The Front Office: Adam Peters and Roster Construction

[Bulldog]

Well, Rivera really did leave Peters and Quinn nothing to build on.

Emmanuel Forbes was drafted at #16 and we lost out on Christian Gonzalez, which was a crime straight up.

AND as you can see now McVay and Snead went out and acquired Trent McDuffie and Jaylon Watson in the offseason so evidently Forbes' early promise with the Rams in those first couple of games didn't last until the end of the season.

He will be lucky to make their roster in 2026.

 

[ES1974]

Well, Rivera really did leave Peters and Quinn nothing to build on.

Emmanuel Forbes was drafted at #16 and we lost out on Christian Gonzalez, which was a crime straight up.

AND as you can see now McVay and Snead went out and acquired Trent McDuffie and Jaylon Watson in the offseason so evidently Forbes' early promise with the Rams in those first couple of games didn't last until the end of the season.

He will be lucky to make their roster in 2026.

Forget Gonzalez, look at the receivers that went from #20 onwards.

 

[Bulldog]

Do you remember the game this season where the Rams were playing SF and the announcers were going on and on about Forbes and how McVay had reclaimed him after he had a difficult time in Washington?

What a freakin' joke. Forbes couldn't play consistently and McVay found that out during the season and now in the offseason he has brought in two starting corners from the Chiefs to be their tandem in 2026.

So much for reclaiming a guy that looks like Erkle out there in a uniform

 

[BayouBrave86]

Do you remember the game this season where the Rams were playing SF and the announcers were going on and on about Forbes and how McVay had reclaimed him after he had a difficult time in Washington?

What a freakin' joke. Forbes couldn't play consistently and McVay found that out during the season and now in the offseason he has brought in two starting corners from the Chiefs to be their tandem in 2026.

So much for reclaiming a guy that looks like Erkle out there in a uniform

That was nauseating to listen to.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

Do you remember the game this season where the Rams were playing SF and the announcers were going on and on about Forbes and how McVay had reclaimed him after he had a difficult time in Washington?

What a freakin' joke. Forbes couldn't play consistently and McVay found that out during the season and now in the offseason he has brought in two starting corners from the Chiefs to be their tandem in 2026.

So much for reclaiming a guy that looks like Erkle out there in a uniform

The Forbes image reclamation project was so odd.

He sucked here. He sucked there.

The one thing the Rams did better than we did (either staff) was limiting his role to a point where he could do the least possible damage and had the most chance of success.

However he still stunk and cost them.

He’ll be out of the league in 2 years.

 

[Riggo44]

The people going on and on about how we didn't develop Forbes and weren't patient with him and Peters has not idea what we're doing, are also the ones calling to cut Sinnot, LMC, Lane, Newton, etc.

 

[Bulldog]

The people going on and on about how we didn't develop Forbes and weren't patient with him and Peters has not idea what we're doing, are also the ones calling to cut Sinnot, LMC, Lane, Newton, etc.

Don’t agree there.

Sinnott has been here for two years going into his third season and he’s still not a guy they have real confidence in so why should we?

You don’t give Okonkwo a 3 year deal in free agency if Sinnott is on the verge of emerging as a primary pass catcher for Daniels.

What’s more likely is he is getting more time because they spent a #2 pick on him.

If he was a #6 pick he likely would be gone.

 

[Riggo44]

Don’t agree there.

Sinnott has been here for two years going into his third season and he’s still not a guy they have real confidence in so why should we?

You don’t give Okonkwo a 3 year deal in free agency if Sinnott is on the verge of emerging as a primary pass catcher for Daniels.

What’s more likely is he is getting more time because they spent a #2 pick on him.

If he was a #6 pick he likely would be gone.

I named 4 players, interesting you only focused on one.

 

[Bulldog]

I named 4 players, interesting you only focused on one.

Why is that interesting or of note?

If I made a list of 5 players I think the team should cut and you disagree with one of them I wouldn't think it odd that you addressed that player in your comment.

Newton may have a role here as a situational pass rusher, he has initial quickness and overall athletic ability he was just miscast as a 3 down traditional DT in a four man line.

I have my doubts about LMC as a receiver but there's no doubt he's a contributor on special teams.

So, I focused on the one player in that group who has perhaps the fewest game reps on the field and the one whose position was just addressed visibly in free agency by Adam Peters.

Again, I am observing what the team DOES.

I am not in the meeting rooms but if you have a #2 pick that hasn't seen much time on the field his first 2 years and he's relatively healthy that means something.

We're not talking about a practice squad UDFA that then makes it to game day roster as a backup.

Sinnott was taken at #53 overall.

 

[heisenberg]

Why is that interesting or of note?

If I made a list of 5 players I think the team should cut and you disagree with one of them I wouldn't think it odd that you addressed that player in your comment.

Newton may have a role here as a situational pass rusher, he has initial quickness and overall athletic ability he was just miscast as a 3 down traditional DT in a four man line.

I have my doubts about LMC as a receiver but there's no doubt he's a contributor on special teams.

So, I focused on the one player in that group who has perhaps the fewest game reps on the field and the one whose position was just addressed visibly in free agency by Adam Peters.

Again, I am observing what the team DOES.

I am not in the meeting rooms but if you have a #2 pick that hasn't seen much time on the field his first 2 years and he's relatively healthy that means something.

We're not talking about a practice squad UDFA that then makes it to game day roster as a backup.

Sinnott was taken at #53 overall.

But his original point was, that some posters may be contradicting themselves a little by suggesting we should have been patient and groomed forbes but that we should cut bait on guys like sinnott.

 

[Bulldog]

But his original point was, that some posters may be contradicting themselves a little by suggesting we should have been patient and groomed forbes but that we should cut bait on guys like sinnott.

Well, I don't see a contradiction in the response I made.

the team has shown by not giving Sinnott any real reps with the regular offense that his NFL career has really yet to take off.

The coaches themselves don't trust him enough in real time to win or lose games on the field.

Besides, in NFL time in the modern game 2 years waiting on a #2 pick is considered decent time and there is every indication we are going to give him Year 3 as well so I don't think there is hastiness there.

In Forbes' case he got on the field as cornerback but just couldn't cover anyone. So, that was more obvious.

As Jimmy Johnson said you can't coach up talent and size. If the guy doesn't have it, he doesn't have it.

It's more difficult when the player is settled deep on the bench and the staff says over time he is still 'working hard', etc.

We have seen players taken in the top 3 or 4 rounds cut before they play any significant downs in the NFL.

That's just the nature of the beast.

But again I think you judge as an observer based on what you see.

If you see a receiver that consistently drops balls then you question his staying power.

If you see a #7 pick that just continues to make plays in the preseason then you might say 'it looks like we have a keeper'.

 

[Riggo44]

Why is that interesting or of note?

You disagreed with the whole post, focusing only on Sinnot.

 

[Bulldog]

You disagreed with the whole post, focusing only on Sinnot.

Sorry, I was disagreeing with the content based on Sinnott.

But in a larger sense that you may have read in I do have a bugaboo about some fans that continue to talk about Player X still 'developing' when the team by all intents and purposes has started to move on without him playing a focused role.

Do I think that some of the other players named will live up to second or third round billing? I don't know, but the returns so far show the players in question are so far part-time contributors and rotation guys, we don't as of yet see a 3 down starter from the group.

 

[heisenberg]

To be fair to Luke he was the last compensatory pick in the 3rd round which is equivalent to being the 4th pick in the 4th round.

The difference between the 65th which is a 3rd round pick and the 100th which also was a 3rd rounder is a pretty massive gulf as far as expectations should be concerned.

We always just say 3rd round pick and ignore that.

 

[Riggo44]

I think roughly 30% of 4th round picks turn into significant contributors. People only look at the receiving stats and ignore we have two dynamic threats in the return game. Lane was only a rookie too. There are maybe 4 players drafted after him that had better rookie years, and we have one of them: Elic Ayomanor, Oronde Gadsden, Kyle Monongai, and Bill Crosky Merritt.

 

[Conn]

skinsinparadise and I (and many others) have been talking about this for a while, but this year feels like it’s really going to be a significant pivot point in how the organization’s support of Jayden Daniels is going to be viewed. Which could have major implications for their job security, as well as how Daniels feels about the franchise as we eventually approach extension talks.

Many are offering props for a high-value draft class and a general turnaround offseason with FA and all taken into account. And hopefully that plays out with lots of wins this season.

But if it doesn’t, and the offense flounders, this will become the main narrative imo (and is what SIP and I have posted about a lot—that we have not done as much as other franchises with young QB’s have done to support them):

 

[heisenberg]

Im not sure if they've done all they could have but im not ready to claim they should have done much more quite yet.

They used a ton of draft capital on bookend tackles to protect him, they brought in 3 new running backs this year and an early 3rd round receiver and the only reason they couldn't use a high second on another weapon is because they brought in that franchise left tackle.

There was nobody left at 7 that we wouldn't have been upset with over styles, we pretty much universally would have considered it a reach for need and peters said the phone for a trade back was crickets.

Also theres something to be said for just how bad our defense was the last two years (especially last year) and that improving that is protecting jayden.
Maybe he wont have to play superman as much if we dont give up 35 points a game.

There are probably things we could have and should have done but I also don't want them to make huge mistakes trying to appear to be protecting jayden like for example giving Jennings 28 mil per because we missed out on pierce.

And I know we're three offseasons out now so that excuse is fading fast but we were starting from a really bad place and not all rebuilds are begun on equal footing so its not necessarily fair to compare them.

I think next years draft will be the most telling, we have a full complement of picks and a better roster especially at the premium positions like quarterback and tackle.

Needing to use so much draft capital on quarterback and an offensive line to protect him kinda set us back in the weapons department but that excuse should be gone next year.

 

[Riggo44]

And we are back to extrapolating hyperbolic doom, as is tradition for the doldrums of the offseason...

This sort of myopic doom-and-gloom is just annoying. Yes, we absolutely have questions about wide receiver--we should add another, but remains to be seen if we actually do. Here's my hot-take: offensive production is more than just wide receiver! *GASP*

Frank completely ignores very small, but I think very significant additions, in Konk and Rashaad White. When Ekler went down, we had one option out of the backfield in Jeremy McNichols, who was used very sparingly. With the addition of Williams as well, we have several more "easy buttons" for Daniels. (He also ignores the litany of injuries, again, but that's different point). In addition, Frankie completely ignores the offensive line units. We may not have gone all in on receiver, but we sure have on offensive line. We traded for, and then extended, Tunsil, drafted Conerly in the first round, re-signed Chris Paul. The Biadcsz sever was surprising, but did replace with Gulbin (albeit a 6th round pick so not holding my breath on that one), and maybe Alegretti is better there? Who knows--but overall, this is still a top-10ish unit. I heard someone on 106.7 call in and claim that "the cupboard is bare! We have NO talent!" That sort of panicky, "I listen to every word Chris Russell says and treat it like gospel" level stupidity really chafes my chicken.

I saw skinsinparadise post all the weapons the Saints have now. Which is great. Their offensive line is largely seen as a bottom-third unit, and their run game reflected it last year. Giving Etienne over $30m guaranteed was just dumb. I am willing to bet he's sub 4.0-ypc next year.

The Eagles made defensive additions? Fantastic. Good for them. Their offense was largely healthy last year and was as bad, if not worse, than our backups (22.3 ppg vs. 20.9 ppg; worse yards). They added Lemon, who is a questionable fit given Hurts reluctance to pass over the middle of the field, but are also widely believed to trading AJ Brown. They also couldn't find an OC this offseason, getting turned down by multiple candidates--including one who later went to the Ravens. The Giants made significant improvements, did they? Really? They traded Dexter Lawrence, and they were atrocious against the run WITH him! How are they going to stop it without him? We ran for an average of over 180/ypg against them last year (with NO talent). There is a gaping hole in the middle of that defense--who cares if they have a GREAT PASS RUSH (for the third year in a row) when you don't need to actually pass.

The gaps in the logic of those assessments are bigger than our hole at WR.

 

[NickyJ]

I have a hard time thinking that new runningbacks are going to make NFL defenses stop blanketing the short field like they did last year. That is where receivers come in. Chig can run faster than Ertz's speedwalking, so that can help open up the field a little more. Having 2 hopefully healthy WRs who might be able to beat the UDFA's in man coverage could also prove beneficial in making defenses care about who is covering down the field. So that's great. If a single one of them gets injured, the team returns to being screwed. Which is not so great.

But if Jayden has to play hero ball and gets injured again, at least we'll have lots of cap space to put towards his medical bills. That's preferable compared to having only $35 or $40 million in cap space and a third receiver who can do more than be a decoy that the defense ignores.

 

[Riggo44]

Who do the Seahawks have after JSN? Shaheed caught 15 passes for 188 and no TDs in 9 games for them. LMC caught 11 for 203 and 3 TDs in the same number of games. Burks, who also switched teams mid-season had 10/130/1 in 8 games.
Who do the Ravens have after Flowers?
Who do the Colts have after Pierce?
Who do the Pats have after Doubs (this obviously changes if Brown goes there)? What happens if Doubs can't surpass his usual sub-60, 850 yrd performance if they don't get Brown?
Who do the Giants have if Nabers gets hurt again or doesn't fully recover?
Who do the Falcons have if London goes down?
Who do the Bills have if DJ Moore goes down?
What are the Rams going to do with out Nacua for the first part of the year? Rely on 34 yr old Adams?
If the Eagles do trade Brown, can Smith be a #1?

There are questions for a lot of teams if the #1 goes down.