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Sean Mannion working to progress while not playing
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...mannion-working-to-progress-while-not-playing
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- After passing on drafting a quarterback with anything more than a late, token draft choice in any drafts since coach Jeff Fisher and general manager Les Snead arrived in 2012, the St. Louis Rams finally decided to use a little bit of valuable draft capital this year on the game's most important position.
With their second of two third-round picks, the Rams selected Oregon State signal-caller Sean Mannion. That came on the heels of trades for two other quarterbacks, Nick Foles and Case Keenum. The plan all along was to allow Mannion time to develop as the No. 3 quarterback, which in itself is an interesting proposition.
As the No. 3 quarterback on any roster, repetitions are mostly limited to the preseason. Once the regular season starts, any experience gained comes almost exclusively from watching and learning. Since the season started, that has been Mannion's role on a weekly basis.
Instead of taking snaps and learning from mistakes or growing from success, Mannion spends his days paying close attention in meetings, helping the scout-team out and getting the odd rep here and there. In order to actually throw to players running routes, Mannion has to improvise.
"I think it’s always following along, always knowing what play is being run, really just paying attention," Mannion said. "What I try to do is grab one of our receivers and just go out there and have them stand where the plays are. Since I don’t get the reps in practice, I try to get them afterward and just get the mental reps during practice and then after grab a guy and have them run a route. It takes a little more time but I think it’s really good for me to follow along in practice, get mental reps then afterwards find a guy and get the physical reps as well."
Now that the Rams have elevated Keenum to the starting job above Foles, it has opened a round of questions about Mannion's state of readiness. In some sense, Mannion is the quarterback on the roster who draws the most intrigue, if only because he's the least-known commodity. Rams fans mostly know what they're going to get from Keenum or Foles but the fact Mannion hasn't played a snap simultaneously makes him the most interesting and potentially worst option on the roster.
Rams coach Jeff Fisher said Mannion is doing well with the few chances he's getting, but his workload could increase moving forward.
“He’s got a good feel for what we’re doing," Fisher said. "He’s paying attention. He’s not getting reps. He’s getting very few scout-team reps, but when he gets them, he’s doing fine. He puts our cards in our terminology and he’s doing fine. So, we’ll try to get him some more reps here as we push forward.”
For his part, Mannion says he feels comfortable in the offense. One of the things the Rams liked about him coming out of Oregon State was that he had experience playing in a pro style offense. So Mannion's adjustment to the scheme has been more about learning the terminology than the concepts.
The harder piece of the puzzle is trying to stay actively engaged when he knows he's not going to play on a weekly basis. To that end, Mannion makes it a point to try to take copious notes in meetings and present copies to Foles and Keenum at the end of the week. Doing so serves multiple purposes in helping them get an extra set of eyes on opponent film but also can allow Mannion to get feedback from the other quarterbacks on how he's seeing things when he watches.
"It’s just reminders that I can help myself remember things by writing it down and so by doing that and giving it to the other guys, it’s something I do to keep myself sharp on what’s going on in the game plan and then support them as best I can, too," Mannion said.
It's unlikely Mannion will get a chance to play this season unless the Rams are hit hard by injuries at the position. In the meantime, Mannion will do whatever he can to make sure he's ready even if the majority of that preparation happens somewhere other than a football field.
"I feel very comfortable," Mannion said. "It’s just getting more time to see plays and how they’re supposed to be run. I feel like I know the assignments, I think it’s just seeing the reps at practice and the timing of plays and seeing the spacing out there. There’s not as much out there in the NFL but seeing the spacing and timing needed to complete a pass and understanding things with more and more mental reps of seeing plays ran, I feel like I’ve had a good hold on the offense for a little bit now. I think it’s just getting the repetitions of seeing plays ran and going over them in the meeting rooms."
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...mannion-working-to-progress-while-not-playing
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- After passing on drafting a quarterback with anything more than a late, token draft choice in any drafts since coach Jeff Fisher and general manager Les Snead arrived in 2012, the St. Louis Rams finally decided to use a little bit of valuable draft capital this year on the game's most important position.
With their second of two third-round picks, the Rams selected Oregon State signal-caller Sean Mannion. That came on the heels of trades for two other quarterbacks, Nick Foles and Case Keenum. The plan all along was to allow Mannion time to develop as the No. 3 quarterback, which in itself is an interesting proposition.
As the No. 3 quarterback on any roster, repetitions are mostly limited to the preseason. Once the regular season starts, any experience gained comes almost exclusively from watching and learning. Since the season started, that has been Mannion's role on a weekly basis.
Instead of taking snaps and learning from mistakes or growing from success, Mannion spends his days paying close attention in meetings, helping the scout-team out and getting the odd rep here and there. In order to actually throw to players running routes, Mannion has to improvise.
"I think it’s always following along, always knowing what play is being run, really just paying attention," Mannion said. "What I try to do is grab one of our receivers and just go out there and have them stand where the plays are. Since I don’t get the reps in practice, I try to get them afterward and just get the mental reps during practice and then after grab a guy and have them run a route. It takes a little more time but I think it’s really good for me to follow along in practice, get mental reps then afterwards find a guy and get the physical reps as well."
Now that the Rams have elevated Keenum to the starting job above Foles, it has opened a round of questions about Mannion's state of readiness. In some sense, Mannion is the quarterback on the roster who draws the most intrigue, if only because he's the least-known commodity. Rams fans mostly know what they're going to get from Keenum or Foles but the fact Mannion hasn't played a snap simultaneously makes him the most interesting and potentially worst option on the roster.
Rams coach Jeff Fisher said Mannion is doing well with the few chances he's getting, but his workload could increase moving forward.
“He’s got a good feel for what we’re doing," Fisher said. "He’s paying attention. He’s not getting reps. He’s getting very few scout-team reps, but when he gets them, he’s doing fine. He puts our cards in our terminology and he’s doing fine. So, we’ll try to get him some more reps here as we push forward.”
For his part, Mannion says he feels comfortable in the offense. One of the things the Rams liked about him coming out of Oregon State was that he had experience playing in a pro style offense. So Mannion's adjustment to the scheme has been more about learning the terminology than the concepts.
The harder piece of the puzzle is trying to stay actively engaged when he knows he's not going to play on a weekly basis. To that end, Mannion makes it a point to try to take copious notes in meetings and present copies to Foles and Keenum at the end of the week. Doing so serves multiple purposes in helping them get an extra set of eyes on opponent film but also can allow Mannion to get feedback from the other quarterbacks on how he's seeing things when he watches.
"It’s just reminders that I can help myself remember things by writing it down and so by doing that and giving it to the other guys, it’s something I do to keep myself sharp on what’s going on in the game plan and then support them as best I can, too," Mannion said.
It's unlikely Mannion will get a chance to play this season unless the Rams are hit hard by injuries at the position. In the meantime, Mannion will do whatever he can to make sure he's ready even if the majority of that preparation happens somewhere other than a football field.
"I feel very comfortable," Mannion said. "It’s just getting more time to see plays and how they’re supposed to be run. I feel like I know the assignments, I think it’s just seeing the reps at practice and the timing of plays and seeing the spacing out there. There’s not as much out there in the NFL but seeing the spacing and timing needed to complete a pass and understanding things with more and more mental reps of seeing plays ran, I feel like I’ve had a good hold on the offense for a little bit now. I think it’s just getting the repetitions of seeing plays ran and going over them in the meeting rooms."
