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Wagoner Chat Highlights
—I think it’s a safe bet you’ll see some different looks from Gregg Williams and Co. We aren’t allowed to write about or comment what we see in practice in terms of personnel groupings and such but I’ll just reiterate that you’ll see some new wrinkles with Williams in charge.
—PFF Rates JL as a Below Average Starter….I think they are that far off. He’s not Dick Butkus and never has been but Laurinaitis is much better than a below average starter. Does he have his limitations? Sure. But below average is what the Rams used to trot out there before Laurinaitis arrived. Guys like Chris Claiborne or Robert Thomas.
—It’s funny, I remember people who disliked Shurmur because he was “too conservative” when Sam was a rookie. And if you go back and look at Bradford’s numbers from that year it actually was a conservative offense. He set records for completions and attempts but his yards per completion and rating weren’t off the charts. What really threw him off, in my opinion, was year two. The fit with McDaniels was not a good one and they were coming off the lockout. He had little time to learn that offense which was MUCH different than Shurmur’s. Then, he had the ankle injury that plagued him. It really set him back, I believe. But Bradford is polarizing amongst Rams fans. Many either want to get rid of him or love him. To me, the truth lies somewhere in between in the sense that as crazy as it sounds, after four years, you really don’t know what you have for the long haul.
—Ray Ray Armstrong looks like he could be ready for an expanded role.
—The Rams keep their injury information close to the vest. I do know Alexander had a knee scope, Daniels is returning from an injury last year, Bryant also had an injury that kept him out at the end of his college career and Brockers had his ankle wrapped during yesterday’s practice. But again, nothing official and the Rams aren’t saying.
—Too early to make any real predictions but it still seems to me that it will be an uphill climb for Rams to make it this year. The team has earmarked this as the year they want to breakthrough since Fisher arrived. They should be held to that standard.
—I think it’s about wins and losses. The past two years, it was about seeing improvement. It happened ahead of schedule in 2012 which made 2013 a bit of a disappointment when the Rams didn’t improve (though they were missing the QB). Now that the QB is back and the team has made it clear they want this to be a breakthrough year, they should be judged on the results, not just the performance. That’s what they want and that’s how it should be.
—I don’t get into the whole “killer instinct” or attitude discussions when it comes to Bradford. Plenty of quarterbacks don’t show a lot of emotion and go out and rip your heart out. It’s an intangible thing that is pulled from the sky to make a straw man argument, in my opinion. However, I do think this is a huge year for Bradford. I’ve said and written as much in the past and nothing has changed. If he doesn’t have a good year or, worse, again suffers a major injury, the team will have little choice but to move on.
—I wouldn’t base anything on OTAs in terms of making this determination so I’d stick with what I thought was the weakest position group before OTAs: safety. There’s talent there but it’s mostly unproven.
—Poor Scheme or Lack of Secondary Talent Last Year? My hunch is that it was a combination of things but it remains to be seen how the change will manifest this year. I think there is talent in the secondary, part of Williams’ job will be to maximize that. Walton was unable to which was especially damning since his background was as a secondary coach.
—If I had to guess, it’s Givens, Britt and Austin that will end up with the most reps when it’s all said and done. Bailey has played well in the OTAs I’ve seen (again noting that it’s just OTAs) but obviously has the suspension.
—Anything can happen. I do think the Rams can push past Arizona. I’m not so sure about the other two. I wouldn’t be shocked if Seattle and/or San Fran dipped a little record wise but I don’t expect that dip to be enough to drop either below second place. Injuries could change that.
—McGee has had some rough moments and some good moments. He’s getting a lot of work as the nickel right now. I’d still expect Joyner to surpass him eventually. Not much of note from Reid.
Read More of Wagoner's Chat Highlights
—I think it’s a safe bet you’ll see some different looks from Gregg Williams and Co. We aren’t allowed to write about or comment what we see in practice in terms of personnel groupings and such but I’ll just reiterate that you’ll see some new wrinkles with Williams in charge.
—PFF Rates JL as a Below Average Starter….I think they are that far off. He’s not Dick Butkus and never has been but Laurinaitis is much better than a below average starter. Does he have his limitations? Sure. But below average is what the Rams used to trot out there before Laurinaitis arrived. Guys like Chris Claiborne or Robert Thomas.
—It’s funny, I remember people who disliked Shurmur because he was “too conservative” when Sam was a rookie. And if you go back and look at Bradford’s numbers from that year it actually was a conservative offense. He set records for completions and attempts but his yards per completion and rating weren’t off the charts. What really threw him off, in my opinion, was year two. The fit with McDaniels was not a good one and they were coming off the lockout. He had little time to learn that offense which was MUCH different than Shurmur’s. Then, he had the ankle injury that plagued him. It really set him back, I believe. But Bradford is polarizing amongst Rams fans. Many either want to get rid of him or love him. To me, the truth lies somewhere in between in the sense that as crazy as it sounds, after four years, you really don’t know what you have for the long haul.
—Ray Ray Armstrong looks like he could be ready for an expanded role.
—The Rams keep their injury information close to the vest. I do know Alexander had a knee scope, Daniels is returning from an injury last year, Bryant also had an injury that kept him out at the end of his college career and Brockers had his ankle wrapped during yesterday’s practice. But again, nothing official and the Rams aren’t saying.
—Too early to make any real predictions but it still seems to me that it will be an uphill climb for Rams to make it this year. The team has earmarked this as the year they want to breakthrough since Fisher arrived. They should be held to that standard.
—I think it’s about wins and losses. The past two years, it was about seeing improvement. It happened ahead of schedule in 2012 which made 2013 a bit of a disappointment when the Rams didn’t improve (though they were missing the QB). Now that the QB is back and the team has made it clear they want this to be a breakthrough year, they should be judged on the results, not just the performance. That’s what they want and that’s how it should be.
—I don’t get into the whole “killer instinct” or attitude discussions when it comes to Bradford. Plenty of quarterbacks don’t show a lot of emotion and go out and rip your heart out. It’s an intangible thing that is pulled from the sky to make a straw man argument, in my opinion. However, I do think this is a huge year for Bradford. I’ve said and written as much in the past and nothing has changed. If he doesn’t have a good year or, worse, again suffers a major injury, the team will have little choice but to move on.
—I wouldn’t base anything on OTAs in terms of making this determination so I’d stick with what I thought was the weakest position group before OTAs: safety. There’s talent there but it’s mostly unproven.
—Poor Scheme or Lack of Secondary Talent Last Year? My hunch is that it was a combination of things but it remains to be seen how the change will manifest this year. I think there is talent in the secondary, part of Williams’ job will be to maximize that. Walton was unable to which was especially damning since his background was as a secondary coach.
—If I had to guess, it’s Givens, Britt and Austin that will end up with the most reps when it’s all said and done. Bailey has played well in the OTAs I’ve seen (again noting that it’s just OTAs) but obviously has the suspension.
—Anything can happen. I do think the Rams can push past Arizona. I’m not so sure about the other two. I wouldn’t be shocked if Seattle and/or San Fran dipped a little record wise but I don’t expect that dip to be enough to drop either below second place. Injuries could change that.
—McGee has had some rough moments and some good moments. He’s getting a lot of work as the nickel right now. I’d still expect Joyner to surpass him eventually. Not much of note from Reid.
Read More of Wagoner's Chat Highlights