Rams Rookies (7 of 10) + UDFA's sign, and 2024 Schedule Leaks?

what's up everybody welcome back to another episode of rams Brothers I'm your host Dean and I'm joined as always by my brother and the other great host of this show Nick and Nick got some rookies signing contracts got some potential schedule leaks on deck for you guys but first and most importantly how are you my good brother I'm good after Dean and I sabatical which is the right word because we didn't get paid um you know taking time to figure out myself but I've been I've been great I'm ready I'm ready to talk Rams that's always most important me mental health is always a priority here at Rams Brothers um especially when you find out that Benny sco has been traded and this is about all the time that we're gonna we're gonna spend on Benny sco a 2026 pick swap Benny sco traded to the Texans Nick I hope you're okay a sixth and seventh round that were swapped in 2026 maybe it's not you that was heartbroken maybe it was me that were losing Benny sco but a lot of Rams draft picks and undrafted free agents are going to potentially fill the bo inord Whittington and Drake Stoops right so some talent that they brought into the building that's going to replace that pretty quickly um so I I hope you're okay let's just start off the episode making sure that you're okay with the Benny sco departure well that's really what the sabatical was about you know was the Benny sco news I had to take I had to take we had episodes planned I was like no no no I can't uh you know I can't do a full episode dedicated to that uh it it makes the captain scronic thing last year the fact that he was elected a captain even more baffling um that he just gets like traded away You' think that this would be someone that they prioritized but I mean yeah it's it's been it's we moved up in the draft next year and we got rid of Ben scronic great cool right yeah it's not even next year it's 2026 oh man yeah yeah so final year the rookie deal Rams like to do the pick swap happened with Van Jefferson happened with Cam ACR so yeah it happens and some other Rams news uh seven the 10 rookies have signed their rookie deals so I think the Braden Fisk news is most interesting we'll go through all the rookies that signed their deals in just a couple of quick minutes but what's really interesting Jared verse Cameron kinchin and Brennan Jackson have yet to sign their rookie deals but it's all expected by the end of this week but what I really like is that they signed Braden Fisk first because I feel like it's a it's a strong Fu to the internet personalities who used all their algorithms and all their analytics to determine that the Rams overpaid for a player that they won a pair with a player like Jared verse they haven't spent on defense in the past right in in terms of the draft you wanted to be able to value that draft pick as much as possible in Jared verse and build a committee of pass rushers which Tony pastors has alluded to um he doesn't speak often but when he does it's it's all obviously about really important topics and the way that they're restructuring the front s um with new defensive coordinator Chris schula is definitely going to be something to watch but according to Aaron Wilson Braden fist as he agreed to his rookie contract comes with three years fully guaranteed and also an added bonus he's getting 15% of his salary guaranteed in the fourth year which it's not the case typically with 39th overall picks Jonathan Mingo last year with the Panthers didn't happen with him but what Steve Ula happened with with with him last year they used a similar structure because he signed his rookie contract as a second a second round pick and they got three years fully guaranteed in 10% of the guaranteed money coming in the fourth year so FIS got even larger percentage despite being three picks later than Steve abula but I I do think it was a a signal to the internet personalities to everybody that was saying that the Rams paid way way too much to trade up for Brad and Fisk when in reality you want to be able to pair those two together bring their personalities to light and let their production on field shine through because I feel like what was happening is they're watching all this Jared verse tape and this other guy in Braden Fisk as a three Tech which was arguably the higher position of need after you lose Aaron Donald it all kind of comes together with in the draft evaluation and all the situations that they laid out it made sense to pair those two guys together and I think Rams friends were really happy with how they prioritize the defensive line so I think that was a pretty solid starting point for the Rams and you know as noted by Aaron Wilson it it set a strong precedent in the draft contract Market because it's a it's a lot of guaranteed money like you said for a second round pick yeah um but it's the it's the onew punch it's it's the chemistry it's all that that you got with them in college bringing that to the NFL level together and I mean it's exciting and what they did with Steve aula was was great and it's something that all Rams Fans can get behind and agree was was the right move so hopefully this is this is more of that yeah I think in finding Rams right players that that fit the mold that you want to bring into the culture that represent the city well that represent the organization well there's a couple of others Blake corm Tyler Davis they all signed their rookie deals Jordan Whittington who I feel like is going to be the Benny sco replacement look for him to be a captain in future years on special teams because of what they could do out of the backfield what they could do on special teams returning kicks returning punts line him up in a big slot line him up in the back field he'll be a fun player to watch keep your eyes on um Bo limmer gentle Joshua signed his rookie deal Nick so Joshua cardi is officially in horns hopefully weend our kicker of the future all 62 208 of them and then KT Levon also so depth for the offensive line so we talked a ton about the draft class don't want to spend any more time with the draft class moving forward let me just spend one more second with the draft class speaking of gentle Joshua just real quick um every Sunday I'm watching playoffs NFL or NBA NHL and then you know the UFL is on and I'm rocking a XFL shirt of the LA Wildcats it seems like every week somebody is drilling a game-winning 5161 yard field goal it happened again this week and I just I just don't understand why they can't like I want them bring in some XFL kickers to it's it's the last time I say it I promise but bringing some XFL kickers to stand behind gentle Joshua I don't know what his you know benchmarks and how much he's he's gon to be training but I just don't want the kicking situation to be as abysmal as it was last year when you have people on television making 5161 yard kicks on week in and week out I totally get it Jake Bates come into Los Angeles we we welcome you with open arms I feel like there's a couple of players on the St Louis battle Hawks as well maybe even the kicker there that they could bring in for some competition but the the 2023 schedule and the 2024 schedule I wanted to just kind of go back and forth a little bit because 2024 schedule is going to be released this Wednesday night at 8 pm so they'll do a big show it's the social media teams all their departments like Super Bowl they're going to put out all these crazy videos the Chargers have done anime in the past the Rams have done all these different things uh to kind of bring it to light but the 2023 schedule was interesting because they were coming off of a 5-2 season we know in 2022 and the schedu maker said let's make it as tough as possible for the Rams coming out of the 5- 12 season to in a in a extremely impossible situation to succeed again in 2023 they traveled the fourth most miles they had four opponents which was League leading it was them in the 49ers uh they only two teams that had to deal with this it was the Steelers who was a loss the Cowboys also a loss two teams that they had to play before the buy and I think two of three weeks in a row um the Ravens was a loss in overtime after the week 10 by and then they got the commanders so they were one and three in four games with teams having two weeks to prep for them they had three early kickoffs the Colts they won that game 29 to 23 in overtime I believe that was week four it got them back to two and two and then they got dismantled by the Cowboys where Stafford tore his UCL and his thumb by slamming into Demarcus Lawrence's helmet they lost that game 43-2 and everybody thought the season was over at that point and especially the next week when they had to play the Green Bay Packers and Brett rippen was under Center I mean it was just was one of the worst games I've ever watched as a Rams fan it took you all the way back to the the 2011 2012 uh Steve Spagnola Scott Lenahan days like it was just pathetic football and you were highly highly concerned going into the buy what this team was going to look like post week 10 um so that game was was terrifying and then we talked about the Stafford game where he was he was upright and then they decided to run the Philly special and hurt his thumb even more he had one piece of tape on his thumb after he tore the UCL in his thumb after smashing it on Demarcus Lawrence's helmet and then he slammed the ball again into the ground which probably injured it even more so that was a cut the lead to like 26 or something like that like like which should be noted right here it's like you did not need to run the Philly special right there yeah I mean they they had only two Prime Time games too in 2023 so they had five the year prior if you remember back to 2022 where they went two and three in the and the two wins in 2022 came against the Raiders which I believe was Baker Mayfield and Benny sco down the sideline or van Jefferson who won that game and then it was the Broncos on Christmas where they I think they put up 51 points yeah and cam Acres went off I think he had three touchdowns in that game does christas count as a prime time yeah it did yep I guess so when you have like three Christmas games they all kind of like it I I guess that was the Prime Time game but still yeah so they said okay five was too many in 2022 coming off of the Super Bowl in 2023 let's give them just two so the Bengals was at week three because they went Seattle 49ers and then the Bengals in week three they lost that game 19- 16 and then Thursday night football against the Saints where they won 30 to 22 where they were coming off four days rest and had to play Thursday Night Football in Sofi stadium so the Thursday night football game it was late in the year they had to play the commanders you remember back on I think it was the 17th of December and then four days later which was a lot of how Matthew Stafford's locked in was catered they were spending time in the war room with Cooper cup Matthew Stafford trying to figure out how the hell are we going to be able to put together a game plan in just four days having to go against a must-win situation against a team that has a really strong strong front has a veteran quarterback has some really solid skilled players great catchers out of the back field you know all these things that they had to prepare for and you know they did they turned around and won the game 30 to 22 so I was was pretty impressed with um the way that they were able to prepare for that game but like it's still it felt like it was very very much unfair because even though they had the luxury of being at home against the commanders and the Saints 10 days later they had to go fly cross country to go play the Giants at MetLife and wink marale who just wanted to send the house at Matthew Stafford at a higher frequency than any other team in the league so it's was like all this crap thrown at you all at once and you had to figure out a way to navigate through it and I think that's what the made the ram so special coming out of that week 10 buy we talked about it in our last episode getting Matthew Stafford in the pistol all the short motions the U heightened success rate with the duo scheme you know being able to really trust the offensive line and and run your game plan behind Kiren Williams who was healthy down the Str thank the Lord but then we brought in Blake Corum in 2024 I feel like is going to be a much better feel in terms of offensive line productivity rushing success rate the duo scheme increasing the usage there so all that stuff is to come but finishing the season 10 and seven felt like a pipe dream when you go back to week nine because they were three and six going into the buy I think it was a pipe dream going into the year truthfully because they were dealt such a terrible hand with that schedule uh apparently they lobbied big time not to have that Green Bay game in Green Bay and then ended up being in Green Bay and Dem off was pissed um and then just yeah all the travel and and the short windows and I think their win total last year was like six and a half and they shot and like the fact that they were even in the playoffs almost taking a win in Detroit like came really really close to to doing that so it just leads you to believe that I mean yeah the schedule's tough if if you look at our opponents it's definitely not an easy schedule but if they're not dealt such a crappy hand they should be on par or you know better than than they were last year compared to the last couple of years it feels like it's lightened up a little bit so this year 2024 second place schedule after finishing second in the division behind San Francisco they'll face the 12th hardest schedule in the league with their opponents combining a 146 143 record this past season so a little bit above 500 tied with the ners the ners have the exact same strength of schedule despite finishing in first place which it's hard to make sense of but you look at the home versus away opponents um it's it's going to be pretty interesting so home 49ers Cardinals Seahawks Packers Vikings Eagles Bills Dolphins Raiders so you got you lobbied for Packers at home this year and you got it you don't to travel to Lambo field um you know the Vikings at home who knows what kind of game that's going to be with JJ McCarthy under Center the bill bills losing Stefon Diggs kind of losing some of their identity uh the Dolphins which is going to be a really fun game you got Jaylen Ramsey and Odell Beckham Jr partnered back up again and then the Raiders who we always seem to have their number so I think the home schedule you actually have an an extra home game this year with a 17 Game season nine compared to eight um so I I'm happy over that right it's like tiny wins you got to be able to get this point in the year to hopefully be able to see through to a 10-11 win season so I think their over under win total right now is at like8 and a half or nine so I mean like is there like just looking at the opponents like I know how they'd like to keep it where you always kind of end the season with with divisional games it's like the last two weeks were always like kind of divisional based like who is your like you know pie in the sky like I want this matchup to be this date because Lions on Thanksgiving in Detroit is what I I mean I wanted a Rams Thanksgiving game forever and that would just be so cool I was kind of thinking that right because I I would love pie in the sky the Miami Dolphins right because then you get Jaylen Ramsey Odo Beckham Jr as a Prime Time game um you get them reunited in Miami you get Mike McDaniel and Shawn McVey a longstanding relationship that goes all the way back to Washington Miami was actually the team that was reportedly most interested in bringing in Chris schula after they moved away from Vic fangio as their defensive coordinator but they opted in to bring um Anthony Weaver from Baltimore I I would say the Lions if you can get the Lions on Thanksgiving which would be like you know it's the Lions Super Bowl Matthew Stafford so familiar playing on Thanksgiving with the Lions it would be in Lion Stadium again so it would be in a away game so you go back to Detroit Matthew Stafford's back in Detroit on Thanksgiving both teams are projected to have a pretty decent record this year could finish top of the NFC I think that game would be amazing and then give me the ners again I want I want the ners and Prime time because I would love to see a little Jimmy G back in in San Francisco um you know I maybe it's week 18 again and the Rams have to clinch a playoff spot and maybe get Jimmy G versus Brock pie in the final week of the season I would absolutely love that instead of Carson Wentz ripping up the 49ers of secondary two two outwell and pukan nou and Demarcus Robinson did such a great job in the final week of the season and now he's paired with Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City back with Andy Reid so that should be interesting but be my big three like you have to think like Patriots Rams in Fox Sparrow like that's like out of all the like you know as a Rams fan that's going to be one of the games that you don't want to see as a Prime Time game but the Patriots are going to be like they're not probably gonna have one of the least amounts of Prime Time games so that's my bet as like Thursday night in Fox Barrow like that's like their big Prime Time game is against us um because I feel like they're just going to be so bad or or the Jets or the Jets in you know in New Jersey I think could be a big one that with Aaron Rogers and Matthew Stafford like the two old guys going going at it I think that's a that that is something that the NFL will probably want to like make a big storyline you know both these guys got one Super Bowl in different division you know or they started in a different division I think that's a great call right because you know Rob saor going against Shawn mcvey's offense which always a good match up going back to San Francisco but then Rogers versus Stafford a lot of comparisons are made right with winning one Super Bowl just the arm Talent the ability to throw off platform the ability to throw different arm angles like the ability to manipulate in the pocket those are you know they're very similar kind of players I think that's the that's the that's that's the sneaky one which I think would be extraordinarily fun maybe even throw that one on a Thursday night football game um maybe hopefully not too late in the season but maybe a little earlier on in the season if it's going to be in New Jersey so that they don't have to travel across country late in December or January I would that would be great I would love that I mean I would love it if it's like you know second week of or like towards the end in December while I'm home in New Jersey because I would I would totally totally go to that game 100% I I think that would be a lot of fun they face six teams on their schedule for 2024 that that made the playoffs so the Vikings the Raiders the Cardinals the Seahawks the Bears the Saints the Pats the Jets all missed the playoffs but playoff teams that they play this year 49ers Packers Bills Dolphins Lions Eagles so hope is you split with those teams hopefully you come out with a 4-2 record and then the remainder if you can have a winning record against those other teams you know teams like the Bears I'm hearing rumors that the Bears and Rams could be scheduled for week one um so that game would be interesting but you know you have the saints's number the Pats no longer have Bill belich it's Jared Mayo the Cardinals you've swept them in consecutive Seasons what two three years in a row at this point the Raiders we have their number Kevin oconnell with Minnesota like there's a lot of opportunity to win games this season especially if everybody stays healthy you definitely like week one against the Bears is ideally where to get them you know K it's Caleb's first start in the NFL like they could definitely like start the season one and five and then end you on like a six game Run you know and like I think if that game if that game was in Los Angeles and it's it's going to be in Chicago unfortunately but if that game were in Los Angeles you could bring Caleb Williams back home week one against the Rams in La that to me would make a ton of sense but the fact that it's not there a little bit little bit of concern in terms of I feel like week one will be like I guess I guess it won't be Seattle and this is probably why I'm saying it but last year it was Seattle I feel like we start the season with Seattle a lot well I would take them again and get another 30 to 13 win and you know get our legs underneath of us that would be they set the expectation last year I harped on that game for nine straight weeks throughout the first nine weeks of the Season before the bot like they showed it to us we know that they could be physical we know that they could run the ball they know that we know that if Matthew Stafford's healthy their pass attack pukaa and all these skill players they're going to be a talented Bunch they're going to be a tough out in the end of the season and that's what I hung my hat on um but the rumors that are flying around right now could be Bears Rams week one I've been seeing a lot of that I know we talked about how it could potentially not be but you know it would be a really fun way to start the season Romo dun you know we talked about season last time the Rams started the season against the Bears they won the Super Bowl so that's a good point so let's run that back 100 per. that that leads me to think that they're not going to do that because that is in such recent memory that it's true like you you know I don't know so much changes from three years ago it's like I think there's still four or five players on from the team now that are still in the roster from the 2021 year it's like it's like Matthew Stafford Rob havenstein and you know the rest of that list is two two Atwell you who else yeah yeah so yeah so the Bears week one is one potential rumor and then something that I read was really interesting that sources were flying around about the Rams versus the Eagles in week six because sources are leaking that fox wants to have the Eagles and the Rams during the same week as Penn State and USC because Fox owns the rights to the Big 10 so that could potentially be something of Interest right because you get USC Penn State on Saturday and then you get Rams Eagles on Sunday that's so annoying because then all of the Penn State people can fly out and just go to both games and it's just like a perfect uh October in California for them and watch both of their teams like I I I already know friends in my life that are flying in uh that week for the that Penn State game of course it'll it'll 100% turn over into whoa go the Eagles game now too because of yeah you know what the way that they collapsed last year what were they 10 and one to start the season and then they finished what 11 and six 11 and five yeah and then they lost in the Wild Card round the baker Mayfield bucks I'll take the Eagles I don't care when we're playing them this year I want to play them and I want to beat them in our Stadium I mean that's the way everybody in the NFC South owes every single player on the Eagles a like a big hug and a lot of respect because that Baker winning that game gave Tampa so much false hope with him I think no disrespect to Baker Mayfield He's a Rams Legend as we know but I I just don't see him at like as like the true answer there I mean that division is just always in the pits but I it definitely buys Tampa like a couple more years of just like water totally and you know they they just you know they just signed a safey Antoine Winfield Jr to a massive massive contract they're paying players internally they're paying their Stars so I mean they're trying to hold it together for a couple more years and at least be you know a decent product on field which you know they may be and then the Rams and lions is the only other schedule leak that I potentially have on Thanksgiving just because I feel like that one makes a lot of sense potentially too now that Jared gof signed a massive contract extension what four years 170 million guaranteed the Rams gave him 110 million guaranteed four or five years ago he's now up to $280 million in guaranteed money specifically handed over by Brad Holmes um so by the time Matthew Stafford signs his extension which we expect to happen at the end of this week you know you could talk about guaranteed money ver gu bunny Stafford going back into Detroit Stafford's old Super Bowl and Thanksgiving you know all the rematch of the Wild Card round which was probably the best wild card game on the Slate last year so that all those things could happen so I think those are our I've got three prime time predictions and then three schedule leaks for you guys so yeah go g hasn't won on Thanksgiving there you go been there he's been there three years he does not have a recorded win on Thanksgiving he has even more reason even more reason to sign us up for that game if you guys are enjoying the Pod we're probably G to come back record another episode I would say probably Thursday with the schedule release being Wednesday probably we'll we'll be back this week at some point if you guys are enjoying the Pod make sure that [Music] you like and subscribe we love you guys and go ramps we didn't say like And subscribe until now huh we totally blw it yeah you know we're working on The Kinks I talked about the last episode we're gonna we're going to do some new stuff I promise I promise I don't know how much longer we can work on The Kinks we've been doing this for like four years now hey it's a labor of love we have jobs we we do it on our our free time we do it for you guys yeah that's true hopefully you guys enjoy we'll talk to you guys again soon go Rams peace go Rams