Aug-03 Camp Thread

[So Ram]

Wow I must be watching different vids and reading different tweets from you and Junkie.

I was not watching videos.0

 

[bubbaramfan]

Couple of things that are bothering me after a week of TC. I've watched every video and have not seen Goff throw a pass once if he lines up under center. If he lines up under center, he hands it off. That's such a big tell to D's.
And here we go again with the musical chairs with the OL Fisher says Hav will be back before the start of the season. And then where will Saffold play? Pull Wichman and put him at RG? What about Brown? I swear, Boudreau doesn't seem to care about continuity.
I said it before and I''ll say it again. The first regular season game, the Rams will go with an OL that never lined up together in pre season. I understand you have to get a look at all your guys, but then again you have to get ready for the regular season and let the OL develop some continuity.

 

[So Ram]

There's a first time for everything I suppose. But hopefully this WR competition actually creates an NFL quality squad for the first time in a long time whoever ends up making the cut.



Yeah, the generic "he came up lame" and that's it really scares me. Like someone said no news is bad news most of the time when it comes to injuries. We just can't afford a cb injury this year.

Agreed -- My take on WR's
Mike Thomas is a keeper & Brian Quick is a man child in Red Zone. Just throw him the dam ball !!!
--Tavon Austin is tough on those short roll outs by a QB. They throw it to the one or 2 yard line & he dives in. Really quick & hard to get a hand on when cutting in & then goes out.

 

[So Ram]

Couple of things that are bothering me after a week of TC. I've watched every video and have not seen Goff throw a pass once if he lines up under center. If he lines up under center, he hands it off. That's such a big tell to D's.
And here we go again with the musical chairs with the OL Fisher says Hav will be back before the start of the season. And then where will Saffold play? Pull Wichman and put him at RG? What about Brown? I swear, Boudreau doesn't seem to care about continuity.
I said it before and I''ll say it again. The first regular season game, the Rams will go with an OL that never lined up together in pre season. I understand you have to get a look at all your guys, but then again you have to get ready for the regular season and let the OL develop some continuity.

Your over thinking it for sure !!! Jamon Brown is still young & a little raw. He works hard &!should be very good.Wichmann will be a swing guy.He is that good.

--Case is solid & is great with Barnes.

Goff fumbled at least twice & Mannion probably 3 times. There is an issue there that needs to be fixed.

 

[StealYoGurley]

And here we go again with the musical chairs with the OL Fisher says Hav will be back before the start of the season. And then where will Saffold play? Pull Wichman and put him at RG? What about Brown? I swear, Boudreau doesn't seem to care about continuity.
I said it before and I''ll say it again. The first regular season game, the Rams will go with an OL that never lined up together in pre season. I understand you have to get a look at all your guys, but then again you have to get ready for the regular season and let the OL develop some continuity.

I don't think it is as bad as last year when they kept moving Brown back and forth between LG and RG. With Hav hurt they really had no choice but move Saffold there because he is the best option. When Hav comes back Saffold goes back to LG where he played all OTAs and Wichman moves into the backup LG to prepare for inevitable Saffold injury. Brown is used to playing next Hav and Grob is better with a vet next to him. No harm no foul IMO

 

[hotanez]

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

Thank you so much for posting. Great report

 

[Fatbot]

have not seen Goff throw a pass once if he lines up under center. If he lines up under center, he hands it off. That's such a big tell to D's.

I don't think it's worth worrying about tells since every tendency is meticulously known anyway. Of course Goff will certainly throw from under center, but of course the Rams will run more from under center (hopefully), and all defenses will know this, still good luck trying to stop Gurley.

But the more important thing is that since Goff never did it in college the Rams should be working it opposite, the bulk of his live reps should be throwing from under center so he can work on his backpedal mechanics & timing the x-step drop with the route & release, etc., since live competition differs from drill speed. But maybe they are trying to get him confidence first, who knows.

And here we go again with the musical chairs with the OL ... I said it before and I''ll say it again. The first regular season game, the Rams will go with an OL that never lined up together in pre season.

Yep agree 100%. I don't get Fish seemingly repeating the same exact mistake here.

Offensive line is unique, you don't just plug in the 5 most talented individuals and expect that will be the best line. You need to build the best *unit*, five people that work best together because of skills that complement the guy next to you and ability to communicate. A huge part of that is doing so much repetition and time to jell that the communication almost becomes telepathic where you always know what the guy next to you is doing and his strengths/weaknesses. There's no time to think in football, you just do, and practice & preseason's entire goal is getting players trained up to that point. Fisher seems to think it's more some kind of tryout period instead. That might work with other units, but not OL.

With Hav's status unknown, the best practice should have been to keep the rest of the starting line intact and just move "next guy up" at RT, not move your starting guard over and create two spots now that have less time to jell. Also, given that this preseason is so crucial to GRob, it didn't make sense to suddenly move Saffold away from him to begin camp.

Oh well, I'm still hoping we will see Saffold start at guard in the first preseason game and the practice time is just allocating reps to get him up to speed just in case Saffold does end up having to move. There's not too big of a crucial difference of where the reps come, if Saffold is at tackle with the 1s or 2s, I just really didn't see the need to make the statement with the 1s and pull the support from GRob.

Anyway, I hope this doesn't come off as I'm freaking out over it, I'm not, I have no real problem with Wichmann or any other of the linemen and maybe it's just the Rams saw those guards were better than Saffold anyway so why not move him.

 

[NateDawg122]

Another thing from yesterday almost every camp report I read said Robinson is not looking good at LT. This is really bad news. If he can't get it this year after all the extra work he put in in the off season then I don't think hes ever gonna be cut out for LT. Hopefully it was just a bad day but when your getting reports that hes making Longrase look like AD its not good. Maybe Saffold needs to be moved over to LT and stick Robinson back a LG we don't need him getting Goff killed his first year.

Where are you getting your reports? Everything I've heard is that Robinson has taken a big step forward. Even Gil Brandt said that Robinson is starting to look like the #2 overall pick.

 

[den-the-coach]

Rookie receivers finding their footing with Rams

By Joe Curley of the Ventura County Star

[www.vcstar.com]

IRVINE — Rookie receiver Michael Thomas was so excited for his training camp debut last weekend that he couldn't focus on the football in flight.

"The first day back, I was moving so fast that ball was like shaking," Thomas said. "I just told myself, 'Yo, just calm down. Just be you.'

"I was just too excited, too anxious. I just had to tell myself to calm down and play ball."

Thomas and several other young receivers have calmed down and played some ball this week, as the offense has opened eyes at the Los Angeles Rams training camp at UC Irvine.

Thomas reeled in the first two completions from quarterback Jared Goff during the team period Wednesday, as the rookies displayed some chemistry throughout practice.

"Oh yeah, 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 things we need to work on, just the timing and everything. But our chemistry is going great."

Thomas, Westlake High graduate Nelson Spruce and Duke Williams were the latest rookie receivers to shine Wednesday, with it becoming tougher and tougher to make sense of a receiving corps under reconstruction.

The Rams finished last in the NFL in several passing categories a year ago.

"We took it personal," fifth-year veteran receiver Brian Quick said. "We felt as a whole, as an offense, we have to do better. Point blank. We have to take responsibility for everything that we do. The numbers showed that we weren't so good."

The team responded by hiring coach Mike Groh to coordinate the passing game under offensive coordinator Rob Boras, using five of their six draft picks on positions involved in the passing game and adding four more undrafted free-agent receivers.

There are 12 receivers on the current 90-man roster for five, maybe six places come September.

"You have to fight every day," Quick said. "Whatever you do in life, you have to fight for. It doesn't matter what job you have. When I'm out here every day, I'm blessed to even be in this position to be out here. So I'm going to go harder than the day before."

Of the 12 receivers, all but incumbents Tavon Austin, Kenny Britt and Quick are rookies or in their second year.

"It's fun coming to work every day," Quick said. "The room is just fun. … We make it fun. Every day we let them know how blessed they are to be there."

Receiver Pharoh Cooper and tight end Tyler Highbee, rookies who were drafted in the fourth round in April, made an impact over the weekend.

"We just plug them in and go," head coach Jeff Fisher said. "If you watch practice, they're lining up with the 1s. That should tell you something."

Spruce was on the receiving end of perhaps the biggest highlight in Tuesday's practice.

Having gained some footing in their push to make an NFL roster, the young receiving corps is now just 10 days away from the preseason opener against the Dallas Cowboys at the Coliseum.

"I'm looking forward to it real bad," Thomas said. "I can't even wait until the Cowboys. I'm just ready to make it happen. I'm excited to see Jared out on the field and hopefully I'm in with him and hopefully I can make plays for him."

 

[lockdnram21]

Where are you getting your reports? Everything I've heard is that Robinson has taken a big step forward. Even Gil Brandt said that Robinson is starting to look like the #2 overall pick.

I red somewhere yesterday he had a bad day..

 

[OldSchool]

I red somewhere yesterday he had a bad day..

Check the source then IMO. I've heard nothing but good, even saw pics on another site of him doing good vs Quinn and Sims.

 

[lockdnram21]

Check the source then IMO. I've heard nothing but good, even saw pics on another site of him doing good vs Quinn and Sims.

Check out @seattlerams_nfl's Tweet:
View: https://twitter.com/seattlerams_nfl/status/760997373489197057?s=09


Here it is

 

[OldSchool]

Check out @seattlerams_nfl's Tweet:
View: https://twitter.com/seattlerams_nfl/status/760997373489197057?s=09


Here it is

Interesting considering the multiple times he's been credited with stone walling the DLine. I'm personally ok with one person saying they recall one time he was beat. Especially with that big of a hyperbole.

 

[NateDawg122]

Interesting considering the multiple times he's been credited with stone walling the DLine. I'm personally ok with one person saying they recall one time he was beat. Especially with that big of a hyperbole.

Also, the source is just one Rams fan. He's not a beat writer or scout or anything. Not saying his tweets need to be ignored, just take it with a grain of salt. I've read more than one trusted source that says GRob is doing a very good job in camp right now.

 

[LACHAMP46]

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

no worries...you like vanilla much?

Looks like today was all about Quick and Thomas

Thomas and Quick saw Duke the last few days.....nothing like competition to get someone off their ass...

there is a much higher percentage of plays with open receivers than in the most recent seasons.

interesting....would you say the coverage is lacking? How's EJ & Tru look? Hill & Joyner? Sensabaugh & Roberson? I would imagine without Jenkins & McLeod the depth is shakey right now....

1. it really sucks EJ is hurt again Ive got my fingers crossed its nothing serious and hopefully doesn't have anything to do with the foot hes been rehabbing all year.

This is my main fear....LisFranc is no fucking joke....any of you camp guys see him at the end of practice? What the fuck do they mean by coming up lame? Was he visibly limping?

I don't understand the reasoning behind this if they think Hav is gonna be good to go for game one.

Maybe they think Hav is gonna be hurt.

• Big concerns with Hav & EJ....otherwise, Groh is doing what I expected...So is Boras...So is Weinke....So is Goff...So is Quick...
• Surprised about Thomas...this is way too soon to dominate..for such a raw guy....I expect more from North, where the hell is he? They already gave Sted's number 12 to one of those new guys?
• Pharoh Cooper looks pissed sitting out...Just from videos, Spruce & Marquez look slow as molasses...
• Youtube has great vids of camp already....gotta love the media these days...

 

[So Ram]

I don't think it is as bad as last year when they kept moving Brown back and forth between LG and RG. With Hav hurt they really had no choice but move Saffold there because he is the best option. When Hav comes back Saffold goes back to LG where he played all OTAs and Wichman moves into the backup LG to prepare for inevitable Saffold injury. Brown is used to playing next Hav and Grob is better with a vet next to him. No harm no foul IMO

Yeah it's. Good spot for Saffold to be at. He is getting good work in at RT. He can be trusted. Battle is still learning the position.
Williams ???

 

[Merlin]

Another thing from yesterday almost every camp report I read said Robinson is not looking good at LT. This is really bad news. If he can't get it this year after all the extra work he put in in the off season then I don't think hes ever gonna be cut out for LT. Hopefully it was just a bad day but when your getting reports that hes making Longrase look like AD its not good. Maybe Saffold needs to be moved over to LT and stick Robinson back a LG we don't need him getting Goff killed his first year.

The Godfather's tweet was very telling; he took a long look at GRob's live reps and said he expected him to have a big year which carries a lot of weight with myself. I'm actually not too worried about LT, it's not gonna be perfect but he should give us what we need there in consistency. OL as a whole, as Fish observed, should be a strength for the team this year. Finally.

Couple of things that are bothering me after a week of TC. I've watched every video and have not seen Goff throw a pass once if he lines up under center. If he lines up under center, he hands it off. That's such a big tell to D's.
And here we go again with the musical chairs with the OL Fisher says Hav will be back before the start of the season. And then where will Saffold play? Pull Wichman and put him at RG? What about Brown? I swear, Boudreau doesn't seem to care about continuity.
I said it before and I''ll say it again. The first regular season game, the Rams will go with an OL that never lined up together in pre season. I understand you have to get a look at all your guys, but then again you have to get ready for the regular season and let the OL develop some continuity.

I see it as the Rams are phasing Roger out. They have not been able to count on him being healthy, and last year he was not their best OG even before injury. Now with the young depth they're sorting things with Roger as a primary swing option which I'm fine with. Hopefully the guy has his best year, but either way the OL depth allows for an injury or two it and still shouldn't miss a beat.

 

[Ramzee]

Interesting considering the multiple times he's been credited with stone walling the DLine. I'm personally ok with one person saying they recall one time he was beat. Especially with that big of a hyperbole.

I've been at camp the last few days and the fact is, he has gotten beat a few times (GRob) and it hasn't all been roses. Quinn just flew right by him two times in a row and I know someone has pictures of it on a website somewhere. I also have pictures of GRob stone walling lots of our defenders. Overall I think he has been very good but he still has shown lapses. In the past it's the lapses that cost him. GRob is a beast when he is on. We're looking for more consistency at this point.