Rams rookie review: Week 6 --Wagoner

[RamBill]

Rams rookie review: Week 6
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/12639/rams-rookie-review-week-6

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- A look at playing time and production of each of the St. Louis Rams' drafted rookies and a quick glimpse at the undrafted rookie class in Monday's 31-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

OL Greg Robinson, first round, No. 2 overall: Robinson's time finally arrived as he made his first NFL start at left guard. He went on to play all 74 snaps and had his share of ups and downs as you'd expect. The Rams had protection issues but Robinson didn't appear to be at the root of many of them. He should be entrenched here moving forward. He also played three snaps on special teams.

DT Aaron Donald, first round, No. 13 overall: Like Robinson, Donald also stepped into the starting lineup in place of Kendall Langford. And his workload more than doubled his season average as he played a whopping 58 snaps. That's the most of any defensive linemen on the roster. Also like Robinson, his day had some ups and downs as he finished with four tackles and had a couple of quarterback hurries.

DB Lamarcus Joyner, second round, No. 41 overall: Quietly, Joyner might have had the best game of his young career. With the Niners rarely using more than two receivers, Joyner wasn't on the field much as he played just 26 defensive snaps but he was solid for almost all of them and made the most of his 15 special-teams plays. He had two tackles and a quarterback hurry on defense and a pair of special-teams tackles in addition to solid coverage.

RB Tre Mason, third round, No. 75 overall: It was a night for rookies as Mason was active for the first time and excelled on the chances he was given. He played only nine snaps but had five carries for 40 yards and a catch for 12 yards. It's a small sample size but that productivity should at least earn him more opportunities moving forward.

S Maurice Alexander, fourth round, No. 110 overall: Alexander was active against San Francisco and played a dozen snaps on special teams.

CB E.J. Gaines, sixth round, No. 188 overall: Niners receiver Michael Crabtree beat Gaines for an easy touchdown in the second half but the play wasn't completely Gaines' fault as the coverage scheme made little sense and Crabtree ran an excellent route. It wasn't Gaines' best day but he was far from the biggest problem in the secondary as he played 59 snaps on defense and 10 on special teams. He finished with three tackles and a pass defended.

C Demetrius Rhaney, seventh round, No. 250 overall: Rhaney is on injured reserve for the season with a knee injury.

Undrafted rookie roundup: Defensive lineman Ethan Westbrooks played 27 snaps but had a quiet night that didn't result in any production in the unofficial statistics. ... Running back Trey Watts didn't get any chances to work with the offense but he played 19 snaps and had a tackle. ... Cornerback Marcus Roberson also played only on special teams with six snaps and Alex Bayer got 10 plays.

 

[RamBill]

W2W4 revisited: St. Louis Rams
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/12627/w2w4-revisited-st-louis-rams-8

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Looking back at three things to watch from the St. Louis Rams' 31-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night:

1. Penalty persistence: As the Rams jumped out to a 14-0 lead, it was no coincidence that they were on the right side of a handful of penalty calls against the 49ers. They managed to avoid early flags and were enjoying the benefits as teams usually do against them. Of course, that course corrected throughout the rest of the game as the Rams managed to finish with eight penalties for 38 yards. That's less yardage than they usually accumulate but partly because two of those infractions came down by their goal line when there wasn't much room for the ball to move after the flag. The Rams were also burned near the end of the first half by a phantom offensive pass interference call against tight end Jared Cook. All in all, it was better than it's been, but still not good enough.

2. Communication is key: Niners receiver Brandon Lloyd's 80-yard touchdown before the half might not have been a miscommunication per se, but it might as well have been given the outcome. Lloyd beat cornerback Janoris Jenkins on a double move when Jenkins was supposed to play a simple zone coverage intended to keep the ball in front of the defense. We don't know if he thought it was supposed to be something else because he didn't talk about it after the game but either way, it was yet another massive coverage breakdown that flipped a game the Rams were leading. The big plays allowed by the defense continue to pile up.

3. Bringing down Kaepernick: We are now five games into this season and the Rams have a whopping total of one sack. That's the worst start to a season since the NFL began tracking sacks. The Rams had a couple of opportunities but couldn't bring Colin Kaepernick down, and they weren't all that close for most of the night despite coordinator Gregg Williams' insistence on bringing the blitz over and over. Kaepernick was five-of-11 for 97 yards and two touchdowns against the blitz. Kaepernick had been sacked the fourth-most of any quarterback in the league entering Monday night's game, but the Niners found the tonic for that in the Rams.