Interview with Rams S Atogwe whom cowboys have reported interest in;

[cowboyjoe]

DraftNasty Q&A with St. Louis Rams restricted free agent safety Oshiomogho Atogwe


March 25th, 2010 By DraftNasty Staff Reports
The name of St. Louis Rams restricted free agent safety Oshiomogho Atogwe has recently caused quite a stir around NFL circles. Atogwe, rumored to be involved in a potential trade for Eagles QB Donovan McNabb, just quietly goes about his business. During the course of his spectacular five year career, all he's done is make plays. In fact, Atogwe has 19 career interceptions, 19 forced fumbles and has scored twice (1 Int TD, 1 FR TD). Wherever the former Stanford Cardinal has been, he's produced.

O.J. Atogwe has risen rapidly from a former third-round draft pick in 2005 to one of the NFL's rising stars at safety. Atogwe is a restricted free agent with the St. Louis Rams at the "right of refusal" level, according to St. Louis Today. He is slated to earn $1.226 million this year rather than $6.976 million he would've gotten if tendered at any other level. However, there is likely to be a bidding war for Atogwe's services within the next few months. Other NFL teams have the right to court Atogwe, but the Rams can match any offer. Atogwe spoke with DraftNasty.com about this situation:

Q. You had a great college career at Stanford, but were somewhat
overlooked in the NFL Draft. How do you reflect on that?

A. I believe I've done exactly what I was meant to do. I was very
productive in my college years, for being in the Pac 10 conference
without being on TV a lot. Playing at Stanford, people really didn't
know about me. But it's not a bad thing because I was still able to
make it to the NFL, and have been productive while there. It
continues to motivate me (being overlooked), and there's still work to
be done.

Q. As with Stanford, you've also very quietly had a stellar NFL
career. Do you think they mask each other?

A. Yes, I think they have been very similar. I've continued to make
plays, and I probably haven't gotten as much notice as maybe some
other players. But that's OK. With the more plays I make, eventually
people will have to take notice.

Q. The Rams declared you as a restricted free agent and did not offer a long-term contract. Is that a big deal for you going into 2010?

A. Yes, but I'm only an individual on a team, and the team is what you
have to be focused on. I don't want to take away any attention from my
teammates. This is my own individual situation that needs to be worked out
in order for me to continue to play football. And ultimately, that's all I want to do, play the game of football. It's the sport that I love and the sport that I will continue to excel at, Lord willing. Getting the business side out of the way is just part of the profession. What I have going on, I don't want it to detract from the team, so I'm going to handle it very respectfully and quietly.

Q. You've put up bigger and better numbers than many high-profile
safeties. Does that bother you? That you don't appear to get the same
notoriety?

A. It's definitely challenging. When you play well, and you're
productive in this league, it should equate to … not notoriety, but people
respecting your accomplishments and to not see that happen, it's difficult to
deal with. The one thing it does do, it continues to motivate you. If
you get overlooked, you can either quit what you're doing or press on forward and improve to get better by doing the things they say that keeps you from being amongst the best in the game. Because in my heart, I feel like I'm one of the best in the game. That's not taking any shots at anyone, that's the way I play. It's my mindset and what I believe I do on the field.


Q. The Rams have fielded one of the NFL's worst franchises the last two seasons, winning a total of three games during the span. Do you think that has contributed to you being overlooked as one of the game's premiere safeties?


A. It's a situation that I've been in. Not to pass blame to anyone, but
we haven't always had the greatest success as a team and the general
consensus is, if you're on a bad team, you're not a good player. Good players get caught up with the misconception throughout the league. I don't think it's anyone's fault. It's just a situation that I need to overcome by continuing to get better and press forward.


Q. What's it like being a restricted free agent?




A. It's every player's desire in the league to be an unrestricted free agent after their rookie season. It gives them the opportunity to test the market and see their true value when their contract expires. Restricted free agency is not at all like being an unrestricted free agent. So it's not an ideal situation, but it's something I don't worry about. In the end, it will all work out and put me in the best situation.


Q. Last question: What's something that not many people know about O.J. Atogwe?


A. I'm faith-driven. My faith in God is what leads me and allows me to do
what I do. Having been blessed to play, I'm going to give my full
effort and commitment to the game. These last 4-5 years, on Sundays, I believe I have done that amongst the best of them. My body of work speaks to that. I want to continue to build on that.

I am also an avid comic book collector. I've been collecting comic books
since I was 10 years old. It's a big hobby of mine and I still keep up
with it. The majority of my collection is a lot of "X-Men" books and its affiliates.







Got an item? Please send an email to PR@draftynasty.com

 

[casmith07]

High character guy, but still concerned about his shoulder. Hopefully he can pass a physical and we can take a legitimate look at him.

 

[JustDezIt]

good read- makes me more interested in him, but believe he will sign long term with rams. Faith and smarts are my kind of character combo.

 

[casmith07]

good read- makes me more interested in him, but believe he will sign long term with rams. Faith and smarts are my kind of character combo.

I think the Rams are going to lock him up long term as well. Same reasoning behind why Miles Austin hasn't signed his tender yet - a long term deal will get worked out.

Crazier things have happened, but I don't think they're going to let him go without a plan for a replacement in place, especially when you've really got one bright spot on your defense (sans injury).

The injury is probably giving them pause, just like it's apparently giving the rest of the league pause with that low tender.

 

[ThreeSportStar80]

Lord please let Jerry pull this one off.... I really like this guy. The shoulder isn't a concern for me.

 

[rkell87]

i really am not worried about the shoulder, it will heal and be fine eventually and till then we would have ken who is more than serviceable

 

[21Savage]

i really am not worried about the shoulder, it will heal and be fine eventually and till then we would have ken who is more than serviceable

Duck!

I had some idiot on this board inbox me a hate message because I said about the same thing

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Duck!

I had some idiot on this board inbox me a hate message because I said about the same thing

That was me. Sorry about that.

 

[ThreeSportStar80]

Atogwe is way better than Hamlin... Jerry should have let him walk.

 

[xpistofer]

sounds like the right mentality...I'm in...

 

[21Savage]

That was me. Sorry about that.

No, you never sent me a private message for stuff like that. That person's in my ignore list.

Have you peeped that redemption track btw?

 

[Eskimo]

He is really well-spoken for a professional football player. I like safeties with high intelligence and good work ethics.

BTW, what kind of shoulder injury did he have?

 

[Eskimo]

Just searched the web and found out it was a shoulder dislocation with an associated labrum tear and "cartilage damage". Probably most shoulder dislocations are associated with some damage to the labrum so that is not surprising. There was no mention made of major rotator cuff tears, shoulder fractures or nerve injuries in the article. The results of a simple labrum tear should be pretty good at his age and the risks or repetitive dislocation after surgery is now reasonably low.

If the injury is not more extensive, I wouldn't have too much reservation about signing him pending a physical and MRI.

 

[masomenos]

Atogwe would have almost no impact at all on our defense.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

No, you never sent me a private message for stuff like that. That person's in my ignore list.

Have you peeped that redemption track btw?

Just joshing with ya'.

Did you PM me the redemption track? cuz I recently cleared all of my inbox (received a lot of infractions and what not) and I don't think I checked it out.

 

[masomenos]

Just joshing with ya'.

Did you PM me the redemption track? cuz I recently cleared all of my inbox (received a lot of infractions and what not) and I don't think I checked it out.

Really? You?!

 

[MarionBarberThe4th]

What was Jerrys objection to using the poison pill? I didnt catch that

 

[silverbear]

I think the Rams are going to lock him up long term as well. Same reasoning behind why Miles Austin hasn't signed his tender yet - a long term deal will get worked out.

My hunch (and it IS just a hunch) is that OJ will drag this out until June, at which point he will become an unrestricted free agent... but of course, the Rams will probably trade him someplace that he finds acceptable before that, in the spirit of getting something is better than getting nothing...

Reading this article reinforces that hunch for me; I think he's just tired of losing, and not getting the recognition that he deserves because he's playing for a losing team... I think he wants to win championships, and get national attention, and he won't ever get that in St. Louis...

Of course, I don't know him, so I'm speculating here, and reading between the lines on some of his public comments...

I'll bet that the boys at Valley Ranch who make the personnel decisions are really hoping it goes that way... bottom line, I think it will be a while before the OJ Atogwe saga plays itself out, and that might be what's behind the Cowboys' waiting game right now...

 

[Texan_Eph89]

Atogwe would have almost no impact at all on our defense.

What are you on?
All our defense needs is tunovers.....
Atogwe is a turnover machine.

 

[masomenos]

What are you on?
All our defense needs is tunovers.....
Atogwe is a turnover machine.

In the Cowboys defense, the FS doesn't get targeted often. We want teams to throw at our CBs, so that's what we give them. No trio of CBs was targeted more often than Jenkins, Newman and Scandrick. Do teams throw at them because they suck? No. Darelle Revis was the second most targeted CB last year, so ability and # of targets don't go hand in hand.

If our CBs are being targeted, who has fewer opportunities to make plays? Ken Hamlin.

In the past two years (28 games), Atogwe has been targeted 57 times and he has 7 INTs. That means he intercepted the ball 12.3% of the time. Ken Hamlin was targeted 41 times in the past two years, he also played in 28 games and had 1 INT.

If Atogwe had been targeted the same number of times as Hamlin, he would have picked off 5 passes in the past two seasons. 5 is definitely more than 1, I'll admit that. But are 2 extra INTs a season going to make a significant difference on this defense? No.

As far as forced fumbles go, they're too hard to actually credit to a player without seeing tape. For instance, some could have come off of safety blitzes where Atogwe blindsided the QB and caused him to fumble. While a good play, it's probably one that any other safety making a blind side hit would also make. If you look at the stats of a guy like Ware and see a consistent number of forced fumbles, year after year, then you can assume that the player it good at stripping the ball. You don't see that with Atogwe.

I like Atogwe, I think he's a good player and I won't be upset if he ends up a Cowboy (as long as a high draft pick isn't involved). I just don't think he, or any FS, is the key to us winning this year.