Last season the Rams were one of the best teams in football. They finished 11-5 with a resurgence new head coach Sean McVay and coordinators Matt LaFleur and Wade Phillips. Even going 11-5 and winning the NFC West Youth Rashaan Melvin Jersey , the Rams figure to be even better this year.Top receiver Cooper Kupp is back but he will have a new starter across from him in Brandin Cooks who replaces Sammy Watkins. Cooks had nearly double the yards last season of Watkins, so that figures to be an upgrade for an already potent offense that features Todd Gurley and Jared Goff.Most of the additions, however, come on the defensive side of the ball. Wade Phillips has been like a kid in a candy story this offseason. They brought in two All Pro former AFC West corners in Aqib Talib and Marcus Peters and added Ndamukong Suh to the defensive line. Then they got NFL Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald locked into a new long term deal.Head coach Jon Gruden on facing defensive front with Suh and Donald next to each other?“That’s a big challenge, no question. They’ve got some young guys that we need to learn about on the outside. Robert Quinn is not there, Connor Barwin is not there, they have a new inside backer, [Alec] Ogletree is not there. They’ve got two new corners that are also there. That’s why you can’t really watch last year’s tape to help you get ready for this game. They didn’t play them in the preseason more than half a dozen plays. We’re going to see where they are and they’ll see where we are.”What Gruden is talking about with regard to the young guys is a host of unknowns who will be tasked with replacing the departed Quinn Womens Frostee Rucker Jersey , Barwin, and Ogletree. So not every new player on that Rams defense is considered an upgrade. Some are a bit of a mystery.Even middle linebacker Mark Barron, who started 14 games last season looks unlikely to play Monday as he is missing practice while dealing with an Achilles injury. That leaves the Rams — much like the Raiders — with a completely new linebacking corps.Formerly undrafted linebacker Cory Littleton is expected to start after having started just five games in his first two seasons. While on the outside, Matt Longacre and Samson Ebukam who could start. With three combined career starts between them, the Rams could field an entire linebacking corps with 8 combined starts.On one hand, that says they could be ripe for the picking. On the other hand, it doesn’t reveal a lot of tendencies on tape to exploit for Gruden and Derek Carr.What is clear, however Youth Gabe Jackson Jersey , is with a lot of new faces on the Rams defense, and therefore some unpredictability, it should be easy to predict the defensive line and secondary is going to be stout and going after the linebackers will be the best plan of attack for this Raiders offense.Oh, and don’t let Brandin Cooks do to the Raiders new group of corners what he did to their predecessors in the 2016 season opener.Follow @LeviDamienHow long after Aaron Donald signing should Raider Nation hit panic button on Khalil Mack? The market for elite defensive players has been set. The Los Angeles Rams and Aaron Donald agreed to a six-year $135 million contract extension on Friday. And at some point, whether that be the next few days, a few weeks or a year (maybe two who knows), Oakland Raiders defensive end Khalil Mack will reset that market as well. Up until this point, I have not been bothered by the Mack news. Sure Authentic Tahir Whitehead Jersey , rumors will come out that will make the Raiders look bad and they certainly have been reported but that is the job of Mack’s camp. To find and use any leverage possible to get Mack the best deal and that involves releasing information to put pressure on the organization. And one of the steps to getting Mack the best deal is to wait for Donald to sign his new contract because whoever signs second will get the larger deal. So my thought process has been, it could be likely Mack is just waiting for Donald to sign. Once that happens (and it has), then we will know how the negotiations are actually going. If Mack signs within a few days, then it was just all a negotiation tactic. If not, then Oakland is in some serious trouble regarding Mack. Even if Mack comes back to play on his current deal, one would have to imagine that the relationship between him and the organization is not ideal. As such, the Raiders could have Mack on the field this season, but then when they come to the negotiation table next season (if they do at all) it would be hard to imagine that they will be able to strike a long-term deal. For those who are in support of giving Mack whatever he wants http://www.oaklandraidersteamonline.com/johnny-townsend-jersey , like myself, here is a prudent point to do so. The contract that Mack would receive right now might look massive at first but only at first. For example, Derek Carr signed last offseason as the highest-paid player in the NFL at the time by earning $25 million per year. But just one offseason later, Aaron Rodgers has made Carr’s numbers look like child’s play. Rodgers is making $33.5 million per season from the extension. So within just one year, Carr’s deal is dwarfed. And while it won’t happen as quickly on the defensive side of the ball, it will still happen. But Mack isn’t signed at the moment. So the question still remains, with Donald signed when should Raider Nation hit the panic button on Mack and be worried that the Raiders’ future doesn’t involve the former NFL Defensive Player of the Year?