Cooks gives them that and possibly better chemistry with Goff. They're going to be good barring something crazy, accept it and hope we show up and play them tough. Go Hawks!


Good post.

We had a lot of injury luck last season. Luckily we have a coach who knows what he's doing now and they invested several picks on offensive linemen, despite the fact that our top 7 from last season are still here.

The Zuerlein injury was actually pretty big - I think it impacted how McVay called games. Having to get inside the 20 yard line to be in scoring range was drastically different than what we had all season prior to that.

I definitely expect more injuries this season, but hopefully we now have the depth to withstand them. The other concern is that the OL was stellar last year, aside from injuries - Whitworth and Saffold are the only ones that have shown that ability consistently in their careers - so there could be some regression even without injuries.
 

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I just dunno with the Rams.

I mean, on paper they are damn scary and its not like they were bad last year and added a bunch of guys. They were GOOD last year and added a bunch of guys.

The only thing that gives me pause tho is that the guys they got were all viewed as expendable by their original teams...and in some cases more than once.

Now maybe they all behave and the Rams are lights out. Dunno. After all, the same can be said of Richard Sherman in SF this year.

I really don't know what to make of it all. Should be an interesting season.
 

chris98251

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The Rams will succeed if they don't run into some sort of controversial situation, a blow out loss to a team they should have beat on paper that could start in fighting with the huge personalities on that team that have not played together before, or a off field issue that distracts them from their focus. Once that kind of egg is laid putting the genie back in the bottle won't happen because it will be a media fest about problems in a market like L.A. and the feeding frenzy will start and division of the team will begin.
 

Sports Hernia

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I will say the Rams IMHO have the best team in the NFC if not the NFL ON PAPER.
I think they can win a Super Bowl this year, if they can mesh those egos together, stay healthy, and Goff takes the next step.
Those 3 things are very possible. That said, as a Hawks fan, I’d not like to see that happen, but I like their odds before a game has been played.
 

IndyHawk

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They could win it all sure but then again
they could just be paper tigers.
 

adeltaY

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Sports Hernia":3dsckuv3 said:
I will say the Rams IMHO have the best team in the NFC if not the NFL ON PAPER.
I think they can win a Super Bowl this year, if they can mesh those egos together, stay healthy, and Goff takes the next step.
Those 3 things are very possible. That said, as a Hawks fan, I’d not like to see that happen, but I like their odds before a game has been played.

See, that's a thoughtful, measured take! :2thumbs:
 

chris98251

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adeltaY":25a6vp1t said:
Sports Hernia":25a6vp1t said:
I will say the Rams IMHO have the best team in the NFC if not the NFL ON PAPER.
I think they can win a Super Bowl this year, if they can mesh those egos together, stay healthy, and Goff takes the next step.
Those 3 things are very possible. That said, as a Hawks fan, I’d not like to see that happen, but I like their odds before a game has been played.

See, that's a thoughtful, measured take! :2thumbs:


Please don't tell him to measure anything, it always leads to need a picture or it's another fish story. :p
 

Sports Hernia

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chris98251":3lcfqx1c said:
adeltaY":3lcfqx1c said:
Sports Hernia":3lcfqx1c said:
I will say the Rams IMHO have the best team in the NFC if not the NFL ON PAPER.
I think they can win a Super Bowl this year, if they can mesh those egos together, stay healthy, and Goff takes the next step.
Those 3 things are very possible. That said, as a Hawks fan, I’d not like to see that happen, but I like their odds before a game has been played.

See, that's a thoughtful, measured take! :2thumbs:


Please don't tell him to measure anything, it always leads to need a picture or it's another fish story. :p
8)
 

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