So, what did you observe last night?

[JackDRams]

I'll say this regarding last night. I am now overwhelmingly aggravated that we did not go after Rodney Hudson. I love Les Snead and Jeff Fisher more than most, but dagumit, that was the only FA I wanted for this team. Look at what a guy like that would give this OL right now. He's a Pro Bowler in and out. Out of all the things that happened last night, which I don't read into as much as most, that was the one thing that irked my skin. Watching him handle Brockers and Donald.

*Copied from another thread*

With what money? Going after him means no Ayers or Fairley. At least. I personally would have taken the uber cheap Wisniewski. You dont need an all pro centre to play good football. Even Wisniewski is an upgrade over what we currently have.

 

[WestCoastRam]

Not so sure Reynolds history is on the right side and why did they go with Washington after the injury? Maybe that was the plan so they stuck to it, but I concur I would rather see Reynolds then Washington with Saffold sitting.

I'm 90% sure you're right. I think Washington was the plan at LG for the 2s. Most coaches I've heard in interviews state that the preseason is more about going through their checklist of grading players and units than responding to in game situations. That sad thing is, would Reynolds be that much better?

 

[WestCoastRam]

Couple more things:

Totally agree with what most everyone else saw so I'll only add a few extra things.

1) Williams at LT, did he look as good as I thought he did. If he seems like a real contender at backup tackle, that's gonna make cutting the line down really hard because we can't stash Battle on the PS.
2) 3rd and one run game. I said it once already but it was the most refreshing thing. We haven't been able to run up the gut in years for either lack of will or lack of talent (probably both). It was brilliant to be able to pick up those yards.
3) I'm a huge GRob fan and I'm willing to give a pass on the 1st preseason game but boy did he look sloppy. Real sloppy.
4) Foles, this 1st read only stuff is gonna kill us by game 4 if he doesn't improve. Small sample size in the game but seems to speak to what camp observers shared.
5) Bates will be missed on ST. (I'm betting ACL tear from what JT said). Thankfully we have Dunbar or we'd be right back to where we were with linebacker depth the last couple years.
6) Rhaney, not only did he have the low snaps but it seemed like he was getting pushed back. Just don't see him there yet. Barnes - dare I say - looked good?

 

[shaunpinney]

Thanks for that - like I said earlier not seen the game yet, only came out of hospital yesterday and have been sleeping off my meds - didnt know who was at WR with him - what was brown like? Did he get the ball at all??

 

[shaunpinney]

Sorry @flv just seen the previous post - disappointed with Brown (RB) had hopes for him - oh well, can't win me all

 

[iced]

Positives

-Loved Sean Mannion - all those camp reports were right about this guy....i really can't praise this kid enough - i can seriously see him competing for the starting spot within a couple years

-Kendricks, Cook, and Austin... Glad Austin finally made an appearance - Kendricks and Cooks is kind of what I expected from both. Would have been a tough catch, but damnit cookie work on them hands!

-Pead. I thought he looked the best out of all the backs that night. Mason looked okay but barely played. Pead showed his hands with that nice one handed catch on the screen, ran well with some burst and good vision/cutbacks; saw him help a tad in pass pro by chipping with the RT... Lot to like. Did not like the backs after him

-Loved seeing Mcdonald making plays all over the field

Concern

-Robinson - he held his own until Saffold went down, then he struggled mightily... Khalil Mack is a good player but he's not a house hold name, and there are better pass rushers he will need to block. Hope he improves next week

-Defensive scheme....you gotta realize teams are gonna get the ball out quick against the d-line, and its maddening to keep seeing the corners play so far off the ball.

-Could see the difference in what hayes brings at RDE vs what Long does... felt that was a big difference last night.

-Saffold's inability to stay healthy... i hope someone else can win the back up LG job, quick.
Negatives

-Joyner.... he had a game to forget...out of position and beat a lot..that first Touchdown to Andre Holmes was just bad

-Brandon Washington - ugh jesus christ...really don't think I need to go into how big of a drop off it is from Saffold to him, just ask Foles..

-penalties... i don't think there's any excuse for this - doesn't matter if its preseason or regular season, this team finds a way to rack 'em up..especially with stupid delay of game penalties

-Keenum and Davis - I sincerely hope they don't have to start for us at any point...

-Refs... unbelievable how this d-line can't get holding calls.. I didn't realize rear naked chokes were allowed in the rule book.. Or are these the same dipshits from the cowboys game?

-Reynolds, Watts, and Brown.... Was not a fan of what they brought to the table, particularly reynolds in pass pro. Saw him get blown up; was not encouraged by this group.

-Center play... Oakland showed us what a good center looks like vs ours

 

[Force16X]

why would havenstein and brown be limited to 2 series/? they're rookies, practice makes perfect.

 

[Angry Ram]

There are toO many new parts, important parts, to remain ultra vanilla and low key. IMO. Better to practice now than wait until week 6.

Not many new "parts". OK center. Where else?

I'm pretty sure they know what they have from their starters, and most of them are going into their 2nd/3rd years or are vets. They don't need a preseason game to use regular season schemes.

Half the guys that played last night won't be on the roster in 3 weeks, let alone week 6.

 

[CGI_Ram]

I think people are being WAY too hard on Robinson.

Ditto.

 

[fearsomefour]

The Refs blew several big penalties against the Raiders. I don't think it was intentional, I think it was preseason. You have to admit they almost never call the holding on the pass rush that happens just about every play though.

True.
Although last night I saw tons of uncalled holding on both teams. I am sure the league wants these games moved along to a certain extent and they are not going to call them super closely, at least not the first couple of weeks.
I get that Ram fans are more sensitive to non called holding as the pass rush is sort of what gets our entire team going....it was bad with Quinn last year and I expect Donald to get mugged a lot this year.

 

[fearsomefour]

Ditto.

I don't know. When you hear over and over a guy is all world and he looks sloppy it is easy to be critical. Make no mistake, he is sloppy at times. The encouraging part is that even when he gets out of position he is athletic enough to recover, that is a major plus. As this season progresses I expect Robinson to get to the point where we just forgot about the DE on that side.....shut down.

 

[JRobinson]

With what money? Going after him means no Ayers or Fairley. At least. I personally would have taken the uber cheap Wisniewski. You dont need an all pro centre to play good football. Even Wisniewski is an upgrade over what we currently have.

Well depending on your football philosophy, I'd much rather have Hudson over Ayers and Fairley. It's not even a debate in my mind. Building from the trenches; thats what it's about for me. But, like I said before and I'll say it again, I believe in the front office. I believe in what they are doing and I believe and their goals.

 

[CGI_Ram]

Well depending on your football philosophy, I'd much rather have Hudson over Ayers and Fairley. It's not even a debate in my mind. Building from the trenches; thats what it's about for me. But, like I said before and I'll say it again, I believe in the front office. I believe in what they are doing and I believe and their goals.

You could definitely make the argument the dline was in better shape than the oline, thus allocating Fairly's dollars to the oline.

But Snead said a while back (talking about his approach to building a team) they wanted to make one unit on the team an elite unit and make that our identity. They chose the dline.

 

[V3]

Not many new "parts". OK center. Where else?

I'm pretty sure they know what they have from their starters, and most of them are going into their 2nd/3rd years or are vets. They don't need a preseason game to use regular season schemes.

Half the guys that played last night won't be on the roster in 3 weeks, let alone week 6.

C, RG, RT, QB. You can add RB once Gurley comes back. Might consider OC, too, since the scheme, while not completely new, has some new wrinkles in it.

 

[SierraRam]

Khalil Mack is a good player but he's not a house hold name,

I agree with what you said @iced except this^. Mack was 3rd in DROY voting last year and first according to ESPN. He was a very tough test for us and overall, GRob did OK imo...

One observation: We converted two 3rd and short yardage plays by running the ball! Hallelujah

 

[blue4]

Not many new "parts". OK center. Where else?

I'm pretty sure they know what they have from their starters, and most of them are going into their 2nd/3rd years or are vets. They don't need a preseason game to use regular season schemes.

Half the guys that played last night won't be on the roster in 3 weeks, let alone week 6.

How about the QB, the RG, the RT, the OC? In addition to the center mentioned. The playcaller, the most important guy on the offense and 60% of the OL seems like a lot of new parts to get together on the same page to me.

As far as not needing preseason games, they said that last year. Turns out they needed about 8 more games past preseason.

I'm not talking about the scrubs. I'm referring to the 1s and 2s.

 

[den-the-coach]

That sad thing is, would Reynolds be that much better?

I think he is and he obviously has more starts than Washington has had, but who knows?