 THE RAMS SECONDARY, BY THE GOAT (March 4) |
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NFL SECONDARIES. I think
great secondaries are a product of a great pass rush... For example, the Tampa Bay
secondary isn't what everybody makes it out to be... Lynch is really no different than
Jenkins---zero ability in the passing facets (everyone of course likes to bring up the one
int. in the playoffs). Ronde Barber and Brian Kelly are zone corners. Donnie Abraham is a
bit more talented. They used a couple guys at FS last year. But they were the best defense
in the game because of their interior pass rush. Look at what happened with Dale Carter when he left a team with a good rush for one with a bad one... Even teams with a great CB like the Cowboys are susceptible to 3 receiver sets. As far as the Rams are concerned, I think you can survive very nicely with guys like Bly and McLeon and a good FS... Besides, quite frankly, this team has a lot of leeway defensively because of the offense. TODD LYGHT. Paying Lyght the average of the top 10 cbs is fair---he's no better than Deion, Ty Law, Dale Carter, Aneas Williams, Shawn Springs, Charles Woodsen, Sam Madison, Aaron Glenn... etc. While I think it's fair to put him in that group, I don't think he is the type of player who destroys gameplans like Carter or Bruce can... That's what the big money in the NFL is well spent on---guys that cannot be schemed. Here's what I mean by that. A defensive coordinator can try and chip Carter with a te or fb, and half the time he still makes the play. Or Bruce will split a CB and safety beating a double coverage... There is just no way to account for them and be certain they will be held down. That's what made the Rams great in my opinion---it was like those Chuck E Cheese games where you try and hammer the heads when they pop up, but after a while you stop trying to figure out where they will pop up and hammer away futilely when they do appear. Blue chip players are the true difference makers. I think Carter, Bruce and Marshall are on the Rams blue chippers (league wide its guys like Sapp who we tried to take out of TB game and could not, Steve Young etc.) Red chip players are guys like Lyght who are an integral part of the game. But it's not like Lyght totally shuts his guy down, or scares QBs from throwing that way (Phil Simms once said Parcells told him and Hoss that if either one threw a pass at Darrell Green's guy they would be immediately benched)... I just think Lyght can be replaced. Maybe not immediately---but if you are building a franchise to last you have to decide who is and who is not replaceable in both the long and short term. For the same money Lyght is going to get you can get a franchise DT, which is far more important. It may be tough to think of not having Lyght back there, but I don't think he is irreplaceable... KEITH LYLE. Three years ago Buschbaum said Lyle was better suited to SS (but was playing free cause they had Toby Wright at strong)... He could probably extend his career a few years by moving to strong safety where diminishing speed is not as critical... BILLY JENKINS. On Jenkins---everyone's obsessed with his hitting, but he didn't seem like a great tackler. As far as the SS position, it always seems like you can pick up a SS (especially a run stuffer)... It was a good deal getting the pick from Denver. The Rams really didn't have much leverage, and Jenkins wasn't really a commodity. If nothing else we can take another developmental special teamer. Our last two 5th rounder was Cameron Spikes, so we might have gotten something for nothing... MCCLEON. Most of the CB prospects in this draft are similar to McLeon, physically talented but raw, nobody is clearly superior... McCleon has panned out pretty well, and could get better, so at best any rookie would have a 50/50 chance of being better... TAJE ALLEN. Back in 97, I nearly choked when Vermeil said they saw Taje playing better than Westbrook in two of the three games they saw that year. The problem with the Rams scouting on Taje Allen when they drafted him was that they had Westbrook, and both safeties were seniors and were drafted as well (Cris Carter, the All American, and Tre Thomas)... Plus outside of Koy Detmer they did not play a single good QB all year......And how many teams in their conf. run the option? |
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