Some Observations

[LTR1961]

Why did the Rams wait so long to get Stacey more involved and why ever more so after Bradford went down. I realize they are going to put more on Bradford's shoulders than they will put on Clemmens but.....In the four games prior to Stacey getting the bulk of the carries, they averaged 39 yards on 17.75 carries per game. Since it’s been 141.8 yards on 126 carries per game. Once step further, since Bradford has been out they averaged 34.5 carries for 175 yards per game. They took way too long to decide to go to him and once they did they also took too long to go back to what Fishers really likes to do. Maybe if they would have featured Stacey more since the beginning they might have been better than 3-3 when Sam went down. This WR core isn’t what any of us, including the coaches, expected so why were they so stubborn. This really isn’t hind site because many were calling for this from the start of the season. I will admit I wanted them to put their foot on the gas pedal early in the year but realized weeks ago that their WR’s can’t really get open on a consistent basis, no separation It’s a shame they will probably have to look for yet another WR in next year’s draft but that’s the facts of life for the Rams. I know many on the ESPN boards were touting Alshon Jeffrey when he was drafted in 2012. Wouldn’t he have looked good in a Rams uniform.

 

[jacobarch]

Stacy has been battling the same ankle injury for about 2 months now. They were getting him more involved at the beginning but he couldn't get over the hump.

When it comes to the WR's I have a feeling IT'S ALL COACHING.
No team is this unlucky, no team. We have brought FA's from other teams that were productive, then unproductive here. We've drafted WR's in every draft, here's who we've picked over the last 5 drafts.

Austin
Quick
Givens
Pettis
Salas
Gilyard
Brooks Foster
Avery
Keenon Burton
Derek Stanley.

So are you telling me that all these WR's are terrible? I don't think so, look at these WR's and tell me one thing that's consistent. Bad Coaching. Both Linehan and spags had joke WR's coaches. I even think spags had a DB's coach coaching WR's.
Even now our wr's coach sucks. I'm going to pushing for Holt to get some sort of WR coaching position here with the rams. it can't be any worse than it is now. We've had the same problem year in and year out. WR's cant get any separation, WR's cant get off the jam, WR's drop balls too often. Well to me thats coaching and not getting these guys ready for the next level.

Look at guys that have stepped up for other teams that wen't even 1st round picks.

TY hilton 3rd round
Moh Sanu 3rd round
Alshon Jeffery 2nd round
Marvin Jones 5th round
Stephon Hill 2nd round

Greg Little 2nd round
Randel Cobb 2nd round
Cecil Shorts 4th round

The list goes on and on..... We have a knack for holding players back, we have a knack for not letting skill position players loose. Instead we have them running 5 yard drag routes. lol. ugh.

 

[Retroram52]

And then add to this, when one of our draft picks or FAs goes to another team they seem to flourish. Donnie Avery and Dario Alexander before the latter tore up his knee again come to mind. Not to mention Amendola is beginning to pick-up. Our WR coaching has been atrocious. I know Holt would make a BIG difference in the present crop of wide-outs!!!

 

[BOSS429Mustang]

Man, you hit the nail on the head with that one Jacobarch. It is inconceivable that we would strike out on so many receivers. Even if the Rams have a voodoo doctor sticking pins into a Rams helmet, nobody could have such bad luck. That leads to only one conclusion---another area that coaching has failed on this team. It seems like Fisher just scraped the bottom of the barrel of the local greasy spoon and whatever he came up with he assigned to his coaching staff. It's the coaching staff's job to evaluate talent and coach players. The reason there is so much to criticize about this team is because the coaches haven't done their jobs either drafting or coaching/teaching the players we have. And it's not just WRs that do well once they leave the Rams either. Without researching, two examples that immediately come to mind are Ryan Pickett of GB, Adam Carriker of Washington, and Jimmy Kennedy of Minnesota. Flops when they were with the Rams. Good players when they left. I'm sure you guys can think of some others.

 

[Smed55]

Man, you hit the nail on the head with that one Jacobarch. It is inconceivable that we would strike out on so many receivers. Even if the Rams have a voodoo doctor sticking pins into a Rams helmet, nobody could have such bad luck. That leads to only one conclusion---another area that coaching has failed on this team. It seems like Fisher just scraped the bottom of the barrel of the local greasy spoon and whatever he came up with he assigned to his coaching staff. It's the coaching staff's job to evaluate talent and coach players. The reason there is so much to criticize about this team is because the coaches haven't done their jobs either drafting or coaching/teaching the players we have. And it's not just WRs that do well once they leave the Rams either. Without researching, two examples that immediately come to mind are Ryan Pickett of GB, Adam Carriker of Washington, and Jimmy Kennedy of Minnesota. Flops when they were with the Rams. Good players when they left. I'm sure you guys can think of some others.

Boss, still not happy that the Rams didn't hang onto London Fletcher, he's only been among the league leaders in tackles for the past TWELVE years. Maybe he could have lit a fire up the butts of some of these young defensive players we have now. Thinking about it, we haven't been good or relevant since he left!

 

[Jermaine133]

What I would like to know is who is the current WR coach??? We keep adding rookies each year but there is no veteran wide out that can learn and show the rooks... Tory needs to be brought in to show these guys how to run crisp routes, find soft spots in the zone, come back and bail out the QB. This team needs that but everyone is standing around waiting on the next player to make a play.

 

[Retroram52]

Smed55 and Boss429Mustang. Yep London Fletcher was another. Big Grease in GB was another already mentioned and Madison Hedgecock went to the Giants and got himself a ring. There are several exceptions to this. The most notable are: Mr False Start himself, Alex Barron, the inimitable and complete waste of humanity, Jason Smith, a complete waste of a draft pick Tye Hill, Claude Wroten, Lawrence Phillips, and Claude terrell who both ended up in prison.

That 2005 draft was the absolute worst. Alex Barron, Claude Terrell, and Richie Incognito. What is going on with Richie Incognito has now been the fulfillment of many teams' suspicions about him and that was some day this guy would implode.

He is done-at least with the Dolphins for sure-and may be for good in the NFL as his suspension is indefinite and he may face criminal charges that this time he can not wiggle out of unlike the days at Nebraska. It is almost sad in some respects that a man of his talent and size would completely annihilate himself with a behavioral regression to the good ole days some thought were long gone. What a waste!

 

[SJ76]

Why does it shock you that those WRs on your list suck jacobarc?

You're really going to blame coaching when our front office hasn't drafted a solid WR since Torry Holt?

Pettis is pretty good. Givens is pretty good. But the rest of those WRs were either reaches in the draft or just not that fucking good! Not to mention our Bradford hasn't been making any of them look good. Yes - how Is Luck doing with no Reggie Wayne? He's making TY Hilton look awesome. And yes he would do the same with Chris Givens in his offense.

Don't blame the talent the front office is bringing in on the coaches. The FO has been striking out for years. Look at our 2nd rounders in the 2012 draft! And then giving our 1st and 2nd last year for Tavon!?? That's 4 picks that could resulted in really good starters for the Rams!

Where the Rams have been lucky is that they had a lot of picks and they did fairly well the past few years in the late rounds.

But those wasted 4 picks are killing us.

 

[Retroram52]

Yep SJ76. More of the same I have been saying for nearly a decade now.

 

[Jermaine133]

I'm going to call it that Trent Richardson runs for 180 yds and 2 TD's; Janorice will miss time an INT and get roasted for a 50 yd TD, and Luck will look like the star he is. Kellen the Lemon will go 11/25 130 yds 0 TDs and 2 INTs. Just my prediction for Sunday.

 

[jacobarch]

Why does it shock you that those WRs on your list suck jacobarc?

You're really going to blame coaching when our front office hasn't drafted a solid WR since Torry Holt?

Pettis is pretty good. Givens is pretty good. But the rest of those WRs were either reaches in the draft or just not that fucking good! Not to mention our Bradford hasn't been making any of them look good. Yes - how Is Luck doing with no Reggie Wayne? He's making TY Hilton look awesome. And yes he would do the same with Chris Givens in his offense.

Don't blame the talent the front office is bringing in on the coaches. The FO has been striking out for years. Look at our 2nd rounders in the 2012 draft! And then giving our 1st and 2nd last year for Tavon!?? That's 4 picks that could resulted in really good starters for the Rams!

Where the Rams have been lucky is that they had a lot of picks and they did fairly well the past few years in the late rounds.

But those wasted 4 picks are killing us.

Like I responded in the other thread.

I think it's a combination of both......There's no way the Rams biff on this many WR's since Holt and Bruce. in 99' The Rams had the perfect WR's to go with their system. Which is why they succeeded. Now it's like a hoge-poge of WRs that just dont make sense.

 

[LTR1961]

Look at guys that have stepped up for other teams that wen't even 1st round picks.

TY hilton 3rd round
Moh Sanu 3rd round
Alshon Jeffery 2nd round
Marvin Jones 5th round
Stephon Hill 2nd round

Greg Little 2nd round
Randel Cobb 2nd round
Cecil Shorts 4th round


Which leads to the question. Is it the players or the coaching staff?

 

[Ramtim]

I am sticking to this

I feel the owners are the ones calling the shots making the Rams a bad team to be able to move them. It began with Frontier hence the departure of good players and then she died, passed it on to the kids then sold to Kroenick. Kroenick wants a new stadium? Can anyone in St. Louis tell me what the status is in regards to the new stadium in St. Louis? Fisher looks uncomfortable when he has to talk about the team. He looks uncomfortable on the sidelines? He has a terrible OC and yet it's the same chit week in week out! It's funny that we are now seeing players performing now when they were not used in the beginning of the season? It's though the Rams Owner is feeding Ram fans a look of what we really have for next season to keep the fan base happy for next season to keep up the fan base for the rest of this season to make his money. Then we will have to go through the stadium BS and the draft? OH yea!

 

[UnrealTerm04]

As terrible of a OC that Schottenheimer is, our WRs are just not producing. We don't have a legitimate no. 1.

 

[Retroram52]

May be if they let Bailey play he would be a number one ShaneC.

 

[chy1127]

May be if they let Bailey play he would be a number one ShaneC.

Even if not a number 1, give him a shot.

 

[ksudodger]

When on the field together at WVU, Austin and Bailey created MAJOR problems for defenses. For crying out loud, in just the 2012 season along they caught 175 passes combined... ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY EFFING FIVE!! And most were not deep balls. They were 10 yard routes that they turned into 60 yard plays. People forget Bailey is NEARLY as fast as Tavon and with better hands and route skills.

I am going to call it now. Bailey will turn out to be a player like Isaac or Torry when his career is done.

 

[Smed55]

When on the field together at WVU, Austin and Bailey created MAJOR problems for defenses. For crying out loud, in just the 2012 season along they caught 175 passes combined... ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY EFFING FIVE!! And most were not deep balls. They were 10 yard routes that they turned into 60 yard plays. People forget Bailey is NEARLY as fast as Tavon and with better hands and route skills.

I am going to call it now. Bailey will turn out to be a player like Isaac or Torry when his career is done.

KSU, unfortunately, if they don't ever give him his chance, his career may already be on the road to being done!

 

[demiurge]

Dude, he's a rookie.

Personally I think there's a lot of talent in our WR corps - its just all incredibly young. Austin and Bailey rookies, Quick and Givens 1st year. Pettis is our old man at 3 years in the league.

Barring a rash of major injuries, I think we are set at WR for a long, long time.

So far the new regime hasn't always been right, but they are way, way better than what we saw before, and the only guy I really think is going to be a bust is Pead. He has maturity issues, and my guess is the kid has a substance abuse problem. I hope he turns it around.

Last year we almost made .500 but the truth is we are in a major rebuilding project. I'm thinking some core guys like Finnegan won't be here to see it bear fruition.

We've got some potentially great young players - Brockers and Quinn are already there IMO, Ogletree, Jenkins, Austin, Stacey might be a really good back, Givens, etc etc. I'd have loved to see a playoff run this year but unless we get some major bad luck I think we'll be in good shape for the next 4-5 years. And while playing in a division as tough as the West is now might be frustrating, playing against the best makes you better.

Before its all said and done I see some deep playoff runs, and with a little luck who knows...

 

[ksudodger]

I'm thinking some core guys like Finnegan won't be here to see it bear fruition.


The ONLY core guys on this roster right now are JL55, Bradford, Chris Long, Quinn, Janoris, Brockers, Austin and Stacy. Finnegan not only is not a core guy, he never was EVEN when he was brought in as a free agent. He has under performed, period.
And you are right, Finnegan probably will not be here to see the next steps, unless he takes a paycut and moves to safety full time. Saffold very well might have gotten himself at least a 1 year deal from the Rams if he can fully buy in to being a RG.