Great report,
@VeteranRamFan! It was a treat to see you guys! I wanted to add a little bit of what I saw.
In practice, it was mostly the ones against the twos. #1 Defense vs. the 2s on offense and vice versa. The lineup for the O-line, left to right was Whit-Evans-Corbett-Edwards-Havenstein. This may not necessarily be the final lineup. In past camps, they tried out different lines at different times to see what worked because the o-line really needs to gel and whatnot. However, I had the strong feeling that this is the line that will be protecting Matt Stafford.
The #1 running back was Darrell Henderson, but I also saw a lot of Jake Funk with the ones on offense, and he looked good. I didn't really pay attention to his pass blocking (it doesn't really count when there are no pads), but he was catching everything and running pretty hard. Funk is MUCH faster than people think. He had breakaway speed at Maryland, and he still has it in the NFL. I think he will be a surprise to many. I did not see Otis or Xavier with the ones once, but I did leave a bit early, so maybe they got in there, but I didn't see it. Funk runs like a runaway bowling ball. He is a compact, wide, muscular, and fast. I would not want to be a small corner trying to stop him one-on-one. Keep an eye on him. Remember, we had another heralded running back whose only deficits was ACL surgeries. I'm rooting for Jake Funk. As with all young running backs, it will be his ability to pick up blitzes, meaning he needs to be able to diagnose
and to stop blitzes from affecting the quarterback.
The wide receivers are all amazing. I'm pretty pissed that Tutu Atwell wasn't there, as he has that 4.27 speed that the Rams have basically never had, but I can't help but wonder if Tutu is going to be a Tavon Austin 2.0. I don't think so, but he's hurting not being here for ten days.
Cooper Kupp looked fast. He was getting into and out of breaks very well. On one drill, he faked a deep route, hit the brakes, faked inside to his right, then suddenly juked outside to his left. Poor Robert Rochell didn't bite on the deep route, but he bit hard on the inside fake and was left in the dust when Kupp went outside. Unfortunately, the ball was a bit off and Kupp couldn't catch the low ball.
Robert Woods looked very good. He had one one-on-one matchup at the end of one of the drill sessions where he was up against Ramsey. First of all, let me say that it is very weird to see #2 vs. #5 and remember that that is a Robert Woods-Jalen Ramsey matchup. They had that offseason kerfuffle over who gets #2 and Woods pulled rank, I guess. It looked like Robert had Jalen on a short hitch fake, and the ball from Stafford was right on point, but Jalen came out of nowhere and high-pointed the ball and knocked the ball away. Jalen still has it. It happened on the last drill of that series, but I saw Jalen jawing at Robert Woods, following him towards the offensive side, but I'm sure it was just competitive banter. What is the saying? Iron sharpens iron. Well, Jalen looked sharp as fuck.
Higbee looked like he had a pep in his step. I know that Higbee was Jared's roommate during their rookie years in the dorms at UCI, but he looks like he knows that Stafford is going to find his ass if he works hard. He looks faster than he's ever looked, and I'm hoping he becomes the safety blanket for Stafford that all QBs love in a big, fast tight end. I kinda missed Gerald Everett, but if we could get Jacob Harris going, I think it will be a difficult tandem.
If Harris is used as a tight end, he will be annoying as hell for defenses. Do you try to run past him to get to the quarterback, or do you try to slow him down on a passing route? The answer will be different for every play, and it will come late after the snap. He will be a problem. I can't wait to see him on offense with the ones.
I want to give a quick shout out to Ben Skowronek. He didn't get a ton of opportunities, but he looked good, especially on a play where he Mossed someone. It might've been David Long, Jr. We have an embarrassment of riches on the offensive side.
Darrell Henderson looked fast, but gosh, he's small. I don't think he'll end up being the answer at tailback, unfortunately. I think he's a phenomenal player, but I just don't see him lasting long enough. Oddly enough, I think Funk will start ahead of him by the end of the season, if he can stay healthy.
Van Jefferson looked fast. He has good hands, but his and everyone's route running was so crisp. All of wide receivers look good, to be honest. No one looked bad.
This brings me to a quick aside. I was here for Jeff Fisher's first year. I love Jeff Fisher. He made me proud to watch the Rams again. He had bravado and confidence, and the team had a joy and toughness when he was the coach. He brought us out of the dark ages. I used to watch the Rams in a small sports bar in North Carolina with the Rams game on a small tv in the corner, without any other Rams fans. Jeff Fisher made the Rams fun to watch again.
Having said that, the first training camp with Fisher was a mess, at least at the beginning of training camp. Balls were dropping all over the goddamn place. It was terrible, but we'd say, "Well, this is just day one. They should get better as they get back into it."
Today's practice was not that. Everything looked clean and efficient. There was nary a ball that was off target. I saw maybe one or two that were not catchable. Everything else was either caught or deflected. It was a stark difference from past years. It's VERY encouraging.
I've saved the best for last. I have never in my life seen anyone throw the ball as well as Matt Stafford. I've seen guys throw such nice and tight spirals that the ball just looks like a pinpoint at the throw, and the ball just looks like it's growing in diameter as it flies towards you. Just, "ZOOM!" and a ball appears to magically appear.
Matt Stafford's throws surpass that.
It's shocking how different it is from Jared Goff's throws. Here's where it makes a difference. Goff was very good at anticipating a player becoming open. His connection with Kupp was so good because Kupp could predictably get open and Goff could often throw it before Kupp makes his break. That is Jared Goff at his best. The advantage that Matt's ball speed offers is that he doesn't NEED that anticipation--or at least, THAT much anticipation. Matt could watch someone get open and throw the ball "late", and it's still on time, in the perfect spot. That's amazing. This is not to say that Matt doesn't play with anticipation, but I would suspect that if you could test him compared to other, lesser QBs, his anticipation "muscle" is probably not as developed as someone with a slow arm who MUST use anticipation to make his throws (i.e., Goff).
Think of that late throw to Cooks in the Super Bowl. Even if Matt recognized the pass as late as Goff did, the ball would've gotten there and changed the game. Matt's ball speed is an absolute game changer.
What about his accuracy? The ball was plenty accurate, and I want to say that his touch was very good as well. He does not throw the ball at one speed. He has a fastball, but he has a change up as well. I'm not worried whatsoever about his accuracy.
The thing I was most impressed with when it comes to Matthew Stafford was the way he practiced. Jared would practice to get the ball in the right spot, to be accurate, to be on time. Matthew, even in no-defense, one-receiver drills, would practice looking the safety off! So, what does he do? Let's say he's throwing to Kupp, who's split wide to his left. There's no defender, no safety, no one. When he catches the snap or drops back, he's looking to the right--for like the ENTIRE time. At the very last second, he'll turn to Kupp and rifle it to him, just as he gets out of his break.
That is SO FUCKED UP to do to a safety. When you play against Stafford as a safety, you're going to have to remind yourself that your eyes are LYING to you. He is throwing like that on ALMOST every practice rep. The only time he doesn't is when he has to throw a quick out. So, as a safety, do you rush down to help on that quick out? Or do you remind yourself that your eyes are lying to you?
I think this is what happened on a 7-on-7 play that you've surely already heard about.
@VeteranRamFan has his eyes glued on Stafford. Stafford looked like he handed the ball off to Jake Funk, but I saw that it was a fake. I shouted, "Fake!" and saw that Stafford had already thrown it to his left. The ball was out of sight from our vantage point, but we saw DeSean Jackson streaking down the field. NO ONE was with him. Not a safety, not a corner. NO ONE. The ball had great touch. It fell gently down into Jackson's hands, and I just knew that if that were a game, Jackson would've probably danced on the way in or something. It was a thing of absolute beauty.
Stafford never seemed like he did not know what he was doing. It was impressive. Go to Vegas and make your bets now. The Rams have a good chance of winning the Super Bowl this year (provided that most people stay healthy).
@bubbaramfan mentioned that part of the reason for Jackson's lack of game action in the past two years may have been because his heart was not in it. If that's the case, we should see a totally different Jackson. He's in his hometown, in one of the most beautiful stadiums in the world, with one of the largest cannons in the NFL throwing to him. Stafford could unlock Jackson in a way few quarterbacks can. I'd be pissed if I were tasked with stopping the Rams offense.
I want to add one more thing about Stafford--he had guys like McVay and other random coaches running at him during drills to replicate the kind of chaos he could expect to see--a free rusher from the left with absolutely no warning, a free rusher from the right all of a sudden. He did a really great job of sidestepping or moving in the pocket to complete the throw on time and keep his eyes down the field. I want to see the Miami Dolphins try their fucking zero blitz against Stafford.
This brings me to the defense. I liked seeing our guys out there. Terrell Burgess looked really good. He had a nice pick on a dumpoff pass in the middle of the field (off of John Wolford). I'm glad Burgess is healthy. (On a side note, I saw some 13 year old with a #26 Burgess jersey. Respect, kid!). We saw #4 Jordan Fuller at left safety and #24 Taylor Rapp at right safety. It seemed to me that they were playing Rapp as more of a free safety and Fuller as more of a strong safety, though my understanding is that the Rams scheme doesn't really designate a SS vs. FS. The defense was already doing a good job of disguising their defense, often looking like cover-4 at the snap, but it was a cover-3 concept or sometimes Fuller would be a robber. The outside corners would play with outside leverage sometimes on cover-2 man concepts, which made it look like some sort of cover-3 zone presnap, so I liked what they were doing.
Rochell looked like he couldn't get a break, but he looked really good. Jalen looks like he's in midseason form already. You can't really judge the front seven without pads, so I won't say anything there. David Long, Jr. is fucking disappointing to me. I thought he would become the type of player that Darious Williams has become, but he's just in over his head or something. He's constantly getting burned, it seemed. Speaking of which, I am glad not to see Troy Hill out there anymore. I know he's had his moments, but as Jalen would say, "Every dog has his day." I am NOT a Troy Hill fan.
Finally, the last bit of news is a bit sad. I don't see our defense repeating as the #1 defense.
I just can't see it.
It's not happening.
Our offense is going to score so many goddamned points that opposing teams will be throwing all kinds of shit and picking up random yardage and points. I don't know if the Rams will go 17-0, but I know that as I look at the schedule, I see the Rams being favored in every single one.
Go Rams! (Bless all the knees and ankles! Please accept our honorable sacrifice of Cam Akers' Achilles and protect us from further harm. Amen!)
Hope you guys enjoyed my report!
P.S. The crowd was nuts. It took me 35 minutes to get in. Parking was a bitch. Luckily for me, I rode my bike there. Don't bring any food and water in unless you have kids who need it. One poor guy had a nice looking Yeti Rambler, but they told him AT THE GATE that he couldn't bring it. He was considering tossing it in the bushes or going back to his car. Couldn't someone tell us the rules at SOME POINT of the 35 minute line? I was practically in the nearby preserve when I got to the back of the line. Come early, guys. This is NO LONGER the St. Louis Rams of Los Angeles. We are BIG TIME. Come early. Remember that the first 1.5 hours are like bullshit stretching and calisthenics, so don't worry if you're in line for a long time. The fun shit starts at 4 pm., and Sean McVay's trains run on time.
P.P.S. Let me know if you have any questions about logistics or about the play of our guys!
