Andrew Donnal @ LT

[jrry32]

you know what we rail on fisher for lack of accountability but the healthy scratching of GRob at least shows he trying to make players accountable

now whether he did it at the right time or the right guy (im not a fan of Grob FWIW ) is most definitely debatable but i kinda like the move

Fisher did it for the headlines. He didn't do it for accountability. He's the least accountable person on this team. There's always an excuse or else it's somebody else's fault. Fisher threw Robinson under the bus as a distraction, so people wouldn't talk about Fisher's failures.

I think Greg would have gotten the message all the same if he was active and sitting on the bench. But deactivating him got headlines and hurt this team.

 

[shaunpinney]

Hard to say. There was pressure coming from everywhere in the second half. Personally, I think our OL performed worse than it has in weeks. I don't think it's a coincidence that it happened after we shuffled the OL.

Truth is that Wichmann should have been the guy on the bench today. He was terrible. Barnes was pretty horrible too. Would have been nice if we could have had Greg at LT, Saffold at LG, and Brown at RG. But that's out the window now.

Saffold isn't a big loss. He didn't play well this year. But it annoys me that Fisher singled out Robinson when he's no more at fault than anyone else.

EDIT: I eagerly await the disagree button pushers.

I've not been online a lot recently, but noticed the healthy scratching of GRob, and I thought to myself, don't mess with the line now you've thrown in Goff!! and then I hoped that they wouldn't put scaffold in there, because he seemingly turns to glass at the LT position but there we go...

I would have at least dressed GRob so that when (I mean) IF Saffold got injured we could get some rhythm back and consistency - I'm with you @jrry32 with the lineup of the O-line. I've been commenting elsewhere that GRob is being made the scape-goat of poor Line play, we're bad across the board there this season - worse than last year, and we should be better, the line last year was made up of rookies - I don't think the coaching is helping them, they've taken a couple of steps back, ohh wait thats a 5yard penalty right there...

This season seems to be imploding around us...

 

[shaunpinney]

Fisher did it for the headlines. He didn't do it for accountability. He's the least accountable person on this team. There's always an excuse or else it's somebody else's fault. Fisher threw Robinson under the bus as a distraction, so people wouldn't talk about Fisher's failures.

I think Greg would have gotten the message all the same if he was active and sitting on the bench. But deactivating him got headlines and hurt this team.

Definitely a move that hurt the team, but also made him look more naïve than ruthless

 

[LumberTubs]

GRob's block in the back last week was the final straw for Fisher I think. That was just stupid.

I still think making him a healthy scratch was harsh though and completely agree that Fisher cannot preach accountability when he's presided over what is going to be 5 losing seasons with the current one looking to be as bad (6-10), if not worse, than any of them.

 

[JerseyRam1]

Had to laugh when I read that Donnal said afterwards that he hasnt played LT since High School. Once again, the Rams coaches exposed for not thinking through all "what if" scenarios. Just like not knowing when to "go for it" or punt/fg multiple times this year.

 

[woofwoofmo]

You disagree @woofwoofmo with which part? The line was garbage or we need a new coaching staff? Just curious.

I disagreed mainly on your comment that the line was "garbage". IMO, just not true, they played well the first half, especially before Saffold got hurt. Put up 21 points and were moving the ball with a couple of nice long drives. It was only when the Saints started to pull away and the run game was pretty much negated that there were some struggles, which is to be expected when a defense no longer fears the run and can pin their ears back and go after the qb, there were only 6 carries in the second half (excluding Brown's 3 to run the clock out at the end).

As for the coaching staff, that's another topic, obviously changes needed. I do think Coach Boo gets a bum wrap from a lot on this board. Very good, well respected coach, who is playing with a tough hand, which isn't all his or most of the players fault.

 

[Boston Ram]

I personally could not tell the difference in that the LT looked the same with Donnel or Robinson. The only thing that was different was the numbers. Im not bothered that Robinson was inactive, Im bothered that the oline looks so bad every week. You literally could inactive anyone of those guys as they all deserve some heat.

 

[BonifayRam]

Compared to GRob ...Andrew Donnal is a big step up in overall play @ OLT. I would not remove Andrew Donnal from the OLT starting post from this point on. Anybody see any holding calls result from the play @ OLT yesterday? Anyone see any sacks coming from the OLT post yesterday? Anyone see any offensive drive killing penalties coming from the left side of the OL yesterday? When did the Rams OL help score 3 passing TD's this season?

Yep we sure want to return to our own vomit & reinsert GRob back in @ starting OLT don't we?

 

[dieterbrock]

Fisher risked the Franchise QB health over making a point to Grob.
Its ridiculous.
The oline was dreadful in that 2nd half and if the coaches weren't prepared for the wrath that Payton brought, it just shows how clueless they are.

 

[DaveFan'51]

Yep. And I read somewhere that Donnal last played OLT in ... high school. (Will get the link if I can find it).

So let's do some inventory:
- Make former starter GRob a healthy scratch today, instead of just benching him but keeping him dressed;
- Start Saffold at OLT, despite the fact that he always gets injured at OLT ... and sure enough, he got injured at OLT; and
- After Saffold goes down, bring in a guy who hasn't played the position since high school.

Is our coaching staff brilliant or what?

If you liked our O-Line in Sundays game, Wait until this coming Sunday against the Cheatriots!
IF Saffold is out with a broken hand, Fisher will probably Bring up Battle from the PS to fill in!

 

[LACHAMP46]

He played LT at Iowa.

Pure RT at Iowa....but he's played several guard positions there.

Overall, meh....pass blocked ok...run blocking looked like usual. Still no push no matter who started..And this was the Saints D we're talking about. No bonus points from me.

Sit Greg...ok, so who do you sit now? Tru for the missed tackles? EJ Gaines? Barron?

I think the D played terrible BECAUSE of the stupid move to not only bench G-Rob but to not even dress him. Fisher has lost this team. Anyone STILL wanna disagree?

 

[woofwoofmo]

Pure RT at Iowa....but he's played several guard positions there.

Overall, meh....pass blocked ok...run blocking looked like usual. Still no push no matter who started..And this was the Saints D we're talking about. No bonus points from me.

Sit Greg...ok, so who do you sit now? Tru for the missed tackles? EJ Gaines? Barron?

I think the D played terrible BECAUSE of the stupid move to not only bench G-Rob but to not even dress him. Fisher has lost this team. Anyone STILL wanna disagree?

I disagree with you on a couple of things. 1) Grob deserved to be benched. Sometimes things go on behind the scenes the public is not aware of, it's warranted 2) Fisher has lost the team?? That certainly can be your opinion, but good luck finding a player who feels that way. From things I've heard certainly not the case.

 

[Jacobarch]

I disagree with you on a couple of things. 1) Grob deserved to be benched. Sometimes things go on behind the scenes the public is not aware of, it's warranted 2) Fisher has lost the team?? That certainly can be your opinion, but good luck finding a player who feels that way. From things I've heard certainly not the case.

whether or not he's lost the team is irrelevant, we've had 2 blowouts this season so far and that's inexcusable, and we're not even finished with the season yet. With NE and Atlanta on the way we're sure to have at least one more.
It's time to move on.

 

[LACHAMP46]

I disagree with you on a couple of things. 1) Grob deserved to be benched. Sometimes things go on behind the scenes the public is not aware of, it's warranted 2) Fisher has lost the team?? That certainly can be your opinion, but good luck finding a player who feels that way. From things I've heard certainly not the case.

You know, we've gotta stop meeting like this. Love your comments Woof....lets dive in...
G-Rob deserves to be benched? Really? I wonder is it the combination of play & penalties, or just penalties? Or just play? Because Greg has played a lil better every game, just like last year. Young player. Even you look at Greg's penalties, clearly you can see how things he does are penalized, yet are things other LT's seem to get away with. Not the false starts, but specifically the holding. And say you DO bench Greg, what's that saying to others that are ALSO making penalties and playing poorly? But remain in the starting lineup??? Sure, there are no other players that are penalized like Greg. there are several linemen that are performing as badly.

Fisher has lost the team....I don't care WHAT is SAID...Eyeball test. And that team...lack of tackling...effort...It started with those TD's last week, esp. the Landry one. Small cracks in effort for the last month during the losing streak. It takes a sharp eye to notice...But if you didn't see the defense quit yesterday, you are fooling yourself...The only guys playing hard were Donald, Tree (with poor form) and maybe a few other players here and there. But overall, the effort & hustle were lacking from William's group. Payton embarrassed them.

 

[leoram]

For those of you who discount PFF, do you disagree with Aaron Donald as the top performer in the NFL? Did ANY of you break down EVERY PLAY? Donnal was better than GRob but that doesn't take much. I understand why Fisher is pretending this was a "one week break." Maybe Robinson rededicates, maybe he just doesn't have IT. My vote is that he is a Jason Smith clone....all the ability...not mentally cut out for the job. High draft picks are hard to jettison but after a few years, you have to make that hard decision.

All those that call me wrong here, I will save this. WHEN GRob is out of football like J Smith, I will cram this down your throats. I'm not a Donnal fan but over 50 years of watching football, it's OBVIOUSLY time to move on. He will NEVER be the man we hoped. The best case scenario is Tony Mandarich. Move him inside and hope he becomes serviceable.

 

[thirteen28]

Fisher has lost the team....I don't care WHAT is SAID...Eyeball test. And that team...lack of tackling...effort...It started with those TD's last week, esp. the Landry one. Small cracks in effort for the last month during the losing streak. It takes a sharp eye to notice...But if you didn't see the defense quit yesterday, you are fooling yourself...The only guys playing hard were Donald, Tree (with poor form) and maybe a few other players here and there. But overall, the effort & hustle were lacking from William's group. Payton embarrassed them.

Exactly. They may not say it, but their actions show it.

 

[JIMERAMS]

View attachment 17826
For those of you who discount PFF, do you disagree with Aaron Donald as the top performer in the NFL? Did ANY of you break down EVERY PLAY? Donnal was better than GRob but that doesn't take much. I understand why Fisher is pretending this was a "one week break." Maybe Robinson rededicates, maybe he just doesn't have IT. My vote is that he is a Jason Smith clone....all the ability...not mentally cut out for the job. High draft picks are hard to jettison but after a few years, you have to make that hard decision.

All those that call me wrong here, I will save this. WHEN GRob is out of football like J Smith, I will cram this down your throats. I'm not a Donnal fan but over 50 years of watching football, it's OBVIOUSLY time to move on. He will NEVER be the man we hoped. The best case scenario is Tony Mandarich. Move him inside and hope he becomes serviceable.

GR played with Keenum running left into pressure every game. Donnal played one game with a real QB that knows how to move around pressure. a LT job is to push the DE outside when he takes that path around the QB well keenum would run right at him. you can push PFF down your own throat as far as im concerned its a joke. the game AD was kicked out of he didn't do anything that game and PFF game him an 85.

 

[iamme33]

Line was great in the first half then we got down to far and they pinned their ears back and blitzed.

yeah but there are ways to beat the blitz and boras doesn't seem to know any of them.

 

[iamme33]

I disagree with you on a couple of things. 1) Grob deserved to be benched. Sometimes things go on behind the scenes the public is not aware of, it's warranted 2) Fisher has lost the team?? That certainly can be your opinion, but good luck finding a player who feels that way. From things I've heard certainly not the case.

the team may not of quit on fisher but I think they have given up on the scheme. there is a big difference in playing with no hope and playing with hope and excitment