James Laurinaitis

Dubz41

Dubz41

Member
Member
Messages
1,123
Reaction score
789
This guy fits the bill! Was just released by the Rams. Figured Chris Long was out, but kinda surprised with Laurinaitis.
29 years old. Started every game of his career. 100+ tackles every year. C'mon TT, he's the vet, ILB and supposed to be a good teammate. This is one TT needs to jump on.
 
Dubz41 said:
This guy fits the bill! Was just released by the Rams. Figured Chris Long was out, but kinda surprised with Laurinaitis.
29 years old. Started every game of his career. 100+ tackles every year. C'mon TT, he's the vet, ILB and supposed to be a good teammate. This is one TT needs to jump on.
Click to expand...

He's intriguing but I see him as more of a 4-3 ILB. I just think your better off drafting a young stud and plunging him in. Just my tc(
 
Dubz41 said:
This guy fits the bill! Was just released by the Rams. Figured Chris Long was out, but kinda surprised with Laurinaitis.
29 years old. Started every game of his career. 100+ tackles every year. C'mon TT, he's the vet, ILB and supposed to be a good teammate. This is one TT needs to jump on.
Click to expand...
I'm with you on this....always thought highly of Laurinaitis.
He's a tackling machine, and it would be great to see him in a Green & Gold uniform.
 
He is a proven commodity. He has been frustrated playing on a team that has underachieved. He shores up our biggest weakness on defense. I really believe a veteran MLB could easily transition to a ILB in a 3-4. He might just be looking for the situation that presents itself in the Pack. Doesn't preclude us from drafting a ILB, in fact it would be the best of both world. Depth, talent and experience. He would make us better immediately. You never know what you have with rookies, we need a ILB now. IMO.
 
Laurinaitis has never missed a game, was a team captain, but suffered a drop in play and production that led to him getting cut despite Rams having ample cap space.

They didn't really need the 5.25M saving, and it's pretty telling they didn't keep him even though he said he was willing to take a pay cut: “I thought maybe at worst, a pay cut. I still felt like I was producing.” (SL Post-Dispatch)

Rams' fans on FF held him as a fan favorite, but many think his play had deteriorated too much. Comments echoed our complaints about later-in-career AJ Hawk: "James was done.. He's been on the decline for the last 3 years.. The only good thing he does is call the plays.. But he's not worth the money.. We'll get more athletic and faster inside."

Rotoworld said: "The 29-year-old watched his play fall off a cliff in 2015, earning PFF's second-worst inside linebacker grade out of 60 qualifiers."

The biggest worry seems to be that Laurinaitis' body could be breaking down after 7 seasons of 100+ tackles. His 4.72 combine 40 speed wasn't great to begin with.

Post-Dispatch: "Laurinaitis kept playing despite a nagging foot injury in 2014 and an elbow injury this past season that basically had him playing with one arm over the past 10 games of the season. If he were a baseball pitcher, he would’ve needed Tommy John surgery. But for football, the elbow did not require surgery."

I wouldn't be opposed to bringing him in to see what he can do when healthy. But we already have some slow ILBs, do we really need one more?
 
Drafting an ILB with speed is a top 2 draft need right now, so that goes without saying. One ILB position should be that draft pick, but we still need another. CMIII moving back outside, Palmer will be gone, so that leaves just Ryan and Barrington. For any ILB FA you bring in you have to ask yourself if he's really better than either of those two. So ideally we draft ILB high and sign Danny Trevathan in FA and then that position instantly transforms the D. Trevathan will be top of the FA market, so now we start looking at the next tier down - Laurinaitis, Tulloch, others of that level. They'd be IMO a step up in leadership and have certain strengths over Ryan/Barrington but can they really run better? Are their instincts and tackling much better? That's the question.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top