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Familiar face helps Gilbert get to NFL, with Rams
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_56a4889a-a5cd-5e9b-afb4-feb258408fb8.html
The Rams only sent a scout to watch quarterback Garrett Gilbert at Southern Methodist University’s pro day before the NFL draft. But at least it was a familiar face.
“Steve Kazor, I’ve actually known him for a long time,” Gilbert said, referring to the Rams veteran scout. “He actually coached me in high school about six or seven years ago now.”
Gilbert was in the midst of a highly acclaimed prep career at Lake Travis (Texas) High when Kazor joined the staff.
“I believe he had retired from the NFL for a year or two, and for whatever reason came down to Austin, Texas, and got a job coaching offensive line and was just with us for a year,” Gilbert said. “I think it was my sophomore year in high school.”
A lot has happened from then to now.
Gilbert was a legendary player in Texas high school football, setting state passing records with 4,827 yards as a junior, then topping that with 4,851 yards as a senior. Along the way, he led Lake Travis to state titles in 2007 and 2008, overcoming minor shoulder surgery between the championship seasons.
Rivals.com rated him as a five-star prospect, and along with Matt Barkley (of California’s Mater Dei High) Gilbert was considered the top college quarterback prospect in the nation coming out of high school.
Gilbert signed with the Texas Longhorns, but things didn’t go well in Austin.
By the 2011 season, he had dropped on the depth chart and underwent season-ending surgery early in the year. Because he had earned his degree from Texas, he was able to play immediately after transferring to SMU for the 2012 season.
He got his career back on track in two seasons as the Mustangs’ starter. The 2013 campaign was easily the best of his college career, as he passed for 3,528 yards, 21 touchdowns with only seven interceptions.
Missing the final two games of the season because of a knee injury, he averaged 50 throws a game under pass-happy coach June Jones, who was once head coach of the Atlanta Falcons.
“Coach Jones, I owe a lot to him,” Gilbert said. “He obviously gave me a second chance to play in college football. I was very excited about the opportunity to get to play for a guy who has been so successful coaching quarterbacks for so long, and just learned so much from him ... about the game of football.
“We threw the ball around quite a bit and that makes for a lot of fun. It was one of the things that originally drew me to SMU, and so I really enjoyed getting to toss the ball around, spread it out a little bit and throw it down the field.”
After throwing 1,010 passes in two seasons at SMU, Gilbert now finds himself back with Kazor after the Rams selected him in the sixth round of the NFL draft on Saturday, No. 214 overall.
“Since he got back into scouting (with the Rams), I had seen him drop by a couple times when I was still at the University of Texas,” Gilbert said of Kazor. “I had seen him, but just to go to say hello. So it was great to actually get to reconnect and really talk with him.”
Gilbert might not be in the NFL, and certainly not with the Rams, without bumping into Kazor again at SMU’s pro day.
Kazor liked what he saw, enough so that the Rams later held a private workout for him. Now Gilbert’s the unlikely answer to the much-anticipated question this offseason: Who will the Rams select at QB in the draft?
“I think this is an awesome opportunity,” Gilbert said.
The private workout came the week before the draft was held. (The Rams weren’t in Texas just to look at Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel.) Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti put Gilbert through the paces in Dallas.
“I thought it went really well,” Gilbert said. “They obviously gave me some things I need to continue to work on, but I really enjoyed what they were teaching me. I got the chance to sit down and talk some football with them, which was great.
“Again, this is an opportunity I’m really excited for, and to be able to learn from some very good coaches and hopefully get the chance to learn from a guy like (Rams No. 1 quarterback) Sam Bradford.”
After seeing a run of quarterbacks go in the fourth through sixth rounds Saturday — the Rams had no fifth-round pick because of the trade-up for Florida State defensive back Lamarcus Joyner — the Rams finally got their man in Gilbert
“We want to give Garrett an opportunity to come in and show us what he can do,” coach Jeff Fisher said. “Outstanding career there at SMU.
“He’s poised in the pocket. He’s big, tall, strong. He’s got some mobility and has got good arm strength. We felt like he’s got a chance to come in and compete.”
Now that he’s in St. Louis, Gilbert will get to know Bradford.
“He was actually good buddies with Colt McCoy, who I played under when I was at Texas and (Bradford) was still at Oklahoma,” Gilbert said.
And he’ll get to know St. Louis, a city he never had been to until now.
“I know a lot about the (St. Louis) barbecue,” he said. “I have to compare it to the Texas barbeque that I’ve been having my whole life.”
Wait till he tries the toasted ravioli.
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_56a4889a-a5cd-5e9b-afb4-feb258408fb8.html
The Rams only sent a scout to watch quarterback Garrett Gilbert at Southern Methodist University’s pro day before the NFL draft. But at least it was a familiar face.
“Steve Kazor, I’ve actually known him for a long time,” Gilbert said, referring to the Rams veteran scout. “He actually coached me in high school about six or seven years ago now.”
Gilbert was in the midst of a highly acclaimed prep career at Lake Travis (Texas) High when Kazor joined the staff.
“I believe he had retired from the NFL for a year or two, and for whatever reason came down to Austin, Texas, and got a job coaching offensive line and was just with us for a year,” Gilbert said. “I think it was my sophomore year in high school.”
A lot has happened from then to now.
Gilbert was a legendary player in Texas high school football, setting state passing records with 4,827 yards as a junior, then topping that with 4,851 yards as a senior. Along the way, he led Lake Travis to state titles in 2007 and 2008, overcoming minor shoulder surgery between the championship seasons.
Rivals.com rated him as a five-star prospect, and along with Matt Barkley (of California’s Mater Dei High) Gilbert was considered the top college quarterback prospect in the nation coming out of high school.
Gilbert signed with the Texas Longhorns, but things didn’t go well in Austin.
By the 2011 season, he had dropped on the depth chart and underwent season-ending surgery early in the year. Because he had earned his degree from Texas, he was able to play immediately after transferring to SMU for the 2012 season.
He got his career back on track in two seasons as the Mustangs’ starter. The 2013 campaign was easily the best of his college career, as he passed for 3,528 yards, 21 touchdowns with only seven interceptions.
Missing the final two games of the season because of a knee injury, he averaged 50 throws a game under pass-happy coach June Jones, who was once head coach of the Atlanta Falcons.
“Coach Jones, I owe a lot to him,” Gilbert said. “He obviously gave me a second chance to play in college football. I was very excited about the opportunity to get to play for a guy who has been so successful coaching quarterbacks for so long, and just learned so much from him ... about the game of football.
“We threw the ball around quite a bit and that makes for a lot of fun. It was one of the things that originally drew me to SMU, and so I really enjoyed getting to toss the ball around, spread it out a little bit and throw it down the field.”
After throwing 1,010 passes in two seasons at SMU, Gilbert now finds himself back with Kazor after the Rams selected him in the sixth round of the NFL draft on Saturday, No. 214 overall.
“Since he got back into scouting (with the Rams), I had seen him drop by a couple times when I was still at the University of Texas,” Gilbert said of Kazor. “I had seen him, but just to go to say hello. So it was great to actually get to reconnect and really talk with him.”
Gilbert might not be in the NFL, and certainly not with the Rams, without bumping into Kazor again at SMU’s pro day.
Kazor liked what he saw, enough so that the Rams later held a private workout for him. Now Gilbert’s the unlikely answer to the much-anticipated question this offseason: Who will the Rams select at QB in the draft?
“I think this is an awesome opportunity,” Gilbert said.
The private workout came the week before the draft was held. (The Rams weren’t in Texas just to look at Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel.) Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti put Gilbert through the paces in Dallas.
“I thought it went really well,” Gilbert said. “They obviously gave me some things I need to continue to work on, but I really enjoyed what they were teaching me. I got the chance to sit down and talk some football with them, which was great.
“Again, this is an opportunity I’m really excited for, and to be able to learn from some very good coaches and hopefully get the chance to learn from a guy like (Rams No. 1 quarterback) Sam Bradford.”
After seeing a run of quarterbacks go in the fourth through sixth rounds Saturday — the Rams had no fifth-round pick because of the trade-up for Florida State defensive back Lamarcus Joyner — the Rams finally got their man in Gilbert
“We want to give Garrett an opportunity to come in and show us what he can do,” coach Jeff Fisher said. “Outstanding career there at SMU.
“He’s poised in the pocket. He’s big, tall, strong. He’s got some mobility and has got good arm strength. We felt like he’s got a chance to come in and compete.”
Now that he’s in St. Louis, Gilbert will get to know Bradford.
“He was actually good buddies with Colt McCoy, who I played under when I was at Texas and (Bradford) was still at Oklahoma,” Gilbert said.
And he’ll get to know St. Louis, a city he never had been to until now.
“I know a lot about the (St. Louis) barbecue,” he said. “I have to compare it to the Texas barbeque that I’ve been having my whole life.”
Wait till he tries the toasted ravioli.
