I backed the Fisher hiring as someone who was a veteran coach with a solid resume. He was what this club desperately needed coming off a very bad version of the Three Stooges meet the Marx Brothers prior to that. With that said I have to wonder if Fisher's role is done/achieved and it's time to move to the next level.
For me here are the positives: I group Fisher and Snead in the same view FWIW since they do work hand in hand with Snead getting guys (or types of guys) that Fisher wants and leaving it up to Fisher to make it click. I would be remiss to give a big support to Kevin D for some solid cap management and flexibility.
Here are the positives of F/S IMO:
-Provided and young, talented, professional group of players who have the ability to take this team from a laughingstock to a dangerous playoff caliber team. Fisher has the Rams, for the most part, playing hard aggressive, decent football. Snead has his hits and misses like any GM, but for every different philosophy the Rams say they want he has tried to accommodate. Early on the Rams wanted to get younger and get more athletic players. They wanted more team speed. They wanted players who could ascend, given the right circumstances. For the most part Snead has provided that obviously with Fisher's input.
-Provided a professional looking team vs. a team I think my neighborhood girls and boys could challenge on previous Sundays. The Rams have had their share of stinkers but FOR THE MOST PART they seem to be well prepared and competitive for 60 minutes. I used to turn the TV off by halftime during past regimes.
-Has provided a definition for what he wants the Rams to be. A tough D and a ball control running offense that takes its chances when given them.
-Finally, for the most part he has kept this team unified and out of the criminal thread/diva player crap we see from many other teams.
With that said, here are my negatives:
-A constantly changing view of what this team is. This season is a prime example. The OL was a major problem for many years and yet THIS is the year the light bulb went on and he agreed that we needed not only quality, but quantity in the OL. That's great and if you hit on more than 60% of your picks you are set and not overpaying for average at best OLineman, BUT instead of working 1-2 in each season we now have basically a full young/unproven OL. Now they may gel and become average to above average but EVERYONE, including Fisher/Snead, said there would be growing pains. Well the short answer of growing pains is sacrificing games and potential wins while this unit not only tries to learn and gel, but also as the HC/GM evaluate who they have and who they think will pan out vs who won't.
-A change in OL blocking. Not only do you completely revamp the OL but you change the blocking schemes to zone blocking.
-G Williams says he had to scale back the D last season because it was too complicated for some of the young players to learn and it was still a relatively new D unit. Now he says he can open the book. The scaling back stuff came at the expense of a lot of average to crappy previous D performances either due to players not playing without thinking or simply being the wrong players for the system he wanted. I get there is a learning curve with the DC and his group but again, it is at the expense of wins and losses.
Fisher has put himself in the excuse category both due to real circumstances and his own doing.
He now has HIS QB, a game manager who can stay healthy (for the most part) handle the ball, make the plays that are there, and move the Offense. He did not have that with Bradford and the other putzes shouldn't have been in the NFL to start with IMO. Still,, if you are a Fisher guy you say, "hey, give the guy a chance to operate the offense with his new QB, his stud RB, his developing OL, and a new OC." However, year 4 seems a bit late to make such a dramatic change when other HCs make those changes immediately. I understand the Bradford situation is the red herring in that he could only work with what he had, but still, the OL issue was handled very very poorly IMO.
Also, it is up to HIM and HIS COACHES to get the most out of these young ascending players that he asked for. I get that every player won't pan out but looking at the roster, especially at the offensive side, you seem to have a weird mis-mash of players who don't seem to fit. If you are going to run a 3 headed monster TE than Cook will, and has broken your heart and Kendricks remains a Prick Tease. Harkey is a warrior but guys like him are a dime a dozen. The WR corp is the same. Either this group is just a bunch of WRs who can have a nice play or game and then disappear or they aren't being used to fully develop their potential. We have seen Britt have solid games and then be the bad Britt and disappoint. We have seen Sted make some key catches and plays and then disappear. We are starting to see what made them trade up to get TA but for me the book is still out on him as a WR vs a gadget player (you don't get gadget players with a trade up and the 8th overall IMO). Quick is coming off a tough injury but at what point do we know if we have the ascending Quick who is getting it all together or the Quick that is forever a physical specimen without the production. Again, the league is filled with physical studs who don't perform.
Finally, Fisher is really good on getting this team up against teams that frankly I never thought we could beat or even compete with at times. I have never been so proud and happy on some of the wins and dog fights this team has put out vs elite teams. With that said, the key to success in the NFl, unless you are truly elite, is consistency. The Redskins game this year was deja vu all over again (Yogi Berra). The same things have happened since year one. Tough game or win vs a top team and then an egg vs a team ON PAPER you should beat.
The Fisher defenders will rightful cite the improvement of talent on the team, the big wins, the new OL, the new QB, the new OC BUT this is year 4 of his administration. For me the key is the second half of the season. The Rams lost a lot of games Colonel Sanders would have won if he were QB last year BUT, you need to take care of business vs Cleveland at home. You need to take care of a beaten down/mutinous SF team etc. Obviously you won't win every game and weird stuff happens along the way BUT, again, ON PAPER if the Rams and Fisher did their homework and adjustment during the bye week this could be a team that 7-4 or even 8-3 and make believers out of all of us. If not, it may be time for thanking JF for getting the Rams back on track but also to welcome someone who can take this talented, young team to the next level.
