A few impressions from that Giant game…

[Mojo Ram]

Well since you mentioned it... The job of the backup when he enters a game with a big lead is to not fuck it up. So basically don't fumble it or make risky throws. So his outing was pretty bad.

McVay responded by running the ball thereafter. IMO Wolford took a hit there with that INT, that's the kind of shit that makes your coach lose confidence in you.

Yeah his performance was very disappointing. It also looked like he tried to get his head removed again after escaping the pocket.

 

[Tano]

I'm sincerely proud of ROD for not having a John Wolford vent thread this week.

Starting one up in 5......

 

[MachS]

The Chargers have one of the worst run defenses in the league. The Ravens ran all over them. I recall that being a problem for the Rams last year. I’m wondering if that’s why Morris had made some of the changes he did early on. The Rams faced some good offenses.

Now may be the time to experiment. Maybe this is more of the defense we see when the Rams are leading and forcing a team to be one dimensional.

Which leads me to the slow starts. Slow starts do not help the defense at all. I understand McVay’s frustration. It needs to be fixed ASAP.

Yea I loved Rapp playing down in the box more. Thats where he belongs. Let Scott and Burgess fill the other deep safety role. I also felt like we played more man coverage this week? I haven't watched the all22 yet but did anyone else notice this?

Also am I crazy but why do I feel Donte Deayon is better playing outside CB than David Long? Rochelle needs to keep getting more snaps and time to develop, he seems to have the most upside of that group even though we can expect some inconsistency in his game.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Yea I loved Rapp playing down in the box more. Thats where he belongs. Let Scott and Burgess fill the other deep safety role. I also felt like we played more man coverage this week? I haven't watched the all22 yet but did anyone else notice this?

Also am I crazy but why do I feel Donte Deayon is better playing outside CB than David Long? Rochelle needs to keep getting more snaps and time to develop, he seems to have the most upside of that group even though we can expect some inconsistency in his game.

Donte Deayon plays the ball. Long doesnt. Ling just tried to stick to his man. It doesn’t work when he’s 5’-9”. Im guessing Long lacks the instinct and was picked for his measurables. Timed drills are great to show athletic traits. But they need to go with football instinct/intelligence.

 

[Tano]

Donte Deayon plays the ball. Long doesnt. Ling just tried to stick to his man. It doesn’t work when he’s 5’-9”. Im guessing Long lacks the instinct and was picked for his measurables. Timed drills are great to show athletic traits. But they need to go with football instinct/intelligence.

Thing is - Long showed instinct and intelligence when he was in college. Now he is showing nothing.

 

[Merlin]

Yeah his performance was very disappointing. It also looked like he tried to get his head removed again after escaping the pocket.

Agreed. Honestly I think he lacks the self preservation you need to have in this league at QB. God forbid we ever do need him, because he'll probably get hurt again in the first couple games. And McVay doesn't seem to realize that is an issue, given the way he called the run play that got him injured after watching the Cards lay nasty licks on him all day the previous week.

I'm guessing next year Perkins is our guy. He's bigger and less aggressive in his runs, not to mention younger and can run like Wolford does when he needs to he's just not crazy about it.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

I have no idea if this is the case or not. But it sure as heck makes me feel better thinking that it is. So I’m just gonna assume you are onto something here Elm - and feel like we’re better for it with Morris. At worst, ignorance is bliss lol.

Lol. It’s easy to focus on what’s not right. I do it too often. I know McVay is smart and figure Morris can’t be a dumby or he wouldn’t have been hired, so I’m just looking at other possibilities.

The Rams are at 13th with 646 rush yards allowed
The Chargers are 32nd with 975 rush yards allowed

Or maybe they just wanted to be cautious until they got past the ridiculously tough 5 game opening schedule to really get a feel for who can do what.

What I’m really waiting on is the 49ers games. I recall that someone said Morris has had past success against the Niners. I’m hoping to see total ownage against that team. I think those games will be telling on if Morris really made any improvements or not.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Thing is - Long showed instinct and intelligence when he was in college. Now he is showing nothing.

I don’t think he did. All I saw at Michigan was his superior athleticism allowing him to stick tight to lesser athletic receivers and making QBs reluctant to throw his way. What looks good in college doesn’t always translate to the NFL.

 

[Tano]

I don’t think he did. All I saw at Michigan was his superior athleticism allowing him to stick tight to lesser athletic receivers and making QBs reluctant to throw his way. What looks good in college doesn’t always translate to the NFL.

I don't watch Michigan games but didn't he also cover the other teams top receiver in college or did someone else cover the top receiver. Sincere question here.

 

[Merlin]

I don’t think he did. All I saw at Michigan was his superior athleticism allowing him to stick tight to lesser athletic receivers and making QBs reluctant to throw his way. What looks good in college doesn’t always translate to the NFL.

If I'm his coach right now I'm working on his hands. He needs to be aggressive with his hands, trying to get them in there to disrupt. Being on the guy doesn't mean shit if they're catching everything thrown to them.

Rochell too btw. The analyst called him out on that near-PI in the endzone and was 100% correct.

Basically right now we're gonna have to endure some growing pains with our corners. I do still have some hope for Long but the guy drives me batshit with the completions while he's standing right there.

 

[KJD_Ram]

"...I'm still waiting on details of the 'poor-sportsmanship' penalty."

no kidding...you think if G-Men had blocked that punt that we would have got to punt again?....yeah, me neither...

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

I don't watch Michigan games but didn't he also cover the other teams top receiver in college or did someone else cover the top receiver. Sincere question here.

Michigan had Uche and Wynovich on the edge back then with Gary and Dwumgour inside. They had an aggressive pass rush which makes DBs jobs easier.

They had Jabril Peppers, Dymonte Thomas, Delano Hill, Channing Stribling all DBs over 6’ tall. I don’t recall Long being the guy taking away other teams best wide receivers. All I recall is his ability to run close to the guys he’s covered. He had two Int’s in 17’ and one in 18’. He’s your typical hit or miss mid round DB. I really didn’t think any of Michigan’s DBs were that good aside from Peppers but they didn’t need to be with the pressure they created.

I actually thought the Rams drafted along to play Slot. But that didn’t really work out.

 

[bluecoconuts]

WTH is up with Wolford? That was NOT confidence inspiring, was it? Too early to think that McVay is starting to have second thoughts about his backup QB pecking order? Wolford vs Perkins? Hmmmmm…

Wolford is a mid at best, to low tier backup, and while I like him as a backup, I honestly think a lot of people were overhyping him in order to bring down Jared. An injured 9 fingered Goff was still miles ahead of Wolford, we shouldn't lose sight of that. While he brings a different element to the game that Jared (nor Stafford) brings with his mobility, the offence under him against the Cardinals wasn't really anything to write home about. He can make some throws as we saw, and he can make plays with his legs, but if we have to rely on him for an extended period I think people would likely call for a more experienced backup pretty quickly.

That being said, for his limited action he mostly did his job, I don't really think we can really expect him to do more. I don't remember the interception off the top of my head, but I don't like that he threw one really, we should have just been running to bleed the clock.

Perkins needs a lot more development with his arm/throwing ability before I'll be comfortable with him taking a regular season snap personally, he's got a lot of potential but he's still a ways behind Wolford. Depending on how he develops over the season I could see him taking that backup spot though, I like his running ability better, he just seemed to be late on his timing/throws a lot of the time in the preseason. How much that was due to being preseason or not it's hard to say.

His last NFL game was in the play-offs last year against Green Bay.

He didn't play in that game, his last full game was against Arizona and then he got injured in his second series against Seattle and was replaced by Goff.

He took a decent hit against the Giants as well, I honestly didn't think that play call was very good for him to take that shot, but I guess he knows he can take a hit again at least.

 

[Riverumbbq]

Wolford is a mid at best, to low tier backup, and while I like him as a backup, I honestly think a lot of people were overhyping him in order to bring down Jared. An injured 9 fingered Goff was still miles ahead of Wolford, we shouldn't lose sight of that. While he brings a different element to the game that Jared (nor Stafford) brings with his mobility, the offence under him against the Cardinals wasn't really anything to write home about. He can make some throws as we saw, and he can make plays with his legs, but if we have to rely on him for an extended period I think people would likely call for a more experienced backup pretty quickly.

That being said, for his limited action he mostly did his job, I don't really think we can really expect him to do more. I don't remember the interception off the top of my head, but I don't like that he threw one really, we should have just been running to bleed the clock.

Perkins needs a lot more development with his arm/throwing ability before I'll be comfortable with him taking a regular season snap personally, he's got a lot of potential but he's still a ways behind Wolford. Depending on how he develops over the season I could see him taking that backup spot though, I like his running ability better, he just seemed to be late on his timing/throws a lot of the time in the preseason. How much that was due to being preseason or not it's hard to say.





He didn't play in that game, his last full game was against Arizona and then he got injured in his second series against Seattle and was replaced by Goff.

He took a decent hit against the Giants as well, I honestly didn't think that play call was very good for him to take that shot, but I guess he knows he can take a hit again at least.

Yeah, another brain fart on my end. It was Donald who missed the second half of the Green Bay play-off game.

 

[thirteen28]

Yeah, another brain fart on my end. It was Donald who missed the second half of the Green Bay play-off game.

Well, they are both special teams aces, so you can be forgiven for the mistake.

 

[MachS]

If I'm his coach right now I'm working on his hands. He needs to be aggressive with his hands, trying to get them in there to disrupt. Being on the guy doesn't mean shit if they're catching everything thrown to them.

Rochell too btw. The analyst called him out on that near-PI in the endzone and was 100% correct.

Basically right now we're gonna have to endure some growing pains with our corners. I do still have some hope for Long but the guy drives me batshit with the completions while he's standing right there.

The thing thats different with Rochelle though is his positioning has been pretty decent. That PI call they picked up, his coverage was good. He just didn't get his head around and decided to push the WR which was stupid and an obvious PI. But up until that point, his coverage was sticky. Same with the TD he gave up to Metcalf. He stayed with him on his hip the entire route, but last second makes a bone headed play that takes him out of position. To me he just needs to improve his fundamentals and make more plays on the ball.

Whereas I feel like David Long is nowhere near the WRs he's covering. If he's playing off, he doesn't break on the route quick enough and its the easiest completion ever. If hes pressing he gets beat bad off the line. If he gets hit with a double move he gets toasted by 10+ yards. To me he's hardly even been competitive at CB. And this is year 3 for him! Rochelle is still a rookie. Idk I just think he's earned the snaps over Long and I want to see what he looks like in another month or two.

 

[Merlin]

Well I will admit I have not been reviewing games at all this year. So you may be right re: Long being out of position. It just seems like every time I see him give up a completion he's next to the WR and watching him catch it.

And I'm not down on Rochell at all for the record. Agree he's a work in progress and hope he learns quick.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

If I'm his coach right now I'm working on his hands. He needs to be aggressive with his hands, trying to get them in there to disrupt. Being on the guy doesn't mean shit if they're catching everything thrown to them.

Rochell too btw. The analyst called him out on that near-PI in the endzone and was 100% correct.

Basically right now we're gonna have to endure some growing pains with our corners. I do still have some hope for Long but the guy drives me batshit with the completions while he's standing right there.

Long is in his third year as a Ram. He should have it down by now.

 

[majrleaged]

There still was a lot of playing 8 yards off the line of scrimmage on 3rd down and as the wr runs towards the CB the CB backs up giving up the 1st down marker and then the wr turns around or breaks one way or the other and is wide open for a 1st down catch. It seems we make it to easy. This was done mostly by Rochel.

 

[FarNorth]

....

Which leads me to the slow starts. Slow starts do not help the defense at all. I understand McVay’s frustration. It needs to be fixed ASAP.

And third down conversions as McVay also called out. Need a better possession game early on to keep the ball in our hands while getting our rhythm. Can’t keep giving the ball back to the other side in the first quarter, good teams will burn us.

When we can balance keeping the ball with downfield explosives it will be the full package.