Darrell Henderson's injury could open door for undrafted RB Xavier Jones

[Rams43]

who do you think starts on day 1?

That’s easy. It will be Cam Akers.

 

[Merlin]

That’s easy. It will be Cam Akers.

I agree that's what the Rams want. So if the week one starter is Brown it means Akers wasn't quite ready.

Either way I'm not too worried about the RB room. We have good talent just gotta finish sorting things.

 

[Ram65]

That’s easy. It will be Cam Akers.

This is what I wrote in your other thread. Don't be surprised if he doesn't.

Akers-looks to be a starter at some point getting the bulk of the carries sometime in the season.

Right now Farr and MJD have M Brown getting the starting job early on. I was a little surprised by this but, maybe it makes sense to take some early pressure off Akers. We know Brown knows the offense and will be ready game one. We don't know how long he will stay healthy. Hopefully, Henderson is ready to go at the start of the season. The Rams can let Akers settle in with splitting carries between all three backs early on.

Merlin summed it with the above post. I hope he is ready. Brown can take the lead early. All three will get carries.

So if the week one starter is Brown it means Akers wasn't quite ready.

 

[OldSchool]

View: https://twitter.com/JourdanRodrigue/status/1300523994743881728

 

[LARAMSinFeb.]

I think Brown opens the game. Seems like McVay usually leans towards players with familiarity with the offense, experience, etc. Players have to really prove themselves to earn their way in. I'd still predict Akers gets some series.

 

[Mackeyser]

McVay has little patience for two things with his RBs... lack of ball security and not picking up blitzes.

I really like Akers, but he's put it on the turf a few times and we have no way of knowing how he is picking up blitzes.

Brown's gonna be the safe choice to start week 1, but Akers will get some reps and we'll see from there.

 

[Rams43]

Malcolm Brown just will not scare the Cowboys.

So the play action is diminished. Which, in turn, diminishes the entire passing O.

It's like a landslide from there...

 

[dolphinlover123]

Malcolm Brown just will not scare the Cowboys.

So the play action is diminished. Which, in turn, diminishes the entire passing O.

It's like a landslide from there...

That would be good then. Maybe they come unprepared. Whether they are scared of Malcolm Brown or not, if we establish the run, they are going to have to respect it. We dont need home run plays from Malcolm. But he can also catch.

 

[Merlin]

I loved the way McVay's offense looked in that brief window of having CJ Anderson hammering that ball in there in the middle. He was definitely not the type of back our head coach prefers, but the threat of that dude bouncing around in the secondary was something teams were afraid of and it worked quite well in balancing things. After he joined us LBs were biting hard on the play action, well, up until the Patriots disregarded our run game in the SB of course.

So if Brown were to start and provide that type of power run game, I think we'll be ok. Problem is whether he's going to get dinged up quickly like usual, and whether these other guys can complement him. Brown/Akers seems like a nice duo, I just worry about Brown staying healthy.

As to the Pats and how they shut us down, playing quarters on the back end was a big part of that. Goff really struggled with it. And best way to beat it is to have enough speed/skill to run enough vertical routes to overwhelm it. That shit won't fly vs an offense like, say, KC, and while most would agree and say that's because of the QB, it's actually more about them having 5 real deep threats on the field at any given time and a line who can hold and even if they don't Mahomes is a threat to get the ball out.

So IMO the offense is potentially at its best when it's got speed and threat in the backfield. Much as I love power backs that explosive element just gives way more return in today's game, particularly when you have offensive minds like we have drawing it up.

 

[dieterbrock]

Malcolm Brown just will not scare the Cowboys.

So the play action is diminished. Which, in turn, diminishes the entire passing O.

It's like a landslide from there...

Well, Brown would likely get injured by his 4th or 5th carry anyway and then it will be a full compliment of Akers....

 

[LARAMSinFeb.]

Malcolm Brown just will not scare the Cowboys.

So the play action is diminished. Which, in turn, diminishes the entire passing O.

It's like a landslide from there...

I think it's our OL that doesn't scare the Cowboys. If it's like last year it won't matter who the back is.

 

[Snaz]

As to the Pats and how they shut us down, playing quarters on the back end was a big part of that. Goff really struggled with it. And best way to beat it is to have enough speed/skill to run enough vertical routes to overwhelm it. That shit won't fly vs an offense like, say, KC, and while most would agree and say that's because of the QB, it's actually more about them having 5 real deep threats on the field at any given time and a line who can hold and even if they don't Mahomes is a threat to get the ball out.

If I recall there was a 6 DL defense to shut down the run and blitz. Our WRs were to close to the OL and couldn't run effective routes.
So disagree with them not disrespecting our run game, it was shut down. Plus the QB and Playcaller got fooled by disguises.

 

[Merlin]

If I recall there was a 6 DL defense to shut down the run and blitz. Our WRs were to close to the OL and couldn't run effective routes.
So disagree with them not disrespecting our run game, it was shut down. Plus the QB and Playcaller got fooled by disguises.

Re: the disagreement the Pats definitely shut down our run game. But also there was more to that, which is a whole other conversation.

Here's a really good article, one of those rare ones that goes pretty deep on how things went down. It's one of those that can be enlightening even on the second or third read.

 

[badnews]

I bet Malcolm Brown gets the starts until week 5. He will probably be in on obvious passing downs all season.

I will be stunned if Brown is the starter on opening day much less for the first 4 weeks.

Oh ye of little faith

 

[So Ram]

Oh ye of little faith

what’s up with Henderson?

 

[LouisvilleRam]

what’s up with Henderson?

2 better backs in front of him, I thought he'd play a lot on 3rd downs but I guess McVay doesn't trust his blocking. It's probably way too early to say bust but he hasn't shown me much.

 

[Snaz]

Henderson was in for a couple of plays, looked decent.

 

[Psycho_X]

Henderson was in for a couple of plays, looked decent.

I think that was only because Brown got banged up briefly. The series before that he was shaking his hand and holding his wrist as he walked off the field. I was scared he did something to it but apparently was minor. But I think Henderson was subbed for him the next series in the rotation while they assessed it. Henderson being out most of training camp set him back the same as it did for Rapp on defense. I expect to see him more through the season but expect Brown and Akers to still get the majority over him.

 

[Snaz]

Yeah Brown looked like he had a stinger, arm was straight down not moving it. I was like oh crap already hurt. Again.

 

[Boston Ram]

I was never a fan of Henderson when we drafted him. I hope he proves me wrong but right now he’s headed to bust category. But I feel like Jones just has that it Factor he’s compact he’s sturdy got enough speed and vision and he just hard to tackle. He gets low behind his pads and setup his blockers very good. And his footwork is incredible

I agree, Henderson has not shown me anything, I would like to get a better look at Jones over Henderson regardless of injury.