Ground 'N Pound

[rams24/7]

Probably Fish's most notorious philosophy. We know the rep he got in Tennessee with backs like George and Johnson, though surprisingly enough he's had mixed results in STL.

The run game didn't catch on until the last half of 2013 with Stacy nearly reaching 1,000 yards and Mason had a good stretch of games last year. But Rams have yet to put a solid seasons worth of consistent running. Gurley, Havenstein, and Brown clearly signal the emphasis on winning by running the football to complement our D.

We had 364 carries for just under 1,500 yards among Mason, Stacy, Cunningham, Austin, and Watts last year. That's an average of a mere 22.75 carries per game.

I believe we can win with a smash-mouth running attack complementing a rock solid D. If we can grind out and extend drives we'll only help our defense and vise versa. My question is:

How many carries per game would you like our backs (Gurley, Mason, Benny, Watts, Austin) to average? How would you like the carries to be split? How many yards is a good year from the group?

I'll say:

-I want our back to average at least 28 rpg.
-(w/healthy Gurley) Gurley: 65% Mason: 25% Others: 10%
-I'd say we should shoot for 1,900-2,000 as a group

 

[WestCoastRam]

I do wonder... there seemed to be times over the last few years where Schottenheimer seemed to get away from what was working, trying to zig (pass) when he thought the defense was expecting zag (run). Maybe that was due to checks in the play-calls but I think the simpler answer is Schotty out-though his own play-calling. I wonder if we seem more of a commitment to the run game next season from just a simple play-calling standpoint.

 

[Mackeyser]

F that. This team should have 2400 yards as a running team. That's 150 ypg running the ball total. That's reasonable for a dominant running team.

For next year, by the end of the year, I think it should be 50% Gurley, 35% Mason, 15% others. I think it will take time for Gurley to get up to speed, but eventually I think he'll be taking most of the snaps and by then, he should be getting 20+ carries a game.

For some backs, less carries than that ruins their rhythm. Faulk used to say that. Not enough touches and it's hard to stay in the flow of the game.

 

[DLux27]

Yeah I see Tre Mason seeing around 25-40% on the rushes in yr 1 of Gurley. Tre is no slouch and we can't discredit him. 2 RB systems are still the norm in the NFL today to keep guys fresh. I rather have a fresh Gurley smashing people in the 4th than a tired one cause he's getting force fed all game.

 

[Athos]

Whelp, we're entirely a run team now.

I'm thinking 30-40 touches a game out of the backfield between, when all healthy: Gurley/Mason/BamBam/Austin.

Look for some intrigue with Gurley and Austin both lined up next to Foles.

 

[LesBaker]

This isn't going to be a smash-mouth team, it wasn't with a 2nd AND 3rd string QB so it won't be with Foles.

They will be balanced BUT when they do run it will be nothing tricky or fancy pants, it'll be the type of violent straight ahead running that we saw from Gore in his prime and that we see from the Seahawks. But the advantage the Rams will have is they have a guy under center that can create plays and doesn't need to lean heavily on a dominant run game that is being used 35-45 times a game.

Typically a team that is know for "power running" is that way because they have a so-so or below average QB. This is not the case for the Rams. An example of this is the recent Cowboys.