Anybody happy with the play of either Ebu or Longacre?

[LARAMSinFeb.]

I also still see a lot of going for the ball instead of the tackle. We need to wrap up and take them to the ground.

 

[hotanez]

Your correct that Dante Folwer Jr. had the most snaps of any of OLB'er this last Sunday. He is the starter now. So a change has been made. We should see some more too. If the DL front 3 continue to get gapped by the run then a major change behind them in the back 8 is in order.:huh:

Wade & Barry @ the moment do not have a bona fide hitter playing LB'er in the middle of the defense. Rams defense tackle's poorly if they bring down the ball carrier @ all. If there is a tackle made its usually lacking any intensity of a hit or thump with it.

I posted before that Littleton should be inserted into the Mark Barron inside post & either young vet. Bryce Hager ot rookie Mcah Kiser inserted in @ the MLB post. Cory can still call the defense from the interior Barron post. But Hager was on fire in pre season & Hager was our best performing defender too. Hager tackles well & can call the defense as good as Cory Littleton. The 5-11 245 lb Kiser is known to be a pure hitter in college. Kiser IMO will be our future starting MLB might as well get him going some in the defense now on early run downs.

A few interesting bits of information here on these number of snaps .....the number of snaps that DE John Franklin-Myers snaps have increased & Brockers & Westbrook were down. SS Johnson III snaps dropped a bit & SS Marqui Christian increased. In mentioning the safety posts I would expect that Johnson III would be a far better deep/free safety than Joyner. Marqui Christian has improved much this season & could take Johnson III's post so Joyner can move off the field.

The Rams rush defense is trending downward:help:. Rams have fallen to #24th in the NFL. :death:When the weather gets back in late December & January you will not win if you can not stop the run...we all know this. Now I am not saying all these changes need to be made all @ once but this Defense needs some major tinkering done before post season arrives. I would start looking hard @ Barron & Joyner first.

:bow:

 

[hotanez]

Also for the record I'm fine with Littleton being slid over in Barron's spot too. What I'm not fine with is moving him outside. Him being the best LB we have from a consistency perspective, it makes no sense to move him out of where he's been holding things down. But the slide over from ILB to ILB retains him on the interior and becomes more about "are Littleton and Xxxx better than Barron and Littleton."

I think that was an idea before Fowler, but now that we made that trade I see no reason to move Littleton outside. I really wish we could add Kiser to the mix and sit Barron. Kiser's instincts are very good in my opinion, plus he's deadly on the blitz up the middle.

 

[Classic Rams]

What about Hagar? He seemed to have stepped it up a notch earlier this year.

Yeah, I'm all in for that guy!!

 

[Rainram]

Yeah, I'm all in for that guy!!

I had my sights set on this Hagar ...

• 

 

[HeiseNBerg]

Suffice it to say, I miss Connor Barwin.

That Rashad Penny TD was a glaring example of Ebukam not maintaining the edge -- Penny shouldn't have been able to walk in for a TD from 20+ yards out.

These guys have to just do their jobs and trust the other ten guys will do the same. Right now, it doesn't look like the Rams' D is doing that.

 

[Adi]

Nope not happy at all . But I dont think Littleton at olb would help. He has been really good this year and is great athlete but i dont think he has the bulk to set the edge

I personally would rather have bigger outside guys that contain the run, over smaller pass rushers .

Wilson tore us up on the ground last week, I blame that more on wade for not having a spy .

 

[BonifayRam]

Nope not happy at all . But I dont think Littleton at olb would help. He has been really good this year and is great athlete but i dont think he has the bulk to set the edge

I personally would rather have bigger outside guys that contain the run, over smaller pass rushers .

Wilson tore us up on the ground last week, I blame that more on wade for not having a spy .

Los Angeles Rams: LB Cory Littleton

1. 
   
   
   The Los Angeles Rams' Cory Littleton claimed the starting inside linebacker position during the offseason. Thus far, he's proved the coaching staff right in that choice.
   
   As a full-time starter, Littleton has crushed totals from his first two years combined, notching 59 solo tackles, three sacks, nine pass breakups and an interception, but that's not all.
   
   The Washington product provides a significant lift to the special teams unit, as he's blocked four punts in two years. Littleton's efforts beyond the defense haven't gone unnoticed, per ESPN.com's Lindsey Thiry: "Cory has elite get-off," head coach Sean McVay said of Littleton's punt-blocking prowess. "He's just got a great feel for it. Certain players have a knack for certain things, and I think we've seen Cory consistently show up."
   
   Apparently, the Rams just need to put Littleton on the field for instant impact. He's one of the most improved players this year.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2805197-every-nfl-teams-most-improved-player#slide18

 

[Dxmissile]

I’m going to chalk it up to Russel Wilson.

 

[Billy Baroo]

LOL

 

[Ramstien]

Yea me, Ebukam!

 

[SteezyEndo]

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.

Longacre? Was not even a factor...Ebu is green but damn he is going to become dank...This was a good gauge game and we did improve... So honestly we need to set a bar from this game...

 

[Rams43]

Longacre was inactive. ‘Nuff said.

Ebu? He had a helluva game. Take a bow, Ebu!

As an aside, and I read this on another board by a respected poster, it’s possible that Ebu is benefitting from the emergence of Fowler. Not unlike AD benefitting by Suh’s presence?

A synergy kinda thing?

 

[SteezyEndo]

Longacre was inactive. ‘Nuff said.

Ebu? He had a helluva game. Take a bow, Ebu!

As an aside, and I read this on another board by a respected poster, it’s possible that Ebu is benefitting from the emergence of Fowler. Not unlike AD benefitting by Suh’s presence?

A synergy kinda thing?

Spartans benefited from their presence... Which is why they were able to kick arse... So yeah makes sense...

 

[fearsomefour]

....I would like to restate my position on Samson....

 

[Mackeyser]

Longacre was inactive. ‘Nuff said.

Ebu? He had a helluva game. Take a bow, Ebu!

As an aside, and I read this on another board by a respected poster, it’s possible that Ebu is benefitting from the emergence of Fowler. Not unlike AD benefitting by Suh’s presence?

A synergy kinda thing?

They did double Fowler almost all game, so yeah. Ebu stepped up big time.

 

[Merlin]

....I would like to restate my position on Samson....

Yeah me too already ate some crow on him and gladly. But he's not out of the woods yet and needs to keep workin on playing with that intensity he brought tonight. That hasn't been there all along. And I do think Fowler has helped, and in the competition side of things as well which brings out the best in these guys.

 

[H.Birdman]

Samson saved the day! He showed flashes last season, but this was off the charts.

 

[TexasRam]

Credit where Credit is due. Ebukam had a solid game and made the most of his opportunities.

If he can turn in this type of game consistently we are not going to lose again.

 

[fearsomefour]

Yeah me too already ate some crow on him and gladly. But he's not out of the woods yet and needs to keep workin on playing with that intensity he brought tonight. That hasn't been there all along. And I do think Fowler has helped, and in the competition side of things as well which brings out the best in these guys.

He has good straight line speed but doesn't seem super fluid.
If he does nothing else he had a heck of an NFL game and shown in an all time classic game.
That said, he obviously can still develop.
That kid in Green Bay is in his third year and he is tearing it up after being a jag for two years. It takes time.
Samson shown tonight though and hopefully a sign of things to come.