Jaworski - on Bradford - on NFL32

[DR RAM]

I think they just continue to struggle in the red zone overall. They couldn't run the ball and had problems getting into the end zone throwing it. As the field shrinks you either need guys who can win 1-1 battles or be able to construct plays that have a high degree of success. IMO Bradford threw a lot of balls a way and was extra cautious down there despite his 3 INTs. Everything seemed to move a lot faster down there (which is probably true for all offenses) and it almost seemed as if they were hoping to score vs. knowing they could/would. Even Jackson went from a 4 yard type of back to more of a 1-2 yard type of back in close quarters and more players at the LOS. On paper they have the type of targets who should create mismatches in tall/long guys like Quick, Pettis, and Cook, a good 1-1 ball in the air player in Bailey, and a jitterbug in Austin.

i believe that's why they drafted stacy. a younger, smaller version of sjax but with fresh legs.

.

Not bashing on SJ, because he was a great Ram, but he never seemed to see the hole before he got the ball, and too many times failed to find the hole after he had the ball. Vision wasn't his greatest asset.

To kinda continue on this point, if the stats I have here are right (and by the way, why is it so hard to find Red Zone stats? You'd think that if a guy like Jaws places such a premium on them they'd be easier to find), SJ only had 29 rushing attempts in the Red Zone through week 16 last year -

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.junkyardjake.com/RedZoneRushers/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.junkyardjake.com/RedZoneRushers/</a>

To put that in context, Foster led the league with 75 of these attempts by this time. We all know that his game is power, not speed, so he wasn't a threat to break off an 80 yard run - in order to get him in the end zone he had to be closer and bull the defenders over in short range.

So this kind of puts his low number of rushing TDs into context, they weren't getting in situations where he could score.

Or that they thought he could score. the OL was a part of the problem.

 

[PrometheusFaulk]

I think they just continue to struggle in the red zone overall. They couldn't run the ball and had problems getting into the end zone throwing it. As the field shrinks you either need guys who can win 1-1 battles or be able to construct plays that have a high degree of success. IMO Bradford threw a lot of balls a way and was extra cautious down there despite his 3 INTs. Everything seemed to move a lot faster down there (which is probably true for all offenses) and it almost seemed as if they were hoping to score vs. knowing they could/would. Even Jackson went from a 4 yard type of back to more of a 1-2 yard type of back in close quarters and more players at the LOS. On paper they have the type of targets who should create mismatches in tall/long guys like Quick, Pettis, and Cook, a good 1-1 ball in the air player in Bailey, and a jitterbug in Austin.

i believe that's why they drafted stacy. a younger, smaller version of sjax but with fresh legs.

.

Not bashing on SJ, because he was a great Ram, but he never seemed to see the hole before he got the ball, and too many times failed to find the hole after he had the ball. Vision wasn't his greatest asset.

To kinda continue on this point, if the stats I have here are right (and by the way, why is it so hard to find Red Zone stats? You'd think that if a guy like Jaws places such a premium on them they'd be easier to find), SJ only had 29 rushing attempts in the Red Zone through week 16 last year -

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.junkyardjake.com/RedZoneRushers/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.junkyardjake.com/RedZoneRushers/</a>

To put that in context, Foster led the league with 75 of these attempts by this time. We all know that his game is power, not speed, so he wasn't a threat to break off an 80 yard run - in order to get him in the end zone he had to be closer and bull the defenders over in short range.

So this kind of puts his low number of rushing TDs into context, they weren't getting in situations where he could score.

Or that they thought he could score. the OL was a part of the problem.

Yeah, when you get it down there it's a game of will in the trenches a lot. The reason I think it may be a situational deal though is the meager 9 attempts inside the five as well. Means that 20 of those rushing attempts were from the 6-20 (I guess), not exactly striking distance for most backs in that space.

 

[Warner4Prez]

I'd put a fairly large chunk of the blame on supporting cast frankly. Sure Bradford's the dude under center, but who the hell is he chucking the ball to over the past few years? Uh-Oh, Gibson, Fells, Avery, Amdenola, DX and the cast of rookies last year. We'll see how Tom Brady thrives with a few of those guys as primary targets this upcoming season too, mind you.

With the exception of DX, size has been a glaring need in the red zone scheme, and it seems to be something they're figuring out now with Quick, Cook and Pettis. They didn't have the ability to line up mano-a-mano and beat people in the past, now they might have some personnel to spread them out and surprise them. Onward and upward.