Davis benched, Hill back in

[Caynine29]

Actually, Smed55... I'd wager that Hill has just as good, if not a better chance of being on the team next year than Davis does. I wouldn't be shocked at all if Davis is on the trading block for 2015, with the Rams striking while the iron is hot (ala Kevin Kolb/Matt Flynn). There's a sucker born every minute. Although, both could be jettisoned if Schotty is handed his walking papers.

As far as the dink and dunk goes, well... Davis is running the same offense that Hill was slated to run. Schottenheimer is still calling the shots, so I wouldn't count on the number of down field attempts to change much. Quick being gone may have an affect on that, but not the play calling. Plus, Hill throws a more accurate deep ball than Davis does anyway. Why assume that Hill is all that much better or worse than Davis is?

Way I see it, it certainly can't get any worse.

 

[Retroram52]

This is a decision made by coaches who are now in panic mode. It is only going to destroy the fragile amount of continuity that was developing with Davis and the offense albeit slowly. Fisher is going to regret this and he is going to look even more stupid than this move actually is entitled to receive. Twos steps forward, now 10 steps way back.

 

[Caynine29]

so, the defenses the Rams have faced the last 3-4 weeks don't have anything to do with his regression?

I just don't see the upside in making a switch to an old journeyman backup versus letting Davis continue to develop and see if he figures it out.

I'm sure they play a part. Losing his #1 target probably didn't help. And health issues across the line certainly did him no favors. That's not really my point, though.

I'm not trying to convince anyone that Hill is going to lead this team to the promised land (especially now). I guess all I'm wondering is... if the QB play is suffering and we're looking to make a change, why is it such a terrible idea to go to from the 3rd string to the 2nd?

 

[Caynine29]

This is a decision made by coaches who are now in panic mode. It is only going to destroy the fragile amount of continuity that was developing with Davis and the offense albeit slowly. Fisher is going to regret this and he is going to look even more stupid than this move actually is entitled to receive. Twos steps forward, now 10 steps way back.

Eh... it is what it is, I suppose. This team has been stepping backwards for weeks now. I'm sure we're well past 10 already.

Who knows? Maybe Fisher is making the change in order to save Davis' life from the Broncos D. Lol

 

[Retroram52]

LOL. I sort of figured you'd up the limit on the 10 number I place there Caynine. Just can't let it go without adding to the post. I get the biggest chuckle out of you sometimes Caynine!

 

[Smed55]

Actually, Smed55... I'd wager that Hill has just as good, if not a better chance of being on the team next year than Davis does. I wouldn't be shocked at all if Davis is on the trading block for 2015, with the Rams striking while the iron is hot (ala Kevin Kolb/Matt Flynn). There's a sucker born every minute. Although, both could be jettisoned if Schotty is handed his walking papers.

As far as the dink and dunk goes, well... Davis is running the same offense that Hill was slated to run. Schottenheimer is still calling the shots, so I wouldn't count on the number of down field attempts to change much. Quick being gone may have an affect on that, but not the play calling. Plus, Hill throws a more accurate deep ball than Davis does anyway. Why assume that Hill is all that much better or worse than Davis is?

Way I see it, it certainly can't get any worse.

Caynine, we will just have to agree to disagree, I don't think Hill throws a more accurate deep ball, plus last year and the first half game this year, we were still dinking and dunking, Davis tends to throw the ball down field more than any QB we have had since Bradford arrived! True a lot of the dinking and dunking is Shottys deal, I think it's more of a safety valve kind of deal that Bradford and others took instead of going deep. Davis does not dink and dunk, he will throw the ball 10 yards down field and further!

 

[Smed55]

Actually, Smed55... I'd wager that Hill has just as good, if not a better chance of being on the team next year than Davis does. I wouldn't be shocked at all if Davis is on the trading block for 2015, with the Rams striking while the iron is hot (ala Kevin Kolb/Matt Flynn). There's a sucker born every minute. Although, both could be jettisoned if Schotty is handed his walking papers.

As far as the dink and dunk goes, well... Davis is running the same offense that Hill was slated to run. Schottenheimer is still calling the shots, so I wouldn't count on the number of down field attempts to change much. Quick being gone may have an affect on that, but not the play calling. Plus, Hill throws a more accurate deep ball than Davis does anyway. Why assume that Hill is all that much better or worse than Davis is?

Way I see it, it certainly can't get any worse.

Sorry Cnine, but I also disagree that Hill will be on this team next year, he will be 35 this next year, and I'm thinking there is a real good chance that he will get hurt again yet this year, it could get very very ugly too, and he may just decide to retire, or a serious injury could make that decision for him!

As far as Davis being on this team next year, again that is a good reason to let him play out the year, to see if he does come around and could "possibly" compete for the starting job depending on how he finished out the year, if they would let him play.

 

[LongtimeRamsFan42]

I kinda wish we had another young QB to give a shot here. Starting Hill doesn't do a thing for this franchise and Davis just doesn't seem to be a starting NFL QB. Of course, some of Davis' problems have to do with injuries/lack of talent depth at certain positions, but it can't all be attributed to that. He definitely has a few major flaws.

 

[J-Rod]

Its too late to make a change. Even if Hill leads the team roaring back to 7-9, where does that put this team long term?

That's why I don't even care at this point who's at QB as far as this year is concerned. Hell we'd be lucky to get to 7-9.

 

[Vitamike]

I kinda wish we had another young QB to give a shot here. Starting Hill doesn't do a thing for this franchise and Davis just doesn't seem to be a starting NFL QB. Of course, some of Davis' problems have to do with injuries/lack of talent depth at certain positions, but it can't all be attributed to that. He definitely has a few major flaws.

We do LongtimeRamsfan, his name is Case Keenum and he is on our Practice Squad last I heard.

As far as Davis goes, his flaws are obvious. He gets rattled with pressure throughout the game and starts making poor decisions and bad throws.

I think it's the decision making aspect that has changed Jeff Fisher's mind with regards to starting Davis.

Like Caynine, I don't really have a problem with Hill starting over Davis. I just don't like the QB roulette thing very much but again, it's not my job to lose, it's Fisher's.

Some of those throws and decisions Davis is now making in the second half of games shows he is regressing and hasn't figured it out. A lot is DC's understand this and game plan to make him uncomfortable enough to exploit his weaknesses and we are seeing the affects of this.

Fisher views Hill, from all Hill's NFL experience, as a guy who can maneuver through those type of game planning techniques these DC's are bringing. Like recognizing the blitz and getting the ball out early, not taking sacks and such.

With the Defense stepping up, we still have a snowballs chance in hell at getting a playoff spot at 10-6.

Yes, it's a last ditch effort and very improbable however the way that Davis has been playing, to continue with him, we have zero chance at reaching 10-6 even if our defense didn't give up another point for the rest of the season.

 

[chy1127]

Its too late to make a change. Even if Hill leads the team roaring back to 7-9, where does that put this team long term?

In the middle of the 1st round for a draft pick.

 

[chy1127]

If Hill really stick or gets hurt at least we will know we need 3 new QBs next year. If we draft a QB in the 1st round, we may need a better back up than Hill. I haven't seen enough to know this and with a rookie we better have someone decent at #2. I would think Davis is done, so we also need a new #3. I wonder if its ever happened where a team goes into a season with 3 new QBs on the team?

 

[icefreeze57]

Is Bradford going to be our starter next year?

 

[SJ76]

 

[Caynine29]

Caynine, we will just have to agree to disagree, I don't think Hill throws a more accurate deep ball, plus last year and the first half game this year, we were still dinking and dunking, Davis tends to throw the ball down field more than any QB we have had since Bradford arrived! True a lot of the dinking and dunking is Shottys deal, I think it's more of a safety valve kind of deal that Bradford and others took instead of going deep. Davis does not dink and dunk, he will throw the ball 10 yards down field and further!

Agreed there, but this has a lot more to do with personnel than it does the QB. Coincidentally, this is the first year we've had Brian Quick (with his head on straight) and Kenny Britt lining up across from him. Davis has had more down field options than any QB since Bruce and Holt were the primary targets. In the first half against Minnesota, for example, Hill threw deep nearly 40% of his passes... and 80% of those passes were to either Britt, or Quick.

Honestly speaking, though... I don't think we'll know much more about Hill vs. Davis until Hill actually gets back out on the field this Sunday, though. And even then, I think we'll still end up having to agree to disagree. Lol.

 

[Caynine29]

I dunno. I guess, aside from the fact that on a rudderless 3-6 team during a lost season, it seems like an empty gesture... I just don't understand why it's such a big deal, or even why it's such a shockingly bad idea to let Hill start again. I mean... I guess I could see more if Hill had lost his job due to poor performance. But we're going from our 3rd string QB, to our 2nd string QB.

Seems like the natural progression of things to me.

 

[ANGELAKERAMS]

In the middle of the 1st round for a draft pick.

Exactly

 

[Retroram52]

Well maybe the Rams FO will place a call to Gilbert, Garrett who they recently cut. He knows the offense. Nobody has picked him up as far as I know. If they are going to go into full QB roulette mode, might as well give him another shot too.

 

[Clayton]

Football outsiders on the Rams oline:

And that pretty much sums up the game. Austin Davis' three turnovers were killer, but the Rams had no business being in that game to begin with. The crazy thing is I've seen this Rams unit play well in the past, but this was as bad of a performance as I've seen since I started writing this column almost five years ago. It'll be interesting to see if this offensive line can rebound back to "adequate" moving forward.

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | Word of Muth: Rams Collapse In Desert

 

[Clayton]

Not sure what Shaun Hill is going to do with situations like this: