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ON LOSING FRED MILLER
BY 316 (Feb 16)

[With recent losses in free agency, and perhaps with the imminent loss of Ryan Tucker, the Rams have plenty of work to do. Will these losses hurt the team? Can they be absorbed in a year when the team has a new coach and their first NFL championship to defend? Here the fiesty 316 argues that the Rams can't make up those losses easily. In other posts,  S.O.K.A, Old Hacker, Jim Fadler, MidMoFan, Jeff, and Bucky P offer their own opinions and analyses of the issue. (On different topics, see the new posts by Houston Ram and Section 101.) As always, enjoy. -ZN]

A PLAN? I am not saying the Rams made a bad move in not anteing up $4 million for Fred Miller.

Still ... I hardly think this is *exactly* what the braintrust had in mind when free agency opened ... the prospect of replacing a solid, workmanlike player such as Miller with either a waiver wire journeyman or a project rookie.

The way I understand it, the Rams were hoping to be able to sign *EITHER* Gruttadauria or MIller ... but knew there was little chance they could sign both. But, they had enough confidence in guys like Spikes, McCollum and Tucker that they felt confident they could make do in pretty good shape with one of those guys going elsewhere.

But ... come on! *IF* the Rams lose Miller, Gruttaduaira, AND Tucker ... AND maybe even McCollum ... things get dicey. Real dicey. And their plans to concentrate their off-season efforts on fortifying their defense are going to be compromised somewhat based on their very real need to at *LEAST* re-build the depth along the offensive line.

I have a hard time believing *THIS* is part of some "master plan."

My point is that it's foolhardy to sit here and pretend  that this is part of some big master plan, that the Rams are on top of it, and it's playing out *just* the way they wanted.

It's not ...

Pretending all is well when all isn't well is the same recipe that doomed this franchise for the loooooooongest time. I've seen 29 seasons come and go.

OL LOSSES CAN'T BE DISMISSED SO EASILY. Once again ... this is not about the Rams going out and paying top dollar to get the whole group (Miller, et al) back. What this is about is people pretending everything's coooool.

Yes, guys like Carter, Bruce and Warner are more valuable to the Rams than any others. But don't lose track of the fact that grunts---the Zgoninas, Millers, Gruttaduarias, Blys, Clemons---make up the bulk of any roster. We're not talking about some fantasy  league where players can be picked up and discarded on a whim.

The Rams are now going to have to scramble some to maintain status quo from last season across the offensive line.They've lost skill, experience ... and depth.

After watching the Rams go through 29 seasons before getting a world championship, it's clear to me that title teams ... don't ... just ... happen. No, the loss of Miller (and maybe Gruttadauria, or Tucker, or whoever else is on the list) doesn't automatically signal the end of the Rams' run. But, by that same token, it's not an issue that's as simply solved as saying 'they'll just go out and get some guys to replace 'em.' They MAY WELL DO THAT ... but there are simply NO GUARANTEES that's what'll occur. It's just not that easy.

I seem to remember a LOT of crowing coming out of Green Bay last year when the Rams signed away Adam Timmerman. Lots of talk about how the desperation some teams have for interior linemen---guard to guard--- inflated Timmerman's worth on the open market. Lots of talk about how he wouldn't be missed along the Packer offensive line.

Guess what? He *was* missed in Green Bay. The Rams? They're damn glad to have him.

Offensive lines, maybe more than an other group on a team, *must* operate as a unit. As one. Downplay the losses of guys like Miller and Gruttadauria ... but let's not pretend that filling their shoes  is as easy as signing a player or two like it's some weekend fantasy league.

WHAT'S NEXT? I personally have a great deal of respect for the job Fred Miller did for our team the last two years ...especially *this* year ... and am thankful for his contribution. Everybody likes to harp on that first Tennessee game when discussing Miller, but fail to mention the otherwise terrific job he did most all season on everybody else.

And contrary to popular opinion, Miller *wasn't* getting double team help with Kearse all night in the superbowl (Faulk was out in the pattern a ton against Tennessee) ... he basically handled "the Freak" in most every one-on-one encounter. He did his job. As a result, he has as much responsibility for the Rams being world champs as anyone.

I wish Fred Miller nothing but the best ... and I refuse to play that tired old "ahhh ... the Rams didn't want him or need him, anyway - the Titans can have him!" stuff. Ask Jim Hanifan and I'm sure he'd *love* to have Miller back.

So yes it was one of those tough salary cap decisions that had to be made. But don't kid yourself that was a move based on performance.

I personally hope the Rams---Armey, Martz, et al---have some *other* idea up there sleeve in terms of the right tackle position in 2000. Someone that will serve as a bridge between a fairly successful past (Miller) and the potential future (Frohbeiter).

Matt Willig just turned 31 and has been little more than a journeyman his entire career. If we're hoping this non-descript eight year pro, with a resume that reads like Richard Kimball's, is suddenly going to find himself and become a rock solid RT ... we're barking up the wrong tree.

Todd Frohbeiter? Here's a kid who hasn't started an entire season since his junior year in college ('97)? He's big and rumored to be a very good athlete ... but, it's said that he's more than a little soft around the edges. We may want to PROJECT him into being a pretty good player in the future. But ... next year?