Anybody happy with the play of either Ebu or Longacre?

[Rams43]

Me neither. Lol.

No point in rehashing their respective shortcomings, is there? Bottom line is that neither seems good enough.

So, what to do?

If a DC such as Wade is struggling with this then we can assume that the problem is quite serious AND that the solution options are very limited.

But what’s a fan to do but go rushing in where angels fear to tread?

So here goes...

Littleton moved to OLB? What is there to lose, really? A fast, instinctive playmaker at a position that sorely needs exactly that. I think he can do it, certainly better than either Ebu or Longacre. Especially Longacre. Littleton would have to be replaced inside but we have 3 candidates for that. In any order Wilson, Hager, or Kiser could fill in adequately. Wade’s call. The net result of the Littleton move would be a substantial net gain for the D, IMO. Longacre, in particular, is killing us.

Increase Fowler’s snaps as much as possible and as soon as possible. He applies much more pressure and makes many more plays than either Ebu or Longacre, period. I would recommend him in there on both running and passing downs. Almost TOO obvious. Play him until he needs a breather, dammit!

Another possible partial solution would be to give Obo a few danged snaps. Surely he deserves that based upon his college play AND the ineffectiveness of Ebu and especially Longacre. I mean, WTH do we have to lose?

Improved edge play should dramatically improve our D vs both the run and the pass. Contain alone would be huge. Teams have been killing us with outside runs and QB scrambles. And trust me, upcoming opponents will take full advantage until we plug this leak.

Another thing. Our run D should improve if the interior guys don’t have to worry so much about the outside. We allowed 273 rushing yards to the Seahawks, for crying out loud. I can barely type those words. Sigh...

Anybody else have any other suggestions given our current roster, fell free to comment or toss ‘em out there.

 

[MTRamsFan]

Unfortunately, there will be no changes until the season is over. I would expect some changes this off-season. Right now, I just keep praying our offense can outscore our opponents.

 

[HitStick]

Me neither. Lol.

No point in rehashing their respective shortcomings, is there? Bottom line is that neither seems good enough.

So, what to do?

If a DC such as Wade is struggling with this then we can assume that the problem is quite serious AND that the solution options are very limited.

But what’s a fan to do but go rushing in where angels fear to tread?

So here goes...

Littleton moved to OLB? What is there to lose, really? A fast, instinctive playmaker at a position that sorely needs exactly that. I think he can do it, certainly better than either Ebu or Longacre. Especially Longacre. Littleton would have to be replaced inside but we have 3 candidates for that. In any order Wilson, Hager, or Kiser could fill in adequately. Wade’s call. The net result of the Littleton move would be a substantial net gain for the D, IMO. Longacre, in particular, is killing us.

Increase Fowler’s snaps as much as possible and as soon as possible. He applies much more pressure and makes many more plays than either Ebu or Longacre, period. I would recommend him in there on both running and passing downs. Almost TOO obvious. Play him until he needs a breather, dammit!

Another possible partial solution would be to give Obo a few danged snaps. Surely he deserves that based upon his college play AND the ineffectiveness of Ebu and especially Longacre. I mean, WTH do we have to lose?

Improved edge play should dramatically improve our D vs both the run and the pass. Contain alone would be huge. Teams have been killing us with outside runs and QB scrambles. And trust me, upcoming opponents will take full advantage until we plug this leak.

Another thing. Our run D should improve if the interior guys don’t have to worry so much about the outside. We allowed 273 rushing yards to the Seahawks, for crying out loud. I can barely type those words. Sigh...

Anybody else have any other suggestions given our current roster, fell free to comment or toss ‘em out there.

If we had someone equally as talented at MLB then sure, move him; however, we do not. Don’t plug a hole just to create another one. We already get exposed up the middle and you want to take away our only good MLB? Seriously, if our backups deserved to be starters, they’d be on the field.

 

[JRobinson]

Longacre sure, Ebukam - no. He’s been pretty decent thus far IMO.

 

[thirteen28]

Ebu definitely needs to work on his technique for getting our of headlocks.

 

[Dodgersrf]

Ebu definitely needs to work on his technique for getting our of headlocks.

Agreed. Hes terrible at it. He gets taken to the ground every time.

 

[Merlin]

Littleton is all we have inside. You have to get production in there and moving him outside would complicate his rise to where you want him to go. It would be a doubleshot of stupidity to move him IMO.

What the Rams should be looking at is their stable of depth ILB and failed OLB to see if any of them can move inside and give us a boost. Ebukam for example. Moving him inside should be doable since after the bye we should see Obo dressing on gameday.

We could line Obo up inside too, I would bet he's better down the road than Barron for example. But I'd avoid that for the same reason: he's learning the defense and you want to keep his responsibilities simple i.e. where he is on the edge so he has a chance to settle in now when we need him.

Kiser might deserve a look too, depending on how he's looked in practice. I think he's a liability in the passing game but jesus we probably could have used him yesterday. Not like Barron's making plays vs the pass or anything.

IMO it is time to shake that room up with demotion/promotion in terms of play time.

 

[Ramzheart]

Me neither. Lol.

No point in rehashing their respective shortcomings, is there? Bottom line is that neither seems good enough.

So, what to do?

If a DC such as Wade is struggling with this then we can assume that the problem is quite serious AND that the solution options are very limited.

But what’s a fan to do but go rushing in where angels fear to tread?

So here goes...

Littleton moved to OLB? What is there to lose, really? A fast, instinctive playmaker at a position that sorely needs exactly that. I think he can do it, certainly better than either Ebu or Longacre. Especially Longacre. Littleton would have to be replaced inside but we have 3 candidates for that. In any order Wilson, Hager, or Kiser could fill in adequately. Wade’s call. The net result of the Littleton move would be a substantial net gain for the D, IMO. Longacre, in particular, is killing us.

Increase Fowler’s snaps as much as possible and as soon as possible. He applies much more pressure and makes many more plays than either Ebu or Longacre, period. I would recommend him in there on both running and passing downs. Almost TOO obvious. Play him until he needs a breather, dammit!

Another possible partial solution would be to give Obo a few danged snaps. Surely he deserves that based upon his college play AND the ineffectiveness of Ebu and especially Longacre. I mean, WTH do we have to lose?

Improved edge play should dramatically improve our D vs both the run and the pass. Contain alone would be huge. Teams have been killing us with outside runs and QB scrambles. And trust me, upcoming opponents will take full advantage until we plug this leak.

Another thing. Our run D should improve if the interior guys don’t have to worry so much about the outside. We allowed 273 rushing yards to the Seahawks, for crying out loud. I can barely type those words. Sigh...

Anybody else have any other suggestions given our current roster, fell free to comment or toss ‘em out there.

Yeah, not sure what to do there!? I've been impressed in prior years by some of Longacre's play but yesterday I saw a play we're he was chasing Wilson and I thought for sure he had him but he took such a poor angle and it looked like he was running in quicksand!

 

[thirteen28]

Kiser might deserve a look too, depending on how he's looked in practice. I think he's a liability in the passing game but jesus we probably could have used him yesterday. Not like Barron's making plays vs the pass or anything.

I really like that kid. You may be right about him being a liability in pass coverage, but nevertheless, I still hope we see more of him. He'll be good against the run, maybe have him in on early downs and obvious running downs.

 

[Montanaramfan]

Is there any chance Obo suits up this week?

 

[OldSchool]

These two aren’t the problem or at least the main problem with the defense.

 

[SoCalRam78]

These two aren’t the problem or at least the main problem with the defense.

yesterday they were. there were 3-4 plays between the two of these guys that routine 1-2 yard run plays were broken outside for 15 plus yard plus gains because these guys could not maintain the edge. Defense 101 from the OLB in a 3-4. Not coaching, just crappy play. Longacre is slow and unathletic and Ekubam has terrible technique.

 

[Ram65]

Littleton moved to OLB? What is there to lose, really? A fast, instinctive playmaker at a position that sorely needs exactly that. I think he can do it, certainly better than either Ebu or Longacre. Especially Longacre. Littleton would have to be replaced inside but we have 3 candidates for that. In any order Wilson, Hager, or Kiser could fill in adequately. Wade’s call. The net result of the Littleton move would be a substantial net gain for the D, IMO. Longacre, in particular, is killing us.

The thing is that Littleton is needed in coverage and they don't have anyone even close to him. Wilson and Kiser are not cover LBers. Last year I thought Hager did well in coverage when he filled in but, that was limited. I don't Littleton as a every down pass rusher

Increase Fowler’s snaps as much as possible and as soon as possible. He applies much more pressure and makes many more plays than either Ebu or Longacre, period. I would recommend him in there on both running and passing downs. Almost TOO obvious. Play him until he needs a breather, dammit!

Fowler needs to be more disciplined in the run game. He let up some run plays yesterday. I would be hesitant to overuse him so he is fresh to rush the passer. My guess would be about 60% of snaps. He was playing a lot yesterday.

[/QUOTE]

Another possible partial solution would be to give Obo a few danged snaps. Surely he deserves that based upon his college play AND the ineffectiveness of Ebu and especially Longacre. I mean, WTH do we have to lose?

Might want to wait till easier opponents are on the schedule before you throw him in the mix. Still time to get him in gradually. KC game then after the week off.

No point in rehashing their respective shortcomings, is there? Bottom line is that neither seems good enough. So, what to do?

Ebu has some good moments. Getting a little more push. Fowler the best pass rusher. Longacre needs to fight off blocks but, does get some pressure. Hard to see what each one is doing all the time. Got keep them fresh.

 

[Merlin]

Is there any chance Obo suits up this week?

I would have to think the edge responsibilities aren't all that tough, that they could get him ready to play by this next weekend considering he's already had some time back to learn wtf he's doing.

BUT

This is the Chiefs. And boy if you don't have your stuff down cold I have to think you're going to get lit on fire on the edge. So my guess is he sits one more game. It is possible of course that they are so irritated with the edge play they saw yesterday that they make some moves and open things up for Obo to get snaps, but again vs this team I don't know.

 

[Dodgersrf]

I would have to think the edge responsibilities aren't all that tough, that they could get him ready to play by this next weekend considering he's already had some time back to learn wtf he's doing.

BUT

This is the Chiefs. And boy if you don't have your stuff down cold I have to think you're going to get lit on fire on the edge. So my guess is he sits one more game. It is possible of course that they are so irritated with the edge play they saw yesterday that they make some moves and open things up for Obo to get snaps, but again vs this team I don't know.

At this point, I dont think getting Obo a few snaps could really hurt.

 

[Merlin]

At this point, I dont think getting Obo a few snaps could really hurt.

I agree Dodgers. But I think he's going to have to show he knows wtf he's doing this week for them to put him in vs that offense. If he does know his responsibilities I would think he's an upgrade, given how poorly Ebu and Longacre have been playing.

 

[RamDino]

All I can think of is Drew Brees, or a Seattle running back, bursting through the middle of our D-line, either to avoid the rush or to run the ball, and having nothing but space in front of them! I am really getting tired of watching this happen over and over again. And all I can think of is Micah Kiser STUFFING anyone who runs through that line. I love Barron, but he is too small to play inside. I realize that Kizer might be a liability in coverage, but can't we just make everyone else drop into coverage and let Kiser play the middle of the field??

 

[RamDino]

PS - Great post 43!!

 

[Jacobarch]

yesterday they were. there were 3-4 plays between the two of these guys that routine 1-2 yard run plays were broken outside for 15 plus yard plus gains because these guys could not maintain the edge. Defense 101 from the OLB in a 3-4. Not coaching, just crappy play. Longacre is slow and unathletic and Ekubam has terrible technique.

Agreed. Both looked really bad yesterday. Taking bad angles, and slow at the point of attack. KC must be licking their chops right now

 

[JonRam99]

I would really like to see Kiser at ILB. Best run stuffer on this team bar none. Littleton can drop in coverage, and Kiser can come out in obvious pass downs.
Can't hurt. Those long runs were absolutely excruciating. But those non-holding calls..... wow. Please, Roger, stop the madness!!!!!