Dr Rams Offensive Tackle Scouting Report

[blackbart]

most recent thing i can find on it

Long is the one that is going to take some time given that he only recently had surgery to a fairly dramatic injury. The Rams have expressed optimism that Long would be ready for the regular season opener but as Snead mentioned, attempting to put a specific timetable on it right now would be a fool's errand.

 

[fearsomefour]

We could be looking at Matthews and Robinson gone in the first 8 picks then a run on T in the mid first round.
If the Rams can get an extra second round pick they could grab the highest rated guy left at that point. The resigning of Saffold may have the going another direction or trading down further with that first pick.
As I have stayed several times I like Bitonio a lot. Interesting he worked at C at his pro day. I wanted to go but was stuck at work. He has the attitude of Dahl (from the same school) with much better feet and technique.

 

[Flipper_336]

Do we need a starting tackle? No. Long and Barksdale are more than good enough.

Will we need a starting tackle? Yes. Long is likely to get injured and, even if he doesn't, only has a year or two left at the top level anyway.

Do we draft a tackle now or wait until next year? I'm not that clued up on next year's tackle prospects but I'd be amazed if there's one more pro-ready than Jake Matthews.

My solution? Trade down a little and still take Matthews. Get Yankey or Su'a-Filo later on.

 

[iced]

Will we need a starting tackle? Yes. Long is likely to get injured and, even if he doesn't, only has a year or two left at the top level anyway.

Huh? he's 28.. Tackles aren't like running backs - they can play well past 30.. Pace played well for us even age 34. Eric Winston, currently 30, has also been a pretty good tackle.

 

[blackbart]

I am sure this is for normal people so it could be shorter for a professional athlete.

Rehabilitation and return to normal function after surgical repair of an ACL tear can take six to nine months. There needs to be a balance between trying to do too much work in physical therapy returning strength and range of motion and doing too little. Being too aggressive can damage the surgical repair and cause the ligament to fail again. Too little work lengthens the time to return to normal activities.

http://www.medicinenet.com/torn_acl/page5.htm

 

[RamFan503]

Huh? he's 28.. Tackles aren't like running backs - they can play well past 30.. Pace played well for us even age 34. Eric Winston, currently 30, has also been a pretty good tackle.

What about Tackles with the kind of injury history Long has had.

 

[Flipper_336]

Pace played well for us even age 34. Eric Winston, currently 30, has also been a pretty good tackle.

Good job that you have that full stop there, or you'd have mentioned Eric Winston in the same sentence as Orlando Pace without having the words "is one trillionth as good as" in the middle.

 

[iced]

Good job that you have that full stop there, or you'd have mentioned Eric Winston in the same sentence as Orlando Pace without having the words "is one trillionth as good as" in the middle.

Good thing we were talking about tackles playing at a high level at a certain age and not comparing them to one another..

 

[Flipper_336]

Good thing we were talking about tackles playing at a high level at a certain age and not comparing them to one another..

That doesn't make any logical sense. Never mind.

 

[blackbart]

What about Tackles with the kind of injury history Long has had.

Not having a lot of luck finding information to compare for recovery times which seems strange considering there are these injuries every year???

Giving him the benefit of the doubt let's say he had surgery at the end of January. Best case he is ready to start work outs at the end of July. Is that enough time to be 100% ready to go by September?? I am going to guess no and say if they push him he is at risk to be hurt again sooner than later.

 

[iced]

What about Tackles with the kind of injury history Long has had.

Pace at 31 lpayed 8 games, 1 game at 32, then had 14 at 33, and 11 with chicago at 34.

Too bad he didn't have fisher as a coach, who knows how to take care of his players

 

[RamFan503]

Pace at 31 lpayed 8 games, 1 game at 32, then had 14 at 33, and 11 with chicago at 34.

Too bad he didn't have fisher as a coach, who knows how to take care of his players

All the more reason to start molding Jake's replacement now. Pace started missing games fairly consistently late in his career but he was not near as oft injured early in his career like Jake. I like Jake but counting on him staying healthy and recovering for the start of the season might be a tad optimistic.

 

[DR RAM]

All the more reason to start molding Jake's replacement now. Pace started missing games fairly consistently late in his career but he was not near as oft injured early in his career like Jake. I like Jake but counting on him staying healthy and recovering for the start of the season might be a tad optimistic.

I heard a cooked up a slammin salmon, and veggies on the BBQ a couple of weeks ago for family and friends. You can't do that on a bum knee.

 

[iced]

All the more reason to start molding Jake's replacement now. Pace started missing games fairly consistently late in his career but he was not near as oft injured early in his career like Jake. I like Jake but counting on him staying healthy and recovering for the start of the season might be a tad optimistic.

And I think it's a tad over blown - he played his first 3 seasons, missed 2 games in his 4th, missed 4 in his 5th, and 1 in his 6th.. That's why we have saffold, a swing tackle..

Not to mention Jake is 28 - We were talking about Pace at 34.. Jake's got at least 2 or 3 years left, probably 4 or 5

 

[RamFan503]

And I think it's a tad over blown - he played his first 3 seasons, missed 2 games in his 4th, missed 4 in his 5th, and 1 in his 6th.. That's why we have saffold, a swing tackle..

Not to mention Jake is 28 - We were talking about Pace at 34.. Jake's got at least 2 or 3 years left, probably 4 or 5

No. We're talking about Pace at 31 when he started missing a lot of games to injury. Up until then, he had played all 16 games aside from his rookie year (not injury related) and year 6. Pace had virtually no injuries until he was..... 28. He played through some minor nicks. Nicks that some might say Long has been unable to play through. So to me, Long appears to be aging faster at the position. You can't just act like you are going to get as many years out of Long as you did Pace because they play the same position. Each player ages at a different rate and has a different ability to withstand the rigors of the NFL. I think it would be a mistake to wait another year or two to draft Long's replacement because that means you have no choice but to start your rookie whether he is up to speed or not.

 

[iced]

No. We're talking about Pace at 31 when he started missing a lot of games to injury. Up until then, he had played
16 games aside from his rookie year (not injury related) and year 6. Pace had virtually no injuries until he was..... 28. He played through some minor nicks. Nicks that some might say Long has been unable to play through. So to me, Long appears to be aging faster at the position. You can't just act like you are going to get as many years out of Long as you did Pace because they play the same position. Each player ages at a different rate and has a different ability to withstand the rigors of the NFL. I think it would be a mistake to wait another year or two to draft Long's replacement because that means you have no choice but to start your rookie whether he is up to speed or not.

Pace missed 6 games when he was 27.

Long also played for a different coach with those injuries - how fisher treats his vets is important...you can't like thats not a factor, especially later in the season.

And I never said you're going to get the same years - saying at least 2 or 3 (which is what he's signed for) isn't unrealistic, nor is to suddenly write off a guy because he missed almost 2 games w/ us.

 

[blackbart]

That's why we have saffold, a swing tackle..

You forgot the blue font for this.

And Jake is going to be 29 in a month and 9 days

 

[iced]

You forgot the blue font for this.

And Jake is going to be 29 in a month and 9 days

okay?

Again - Jordon Gross just retired at 33, and he played at a very high level last year.

 

[Alan]

I'm not worrying about age related deterioration of his skills, I'm only concerned about age related delays in healing.

 

[blackbart]

okay?

Again - Jordon Gross just retired at 33, and he played at a very high level last year.

You are not really serious about Saffold being their swing tackle are you?