Position by Position: Offense

[jacobarch]

Bradford;
He is the 15million dollar question. Will he be back at a reduced rate? Or will we cut him and let him try his hand in FA? Right now it looks like Fisher and Co. want him back but I imagine they will try to rework his contract for the benefit of the team and their jobs. I’m not totally sold that Fisher is being 100% honest with us fans because he has a tendency not to tip his hand on what he’s doing with his players. He’s always been pretty secretive when it comes to things behind closed doors. Maybe that’s why he and Kronke get along so well??? Shurgs…

Backup roles:
It’s no secret this is a major necessity this offseason. We all know that the Free-Agent pool is slim pickens this year, so that leaves us with two choices. Bring back Davis, and/or draft a QB in the 2nd – 3rd round this year and hope he doesn’t bust. It seems obvious Fisher doesn’t like Davis. Which I find strange because has a lot more upside than Hill and holds up better after he takes a hit. And he can throw the ball further than 40 yards. Maybe it was the mistakes…Well I can’t really say that because by my count both Hill and Davis have had about the same amount of mistakes this year and they were arguably the same type of mistakes. Turning the ball over when the game was in their hands. You can argue that Hill has more experience but what has that proven??? They both Finished with the same losing record and we are still in the same boat that we found ourselves in after week 7. I don’t think Davis is the answer at QB but you have to admit he can play in the NFL if given the proper opportunity, an offseason working with the #1’s, a more competent OC, and a decent Oline. It seems apparent most capable QB’s would fail within our current system.

Consensus, we try to keep Bradford and draft a QB high in the draft. Hopefully Bradford lasts at least 6 to 8 weeks. If he ends up dying on the field or stinking it up hopefully Davis or the draftee will have enough grooming to take over and succeed.

…But that would require coaching up players.


Running backs:
Don’t be surprised if Mason isn’t our starter next year or regresses much like Stacy did. Last year we were sitting in the same exact spot as we are now saying how good Stacy is. Even ESPN/NFL network etc. appreciated what Stacy had done with his 8 game stint with the Rams in 2013. Surely the only RB that will remain a consistent is Benny Cunningham. But I’ll stick with that he’s just a really good No.2, much like Choice was for the Cowboys. What the Rams seem to be missing is that bruiser at RB, a guy that takes it to the Seattle’s, S.F.’s and Arizona’s. We did have that in Steven Jackson but his time was up in the NFL so now I fear that we will be looking to the draft once again this offseason. Personally I still think Stacy is a better option at RB than Mason. Not because I think he’s more talented but because I remember him carrying 5 or 6 Seattle defenders on his back in his rookie season. Not to mention that our Oline was in shambles prior to week 6 or 7.
Then we have Pead…Where does this tinfoil wrapped turd end up? We cut a player that contributed on the team in Pettis and kept a guy like Pead who really has never seen the field at RB and makes some of the dumbest mistakes I’ve ever seen a player make. Hopefully Snisher will bite their pride and do the right thing for the team as Pead has no business wearing a NFL jersey.

Tight Ends:

Undoubtedly one of the biggest question marks on the team surrounding this group going into the offseason. Players like Cook and Kendricks have flashed brilliance this year and the last then completely disappear for a 4 or 5 game streak. Certainly game planning has to do something with this but at times it leaves you scratching your head on what’s actually happening. Harkey has been a stud and he is what he is, a FB/TE hybrid that loves to smash people. I don’t think he’s the best fullback in the league but he’s definitely one of the better ones.
Kendricks has had his ups and downs but where I end up wondering at the end of each season is, what is he? A pass catching TE or a blocking TE? I know some of you Rams fans remember him knocking Willis on his ass two years ago in our win at Candle Stick Park. I remember him catching a beautiful bomb from Davis against Seattle this year. It leaves me to believe that rams do not know what they have in Kendricks either. This year he lost about 10 pounds to increase his quickness in and out of cuts but was mostly left in the game as a blocking TE…It’s very confusing and frustrating. While I do not have a clear cut answer on him I would like to keep him around because we do not need to create more holes on our team.
And then we have Cook, he’s been our leading WR two years running. Not that it’s anything to brag about but it says a lot about his physical skills when he gives 100%. And that’s the problem, he doesn’t always give 100%. I’ve seen him drop a couple of easy TD passes, push his QB on the sidelines, call out his OC and get whiff in runblocking. His problems seem to be in-between the ears, maybe the Rams aren’t coaching him up or putting him in the best situations to excel at his product. Unfortunately I do not think we’ll ever find out. Next year will be another transition year unless we have another 1999 Cinderella season and he’ll be another player to fall by the wayside and move onto FA. It’s sad but this appears to be the Rams S.O.P.
I would have loved to of seen what Bayer or Cunningham brought to the table this year in place or Kendricks or cook. At least for a game or two, even if against lesser opponents like the Raiders or Washington but that would be asking too much…
I think we’ll bring back Kendricks and have all 3 starting TE’s next year. Hopefully we take some chances and get these other guys involved more in the offense.

Wide Receivers:

First and foremost, we must resign Britt, but resign him to a contract with incentives. I wouldn’t leave it all on the table for him. He still needs to earn his stripes and show he can be consistent on and off the field. We’ve seen it all too many times. A player comes in on a one year deal, impresses, gets the big contract then either gets hurts or does something ill-advised. So let’s hope our FO makes the right choice.
Our other 3 WR’s except one deserve to be grouped into one group (Quick, Bailey, and Givens)
You need to show more!!!! You guys flash and have a good game, then once again disappear for a game or two. It looks like we still do not have that No.1 WR on our roster. Can Quick be that guy? Maybe, but he has to occasionally beat the Sherman and Petersons of our Division before we crown him.
Tavon Austin….Need I say more? What a conundrum he has become. I’ve heard it all, to they’re going to trade TA, blame shotty, or he’s too small to compete in the NFL. Well personally he’s shown his size only works to his advantage. He’s had 3 TD’s called back this year on Punt returns and a couple of TD’s passes terribly underthrown where he had his defender beat severely. Sure he’s had his miscues and there are times I wish he would quit dancing but at the end of the day this is a player that has amazing potential and capability but I fear the coaching staff has no idea what to do with him. Put TA on the Eagles and I think he’s the next Desean Jackson / Darren Sproles hybrid. Put him on any team for that matter with a play caller that knows how to utilize his talent on the field and I know you have a top 10 talent. Will the Rams get it? Who knows…?
Which brings us to the draft. Will lightning strike twice? Will this draft have some of the same awesome talent we just so happened to miss out on last year at the WR position? Personally I don’t think so, Besides Amari Cooper I think this draft falls flat on its face at the position. The only measuring tool I have is History. It’s shown that every so often a draft produces a potential goldmine at one position. But it doesn’t happen two years running. So we have to be very careful in how we approach this draft at that position. If we take another WR that doesn’t produce his first season it will set back the Rams for 5 more years.

 

[jacobarch]

Oline:

A huge clutter cluster f*ck sums up our oline this year. Let’s start with the WTF???!!
Scott Wells, rated dead last PFF for pretty much the entire year. Why has this guy been on field instead of on the bench? Fisher came to his rescue multiple times this year when asked about this by reporters. Why can’t Jones or Barnes beat him out? It’s physically impossible for them to be any worse at the position or to make the mental errors he has this year that certainly didn’t help our case in trying to win a couple more games. It’s frustrating to say the least and makes you wonder if they completely whiffed on our 4th round pick Barret Jones who was supposed to be one of the best Centers coming into the draft.
Here’s our next WTF?! Davin Joseph. Again rated second to dead last PFF at 78 out of 80 guards in the league. Again no one on this roster could beat him out? Not even Person? When he was in he played better than Joseph but once again our ingenious coaching staff decided to go with age over beauty. It’s a real kick in the pants.
You guys remember John Greco??? Remember he couldn’t get on the field because they thought his arms were too short. Now he’s been an all pro with the Browns…
On to the latter and better positions on our Oline. Robinson and Barksdale.
Starting with Grob…We all marveled at his stature and physical yet fluid movement in his game. If he lives up to the potential and hype he can be one of the best LT’s in the game for the next 10 to 12 years. This next year will be a very big year for him. If the Rams pull their head out of their collective butts and just keep him at LT come offseason I think he’ll flourish. After closely watching him throughout the year most of his mistakes have been mental. He hardly gets beat when he plays where he’s supposed to be and he’s a machine in the run game. We’ll just have to wait and see how he develops.
Barksdale is another player that I’m high on. Before Saffold got moved to the Left side of the line he and Barksdale were among the best tandems in the league PFF. We often forget as fans that you’re only as good as the guy next to you when it comes to playing on an offensive line. Which brings me to Saffold…While many people didn’t want him back because he’s constantly found on the ground for a week or two during the season, he’s a ‘must have’ because of his versatility. Besides playing center he’s our best Olineman at every single position. I don’t care who you are that’s talent, and that talent that is very hard to find. Hopefully he can work on his shoulder this offseason and move back over to RG where he belongs because he and Barksdale belong together.
So basically we’re back to the same spot we were last year. Needing a Center and a solid guard. Do we approach FA and pick up a savvy vet that isn’t over the hill and hope he doesn’t get injured or regress playing with the Rams? Or do we put all of our Cards in the draft and hope we land another Zach Martin? Those are high hopes as a player like him doesn’t come around all too often.

Offensive coord and staff.

It looks like Brian and Co. have made it thru the first part of firings unscathed. While many of the fans were calling for his head on a platter it seems like Fisher still wants to remain consistent with his decisions and staff. While it might be to a fault you can never say Fisher isn’t a loyal guy. Someone should tell Fisher what happens to nice guys…
Shotty has often finished every year towards the bottom of the barrel in about every offensive category. While I feel he was the scape goat on a much deeper level in New York, I feel he is indeed A problem here. But I do not think he is THE problem. Players and position coaches also have to be held accountable. Like our Oline coach. Has he had Fisher on the phone telling him we need to give one of our younger (better) interior olinemen a chance? I doubt it. Has schotty been on the phone telling Fisher Hill brings nothing more to the table than the younger Davis? Probably not.
Fact is these guys have to be held responsible for what little our offense has produced since starting their tenure with the Stl Rams. Until Fisher makes some strong coaching changes or encourages them to be a little more creative, nothing will change. And that’s a fact. Coaches often become ‘dinosaurs’ in their profession because they are so prideful they can’t see past their own nose. Hopefully Fisher will surprise us and make some smart moves/changes.

 

[jacobarch]

Thanks for reading guys. I'd love to hear your input!

 

[shopson67]

I don't think Britt is a must, as Quick's return would fill his spot conceivably. Start Britt and Bailey with Austin in the slot/backfield.

I think you're overstating Pettis' usefulness; did I miss him getting signed elsewhere? It says quite a bit that he's still available. It's not like Pettis and Pead were fighting for a roster spot; Pead was on the IR and not using a roster spot.

I believe the team will keep Tre Mason as the starting RB. They have more invested in him than they had invested in Stacy, and he was good in stretches. Improving at C and RG should help the running game more than replacing Mason in my opinion. Mason and Cunningham appear safe. Rams could keep Watts for depth and trade Stacy for a day 3 pick if there is any interest (and I would assume there would be).

TE seems fairly stable with Cook, Kendricks and Harkey, but the latter two are free agents I believe. Bayer is under contact, so he will likely be kept around to develop. Whether or not they re-sign Kendricks and/or Harkey will likely be cost/interest decisions.

OL is a mess beyond Robinson and Saffold. Joseph and Wells should be gone, and Barnes may be as well as a FA. Barksdale, Person, Joseph, Barnes, and Washington are all FAs, so there could be a lot of depth turnover as well. Barksdale will be a pivotal signing/loss, much like Saffold last year. Hopefully Barrett Jones is ready to take over at center, but he has been strangely idle and silent nearly all year. I have to think Jake Long will be a cap casualty at this point, and really shouldn't be missed (unless he's ready to be a RT or move inside, neither of which would be done at his current salary).

QB is a big question, and it all hinges on Bradford's willingness to come back for significantly less money. I imagine Hill has served his purpose and will move on or retire. Davis should be in the mix for a QB competition, but he is a free agent and could move on as well. The FA market for QBs looks ugly, unless the team wants to trade for Cutler (way to expensive) or try someone who might come available like EJ Manuel or Geno Smith (who does have years of experience with Austin and Bailey).

All's quiet on the coaching front right now, so Fisher appears safe. Is Schotty? Who knows. I would hope he would be replaced, but it's really tough to gauge given he worked with backup QBs all season. He's boring and unimaginative; it's telling that almost every interesting play involved Hekker.

 

[Retroram52]

I don't think you have any evidence to suggest Paul Boudreau is part of the O-line problem. No. Boudreau is the league's best. He's the guy that can take a guy like Person and make into a pretty decent guard. He developed Saffold and I would give him the credit in Robinson's rather quick development. No, the offensive line is not Boudreau's failure. It's a FO that whiffed on so many good O-lineman over the years that has contributed to the weakness we have now.

Let Barnes and Joseph walk. Resign Barksdale and Washington and insert Jones for Wells. Go after a guard and a tackle in the draft or insert Washington or Person at LG and move Saffold back to RG and say goodbye to Jake Long who has quietly been forgotten. He's done and he is way overpaid. Then let Boudreau continue to develop a bigger, younger, nastier O-line and we are headed in the right direction.

 

[jacobarch]

I don't think you have any evidence to suggest Paul Boudreau is part of the O-line problem. No. Boudreau is the league's best. He's the guy that can take a guy like Person and make into a pretty decent guard. He developed Saffold and I would give him the credit in Robinson's rather quick development. No, the offensive line is not Boudreau's failure. It's a FO that whiffed on so many good O-lineman over the years that has contributed to the weakness we have now.

Let Barnes and Joseph walk. Resign Barksdale and Washington and insert Jones for Wells. Go after a guard and a tackle in the draft or insert Washington or Person at LG and move Saffold back to RG and say goodbye to Jake Long who has quietly been forgotten. He's done and he is way overpaid. Then let Boudreau continue to develop a bigger, younger, nastier O-line and we are headed in the right direction.

Well I'd like to keep both Barnes, Jones and Barksdale. While we don't know if you Jones can play center I'm gonna go out on a limb and say he can and play it well. Either him or Barnes will be an instant upgrade over Wells.
I'm in no way blaming the Oline coach but I seriously scratch my head every game I saw Wells and Joseph getting starts. I just don't get it.
I agree that he did a great job last year with what we had but it seems like we have definitely regressed.
I guess as long as we address the two positions in both FA and the Draft I will sleep a little better.

 

[jacobarch]

I don't think Britt is a must, as Quick's return would fill his spot conceivably. Start Britt and Bailey with Austin in the slot/backfield.

Well I think if memory serves me correctly (i could be wrong) when Quick went down our offense really started to sputter. Have both Britt and Quick on the outside gives us a huge advantage over average DB's. Plus look at how much quick picked up in one offseason from Britt. I'd like to continue that.

I think you're overstating Pettis' usefulness; did I miss him getting signed elsewhere? It says quite a bit that he's still available. It's not like Pettis and Pead were fighting for a roster spot; Pead was on the IR and not using a roster spot.

I'm not sure if he got signed somewhere but there's no denying that Davis had a good rapport with Pettis. I know he was just an average WR.
I know they weren't fighting for a roster spot but you do only get so many IR spots and I think so lowly of pead that I would have waived him or settled instead of keeping him around here

I believe the team will keep Tre Mason as the starting RB. They have more invested in him than they had invested in Stacy, and he was good in stretches. Improving at C and RG should help the running game more than replacing Mason in my opinion. Mason and Cunningham appear safe. Rams could keep Watts for depth and trade Stacy for a day 3 pick if there is any interest (and I would assume there would be).

I hope you are right I really like Mason but I also really liked stacy last year as well...
BTW what ever happened to Watts?

TE seems fairly stable with Cook, Kendricks and Harkey, but the latter two are free agents I believe. Bayer is under contact, so he will likely be kept around to develop. Whether or not they re-sign Kendricks and/or Harkey will likely be cost/interest decisions.

fair enough

OL is a mess beyond Robinson and Saffold. Joseph and Wells should be gone, and Barnes may be as well as a FA. Barksdale, Person, Joseph, Barnes, and Washington are all FAs, so there could be a lot of depth turnover as well. Barksdale will be a pivotal signing/loss, much like Saffold last year. Hopefully Barrett Jones is ready to take over at center, but he has been strangely idle and silent nearly all year. I have to think Jake Long will be a cap casualty at this point, and really shouldn't be missed (unless he's ready to be a RT or move inside, neither of which would be done at his current salary).

I agree that Barksdale is an important signing, we need some continuity on the line for next year. Replacing both a Center and Guard in the same year will take some work but it can't be any worse.
I'm 100% in agreement on Long

QB is a big question, and it all hinges on Bradford's willingness to come back for significantly less money. I imagine Hill has served his purpose and will move on or retire. Davis should be in the mix for a QB competition, but he is a free agent and could move on as well. The FA market for QBs looks ugly, unless the team wants to trade for Cutler (way to expensive) or try someone who might come available like EJ Manuel or Geno Smith (who does have years of experience with Austin and Bailey).

I don't think Smith or EJ get traded just yet.(unless their contracts are up) Plus at this point I don't think they're any better than Davis or Bradford. As far as Bradford is concerned, if he's smart he will resign a restructured deal. Then again there are some desperate teams out there.

All's quiet on the coaching front right now, so Fisher appears safe. Is Schotty? Who knows. I would hope he would be replaced, but it's really tough to gauge given he worked with backup QBs all season. He's boring and unimaginative; it's telling that almost every interesting play involved Hekker.

Well if we do get rid of schotty and another proven OC comes in and stinks it up then maybe it was never schotty after all. We'll find out soon enough

 

[Retroram52]

The starting lineups are often determined by the OC and DC and Fisher has the final say. I doubt very seriously Boudreau had much of an input on the O-line with Wells and Joseph. No, this crap with playing Wells and Joseph after Person playing LG and Saffold moving back to RG was a pretty solid line was overruled by Fisher and to some extent Shottenheimer. Its the same dynamic that happened with Hill over Davis. Fisher gets something stuck in his head and there is little that can be done to change it.

 

[Jermaine133]

Good read Jacob and great job summing it up.

I really don't see much changing next year as a ram fan because our FO is incompetent and will bring in a bunch of rookies with no guidance hoping they can fix some of the holes. At this point the glass is always half empty as a ram fan, and until Fisher and Co are gone that is just how i'm going to look at things.

 

[jacobarch]

The starting lineups are often determined by the OC and DC and Fisher has the final say. I doubt very seriously Boudreau had much of an input on the O-line with Wells and Joseph. No, this crap with playing Wells and Joseph after Person playing LG and Saffold moving back to RG was a pretty solid line was overruled by Fisher and to some extent Shottenheimer. Its the same dynamic that happened with Hill over Davis. Fisher gets something stuck in his head and there is little that can be done to change it.

If that is true. This team is doomed.

 

[Clayton]

I think Bradford and Schottenheimer are a package. The Rams wont cut ties with one without cutting ties with the other. Id add Givens to that group who has basically just been grabbing checks and not footbals since Bradford went down. So when Fisher says Bradford is the starter next year, he is giving his OC and WRs a free pass on the roster next year, imo.

The only scenarios that make sense for Fisher to move on from Bradford would be making a move on Cutler, which would be risky, or grabbing a guy like Glennon from TB or maybe Geno Smith for NYJ and reunite him with a bunch of West Virginia WRs. There is also the 'Winston falls to 10' scenario but i dont think Winston would start right away with how Fisher brings his rookies up, anyways.

Schematically, the Rams have a bit of a softness problem in the receiving game. Britt, Quick and Kendricks can be physical but Britt has a career problem of being injury prone and Quick is going to be coming off an injury. Cook, Givens, Bailey and Austin add nothing in terms of blocking and are likely to vanish against guys like Seattle DBs and Arizonas DBs (Cook is big against AZ, though). I could see the Rams giving Britt money but I cant see them giving him big money. I think resigning Britt should be the Rams 2nd priority behind Barksdale. I could see the Rams adding a physical WR or TE later on in the draft, too, even if they get Britt back. If they don't resign Britt then I think the Rams should draft a WR in round 1.

The running game is fine. People make a big deal about Stacey being #3 and maybe we can get something for him. I say we just run with 3 good running backs and maybe see if Pead wants to try and live up to his hype.

The tackle position will depend on whether or not Barksdale gets resigned. Joseph and Wells have been so bad that its hard to judge everyone else but Barksdale is a worthy starter, Saffold is still a pro bowl calibur guy at guard who can at least be a stop gap at RT if Barksdale goes down. Robinson is still really young but he was okay as a rookie and will likely (hopefully) get better. The Rams need to be getting something out of Barrett Jones and they'll need to draft another guy to make sure that they've got something. Barnes isnt very good at all when Ive seen him play. The oline was able to open up some good gaps against Seattle for some solid run plays. Its the pass protection that is super shaky. They need to bring in 2 new people for sure next year just to challenge people for spots. Im not going to say their top 2 picks need to be oline but 2 of the top 4 need to be oline.