- Joined
- Jul 25, 2014
- Messages
- 66
Greetings all,
Sorry for the delay in posting this. It's tax-free weekend and I've got two kids to get ready for college. I've read the posted reports for today, and don't have much to add.
The announced attendance of 15,000+ surprised me because I thought the crowd in the lower bowl was lighter than last year's crowd of 13,000. Still, it was a nice showing of fan support.
There was a lot of work for the back-ups today. The theme for this practice/scrimmage was: Who's that guy? My son and I frequently had to refer to our programs to look up a player by his number.
I don't think this team is going to be a much "ground and pound" as advertised. The offense has improved much since the first practice this season. The timing is there now and from the three practices I've attended, it looks like there are going to be plenty of passes to tight-ends. The Bradford to Cook, Bradford to Kendricks connections are there all day. The tight-ends will be: Cook, Kendricks, and Harkey. Justice Cunningham again got a workout today.
IF he stays out of trouble and stays healthy, Kenny Britt will be the NFL steal of the offseason. He wears #81 and looks so much like Torry Holt it isn't even funny. Bradford finished his practice today by throwing a beautiful bomb to Britt -- 60+ yards that excited the crowd. When Britt, Quick (who did not practice today), and Cook are on the field together (and they often will be) this offense is just too B-I-G to run the ball. You're going to see formations of Britt, Quick, Cook, and Kendricks a lot these season.
Austin Pettis will make this team as he'll sub for Bailey in the first four games. It's too bad Bailey got the four game suspension. He catches everything around him, and makes nice adjustments to the ball. Bradford trusts him. The WRS will be: Britt and Quick on the outside, with Austin and Bailey as the 3 and 4. Pettis is #5. Emory Blake and Justin Veltung are fighting for the 6th spot. TJ Moe got some work today, but where he fits in is a question.
This is the best and deepest group of running backs I've seen the Rams have since they've been in St. Louis. The only issue here is: How will they get enough work for everyone, plus add in Tavon Austin? Austin again ran out of the backfield today. He just scoots between the tackles. They'll probably use him in short yardage situations. I was surprised the by Tre Mason pick, but he's going to be a real asset to the running game and should fill in nicely if Stacy goes down.
Some people said Shaun Hill is an upgrade over Clemmons. I haven't seen it. He was woefully inadequate today. IF Bradford goes down again we're in trouble. Austin Davis looked terrible today and is the 4th camp arm only. Garrett Gilbert continues to get a lot of work and you can expect to see much of him in the pre-season games.
Most of the talk this season has been about the defense and there's really nothing new to say other than watch out for the secondary. This is the REAL weak spot for the team. IF JJ and Trumaine Johnson go down, we have EJ Gaines and that's it for dbs. TJ MacDonald will patrol the backfield from his safety position, but if he goes down it will change everything for the worse.
Michael Brockers scared everybody in the Dome by going down again today with a tweak of some kind. He walked off the field however, so hopefully, he'll be fine by the end of preseason. Ray Ray Armstrong and Alex Olgetree are on fire, with Armstrong being some kind of combustible force. If Ray Ray keeps his head, and doesn't get thrown out of a game, he'll be the enforcer on the defense.
The range for this team is 10-6 on the high end -- if everybody plays to their potential and stays healthy, and 6-10 if there are injuries and other bad breaks. I expect some calls to go to the Rams' way this season, for the simple fact the team is just more credible in terms of talent, stability, and experienced players/ coaches.
The only real questions on this team are who the back-ups will be. This is key, because this team will only go as far as the back-ups take it.
That's it or me this preseason. I hope you all have a great year and GO RAMS!
Sorry for the delay in posting this. It's tax-free weekend and I've got two kids to get ready for college. I've read the posted reports for today, and don't have much to add.
The announced attendance of 15,000+ surprised me because I thought the crowd in the lower bowl was lighter than last year's crowd of 13,000. Still, it was a nice showing of fan support.
There was a lot of work for the back-ups today. The theme for this practice/scrimmage was: Who's that guy? My son and I frequently had to refer to our programs to look up a player by his number.
I don't think this team is going to be a much "ground and pound" as advertised. The offense has improved much since the first practice this season. The timing is there now and from the three practices I've attended, it looks like there are going to be plenty of passes to tight-ends. The Bradford to Cook, Bradford to Kendricks connections are there all day. The tight-ends will be: Cook, Kendricks, and Harkey. Justice Cunningham again got a workout today.
IF he stays out of trouble and stays healthy, Kenny Britt will be the NFL steal of the offseason. He wears #81 and looks so much like Torry Holt it isn't even funny. Bradford finished his practice today by throwing a beautiful bomb to Britt -- 60+ yards that excited the crowd. When Britt, Quick (who did not practice today), and Cook are on the field together (and they often will be) this offense is just too B-I-G to run the ball. You're going to see formations of Britt, Quick, Cook, and Kendricks a lot these season.
Austin Pettis will make this team as he'll sub for Bailey in the first four games. It's too bad Bailey got the four game suspension. He catches everything around him, and makes nice adjustments to the ball. Bradford trusts him. The WRS will be: Britt and Quick on the outside, with Austin and Bailey as the 3 and 4. Pettis is #5. Emory Blake and Justin Veltung are fighting for the 6th spot. TJ Moe got some work today, but where he fits in is a question.
This is the best and deepest group of running backs I've seen the Rams have since they've been in St. Louis. The only issue here is: How will they get enough work for everyone, plus add in Tavon Austin? Austin again ran out of the backfield today. He just scoots between the tackles. They'll probably use him in short yardage situations. I was surprised the by Tre Mason pick, but he's going to be a real asset to the running game and should fill in nicely if Stacy goes down.
Some people said Shaun Hill is an upgrade over Clemmons. I haven't seen it. He was woefully inadequate today. IF Bradford goes down again we're in trouble. Austin Davis looked terrible today and is the 4th camp arm only. Garrett Gilbert continues to get a lot of work and you can expect to see much of him in the pre-season games.
Most of the talk this season has been about the defense and there's really nothing new to say other than watch out for the secondary. This is the REAL weak spot for the team. IF JJ and Trumaine Johnson go down, we have EJ Gaines and that's it for dbs. TJ MacDonald will patrol the backfield from his safety position, but if he goes down it will change everything for the worse.
Michael Brockers scared everybody in the Dome by going down again today with a tweak of some kind. He walked off the field however, so hopefully, he'll be fine by the end of preseason. Ray Ray Armstrong and Alex Olgetree are on fire, with Armstrong being some kind of combustible force. If Ray Ray keeps his head, and doesn't get thrown out of a game, he'll be the enforcer on the defense.
The range for this team is 10-6 on the high end -- if everybody plays to their potential and stays healthy, and 6-10 if there are injuries and other bad breaks. I expect some calls to go to the Rams' way this season, for the simple fact the team is just more credible in terms of talent, stability, and experienced players/ coaches.
The only real questions on this team are who the back-ups will be. This is key, because this team will only go as far as the back-ups take it.
That's it or me this preseason. I hope you all have a great year and GO RAMS!
