Aug-03 Camp Thread

[den-the-coach]

Sounds like Keenum is putting up a battle for QB job.

Good I hope this turns into Drew Brees vs. Philip Rivers although I don't like Rivers...Don't know why, maybe because he always lost to Tom Brady.

 

[den-the-coach]

This Courtesy of Ramfan1971

I expected full pads today, but only helmets and shoulder pads. Some hitting, but not full on contact or tackling. Maybe Fisher is trying to avoid injury.

What a difference a few days make! Sat and Sun, it looked like another disaster of a year for our offense. Today, our offense showed great improvement. Our three qbs looked good with no one throwing an int. There was one pass that should have been picked for a pick 6, but T Johnson dropped it. Today, I want to concentrate on our offense. That is the side of the ball I am most concerned about. If this team is ever going to get over .500 and push towards the playoffs, the O must be able to make the occasional big play or just control the ball so our D can dominate.

Qbs

All three of our qbs showed great improvement today. Maybe the opened up the playbook to allow them to throw more than 5 yds down the field. Keenum made some good passes to Tavon today. One was for a TD. Keenum is still taking the majority of the reps. It is obvious that he does not have the arm strength to make that corner or seam pass that must be thrown on a line. Who does have the arm strength to make that pass- Goff and Mannion. Before I go into Goff, I am still scratching my head why Mannion was not given a chance last year. Was he that horrible or did he just not know the play book. I have heard the critics say he has slow foot work and a slow windup, but from the few reps he gets in practice, I like him. He consistently looks down the field for receivers and has a strong arm. He may have gotten 6-8 reps today in 11-11. I am afraid he will never be allowed to compete for the job since it would make Snisher look bad by giving up all those picks.

So how did Goff do? This is the first practice that he showed something special. He had the best pass play of the day when he threw a dart to Spruce running a seam pattern on the right side. It went for about 40 yds or possibly a td. There was a buzz in the crowd being the first time he showed his arm strength. He made a few more very good plays today. If he keeps improving and learning the playbook, he should get the chance to game two or three of the preseason. He does have some flaws thus far.
1- He tends to look to one side of the field on passing plays. Probably the side that the play is intended to go to. He will need to learn to look off receivers and use both sides of the field.
2-This is probably not him but the coaching staff. Each time he went to the audible "Kill Kill" (all three days) it is a running play. I hope they give him or any of our qbs more options than that.

Wrs

We have a bunch of rookie wrs. Some of them are really standing out. Our vets are what we thought they are. B Quick may not make the team given the talent of some of the rooks. Marquez has done a very good job in camp thus far. He is fighting for a job. Britt and Tavon both made some good catches for yards today. Britt always concerns me. Too many times on 3rd and anything, it seemed he would drop catchable balls.

McRoberts, Thomas, Williams and Spruce are all talented. Each made significant catches today. Williams is big. Spruce does not drop anything coming at him. I hope we have found at least 2 big contributors in this group.

TE

Four TEs stood out today. Kendricks made some big catches, but also dropped an easy one that would have gone for a good gain. Higbee will be good and possibly great someday. Great hands, size and speed. Goff likes to throw to him. Both Harkey and Cunningham did very will today. Who was missing was Hemmingway. He had a good practice on Sunday, but I do not remember seeing him today.

Oline

Hard to tell without full pads, but I did not see Dlinemen blowing up passing plays today. G Rob opened up a big hole on the L side early for a big Gurley gain. I actually saw the line working on skills today and not standing around during skill time.

Our Defense will be the strength of the team again this year. Unless our O makes big leaps of improvement (like today) throughout the next few weeks, The D will need to dominate.

I will not be able to make anymore practices this week. Back to work. I may try to get back down to Irvine next week. I hope this has been helpful for those that do not get to go.

 

[rdlkgliders]

Really appreciate the effort Den. Great Job

 

[WestCoastRam]

Quick is just like my high school girlfriend, always toying with my emotions.

 

[StealYoGurley]

Drew Brees Case Keenum

More like Chad Henne Blake Bortels

 

[HitStick]

I'm really liking how much I'm hearing about our Wide Receivers. Is it possible we may finally have found some quality starters? Cooper, Thomas, Williams, Spruce?

 

[NateDawg122]

This Courtesy of Ramfan1971

I expected full pads today, but only helmets and shoulder pads. Some hitting, but not full on contact or tackling. Maybe Fisher is trying to avoid injury.

What a difference a few days make! Sat and Sun, it looked like another disaster of a year for our offense. Today, our offense showed great improvement. Our three qbs looked good with no one throwing an int. There was one pass that should have been picked for a pick 6, but T Johnson dropped it. Today, I want to concentrate on our offense. That is the side of the ball I am most concerned about. If this team is ever going to get over .500 and push towards the playoffs, the O must be able to make the occasional big play or just control the ball so our D can dominate.

Qbs

All three of our qbs showed great improvement today. Maybe the opened up the playbook to allow them to throw more than 5 yds down the field. Keenum made some good passes to Tavon today. One was for a TD. Keenum is still taking the majority of the reps. It is obvious that he does not have the arm strength to make that corner or seam pass that must be thrown on a line. Who does have the arm strength to make that pass- Goff and Mannion. Before I go into Goff, I am still scratching my head why Mannion was not given a chance last year. Was he that horrible or did he just not know the play book. I have heard the critics say he has slow foot work and a slow windup, but from the few reps he gets in practice, I like him. He consistently looks down the field for receivers and has a strong arm. He may have gotten 6-8 reps today in 11-11. I am afraid he will never be allowed to compete for the job since it would make Snisher look bad by giving up all those picks.

So how did Goff do? This is the first practice that he showed something special. He had the best pass play of the day when he threw a dart to Spruce running a seam pattern on the right side. It went for about 40 yds or possibly a td. There was a buzz in the crowd being the first time he showed his arm strength. He made a few more very good plays today. If he keeps improving and learning the playbook, he should get the chance to game two or three of the preseason. He does have some flaws thus far.
1- He tends to look to one side of the field on passing plays. Probably the side that the play is intended to go to. He will need to learn to look off receivers and use both sides of the field.
2-This is probably not him but the coaching staff. Each time he went to the audible "Kill Kill" (all three days) it is a running play. I hope they give him or any of our qbs more options than that.

Wrs

We have a bunch of rookie wrs. Some of them are really standing out. Our vets are what we thought they are. B Quick may not make the team given the talent of some of the rooks. Marquez has done a very good job in camp thus far. He is fighting for a job. Britt and Tavon both made some good catches for yards today. Britt always concerns me. Too many times on 3rd and anything, it seemed he would drop catchable balls.

McRoberts, Thomas, Williams and Spruce are all talented. Each made significant catches today. Williams is big. Spruce does not drop anything coming at him. I hope we have found at least 2 big contributors in this group.

TE

Four TEs stood out today. Kendricks made some big catches, but also dropped an easy one that would have gone for a good gain. Higbee will be good and possibly great someday. Great hands, size and speed. Goff likes to throw to him. Both Harkey and Cunningham did very will today. Who was missing was Hemmingway. He had a good practice on Sunday, but I do not remember seeing him today.

Oline

Hard to tell without full pads, but I did not see Dlinemen blowing up passing plays today. G Rob opened up a big hole on the L side early for a big Gurley gain. I actually saw the line working on skills today and not standing around during skill time.

Our Defense will be the strength of the team again this year. Unless our O makes big leaps of improvement (like today) throughout the next few weeks, The D will need to dominate.

I will not be able to make anymore practices this week. Back to work. I may try to get back down to Irvine next week. I hope this has been helpful for those that do not get to go.

How does Gurley look? Does he seem to accelerate faster this year? How's he look when making cuts?

 

[Warner4Prez]

Tried to find some video, there's only fan film from the Raider game on him that I could churn up, but he moved well in the pocket that game and seemed to have good ball placement. I don't really have any recollection of the others though.

 

[Legatron4]

In case anyone was curious about the arm strength difference between Goff and Keenum, skip to the middle of the video. Goff has some serious velocity on the ball compared to Keenum.

View: https://youtu.be/Tx2kLgG8hdE

 

[OldSchool]

I think it was his first pass, the one to Thomas #13 over the middle in traffic was an impressive throw.

 

[SteveBrown]

Thanks for the video Legatron 4; and thanks for the reports from all!

 

[8to12]

Today was my second day in a row at Camp

Weather was the nicest so far, 84 degrees, sunny skies, consistent cool breeze

I watched today without any distractions from the iphone ; I did not take any photos or video

First observation Offense: after 2 days, I'm getting the feeling that coach Groh is having a positive affect on the receivers. Many of the receivers tend to be getting separation early in their routes giving the QB more options in their reads. It's not with all of the receivers, but there is a much higher percentage of plays with open receivers than in the most recent seasons. Can't say it will play like this in the regular season just that it's worth noting at this stage of Camp.
Like I wrote in a previous post, I intend get an understanding of where many of the personnel groupings and formations lead to as far as receiver routes and tendencies for the QB. Up until now, there still isn't any pattern developing, especially since today was the first day I was close to the action and was able to take notes.

Offense: Many different receivers took turns with the 1's ; sometimes it was Brian Quick, sometimes Bradley Marquez, and MIke Thomas was in on some plays. Kennt Britt and Tavon were always in.
- Most of the consistent play is coming from Keenum. Goff and Mannion are looking like Freshman on the field sometimes. Another poster earlier wrote that he didn't see any INT's. Hmmmm, were we watching the same practice? LOL On one play, Mannion threw the ball right into the hands of a defender that was draped over a receiver at the LOS. Goff also threw 2 would be INT's. The decision making of these 2 is not on par with Keenum at this point. I'm not down on either, just pointing out that Keenum is the only one playing like a verteran at this point.

- Brian Quick got some quality targets today and hauled most them in. There were 3 big catches in the Red Zone with 2 of them being TD's.
- MIke Thomas looks like he belongs when he gets an opportunity running with the 1st or 2nd team. HE seems to always be in the right place, creates separation, and catches everything thrown to him. Same to be said about Nelson Spruce. Although, Spruce hasn't received as many opportunities as Thomas.
- I will hold off giving an opinion on the top 6 receivers until next week.
- RB's: nothing to note here ; business as usual
- TE's: Kendricks, Harkey and Higbee (hmm, sounds like a Law firm) are getting most of the reps with the 1st team. Kendricks is getting open alot and making catches. However, most of the throws must be low because he ends on the ground 75% of time after making a catch. I did not see Hemmingway out there today. Justice Cunningham got a couple of more targets today and did well.
- After practice, Keenum, Goff, Kenny Britt and Bradly Marquez stayed and worked on Goal line Fades and back shoulder throws. Goff was working with Britt as to where to place the ball on the back shoulder throws. Britt didn't even run a route.... he just stood in the end zone and Goff just kept throwing ball after ball until they found the spot where Britt wants it... which was 12" over his head.

Defense: I didn't spend as much time looking at defensive player performance as mush as I was with the scheme and personnel.
When they started 11-on-11 the 1st team defense came in what I would call a sort of 3-3-5 Pass defense. They had 3-DL (Hayes, Donald, Sims), 3-LB's (Barron, Ogletree, Ayers), 5-DB's (Sensabaugh, Johnson, Joyner, MacDonald and Alexander) .... before the snap, Ayers would scout around for a possible hole in the line to Blitz, Joyner, at the snap would drop back from his Slot coverage into 15 yard deep Safety, along with Barron playing near the LOS...... it looked innovative

Defensive personnel option: The second time the 1's came onto the filed, I saw: 4-DL (Quinn,Brockers,Donald,Hayes) 3-LB (Ayers,Ogletree,Barron) 3-CB's (Johnson,Sensabaugh,Joyner) 1-Safety (MacDonald)... like above, depending on the offensive formation, sometimes Joyner would back pedal at snap to a 15 yard deep position.
another option they had of this group was removing Ayers (LB) and adding Alexander (Safety). They would play a Dbl high Safety with Joyner roaming at the snap

Special teams: The only thing to note was that they worked on Kick off coverage. They would send 5 guys at a time, either left or right side of Kicker, downfield. Of all that participated, The following undrafted guys, LB Grigsby (Pitt), Brian Randolf (Tenn) and Rohan Gaines (Ark) were the quickest to get downfield and meet the ball carrier.

Final note: One thing that stood out today, which may have appeared usual to anyone else, was the use of twisting, or crossing players running downfield. Before practice I noticed coach Fassel running the actual course they set up with equipment for the kick returns. I noticed he was showing one of the other coaches how to cross at a certain point 30 yards or so downfield. In addition to this, some of the receivers ran routes that were similar parallel to each other with one receiver on the inside crossing behind the other close to the sideline. This will be something to keep on eye on.

Thanks for reading

 

[Picked4td]

Today was my second day in a row at Camp

Weather was the nicest so far, 84 degrees, sunny skies, consistent cool breeze

I watched today without any distractions from the iphone ; I did not take any photos or video

First observation Offense: after 2 days, I'm getting the feeling that coach Groh is having a positive affect on the receivers. Many of the receivers tend to be getting separation early in their routes giving the QB more options in their reads. It's not with all of the receivers, but there is a much higher percentage of plays with open receivers than in the most recent seasons. Can't say it will play like this in the regular season just that it's worth noting at this stage of Camp.
Like I wrote in a previous post, I intend get an understanding of where many of the personnel groupings and formations lead to as far as receiver routes and tendencies for the QB. Up until now, there still isn't any pattern developing, especially since today was the first day I was close to the action and was able to take notes.

Offense: Many different receivers took turns with the 1's ; sometimes it was Brian Quick, sometimes Bradley Marquez, and MIke Thomas was in on some plays. Kennt Britt and Tavon were always in.
- Most of the consistent play is coming from Keenum. Goff and Mannion are looking like Freshman on the field sometimes. Another poster earlier wrote that he didn't see any INT's. Hmmmm, were we watching the same practice? LOL On one play, Mannion threw the ball right into the hands of a defender that was draped over a receiver at the LOS. Goff also threw 2 would be INT's. The decision making of these 2 is not on par with Keenum at this point. I'm not down on either, just pointing out that Keenum is the only one playing like a verteran at this point.

- Brian Quick got some quality targets today and hauled most them in. There were 3 big catches in the Red Zone with 2 of them being TD's.
- MIke Thomas looks like he belongs when he gets an opportunity running with the 1st or 2nd team. HE seems to always be in the right place, creates separation, and catches everything thrown to him. Same to be said about Nelson Spruce. Although, Spruce hasn't received as many opportunities as Thomas.
- I will hold off giving an opinion on the top 6 receivers until next week.
- RB's: nothing to note here ; business as usual
- TE's: Kendricks, Harkey and Higbee (hmm, sounds like a Law firm) are getting most of the reps with the 1st team. Kendricks is getting open alot and making catches. However, most of the throws must be low because he ends on the ground 75% of time after making a catch. I did not see Hemmingway out there today. Justice Cunningham got a couple of more targets today and did well.
- After practice, Keenum, Goff, Kenny Britt and Bradly Marquez stayed and worked on Goal line Fades and back shoulder throws. Goff was working with Britt as to where to place the ball on the back shoulder throws. Britt didn't even run a route.... he just stood in the end zone and Goff just kept throwing ball after ball until they found the spot where Britt wants it... which was 12" over his head.

Defense: I didn't spend as much time looking at defensive player performance as mush as I was with the scheme and personnel.
When they started 11-on-11 the 1st team defense came in what I would call a sort of 3-3-5 Pass defense. They had 3-DL (Hayes, Donald, Sims), 3-LB's (Barron, Ogletree, Ayers), 5-DB's (Sensabaugh, Johnson, Joyner, MacDonald and Alexander) .... before the snap, Ayers would scout around for a possible hole in the line to Blitz, Joyner, at the snap would drop back from his Slot coverage into 15 yard deep Safety, along with Barron playing near the LOS...... it looked innovative

Defensive personnel option: The second time the 1's came onto the filed, I saw: 4-DL (Quinn,Brockers,Donald,Hayes) 3-LB (Ayers,Ogletree,Barron) 3-CB's (Johnson,Sensabaugh,Joyner) 1-Safety (MacDonald)... like above, depending on the offensive formation, sometimes Joyner would back pedal at snap to a 15 yard deep position.
another option they had of this group was removing Ayers (LB) and adding Alexander (Safety). They would play a Dbl high Safety with Joyner roaming at the snap

Special teams: The only thing to note was that they worked on Kick off coverage. They would send 5 guys at a time, either left or right side of Kicker, downfield. Of all that participated, The following undrafted guys, LB Grigsby (Pitt), Brian Randolf (Tenn) and Rohan Gaines (Ark) were the quickest to get downfield and meet the ball carrier.

Final note: One thing that stood out today, which may have appeared usual to anyone else, was the use of twisting, or crossing players running downfield. Before practice I noticed coach Fassel running the actual course they set up with equipment for the kick returns. I noticed he was showing one of the other coaches how to cross at a certain point 30 yards or so downfield. In addition to this, some of the receivers ran routes that were similar parallel to each other with one receiver on the inside crossing behind the other close to the sideline. This will be something to keep on eye on.

Thanks for reading

No, thanks for posting

 

[kurtfaulk]

Practice Report 8/3 - 'Iron Sharpens Iron'
Posted 1 hour ago

Myles SimmonsRams Insider@MylesASimmons

VIEW GALLERY | 65 Photos
PHOTOS: #RamsCamp Day 5


On Tuesday, the Rams staged their first full practice in pads. And by all accounts, the offense was the better of the units for that particular session.

Los Angeles’ defense being full of competitors, head coach Jeff Fisher predicted the group might have a little extra in store for Wednesday. In fact, some defensive even asked to keep things exactly the same from one day to the next.

“The players actually were kind of lobbying to put pads back on today, because I think that was coming from the defense,” Fisher said.

One such defender was defensive end William Hayes.




“I was pushing for it,” he confirmed. “I felt like, since I’ve been here — four years — that was the most competitive we’ve been against each other. So I was all for it.”

But that’s not how the schedule worked out.

“But, we originally planned on not going back-to-back. So, they’re going to have to wait until Saturday now,” Fisher said.

Still, what made Tuesday so competitive? From Hayes’ perspective, it was all about the battles in the trenches.

“Those pads came on [and] I saw a different offensive line, which was pretty cool,” he said. “Those jokers were coming off the ball and they were getting after it. I think that was the biggest thing.”

“And it was like every single play [we were] fighting until the whistle was over with, which is a good thing,” Hayes continued. “So that was pretty exciting for me.”

As one of the veteran leaders on the defensive line, Hayes has been around for a while and knows how to get ready for a season. During this time of year, there’s no scout team — the first-team O and first-team D go head-to-head to try to make one another better. And at this point, Hayes feels like both the offense and defense are about even.

“We’re pretty good right now, man,” Hayes said.

For the D-line in particular, Hayes said one of the unit’s goals is to make sure it’s not just the Aaron Donaldshow. As good as the third-year defensive tackle is, everyone has to support him along the line.

“I mean, I don’t want it to be where you just see Aaron Donald — Aaron Donald’s carrying the D-line and he’s the only one making flashes the whole game,” Hayes said. “I want it to be all four of us just being disruptive and playing off of each other. And that’s one thing we’re doing better this year than we did last year. Everybody’s playing off of each other really good this year.”

And the camp competition between the two lines should help both units when it comes to translating those improvements into Ws once the regular season hits.

“Iron sharpens iron, and we’re going out there and we’re getting after each other really good,” Hayes said. “They’re getting after us really good. The only thing it’s going to do is just push us toward greatness.”

“I’m real optimistic to see what the season is going to look like,” Hayes added. “Right now, I can’t really see too many weaknesses on both sides of the ball. So I’m pretty excited to see what we’ve got ahead of us.”

EXTRA POINTS

— Are players a more self-conscious with Hard Knocks cameras around during camp? Perhaps a little bit.

“I’m trying not to censor myself so much, but I have to kind of watch my mouth a little,” Hayes said. “It’s just a little different than what I’m used to. It seems like every time I want to start laughing and joking, I start seeing a camera in my face. And I’m not really big when it comes to cameras. I’m not like a television-type guy. So that’s a little different for me. But it’s been fun.

“But the cool thing about Hard Knocks,” Hayes continued, is that “it’s given our team — well the whole NFL and everybody within the community — a chance to get to know our players and get to know us.”

— Wide receiver Mike Thomas has put together a couple strong practices in a row, catching a number of passes form fellow rookie Jared Goff. According to the sixth-round pick, the duo is establishing a nice rapport.

“We’re getting a lot of reps in together, so I feel like the chemistry is going great,” Thomas said. “Of course, there’s a lot of we need to work on. Just the timing and everything, yeah. But our chemistry is going great.”

— With starting right tackle Rob Havenstein on the preseason physically unable to perform list,Rodger Saffold has been filling in at right tackle with Cody Wichmann playing at left guard. Over his years in the league, Saffold has played all over the line, and has a good comfort in doing so.

“With Rob missing time right now, we decided prior to the start of camp — and notified [Saffold] — that we’re going to move him out to right tackle. He said, ‘Cool,’” Fisher said. “He says he loves it. He will play any position but center. So, it gives us the flexibility and the peace of mind knowing that if you do have an issue, Rodger can play any place.”

— Cornerback E.J. Gaines did get a few reps with the first-team defense on Wednesday, but Fisher said the Mizzou product “came up a little bit lame” toward the end of practice. The club will check him out and we’ll have an update when one is available.

— Finally, the Rams had a special guest at practice on Wednesday — seven-time Grammy award winner Kendrick Lamar. Check out our Dani Klupenger's one-on-one interview with him in the video below.

.

 

[Merlin]

First observation Offense: after 2 days, I'm getting the feeling that coach Groh is having a positive affect on the receivers. Many of the receivers tend to be getting separation early in their routes giving the QB more options in their reads. It's not with all of the receivers, but there is a much higher percentage of plays with open receivers than in the most recent seasons. Can't say it will play like this in the regular season just that it's worth noting at this stage of Camp.

Glad you mentioned that, because it's worth discussing the coaching when you see the entire unit step it way the F up like they have so far. It's way early, we all know, but there is a significant difference thus far from previous camps in that way. What it seems like to me is the Rams hit on Coach Groh and maybe Coach Boras as the OC. Jury's still out on Boras after that stinker of a game vs the whiners, but I am feeling very good right now about the job they're doing, hope it continues to build like we saw with Martz when he took over Rhome's offense.

 

[Mojo Ram]

It sounds like the offence is taking it to the defense again. Damn.

If so, this is nothing but a good sign. We KNOW what we've got defensively.

 

[Mojo Ram]

In case anyone was curious about the arm strength difference between Goff and Keenum, skip to the middle of the video. Goff has some serious velocity on the ball compared to Keenum.

View: https://youtu.be/Tx2kLgG8hdE

Damn, that's the best coverage I've seen of camp yet. I could watch that all day(minus the cliche shit music). Was that shot legally? Lol.

 

[Mojo Ram]

I subscribed to his you tube channel. That guy's video delivers. There are other vids from previous days etc...
Legit.

 

[Dxmissile]

He barely played in preseason games