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- Jul 28, 2014
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Abandon Hope
In this post I will highlighting why there is no light at the end of tunnel for this Rams in the near future. Nothing said here will change even if Rams will 7 or 8 games this year.
Ownership:
It’s a zero sum game either Rams win or not for ownership. They are in business of making money not winning for you- the FAN. As long as they are not embarrassed 28-0 many times, they will settle for 6-10 seasons for the next two years. If their PSLs are selling well at the end of 2017, they will let Fisher coach for another decade. If not, there will be a change early 2018. But nothing in the last 15 years that the ownership has done should trick you into thinking they give a damn about winning or losing on the field.
Coaching:
Going into fifth year, there are more questions than answers. The team is as undisciplined in 5th year as year 1 due to poor coaching. Boras appears outmatched. Looking back, Brain Scotty was the best OC Fisher had with Rams. Gregg Williams gets more credit than what he achieved with Rams. And Fisher will not hire anyone who may outshine him in both football and non-football sense on either offense or defense. Fisher's assistants are not sought after. When they are fired they end up in a lower ranked job or retire. The good assistants almost always never want to work for Fisher. The game has passed him by. He knows he cannot change the narrative of his coaching years or his philosophy of the past 20 years. All he has now, like you and me, is hope. Hope that his team wins somehow. When he tells he knows what he is doing to cameras, what does it say about his inner thoughts? With Carroll, Arians and Kelly in this division, let’s ask ourselves where our coach ranks in this division. By the way, I believe Fisher's contract has been extended but they are not announcing it yet.
Offense:
Wide Receivers, TE: There is no more inept group of receivers than Rams have assembled. Kenny Britt at best a 2nd receiver on most teams. Tavon Austin is just a speed decoy without fluid route running ability. A #3 receiver at his very best and generally should be a #4 receiver. Quick will not make 53 man roster on 25 other teams. No one knows if they can teach rookie WRs to grow up in NFL. TE group is as putrid as WRs and nothing to write about. The talent at this position is almost laughable. It will be prudent to note receiving talent in 2012 was better than 2016.
Running Backs: If real Gurely is the one who averaged 140 yards the first 6 games are so, Rams have their own Adrian Peterson. If real Gurley is one from the last 9 games, oh boy!. But I believe real Gurely is the one who we saw in the first 6 games. Cunningham is a good backup to have. Nothing else matters. Rams are set here for years.
Offensive Line: If Paul Bourdeau is one of NFL's gold standard, then standards should be abolished. What he has done with that group is very tepid. He never raised their level of play. In some ways, Fisher has to be blamed again here. Except for GRob, Bourdeau was given poor talent and was asked to make chicken salad out of it. Still, coaching matters and I don't believe he has risen up to the occasion. We are still waiting on GRob to play to his draft level. Saffold is good but his best days are behind him. Barnes is a warm body that can snap. Havenstein looks below average. Brown looked like pro bowler last year until he was hurt. So not sure where things will end up with him and it is not looking as good.
QuarterBacks: I still hear the giggles from this board when Keenum won 3 of 4 games he started last year. He never had the arm to be a 16 game starter in this league. He is still a good backup to have and has no business starting. What characterstics made him team capitaan in 2016 is beyond me (this could be another of Fisher's six sigma thinking that average fans like me may not understand). Goff is not ready now and hope they don't throw him to wolves this year with poor OL play,disgusting play calls and schemes. The important thing is does Goff have it? I don;t know the answer. In life, nurturing talent makes 99% of talented people successful. Can one believe Fisher's coaches and system will help nurture Goff's talent to enable him to become the next Eli Manning or Carson Palmer if not Tom Brady or Peyton Manning? (To my core I believe, Fisher will destroy Goff beyond redemption). Sean Mannion has to play at least 8 games this year to see what they have in him.
Defense: On defense 5 starters are gone (Long, JL, JJ, Ayers, McLeod) and it appears the talent is not just there to replace them both on field and leadership wise.
Defensive Line: They have a top 3 defensive line in the league. Aaron Donald is a future HOF. Worried about Quinn's production of late. My hope was Quinn would be unstoppable with Donald in the lineup. JL and Chris long left leadership void more than talent void on this defense. The other line men are effective to a good extent. I am happy for the talent in this group.
Line Backers: This group needs Ogletree and others to step up. Mark Barron has found his niche. Nothing to write about regarding the talent pipeline for this position group. Coming weeks should answer more questions about this group.
Secondary: TJ is a good talent. If EJ Gaines is not 100% soon, this secondary is toast. Joyner is awful. He should be a backup. Safety play is to be determined.
Special Teams: Special team coaching and players are strength of this staff. If Greg Zurelin can be consistent they have top 5 special teams in the league.
Overall, it is a depressing state of affairs from both micro and macro levels in 2016 than it was in 2012 for several reasons: A NFL level QB (Bradford) was on the team, a lot of draft picks from trade with Washington was available, a new coaching staff came in to be hopeful. In 2016, the same coaching staff may be the worst in league, draft picks were traded away and there appears to be no NFL ready QB available on the team with holes in both defense and offense sides.
To everyone who is behind this coaching staff, I have one question, Why?
In this post I will highlighting why there is no light at the end of tunnel for this Rams in the near future. Nothing said here will change even if Rams will 7 or 8 games this year.
Ownership:
It’s a zero sum game either Rams win or not for ownership. They are in business of making money not winning for you- the FAN. As long as they are not embarrassed 28-0 many times, they will settle for 6-10 seasons for the next two years. If their PSLs are selling well at the end of 2017, they will let Fisher coach for another decade. If not, there will be a change early 2018. But nothing in the last 15 years that the ownership has done should trick you into thinking they give a damn about winning or losing on the field.
Coaching:
Going into fifth year, there are more questions than answers. The team is as undisciplined in 5th year as year 1 due to poor coaching. Boras appears outmatched. Looking back, Brain Scotty was the best OC Fisher had with Rams. Gregg Williams gets more credit than what he achieved with Rams. And Fisher will not hire anyone who may outshine him in both football and non-football sense on either offense or defense. Fisher's assistants are not sought after. When they are fired they end up in a lower ranked job or retire. The good assistants almost always never want to work for Fisher. The game has passed him by. He knows he cannot change the narrative of his coaching years or his philosophy of the past 20 years. All he has now, like you and me, is hope. Hope that his team wins somehow. When he tells he knows what he is doing to cameras, what does it say about his inner thoughts? With Carroll, Arians and Kelly in this division, let’s ask ourselves where our coach ranks in this division. By the way, I believe Fisher's contract has been extended but they are not announcing it yet.
Offense:
Wide Receivers, TE: There is no more inept group of receivers than Rams have assembled. Kenny Britt at best a 2nd receiver on most teams. Tavon Austin is just a speed decoy without fluid route running ability. A #3 receiver at his very best and generally should be a #4 receiver. Quick will not make 53 man roster on 25 other teams. No one knows if they can teach rookie WRs to grow up in NFL. TE group is as putrid as WRs and nothing to write about. The talent at this position is almost laughable. It will be prudent to note receiving talent in 2012 was better than 2016.
Running Backs: If real Gurely is the one who averaged 140 yards the first 6 games are so, Rams have their own Adrian Peterson. If real Gurley is one from the last 9 games, oh boy!. But I believe real Gurely is the one who we saw in the first 6 games. Cunningham is a good backup to have. Nothing else matters. Rams are set here for years.
Offensive Line: If Paul Bourdeau is one of NFL's gold standard, then standards should be abolished. What he has done with that group is very tepid. He never raised their level of play. In some ways, Fisher has to be blamed again here. Except for GRob, Bourdeau was given poor talent and was asked to make chicken salad out of it. Still, coaching matters and I don't believe he has risen up to the occasion. We are still waiting on GRob to play to his draft level. Saffold is good but his best days are behind him. Barnes is a warm body that can snap. Havenstein looks below average. Brown looked like pro bowler last year until he was hurt. So not sure where things will end up with him and it is not looking as good.
QuarterBacks: I still hear the giggles from this board when Keenum won 3 of 4 games he started last year. He never had the arm to be a 16 game starter in this league. He is still a good backup to have and has no business starting. What characterstics made him team capitaan in 2016 is beyond me (this could be another of Fisher's six sigma thinking that average fans like me may not understand). Goff is not ready now and hope they don't throw him to wolves this year with poor OL play,disgusting play calls and schemes. The important thing is does Goff have it? I don;t know the answer. In life, nurturing talent makes 99% of talented people successful. Can one believe Fisher's coaches and system will help nurture Goff's talent to enable him to become the next Eli Manning or Carson Palmer if not Tom Brady or Peyton Manning? (To my core I believe, Fisher will destroy Goff beyond redemption). Sean Mannion has to play at least 8 games this year to see what they have in him.
Defense: On defense 5 starters are gone (Long, JL, JJ, Ayers, McLeod) and it appears the talent is not just there to replace them both on field and leadership wise.
Defensive Line: They have a top 3 defensive line in the league. Aaron Donald is a future HOF. Worried about Quinn's production of late. My hope was Quinn would be unstoppable with Donald in the lineup. JL and Chris long left leadership void more than talent void on this defense. The other line men are effective to a good extent. I am happy for the talent in this group.
Line Backers: This group needs Ogletree and others to step up. Mark Barron has found his niche. Nothing to write about regarding the talent pipeline for this position group. Coming weeks should answer more questions about this group.
Secondary: TJ is a good talent. If EJ Gaines is not 100% soon, this secondary is toast. Joyner is awful. He should be a backup. Safety play is to be determined.
Special Teams: Special team coaching and players are strength of this staff. If Greg Zurelin can be consistent they have top 5 special teams in the league.
Overall, it is a depressing state of affairs from both micro and macro levels in 2016 than it was in 2012 for several reasons: A NFL level QB (Bradford) was on the team, a lot of draft picks from trade with Washington was available, a new coaching staff came in to be hopeful. In 2016, the same coaching staff may be the worst in league, draft picks were traded away and there appears to be no NFL ready QB available on the team with holes in both defense and offense sides.
To everyone who is behind this coaching staff, I have one question, Why?
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