IMO, Jeff Fisher Needs To Make A Bold Move

  • To unlock all of features of Rams On Demand please take a brief moment to register. Registering is not only quick and easy, it also allows you access to additional features such as live chat, private messaging, and a host of other apps exclusive to Rams On Demand.

Memphis Ram

Legend
Joined
Jun 26, 2010
Messages
6,671
Many will disagree and point out that all this offense needs is a healthy Sam Bradford or another good option at QB along with a couple of OLinemen for this team to take the next step. That may be true, but I’m really not so sure. IMO, I believe that Jeff Fisher needs to make a BOLD MOVE in this division to get this team over the hump.

As I recall, Fisher came to St. Louis with plans of building a strong rushing attack and defense as they compliment each other tremendously. Well the defense has finally arrived, but the rushing attack still hasn’t shown up yet. And it’s not just about personnel, IMO. I believe that this team has fallen into the trap of focusing their creativity, time, & finances on the passing game while not spending nearly enough on the running game. And this while a strong rushing attack opens up the passing game even more and is usually necessary for successful playoff football.

With this in mind, I believe that Fisher/Snead should go back to their Auburn connection. They should go after Auburn’s current Offensive Coordinator, Rhett Lashlee, to be this teams new Offensive Coordinator and the Rams should run a version of the Auburn Offense in the NFL. (And before you say it, many scoffed at the effect Chip Kelly would have in the NFL and he now enjoys a top 5 scoring offense with QBs this organization and it’s fans would be calling for their heads if they where here).

For those unfamiliar with the Auburn offense, the core of it is basically a hurry up, no-huddle, power running game, based upon the Delaware Wing-T. It uses mis-direction and it‘s run out of spread formations designed to pressure the defense across the field, per it’s architect, Gus Malzahn. Contrary to what may be popular thought, this is not Georgia Tech’s wishbone and they do throw the football. (In fact, Auburn probably takes more deep shots down at least than the Rams).

This offense features some plays where the QB has 2-4 different options (including passing) to counter whatever the defense does, thus making it more difficult to stop. On top of that, this allows (along with its various formations, personnel packages, and misdirection), the team to focus upon and basically run mostly 5-6 core plays great success shortening the learning curve and allowing for these athletes to just play football. In fact, I believe this is something both Tre Mason and Greg Robinson expressed (in comparison to Schotty's offense), when they got to St. Louis.

Anyway, Lashlee is a young up and comer who has been with Auburn’s Gus Malzahn at several stops (high school - college) and according to his current fellow coaches, knows the Auburn offense inside and out. In fact, the OLine & WR coaches say that he taught them the offense.

http://archive.montgomeryadvertiser...n-assistants-speak-highly-of-OC-Rhett-Lashlee

Step One for this team to take the next step.

1) Replace Brian Schottenhiemer with OC Rhett Lashlee

(potential personnel moves to follow)
 
Last edited:

-X-

Medium-sized Lebowski
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Messages
35,576
Name
The Dude
You'd have to personally sell Jeff Fisher on that kind of change, because it's nowhere near his philosophy. Not that I'm opposed to your idea or anything ... just sayin'. Anything's possible, because I'm sure Vermeil was a little reluctant to run that wide-open offense when Martz came aboard, due to it being a huge departure from Jerry Rhome's (who hovered around the bottom of the league in most offensive stats). But not unlike Vermeil's situation, this team needs to have the horses to run that kind of offense. Right now it's built on power running and ball control. We do have some of the players capable of running an offense like that (Tavon, Stedman, Quick, Robinson, Saffold, Bradford *if healthy*), but that would require a bit of a retooling of personnel to pull off. How quickly do you think an offense can be completely turned around like that and yield positive results?
 

ChrisW

Stating the obvious
Joined
Sep 9, 2013
Messages
4,670
Many will disagree and point out that all this offense needs is a healthy Sam Bradford or another good option at QB along with a couple of OLinemen for this team to take the next step. That may be true, but I’m really not so sure. IMO, I believe that Jeff Fisher needs to make a BOLD MOVE in this division to get this team over the hump.

As I recall, Fisher came to St. Louis with plans of building a strong rushing attack and defense as they compliment each other tremendously. Well the defense has finally arrived, but the rushing attack still hasn’t shown up yet. And it’s not just about personnel, IMO. I believe that this team has fallen into the trap of focusing their creativity, time, & finances on the passing game while not spending nearly enough on the running game. And this while a strong rushing attack opens up the passing game even more and is usually necessary for successful playoff football.

With this in mind, I believe that Fisher/Snead should go back to their Auburn connection. They should go after Auburn’s current Offensive Coordinator, Rhett Lashlee, to be this teams new Offensive Coordinator and the Rams should run a version of the Auburn Offense in the NFL. (And before you say it, many scoffed at the effect Chip Kelly would have in the NFL and he now enjoys a top 5 scoring offense with QBs this organization and it’s fans would be calling for their heads if they where here).

For those unfamiliar with the Auburn offense, the core of it is basically a hurry up, no-huddle, power running game, based upon the Delaware Wing-T. It uses mis-direction and it‘s run out of spread formations designed to pressure the defense across the field, per it’s architect, Gus Malzahn. Contrary to what may be popular thought, this is not Georgia Tech’s wishbone and they do throw the football. (In fact, Auburn probably takes more deep shots down at least than the Rams).

This offense features some plays where the QB has 2-4 different options (including passing) to counter whatever the defense does, thus making it more difficult to stop. On top of that, this allows (along with its various formations, personnel packages, and misdirection), the team to focus upon and basically run mostly 5-6 core plays great success shortening the learning curve and allowing for these athletes to just play football. In fact, I believe this is something both Tre Mason and Greg Robinson expressed (in comparison to Schotty's offense), when they got to St. Louis.

Anyway, Lashlee is a young up and comer who has been with Auburn’s Gus Malzahn at several stops (high school - college) and according to his current fellow coaches, knows the Auburn offense inside and out. In fact, the OLine & WR coaches say that he taught them the offense.

http://archive.montgomeryadvertiser...n-assistants-speak-highly-of-OC-Rhett-Lashlee

Step One for this team to take the next step.

1) Replace Brian Schottenhiemer with OC Rhett Lashlee

(potential personnel moves to follow)

If you really want to make a bold move, you trade up for Mariota and pair him with Scott Frost.

But I'm not sure Fisher would even contemplate that since it's not really his style.
 

mr.stlouis

Legend
Joined
Sep 7, 2011
Messages
6,454
Name
Main Hook
I love it! However, I think Schotty doing what Fisher wants as it is. And yes, we are a Sam and legit second string away. Wells and Joseph, especially Wells, have sucked for much of the year. But Joseph is a sub so IDk.
 

Rambitious1

Rams On Demand Sponsor
Rams On Demand Sponsor
Joined
Feb 4, 2013
Messages
4,446
Name
Tom
If you really want to make a bold move, you trade up for Mariota and pair him with Scott Frost.

But I'm not sure Fisher would even contemplate that since it's not really his style.


I'm not high on Mariota.
I am also not high on trading up (a lot of picks etc.) to pick him - (See RGIII trade)
 

ChrisW

Stating the obvious
Joined
Sep 9, 2013
Messages
4,670
I'm not high on Mariota.
I am also not high on trading up (a lot of picks etc.) to pick him - (See RGIII trade)

It's gonna take 2 firsts to get up there. Then you'd probably have to throw in a second as well. The trade we did with RG3 will probably never happen again with anyone.
 

Memphis Ram

Legend
Joined
Jun 26, 2010
Messages
6,671
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #7
You'd have to personally sell Jeff Fisher on that kind of change, because it's nowhere near his philosophy. Not that I'm opposed to your idea or anything ... just sayin'. Anything's possible, because I'm sure Vermeil was a little reluctant to run that wide-open offense when Martz came aboard, due to it being a huge departure from Jerry Rhome's (who hovered around the bottom of the league in most offensive stats). But not unlike Vermeil's situation, this team needs to have the horses to run that kind of offense. Right now it's built on power running and ball control. We do have some of the players capable of running an offense like that (Tavon, Stedman, Quick, Robinson, Saffold, Bradford *if healthy*), but that would require a bit of a retooling of personnel to pull off. How quickly do you think an offense can be completely turned around like that and yield positive results?

I believe that the offense is near Fisher's philosophy because it provides him what he wanted to have in the first place. A run game. And IMO, this is a power run, ball control offense. It's just run out of many spread looks and requires the QB to participate in the running game. Perhaps his best teams even had Steve McNair making plays with his feet.

And I believe that the Rams current personnel could pull off this offense (Auburn adjusts to the personnel on hand anyway) with the same three changes the team needs to make anyway no matter what they do next year.

New Center
New Guard
New Quarterback(s)
 
Last edited:

Memphis Ram

Legend
Joined
Jun 26, 2010
Messages
6,671
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #8
If you really want to make a bold move, you trade up for Mariota and pair him with Scott Frost.

But I'm not sure Fisher would even contemplate that since it's not really his style.

I'd hope the Rams wouldn't make that mistake. There is no Andrew Luck in this draft class, thus there isn't a QB worthy of the Rams trading the farm to obtain.
 

ChrisW

Stating the obvious
Joined
Sep 9, 2013
Messages
4,670
I'd hope the Rams wouldn't make that mistake. There is no Andrew Luck in this draft class, thus there isn't a QB worthy of the Rams trading the farm to obtain.

There's not going to be any trading of the farm. But when you're a few players away from being a serious contender you trade up to get who you want. We need QB play and C/G to make the playoffs right now. OL is easier to get done in free agency.
 

Mackeyser

Supernovas are where gold forms; the only place.
Joined
Apr 26, 2013
Messages
14,158
Name
Mack
Nothing changes until we replace Wells and Joseph. Every loss sees one thing happen: interior pressure and either it's Wells' or Joseph's guy most of the time. Yeah, Barksdale got hit by speed rushers in one game, but on the whole, he's not been the guy to break down.

It's been our interior.

The way to beat the Rams is with pressure up the middle, plain and simple. Scott Wells is simply the worst Center in football right now and even if you disagree with PFF's grades usually, you probably aren't disagreeing with their grades on HIM and those grades are abysmal. They're so negative, they border on bullying...

Frankly, if we get STOUT up the middle the offense we HAVE right now is perfectly fine. But we just can't run it when the place that has to be the strongest is the weakest. Think about it. With the Jets, Schott had Nick Mangold. Now he has Scott Wells?

I'm sure Scott Wells is a fine human being and I mean no disrespect, but I really don't want him starting for the Rams anymore.
 

Zombie Slayer

You are entitled to nothing.
Joined
Aug 10, 2013
Messages
935
Name
Dave
I'm all for it at this point. Since the GSOT we have gone through head coaches, coordinator and many players. This team is still at the bottom of the league offensively. I know injuries have helped with that, but this offensive line still needs work, despite all of the free agents and draft picks used. I like this idea. Although it may not work, I would rather try that then keep our current OC any longer.
 

PowayRamFan

Hall of Fame
Joined
Aug 15, 2011
Messages
2,359
Nothing changes until we replace Wells and Joseph. Every loss sees one thing happen: interior pressure and either it's Wells' or Joseph's guy most of the time. Yeah, Barksdale got hit by speed rushers in one game, but on the whole, he's not been the guy to break down.

It's been our interior.

The way to beat the Rams is with pressure up the middle, plain and simple. Scott Wells is simply the worst Center in football right now and even if you disagree with PFF's grades usually, you probably aren't disagreeing with their grades on HIM and those grades are abysmal. They're so negative, they border on bullying...

Frankly, if we get STOUT up the middle the offense we HAVE right now is perfectly fine. But we just can't run it when the place that has to be the strongest is the weakest. Think about it. With the Jets, Schott had Nick Mangold. Now he has Scott Wells?

I'm sure Scott Wells is a fine human being and I mean no disrespect, but I really don't want him starting for the Rams anymore.
Agree about Wells. There is no reason he should be playing in these last two games. Let Jones and Barnes audition for next year so we can see what we have.
 

Memphis Ram

Legend
Joined
Jun 26, 2010
Messages
6,671
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #13
There's not going to be any trading of the farm. But when you're a few players away from being a serious contender you trade up to get who you want. We need QB play and C/G to make the playoffs right now. OL is easier to get done in free agency.

Yeah, but visions of Jake Long, Scott Wells, Jacob Bell, Jason Brown, Dwayne "Road Grader" White and on and on and on circling the rare Adam Timmerman come to mind.

Sorry, but I'm of the belief that there are no franchise QBs in this draft worth trading up to obtain period. Mariota, while talented, is just the next big name in this year's draft class, IMO.
 

ChrisW

Stating the obvious
Joined
Sep 9, 2013
Messages
4,670
Yeah, but visions of Jake Long, Scott Wells, Jacob Bell, Jason Brown, Dwayne "Road Grader" White and on and on and on circling the rare Adam Timmerman come to mind.

Sorry, but I'm of the belief that there are no franchise QBs in this draft worth trading up to obtain period. Mariota, while talented, is just the next big name in this year's draft class, IMO.

Well you can't wait 10 years to draft a QB. At some point you have to make a move and get a guy that you feel will win games. If that isn't who that Rams have in mind, so be it. Just go get a guy. Do not go into next year without a promising young QB taken to sit behind Bradford.
 

Ramatik

Starter
Joined
Jun 24, 2010
Messages
669
I still think it's the players. Learning and executing. It really doesn't matter what you do if you don't do it well. I'm am against starting all over again. Beef up that oline.
 

-X-

Medium-sized Lebowski
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Messages
35,576
Name
The Dude
I believe that the offense is near Fisher's philosophy because it provides him what he wanted to have in the first place. A run game. And IMO, this is a power run, ball control offense. It's just run out of many spread looks and requires the QB to participate in the running game. Perhaps his best teams even had Steve McNair making plays with his feet.

And I believe that the Rams current personnel could pull off this offense (Auburn adjusts to the personnel on hand anyway) with the same three changes the team needs to make anyway no matter what they do next year.

New Center
New Guard
New Quarterback(s)
So who are these replacements you speak of to make it work? I'm all but 100% sure this isn't going to get implemented, but it's still fun to talk about.
 

Memphis Ram

Legend
Joined
Jun 26, 2010
Messages
6,671
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #17
So who are these replacements you speak of to make it work? I'm all but 100% sure this isn't going to get implemented, but it's still fun to talk about.

Oh, I know that there is little to no chance of this happening, but I'm about to post my potential personnel moves on the Draft Forum just for kicks.:D
 

-X-

Medium-sized Lebowski
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Messages
35,576
Name
The Dude
Oh, I know that there is little to no chance of this happening, but I'm about to post my potential personnel moves on the Draft Forum just for kicks.:D
Look forward to it. If it meets with my approval, I will incorporate them into my next Madden season and let you know how many points I score. (y)
 

Irish

Starter
Joined
Jun 20, 2014
Messages
962
Here's my take with the interior line argument:

I agree that the weakness on our line is Scott Wells and Davin Joseph, there really is no excusing that. But, what team besides the Cowboys has probowl talent at every Oline position?

Schottenheimer seems to be a coach who gameplans only assuming perfect conditions: all blocks made, all reads read properly, all holes hit at the exact moment, all routes ran perfectly. the problem, though, is that there are 11 guys on the other side of the ball whose only jobs are, literally, to shed your perfect blocks, disrupt your textbook reads, plug running holes, and force WRs to run different routes than the ones they ran all week in 7 on 7 drills.

When the protection was at its worst last night (which, to be honest, was often), it came from the middle, almost like Ted Bowles knew from tape what we all knew going into the game: Wells and Joseph are the weakspots. The thing is, though, is that you can exploit plays like that. You run trap plays and pull backside tackles and guard to wipe out overzealous nose tackles, you move the pocket on bootlegs and the like to let Hill go step for step with crossing routes to give him some confidence and force those interior d lineman to move side to side and not just straight up field, and you give Hill a guy like Harkey or Kendricks to pick up free rushers on the edges or to wipe out A gap blitzes and let Hill reset himself. You also run quick hitting jet sweeps and reverses that don't allow those guys any time to get in the backfield and instead force them to chase down your speedsters. This isn't second level thinking or "Chip Kelly" mad scientist stuff, this is fundamental OC 101.

Schottenheimer's inability to adapt and change has killed this team this year, period. The best coaches in the world emphasize their players strengths and hide their weaknesses, and Schottenheimer just can't do that.
 

Rambitious1

Rams On Demand Sponsor
Rams On Demand Sponsor
Joined
Feb 4, 2013
Messages
4,446
Name
Tom
It's gonna take 2 firsts to get up there. Then you'd probably have to throw in a second as well. The trade we did with RG3 will probably never happen again with anyone.

IMHO two firsts are way too high.