Rams' war-room drama reveals team on a familiar track/Silver

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RamBill

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Rams' war-room drama reveals team on a familiar track

By Michael Silver
NFL Media columnist
Published: May 2, 2015 at 06:10 p.m.
Updated: May 2, 2015 at 06:27 p.m.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...arroom-drama-reveals-team-on-a-familiar-track

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- At certain uncomfortable junctures throughout his 20-year career as an NFL head coach, Jeff Fisher has had to adapt to circumstance, reshaping his offense as a pass-heavy attack, or one that takes advantage of a quarterback's mobility.

Yet the times when Fisher's teams have been most effective -- the times when the man with the sublime 'stache has been most at peace with his situation -- have coincided with the presence of an elite, eminently productive running back. When Fisher coached the Titans to Super Bowl XXXIV, and later to the 2002 AFC Championship Game, the ultra-physical Eddie George was the offensive focal point. Tennessee's romp to the 2008 AFC South title, meanwhile, was fueled by the emergence of rookie speedster Chris Johnson.

And Friday night, for the first time in the three years and three months that have passed since Fisher took over as the St. Louis Rams' coach and top football decision-maker, he exuded a deep-seated satisfaction impossible to ignore -- that of a man who feels his team will play football the way he prefers it, with no ambiguity about its mission.

As he sat in his office following the second day of the 2015 NFL Draft, leaning back in a cushy chair while sipping a glass of bold red wine, Fisher didn't shy away from statements that might sound like hyperbole to some: Former Georgia star Todd Gurley, the swift and powerful runner he'd taken 10th overall in Thursday night's first round, is "a once-every-10-year back" who, along with the upgrades made to the offensive line in Rounds 2 (former Wisconsin tackle Rob Havenstein) and 3 (ex-Louisville guard Jamon Brown), will change the Rams' offensive identity.

"We're trying to become more physical on offense," Fisher said. "We did that today. We got two guys who are gonna go downfield and finish blocks -- and clear space for that guy we got last night to do what he does. It's not complicated: Hand it off, run play-action passes, get the ball out quickly, keep your defense off the field."

Or, as secondary coach and former collision-happy NFL safety Chuck Cecil had put it about 20 minutes earlier: "We're gonna be going old-school on 'em."

Fisher has, along with general manager Les Snead, already assembled an aggressive defense -- led by a star-studded stable of pass rushers and run-lane-cloggers up front. The coach believes he now has a suitably relentless offense to go with it. With a new quarterback in Nick Foles, acquired in a March trade with the Philadelphia Eagles for injury-prone passer Sam Bradford, Fisher isn't looking for big fantasy numbers or cutting-edge passing concepts. Rather, he and newly promoted offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti, who replaced Brian Schottenheimer after the 2014 season, will be quite comfortable handing the rock to Gurley and letting him grind his way down the field.

On paper, the Rams are bucking a trend. As the NFL becomes increasingly pass-centric, teams consistently unearth short-term answers at running back from later rounds and productive veterans struggle to get lucrative, long-term contracts, the Death of the Marquee Running Back has become a trendy talking point. In fairness, it's not just talk: No running back was selected in the first round of the 2013 or 2014 drafts, with Gurley and Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon (who went 15th overall to the Chargers) breaking the ignominious streak on Thursday.

Going all-in with Gurley, who tore his ACL last November, could be construed as a gamble. When I interviewed the newest Rams runner Friday on NFL Network, he expressed confidence in his recovery, and his new bosses obviously feel similarly. Fisher and Snead locked in on him as their top target midway through April and sweated out the draft's first nine picks before happily pouncing.

A couple of weeks before the draft, in an act that was part superstition and part subterfuge, Fisher moved Gurley's player card well below his actual slot on the draft board in the team's war room, placing him in the second-round range. "At that point," Fisher said, "(our interest in him) was on a need-to-know basis."

That set up quite the draft-room scene Thursday: After the Giants selected Miami guard Ereck Flowers with the ninth overall pick, Fisher instructed Sean Gustus, the area scout who'd given the initial grade on Gurley, to put the magnetic card "where it really belongs" on the draft board.

Gustus, Fisher recalled, "tried to stick it on the ceiling," as the scouts, coaches and other team officials in his midst broke out in celebratory laughter.
St. Louis Rams' 2015 NFL Draft

Round 1, Pick 10 (10): Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia

Round 2, Pick 25 (57): Rob Havenstein, OT, Wisconsin

Round 3, Pick 8 (72): Jamon Brown, OT, Louisville

Round 3, Pick 25 (89): Sean Mannion, QB, Oregon St.

Round 4, Pick 20 (119): Andrew Donnal, OT, Iowa

Round 6, Pick 25 (201): Bud Sasser, WR, Missouri

Round 6, Pick 39 (215): Cody Wichmann, G, Fresno St.

Round 7, Pick 7 (224): Bryce Hager, ILB, Baylor

Round 7, Pick 10 (227): Martin Ifedi, DE, Memphis

Predictably, there were no dissenters. Snead, who'd been speaking glowingly about Gurley since the runner's true freshman season, put it thusly: "When you'd pick out a game and watch his film, it was like watching a highlight reel. He just kept doing special things, play after play."

Said Fisher: "If it weren't for the injury, he probably wouldn't be a Ram. Because in everybody's opinion, he was a top two or three pick. When they say running backs don't have value anymore, that's not the case when it's a once-every-10-year back. That was the consensus in the building, and it was basically the consensus around the league."

For all of the Rams' rich history at the position -- which includes Hall of Famers Eric Dickerson, Jerome Bettis and Marshall Faulk, as well as another current St. Louis scout, Lawrence McCutcheon, who got especially fired up in the war room as Gurley's card was pulled -- they haven't ranked in the top half of the NFL in rushing yardage for the past 15 years. Tre Mason, selected in the third round last year, showed promise as a rookie, which will allow Fisher the luxury of easing Gurley back from his injury. Mason projects as the clear No. 2 behind Gurley; third-year pro Zac Stac was traded -- he had requested the move -- to the New York Jets on Saturday.

There was plenty of drama in the war room Friday night, as the Rams -- who had a cluster of offensive linemen stacked in the second-round range and were thus open to trading down -- fielded a fast and furious barrage of trade offers for their second-round pick (41st overall).

For five-and-a-half minutes, the room resembled a Jerry Lewis-sponsored telethon, with president Kevin Demoff, Snead and Fisher fielding simultaneous calls from teams making offers -- and in some cases, ringing back with sweetened trade proposals.

"I've never seen (a war room) quite that crazy," Fisher said later.

The Chiefs, Eagles, Texans, Steelers and Panthers all offered trade-down prospects, and the Cowboys called to gauge the market before bowing out. With four-and-a-half minutes on the clock, Fisher chose the Panthers' deal. The Rams got Carolina's second-round pick (57th overall), along with selections in the third and sixth round, and hoped one of the linemen they liked would last another 16 spots.

Mission accomplished: Four of the linemen the Rams coveted were there for the taking when the Rams went on the clock at 57, and after much back-and-forth at the board (with offensive line coach Paul Boudreau and assistant line coach Andy Dickerson joining Fisher, Snead and Demoff in the discussion), it was decided Havenstein would be the choice.

"We got a road-grader, boys," Fisher announced triumphantly. "A big-ass road grader."

Or maybe they hadn't: With a phone at his ear, Demoff informed Fisher that the Buccaneers were offering a trade prospect in which the Rams would move down eight spots (receiving the first pick of the third round) and swap a sixth-round pick for Tampa Bay's fourth-rounder. After a quick discussion, Fisher decided to take the deal.

Moments later, Demoff called the Bucs back, only to learn that they had chosen to rescind the offer.

Gesturing toward Boudreau, Fisher said, "OK, this guy can exhale now. Get him a glass of wine."

To the delight of Fisher and Boudreau, Brown -- another of the linemen being discussed as the possible second-round choice -- was still there when the team's third-round selection (72nd overall) rolled around. (And the Rams -- who later took ex-Oregon State quarterback Sean Mannion with the third-round pick acquired from the Panthers -- weren't done beefing up the line; they selected former Iowa tackle Andrew Donnal in the fourth round and ex-Fresno State guard Cody Wichmann in the sixth round Saturday.)

On Friday night, as he rocked back and forth in the chair behind his desk, Fisher was the emblem of serenity and satisfaction. After three seasons in which the Rams have shown occasional promise but lacked consistency -- and were unable to overcome the damage inflicted by season-ending knee injuries to Bradford -- Fisher has heard the noise that he is in a win-or-else situation for 2015.

Logic suggests this is in fact the case: Fisher's teams have gone 7-8-1, 7-9 and 6-10 since he arrived in St. Louis, and with a possible move to Los Angeles looming, there's a lot of uncertainty about the future.

Fisher, however, isn't carrying himself like a coach worried about his job security.

"I think this reflects a stability in the organization," he said of Gurley's selection. "You know, we're not impatient. We're going to bring him along and make sure he's ready to go and then hand him that little brown thing a bunch."

For this coach, at this moment, nothing could be more fulfilling.
 

Slappy967

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Another great article marred by the LA talk. I love getting the recaps from Silver both on twitter and in these articles. Now lets win some damn games already!
 

blue4

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Well, regardless of what we as individuals thought, it sounds as if they didn't take anyone they were uncertain about in a reach. That's good news.
 

Prime Time

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"At that point," Fisher said, "(our interest in him) was on a need-to-know basis."

He said, while looking at a certain Rams reporter. :sneaky:

"We got a road-grader, boys," Fisher announced triumphantly. "A big-a$$ road grader."

John Robinson 2.0

Said Fisher: "If it weren't for the injury, he probably wouldn't be a Ram. Because in everybody's opinion, he was a top two or three pick.

That's a fact.

they haven't ranked in the top half of the NFL in rushing yardage for the past 15 years.

Shocking stat.
 

jap

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The power running game with a special RB gives us the ability to control the game clock and give our defense plenty of rest. Play action passes should open up opportunities for Tavon, Sted, and the bigger fly boys to really do their thing. With TG eventually commanding supreme attention, Tavon now should find opportunity to find real space to roam down-field as long Nick can find him.

Chris Weinke needs to get busy getting Nick and the rest of our QBs as fundamentally sound as possible. With Sam's big arm no longer here, we need technically precise signal callers in order to maximize accuracy and ball distance. They have to be able to find tiny Tavon down-field amongst the defensive "trees." Sted already knows how to present himself as a 'big man' to QBs. I hope Brian Quick is ready to roll early in the season. However, our beefed up OL will provide room for our other RBs as well.

The defense was bolstered mostly by FAs. Hopefully, they will be ready to go full steam by Game One because they may have to carry the offense for a few games while our new QB establishes a game day rapport with his receivers. It will be interesting to see how Nick Fairley responds to all the talent around him. Having Chris Long bounce back from injury may be huge as well for the unit's success, especially if they are to seriously challenge the NFL sack record.

Our special teams have been boosted by the addition of TG as another potential kick returner, although his role there should wane as he gradually takes over starting TB duties. Tavon is already special as a punt returner. Our ST battery of Johnny Hekker, Greg the Turbo Leg, and Jake McQuiade is arguably the NFL's best.

Depending on how Nick assimilates with his new team, there may not be a better opportunity in more than a decade for the Horns to challenge for post season play, especially if new offensive coordinator customizes his scheme for his available talent as expected.
 
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snackdaddy

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Yeah, they don't have the look of a coach and GM on the hot seat this year. I have a feeling their jobs are safe even if they don't have a winning season.

I still think 2015 is not our year to be a playoff team. IMO, they're targeting 2016 as a realistic goal for a contender. And I don't mean just playoff contender.

If things fall in place they could be a legit super bowl contender. Hopefully it will be with a fully healthy Gurley and a few linemen who got past the rookie learning curve. We could have something really special in 2016.
 

Memphis Ram

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''We've got to get better at it. We need to be able to line up and say, 'Here we come. This is what we're running. Stop it,''' coach Jeff Fisher said. ''We're not there yet.''

December 2014
 

RaminExile

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''We've got to get better at it. We need to be able to line up and say, 'Here we come. This is what we're running. Stop it,''' coach Jeff Fisher said. ''We're not there yet.''

December 2014

Was that after that failed 4th down where everyone knew we were running that power play to the left side (we'd run it a few plays earlier) on 4th and inches - and we just got no push at all? I imagine so.
 

MTRamsFan

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Great article. I like the thought we are going to break the NFL trend of being a pass-happy team. We will run the ball allowing for a very effective passing game using play-action and the occasional long ball. Also, by using a "slowed-down" offensive approach, it will keep our defense fresh. Too many times, over the past couple years, have I watched our defense become worn down because the offense was inept in sustaining drives for more than 3 plays. If we get the offense to ground and pound ending up with points on the board, and use the clock effectively, it will make our defense so much better too.

Being a former O-Lineman in college, I too am old school, and want us to pound teams with a relentless running attack. It might be boring to most, but I love it.
 

jap

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Being a former O-Lineman in college, I too am old school, and want us to pound teams with a relentless running attack. It might be boring to most, but I love it.

RB's like TG make the power game beautiful to see. Just go look at some old Jim Brown or Eric Dickerson videos to see entire defenses ganging up against a tailback and still getting their butts beat!