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OPPOSITION TERRITORY: Los Angeles Rams · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:26
Welcome back to this installment of Opposition Territory here at the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast
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show, the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world, that's
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right over ten years strong, and we got a great discussion coming your way
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this week here on Opposition Territory. We're gonna be getting into the Los Angeles
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Rams. This is a team that had a very, very disappointing twenty twenty
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two season. What could they do in two thousand and twenty three. What
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are they going to do in terms of relying on various offensive weapons? What
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are they going to do from a defensive standpoint as well? The fan base
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was disappointed. It's gonna be an interesting season for this team for sure.
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Let's get to our discussion now. It is great to have back on the
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podcast, coming to us from Fansided's Rambling Fan. He is a great contributor
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over there has been for some time. We love talking to him about the
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Los Angeles Rams. You can find him on Twitter at Milroy Eagles fan does
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like the Philadelphia Eagles as well. We've got the one and only Brett Stutter.
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How are you doing, Buddy good? How you doing? I am
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doing all right, man. Like, I really wanted to bring you on
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board this week to talk about this Los Angeles Rams team before the start of
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training camp, because there's there's just a lot of uncertainty from an offensive perspective,
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from a defensive perspective as it pertains to this team. We know that
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Sean mcveigh's a pretty good coach. How is he going to get the best
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out of the talent that is on this team? And I'm really looking forward
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to our discussion, for sure, Brett, But I did want to talk
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about, you know, just reflecting on last season first and foremost, you
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know, again challenge a challenge for the Rams for sure last season after having
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won the Super Bowl the year before, and with those challenges, some glaring
2:08
challenges we saw in the offensive side of the ball and defensive side of the
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ball. And I'm wondering, kind of right off the bat here with our
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conversation, where does the team need to really improve most in twenty twenty three
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in your opinion, to get back into contention, because there's a lot of
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areas I think that need work, But where do you think they need to
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improve the most? Well, you know, some of the things that they
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have to fix are under their control when some are not. First and foremost,
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they've got to get healthier. Last year there, I think the first
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twelve weeks of play they had a different iteration of the offensive line, and
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the offensive line and secondary are two of the areas where communication is really in
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it role and how well they perform. There are no standouts on an offensive
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line if they're playing together for the first time, so they've got to get
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more cohesive. The other plan that I think is really kind of iffy is
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that the offense has to put up a ton of points this year. Yeah,
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there's there's no way that they can have any hope of success if they
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believe that they are going to win ten to seven games. That offense has
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got to put up points. It's got to put them early and often,
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because that's where all the veterans are right now. And finally, the rams
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deepens has to be better than what the expectations are. Even though their expectations
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may not be top of the line. They still have to be able to
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do the bend and not break. They have to be able to create turnovers.
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They have to support few games in having those stiff third down and short
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stances where they win that confrontation. So um, right now, the Rams
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roster is a huge question mark and it will be for a period of time
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until we get the feel of how good they are. I expect to see
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a lot of news out of training camp where the competitions sort of settle people
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into the depth chart. But you know, this team can go anywhere from
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four thirteen to ten and seven. Yeah, so many unowns for sure.
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I mean, it appears Brett as though the Rams recent draft classes in general
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haven't necessarily worked out for the team, and I know that's probably a frustration
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not just for the front office, but for the fan base as well.
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And sure, you know they've given up a lot of high picks over the
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years and trades, but you know, guys like Darryl Henderson running back,
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you know Terrell Lewis, you know they were released by this team, and
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there were high hopes for both of those guys after being drafted that they were
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going to be major contributors to this team in the future. How concerned are
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you about what you've been seeing or not seeing from the Rams young talent that
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has been drafted as of lead. That was a really good question, and
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I had to pause on that one to sort of think it through. I
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think that one of the big challenges that the Rams face is that they lost
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Brad Holmes, who was, in my mind one of their expert personnel executives,
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to the Detroit Lions as their new GM. When he went, there
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was a lull in their success rate in terms of draft picks. The other
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thing that I think is a factor that I pointed on a number of my
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articles, is that the Rams coaching staff has been cannibalized every year. It's
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almost as though if an NFL team wanted to graft success into their coaching staff,
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they came and had their pick a letter from the Rams coaching staff.
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And the Rams have tried to restock their coach staff, but each new coach
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position, coach has a new set of parameters they like for the what they
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run. So I think that although the Terrell Lewis's Darryl Henderson to the number
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of other players that were drafted may have been an ideal choice for the Rams
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when they were drafted, I think two or three years down the road,
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they were no longer the prototypical player for what the Ram we're trying to do.
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I think that with the new coaching staff. I believe that the because
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they were able to get them on board. They're high quality coaches. I
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think that they have we're very active in the draft process. I think that
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this draft class actually has a solid chance of excelling. I'll give some examples.
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I think that Steve Avella, internal offensive lineman who was drafted. I
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think thirty six is going to be a day one starter. I think that
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outside linebacker Byron Young has a really good chance. I think that Kobe Turner
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who is going to the defensive line, or coach Eric Henderson, who I
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love, This guy is the best in the business. Um. I think
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that they all have a real solid shot of contributing day one. Uh.
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But it's the RAMS and they do not have a good track record of getting
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immediate production from rookies get right out of the gate yep. So it's up
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in the air. They need them to produce. Will the RAMS be able
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to get them to that level said on day one they can start? That's
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a good question mark for training camp. It's a very good question mark for
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training camp. I was going to ask you about Steve Avila Avla. I'm
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sorry, how do you pronounce his last name the guard that was just taking
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a staying Avila. But I could be screwing it all up. I haven't
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heard this pronounced anywhere yet, so if I'm if I'm shredding it, it's
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just who I who I am. It's okay, I shred names constantly on
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this podcast. I'm glad you mentioned him and Byron Young too, because those
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are two talents that I was looking at in this in this NFL draft as
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talent that would be able to potentially come in and start right away. It's
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gonna take some time for them to learn the game, for sure, but
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I think with their athleticism and the talent they have, the Rams are going
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to be able to get some sort of productivity from them. What that productivity
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is going to be, of course, gotta wait till training camp, gotta
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wait till some of these preseason games to see how they fare. But I
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kind of wanted to transition that though into you know, two of the biggest
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offensive weapons for this Rams team, Brett as we know, Cooper Cup and
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Cam Acres. And you know last year Acres rushed for more than one hundred
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yards in each of the rams final three games. Pretty and pretty pretty great
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and he continues to be a ballhawk and Rams fans have to love him for
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sure. And I also think, when reflecting on last year as well,
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seemed like the offense really kind of just relied on Cooper Cup way too much,
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as Alan Robinson wasn't much of a help in terms of making plays.
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I know that because I had him on my fantasy football team for halfway through
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the season, and exactly so, I'm wondering, like from an offensive perspective,
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who needs to step up for this Rams offense this coming season and why
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to take some of that burden off of Cooper Cup off a Cam akers make
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him plays. What are your thoughts? Well, I think you now when
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you said that the Rams offense fell an awful lot like an eight track tape,
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and that they seemed to fall into a very predictable pattern that I you
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know, in my East Coast fashion, I screamed at the television say no,
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don't do that. It seemed like a right out of the gate,
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they would run for little to no yards, then passed the Cooper Cup,
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then passed either Cooper Cup or Tyler Higbee who is their tight end, and
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the defense was easily prepared for that because they've had scouted it before, and
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particularly when the Rams fell behind. I think that the first fix for the
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Rams has to be becoming less predictable, meaning that passl on first down,
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run on seconday and or third down. How do they do that? But
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they have to get more physical upfront, which I think the Rams did when
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they drafted Steve Avila if I get that name right again, because I think
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that the physical part of the Rams was that they abandoned the run way too
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early, way too often. I think that if they can push people off
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the line of scrimmage, I think that that opens up a whole lot of
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their offensive playbook. I think that the couple of players that have to step
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up. Do you remember, maybe if you did watch any of the Rams
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in twenty twenty one old Eagles, DeShawn Jackson lit it up because the Rams
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threw that deep bomb and Deshaun was right there. I think the Rams have
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to go back to that kind of play calling because I think that they have
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a standout wide receiver that has gotten them no attention due to at Well,
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who can stretch the field. He proved it last year with backup quarterback.
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Oh yeah, I think I think that he has a good range of getting
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that deep ball going. I think that Van Jefferson, another wide receiver for
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the Rams, has to get the deep ball and also mix up some play
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calling. So I think weapons that they are whack of a better word,
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just forgot they had, and I think they have to get them involved early,
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get some deep passes going, try to get physical upfront on the running
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plays, and I think that they can put some points on the It may
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sound simplistic, but it seems Brett that they just need to trust the talent
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that's on the team that they didn't necessarily utilize last season. Van Jefferson is
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a very good wide receiver, even utilizing Tyler Hidbey more in the middle of
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the field. I don't understand why that wasn't happening more often. They need
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to trust their offensive weapons that they have. I agree, and I think
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that part of the challenge was it with Stafford behind a rickety offensive long they
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felt comfortable allowing for anything but the most receiver to be targeted. So they
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have to get stronger the last scrimmage, get a protected procket, get Stafford
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comfortable, and then let her rip. You know, yep, absolutely all
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right? Well, let's move over to the defense here, Brett and I
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really wanted to get into the cornerback position here because, my goodness, I
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think it's the most glaring, holy cow, what's going to happen aspect of
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this team here, because they've had they've had some potential talent that we thought
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might do something, but you know, whether it was you know, David
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Long or Troy Hill no longer on the team anymore. So there's a lot
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of concerns with this very young cornerback crew and who's going to be starting and
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how they're gonna be developing as well, and especially in this division I think
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where you know, there are some there are some teams who are going to
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be pretty prolific in the passing games. So what are your thoughts about how
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the cornerback position and situation may progress or not progress this season? What are
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your thoughts here, Buddy. It's a it's a big question mark. We're
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gonna be talking that a lot this on this moment, big question mark.
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The Rams are banking on young players getting very good, very quickly, and
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will they or won't they? I don't know. They do have one veteran
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safety, Jordan Fuller, was injured last year, who I expect will be
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the anchor of the defense. Uh. In the terms of past coverage,
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Um, they did get a very positive feel about Kobe Durant, rookie last
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year did very well, but he was a slot corner. I don't know
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if they're going to change his role or leave him in the slot. They
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had Darian Drick, they have a Quinton Lake, they have Russ Yeast.
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All of these are names that are unless you're a diehard RAMS fans, you
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probably don't even know they were in the NFL. I don't know them all.
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Yeah, yeah, and I'm yeah, I'm a diehard NFL fan in
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general. They take pride in knowing the rosters to a certain extent. But
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man, I never heard of these guys. No, Well, they got
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spot play in twenty twenty two and now they're expected to start. The only
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guy who is, in my mind, is under the radar is a guy
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they drafted named Trey Tomlinson. He's a little guy, but he's plays very
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big. He's a lot like our old Darius Williams, who I think is
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now with Jacksonville Jacks yep. Um. The problem with it is, and
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I don't even know that that a lot of the Rams fans are comfortable yet
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is that they don't have a Jaalen Ramsey, who was a you know,
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the mortar between all the ricks. Yeah, they don't have that guy.
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So I'm concerned that in terms of secondary coverage, there's gonna be a lot
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of trial or a lot of frustration, a lot of what the hell are
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they doing moments? And I suspect that the offense is going to have to
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carry Laverne. The only thing that I look for the Rams secondary to be
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able to do this year is maybe big ball, you know, like the
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old New Orleans Saints did that one year that they weren't very good, but
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they sure as hell came up with a turnover when they needed it. Yeah,
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and I'm hoping that the Rams can deliver that kind of a defense this
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year. It's going to cross Yeah, absolutely, It's gonna be very interesting
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for sure to see what that defensive backfield is going to look like. Those
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d backs are certainly going to need to learn quickly in this league and uh,
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you know, moving to uh you know, what the pass rush is
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going to look like as well. On defense, Leonard Floyd was basically one
15:58
of the better talents in terms of the pass rush last season. Of course,
16:03
we've got Aaron Donald's going to be a solid contributor in talent as he
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is every year, so very dominant because of his size and the way that
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he just plays the game. I'm wondering what the rest of this defensive line
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and ultimately the pass rush is really gonna look like Brett as we're heading into
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training camp in just a couple of weeks, because I wonder if there is
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some concern there as well. I wonder about the middle of the field too.
16:27
You know, Bobby Wagner, I think really surprised a lot of folks
16:30
last year. He's on the down slide of his career, but he had
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a really nice season with the Rams from my understanding, But how does this
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pass rush really look like in this defensive line or their concerns there? Boy,
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you haven't heard this one before. It's a big question mark whatever.
16:48
For whatever reasons, the Rams purged their entire veteran group of pass rushers last
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year. They got rid of Justin Hollins, Rell Lewis yea, they banked
17:03
on Leonard Floyd, they rid of in the off season, and they cross
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trained a defensive tackle named Michael Foyt who was out of Brown University, and
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he actually started six games for the Rams at the outside linebacker position and put
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up four point five quarterback sacks in six games without the benefit of playing on
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the field with Aaron Donald. So in terms of is he the answer,
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he may not be because he was not exactly great at setting the edge,
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but he did it without a training camp. They cross trained the poor guy
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in mid season and say, yeah, hell, go do it right.
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So I'm looking for something out of him, even if he can get maybe
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eight or nine quarterback sacks on as a pass rush specialist. The problem with
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it is that the Rams knew they had to upgrade or at least deep in
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their depth chart, so they picked up Byron Young out of Tennessee, Nick
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Hampton out of Appalachian State, and a Sean Mathis out of Nebraska, all
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of whom are rookies and all of whom are in my mind, are likely
18:14
to see playing time. They have Daniel Hardy from last year and one other
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player and I'm going to miss that one because I can't remember I was involved.
18:26
But oh good, I don't think that they're going to have anybody who
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really truly, you know, sets the world of fire. I expect that
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they're going to have a lot of rotation, maybe get try to get four
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or five quarterback sacks out of some of their main guys, but their pass
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r is a complete question mark. The one thing I do think that it
18:48
is a strong point for the defense is they had They got South Carolina inside
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linebacker Ernest Jones, who was a rookie two years ago on their Super Bowl
18:59
team. He was mentored by Bobby Wagger last year and he played a lot
19:06
fewer downs defensive snaps, but he had comparable numbers to Ball. I think
19:11
he's going to be a huge, huge, tis a player for the defense
19:15
this year. I think he may have a Pro Bowl at least in the
19:19
proction. It's tough to get those new names, you know, into Pro
19:23
Bowl because if you have stop to get new But I think that he's gonna
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have a Pro bowler. I expect far one hundred tackles, far beyond five
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SATs. I think you'll get a couple of interceptions. He's going to be
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basically all over the field from rams defense. Um, but again, who
19:48
knows. You know it's going let's see where it happens. Lots of question
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marks for sure, and I think the theme heading into the twenty twenty three
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Lost Angelist Rams season from a defensive perspective is going to be one word,
20:03
and that is development. Because there is so much uncertainty, I think that
20:08
really inevitably ends up being the theme for this particular team. In terms of
20:14
the defense, again, so many questions, as Brett has mentioned here and
20:18
talked about, whether it is with the defensive backs, whether it is you
20:22
know, with the pass rush. And again, folks, I would urge
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you to follow Brett on Twitter at Milroy Eggles Fan. He is a great,
20:30
great follow, and head on over to Ramblin Fan as well, ramblin
20:36
fan dot com that is the Rams fansided website. Lots of great content over
20:41
there. And to close us out here, Brett, you know, I
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want to talk about this division, how this division is going to be shaping
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up as well, NFC West, It's going to be very interesting. The
20:51
forty nine ers still going to be a prolific team, I believe, and
20:55
the Seahawks genuinely surprised a lot of folks last year especially, we were surprised
21:00
with Gino Smith, and I can't believe he actually one comeback player of the
21:03
Year. But it'll be interesting to see if they can take some steps forward
21:08
or if they're gonna end up regressing. If last year was a fluke for
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the Seahawks Cardinals, they're basically in a rebuild, retooling type of mode as
21:17
we know. How do you see this division taking shape this season here?
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What are your thoughts, buddy? Well, you know, one of the
21:25
things that I like and don't like about the NFL schedulers is that they pit
21:32
same ranked teams against one another. So Forrest, the Eagles are going to
21:34
face all of the first place teams. The Rams fortunately have a third place
21:40
schedule, which means that all of their unique teams that are not NFC East
21:45
or AFC North are going to be the third place tier, and that means
21:51
that they're going to play the Patriots, the Colts, Raiders, Packers,
21:56
and the Saints. I don't think that any of the exception of maybe the
22:00
Saints are projected to be strong contenders this year, and so the Rams get
22:07
that benefit of that third place schedule. I think the forty nine ers,
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as you see Eagles fans are learning are as loud as Cowboys fans, and
22:18
they are are. They tend to be a little bit boisterous, and I
22:23
think that that it could be a vulnerability for them this year because they've got
22:29
question marks at their key position, which is quarterback. Will it be brock
22:33
Party, will it be Trey Lance, will it be Sam Darnel, or
22:36
will it be a committee of all three? I don't know, but I
22:40
think that they have some weakness and they're still focused on their loss to the
22:45
Eagles. I mean, I saw deebo Samuel still boo hoo hooing on social
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media. Good for that, you know, because as long as they're focused
22:53
on last year, they sure as hell ain't preparing for this year. Absolutely,
22:59
And I have no of lost the forty nine ers. There are some
23:02
fans that I like, but the forty nine ers team is just way too
23:06
loud and proud. Yeah. Um, So I think that they may have
23:11
a challenge with that first place schedule for the forty nine I really do.
23:15
I think that the Seahawks had the benefit of a last place schedule this year,
23:22
But are they really as good as they've seen or was that a sort
23:27
of an anomaly And I think that they they had They got a benefit of
23:34
their schedule because whenever they faced teams uh, their opponents were either lacking their
23:41
star quarterback Keith Player was injured, they were coming on of their own buy
23:45
they faced, and somebody was just about to go on to buy. I
23:48
don't know that the Seahawks would be more than maybe an eight or nine win
23:52
team if the Rams get hot early, and I want that's a big gift,
23:59
because the Ram schedule is really tough. Yeah, early off, their
24:03
first five games are are decimated. But if they can win, say by
24:07
their week ten, by have a five hundred schedule or five out a record
24:11
or better, I think they have a chance to be a playoff team because
24:15
the second half of their schedule is noticeably lighter, easier, less demanding.
24:23
As far as the Arizona Cardinals, I think that they are. They're looking
24:26
for an excuse to get rid of their quarterback Kyler Murray, and I think
24:30
they'll find it this year. He's well paid and I don't know that he's
24:34
truly delivered. They've got a new GM, new head coach. I think
24:37
they want their guy, so I don't see much fight in the Cardinals this
24:42
year. I think that it's going to be a tougher than expected division,
24:48
much like the NFC East was a couple of years back when they weren't necessarily
24:53
dominating like he did in twenty twenty two, right, but there was still
24:56
a tight race because everybody was kind of parody at that next level down.
25:03
So I think the NFC West is going to have all three teams in the
25:07
push for maybe that one playoff spot all the way up to him maybe the
25:12
end. It's gonna be interesting to follow this NFC West division, and of
25:17
course the Los Angeles Rams. How does this team develops offensively, defensively.
25:22
It's gonna be real interesting. And again, folks follow Brett Stutter on the
25:26
Twitter dot com at Milroy Eagles Fan. He's a great, great follow,
25:32
and also head on over to rambling fan dot com and check out everything that
25:36
they're putting up in terms of content with lots of great stuff with regard to
25:38
the Rams, Brett Man, thank you so much for coming on. We'd
25:42
love to talk to you down the road about some more NFL news and analysis
25:47
and to get into the Rams. I'd love to have you back on the
25:48
show. My friend, I appreciate it, always always willing to come on.
25:52
You're a great football chat and I'm telling you, my wife is tired
25:56
of top football me, so any diversion is great. The NFC West is
26:02
really going to be interesting, I think, and for this Rams team,
26:06
as we were talking about earlier within our discussion, the two biggest offensive weapons
26:11
and Cooper Cupping cam Acres. If either one of them gets hurt, I
26:14
mean, this offense could potentially be in some dire straits. So they need
26:18
those two offensive talents to stay healthy for sure. So again, gonna be
26:23
really interesting to see what happens with this NFC West and this Los Angeles Rams
26:29
team because there's some interesting storylines within this division for this team for sure.
26:34
So it's gonna do it for us here on opposition Territory. Make sure you're
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following us on Instagram. Search out Philadelphia Sports Table. If anything happens to
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a thread's a little bit, but Instagram not really. That's more like family
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type of stuff. But anyway, take care, folks. We've got more
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great content coming to you this week. We'll catch you next time.