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CoachO
Amendola and his 7 ypc avg, is a direct by product of the Shurmer version of the WCO.
THe one thing that has stuck out in these first 2 days of practice is how they are running more slants, instead of the short crossing routes and arrow (option) routes that got him killed by LBs waiting to take his head AS SOON as he caught the ball.
He burned Finnegan yesterday on an quick slant and went the distance....
He got behind the LBs today on a deep dig route (15 yd cross) was wide open and the ball was thrown behind him.
All I am saying, don't judge the player by stats from a different regime. This offense will be much more aggressive, and even in its quick hit design, its already shown more of an attack mindset than did the Shurmer WCO.
The key is they are "attacking" holes in the defense, and have "hit" on a couple of slants, turning them into BIG PLAYS.
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While he has made some decent catches, the thing that has stood out more than anything, is Gibson dropping way too many passes. Last year he was the best WR in camp. Not even close so far this year.
As far as Alexander, he is still dealing with HAMSTRING issue. Not his KNEE...It's July 31st. Obviously, this coaching staff doesn't share the sentiments of so many who seem to think that he has no value. They would have cut ties ALREADY if that were the case. He needs to get on the field soon, and all indications are he will. But if he IS healthy, he brings something to this team that no one else does. This team is BETTER with him on it.
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in today's practice, a few UDFAs to note who are getting their fair share of reps, are DT Matt Conrath, who took reps with the 1's (rotating with Langford) in 11 on 11 drills.
The other player who is taking ALL of the reps with the 2's in Alex Hoffman-Ellis at MLB. With Josh HUll getting the reps at SLB and Rocky McIntosh at WLB, this seems to be the group that has settled in thus far on the 2nd unit.
Sammy Brown hasn't even cracked the 3rd unit as of yet. His "reps" have pretty much been limited to the extra work at the end of practice where the rookies all work against each other 7 on 7. and on Special Teams in the beginning of practice.
Also getting reps on the 2nd unit is Rodney McLeod at S. Notably, ahead of Matt Daniels.
On offense, given the Wells is still not practicing, (Turner takiing g reps with the 1's) T Bob Hebert is getting ALL the reps on the 2nd and 3rd units at C.
At TE, Cory Harkey is getting reps with the 2's. Seems to be very athletic, with "ok" hands when thrown to.
Davis is getting his turn and seems to be ahead of Brandstater. He seems to have a fairly good grasp of the offense, as I watched him get after one of the UDFA WRs when they ran the wrong route. Arm strength seems to be the concern with him.
Thus far, these are the only players who seem to be getting regular reps.
The rest of the UDFA are taking their turns with the 3's and mixing in when needed.
thehammer
word for the day is Tabula Rasa(blank slate)
drop any preconceptions about Bradford, J Smith, Schumur, Schotty, Fisher or the team...whatever opinions previously formed simply no longer fit...
my head is spinning trying to digest all the new...
J Smith has a new number, new body and new technique...might as well give him a new name..ditto Saffold
we are running routes(slants, deep middle, ect)that have zero in common with preconceptions whe had about Schumur's offense..much more attacking
Fisher runs practices differently from every other coach I've ever seen..closest to Vermeil but still unique. What's it all mean? I'm not sure but sure fun to sit back and enjoy the ride...
today's hot list
Quick..dudes a stud and best wr on the team
Brockers...manchild
J Smith...72 morphed into Dierdorf.....barely recognize J Smith..sure hope the old J Smith is dead and buried(just so much quicker in his drops)...J Smith looks like a elite lot.....barely recognize J Smith
Mike McNeil..sure caught a bunch of passes
Deangelo Peterson...big time athlete(better then Kendricks)..serious upside if he learns the playbook
Jose Valdez..solid at lot/rot
Hoffman-Ellis running with the 2's at mlb
Matt Conrath 1st dt off bench after Brockers/ Langford
Darien Stewart starter again
Corey Harkey solid blocker
Dunbar-Laurenaitis-Haggan..combo just looked good
cold list
Darell Scott 3rd team and fading
Hoho..hate the new body and is entrenched with the 2's
Kendricks...no clue why he's still struggling...drop passes and more..just doesn't look comfortable on the field
Sammy Brown..winner of the claude rains award..barely on 3rd team
Tru Johnson...bad day today
Austin Davis...where's Lewis
the Jekyl and Hyde award winner
Givens by a landslide..he show it all..elite speed, Amendola like quickness, alligator arms, bad hands with an occasional great catch thrown in..
steady eddie award winner
Salas..want to quess who he reminds me off?
last year looked like a slot wr who could play outside..this year looks like an outside wr who can play the slot...still just gets open at either spot
random thoughts
It looks like there could be a "package" approach to the WR position. As many as 5 different guys are getting reps with the 1st unit (Amendola, Smith, Gibson; Salas; and Quick)
I'd add Givens into that mix...have a hunch Schotty's thick playbook is made our diverse group of wr's..each week we might see a different set of wr's being featured...including DX if he ever gets healthy
2 deep throws to Ammendola were intercepted...just struggles to run rts over 25 yards..
Mulligan looked solid..Jenkins still best player on team..Steve Smith looked very average..Matt Daniels might have stiff hips but sure looks like an NFL safety..and thought Quinn struggled on running plays
McIntosh looks to be our 4th lber...just looks like a solid nfl lber..just love Dunbar and Haggans leadership/intensity...this team will hit
Hayes might be this years James Hall
we have had 2 td's in 2 days on slants...Amendola and Salas...where has that rt been the last 3 years?...bet we saw a dozen slants yesterday..Amendola can't run vertical but he might be a real weapon on mid range crossing rts and slants
will say DX looked skinny last year at camp..this year he looks like an action figure..muscles everywhere..if he's able to keep his speed and quickness with that new body he could be a weapon..
yesterday said Quick is tall/fluid/athletic but no speedster...quess I should of wrote very tall, very athletic and very fluid and fearless over the middle but no speedster...he's going to be very hard to cover
Hoho dominated as a blocker..now smaller then Mulligan and slower then Kendricks..not sure who he's trying to be
Not An STL Homer
July 30 Report
I would have to say I enjoyed today’s practice a lot more than yesterdays. We saw a lot of the popular staples of Training Camp, unit vs unit 1-on-1 drills and red zone 11-on-11. There was also a few changes to the depth chart, and we saw 5th round pick Rokevious Watkins and 7th round pick Daryl Richardson take the field for the first time as St.Louis Rams after missing the first practice of Rams Camp 2012.
Darian Stewart took first team reps at Strong Safety (SS) today after Craig Dahl was the first team SS on the first day. I like Stewart a lot more and I think he does more things better than Dahl.
Center Scott Wells and WR Danario Alexander were the only two players that did not practice today. Both also missed the first day of practice.
FB Ovie Mughelli was at practice today, but did not do much.
Once again there were numerous players taking reps as the punt returner including RB’s Isaiah Pead and Chase Reynolds, WR’s Chris Givens, Nick Johnson, and Danny Amendola, and DB’s Janoris Jenkinsand Rodney McCleod.
Practice started with Special Teams with the Kickoff Team getting most of the time. What was interesting was while the Special Teams were on one field, the first team offense, all the offensive linemen, the entire defensive line minus DE Eugene Sims, and LB James Laurinaitis were warming up on the other field. It made me think that what we were seeing was, for the most part, every player over on special teams were players on the bubble.
A lot of pursuit drills with LB’s and DB’s/
The individual groups went into drills, with DB’s working on locating the ball in the air inside the red zone. WR’s and TE’s working finding and sitting down inside of zones, Defensive Linemen running the rings while knocking down the big heavy dummies.
Then the horn was blown and it was time for TE’s vs LB’s in a zone defense. And 1-on-1 WR’s vs CB’s. The play of the day came right off the bat. It was Danny Amendola vs Cortland Finnegan with Sam Bradford throwing the ball. Amendola ran past Finnegan and Bradford let it rip about 50 yards downfield. Just then, like a Lion luring his prey, Finnegan caught up with Amendola, tipped the ball and Intercepted the ball. Amendola did get revenge on a double move to the inside on Finnegan later.
WR Brian Quick had a very good outing in this drill. He beat Quinton Porter on a 15 yard post and Bradford threw as good of a ball as I’ve seen him throw on this pass. Quick also beat Janoris Jenkins on a deep in.
WR Greg Salas also impressed in this drill making catches in tight quarters.
CB Trumaine Johnson had a rough day in this drill.
It seems as if the Rams QBs throw a lot of back shoulder throws on Janoris Jenkins.
QB Austin Davis threw a beautiful deep ball to WR Steve Smith following a double move on Johnson.
The Rams went into 11-on-11 team drills which was held in the red zone. The offensive line had a rough day today being owned by the defensive line. The best throw came from Bradford to Quick on a fade route which was on the money over CB Trumaine Johnson.
CB Trumaine Johnson struggled in coverage throughout this drill leading me to wonder if he won’t end up playing Safety after all.
Most of the WR’s are getting reps with the first team offense.
ORT Jason Smith jumped offside which led to a profanity laced butt chewing by Offensive Line Coach Paul Boudreau. Smith was pulled and Barry Richardson replaced Smith for a while. Apparently the same thing happened on the first day of practice when OLT Rodger Saffold jumped offside. Good to see an Offensive Line Coach that chews some butt.
2012 UDFA DT Matthew Conrath is taking a lot of reps with the first team defense. It seems like they take Langford out and put Conrath in during passing situations.
After practice, sans a few veterans like QB Sam Bradford among a few others, the entire rookie class gets together and gets extra reps while the rest of the veterans go to the other field and stretch and cool down. This goes on for roughly 15 minutes. It reminds me a lot of High School Football practice when after the Varsity practices,
RevFarrakhan
Another lucky break in the weather for the team; it was supposed to break 100 again today, but clouded over and drizzled most of practice. Shells again, with the line playing at 3/4 speed.
Your Snapshots for July 30:
- Once again, camp both started and ended with extended special teams segments. Unlike past coaches, this did not represent a time for the head coach to talk with assistants or take a break. Fisher was personally engaged with each session, and when he wasn't watching with that smoldering look in his eye, he was coaching the players directly.
- Mike Campbell is working his tail off to make the squad via special teams. On kick coverage, he goes full speed every rep and looks very strong.
- Jerome Murphy has his ankle heavily taped and looked a little gimpy early on in practice, but it doesn't seem to be affecting him much during action.
- The RBs (outside of Jackson) look like they're still a little uncertain as a group on where to line up, and are still coming up to speed a bit on the playbook.
- Brian Schottenheimer looks like he runs a very up-tempo offense and practice. So far, no sign of the 20 minute long, stand around play package installation segments of the past regimes. He also seems to know every player on a first name basis, even the scrubs.
- The starting defense for today: LDE Chris Long, LDT Kendall Langford, NT Michael Brockers, RDE Robert Quinn, SLB Jo-Lonn Dunbar, MLB James Laurinaitis, WLB Mario Haggan, LCB Cortland Finnegan, RCB Janoris Jenkins, SS Quintin Mikell, FS Darian Stewart.
- The second unit defense today was mainly: LDE William Hayes, LDT Matthew Conrath, NT Jermelle Cudjo, RDE Eugene Sims, SLB Josh Hull, MLB Rocky McIntosh, WLB Alex Hoffman-Ellis, LCB Trumaine Johnson, RCB Jerome Murphy, SS Craig Dahl, FS Rodney McLeod.
- Overall, the defense across all units looked very strong in red zone scrimmaging. Each unit got about 10 plays, each growing closer and closer to the goal line, and only gave up an average of 2 scores each.
- This secondary goes after the ball aggressively, and they use their hands better than past squads.
- In Gregg Williams' absence, Dave McGinnis is clearly the de facto defensive coordinator.