McVay and Snead post draft presser

[FrantikRam]

Cooper Kupp had key mistakes in his rookie year. The fourth quarter, fourth down drop against Seattle. The fumble against Minnesota. And this is the best receiver in the NFL.

Who’s to say that Skowronek, Harris, hell, even Atwell can’t improve like Kupp did?

Cooper Kupp was essentially a starter and literally led the team in receiving yards his rookie year. That's not an apples to apples comparison.

See that's the thing. People still rag on Atwell for.....being drafted? But Skow is protected for some weird reason.

 

[OldSchool]

Love the interview and insights. But DAMN Les... get rid of the fucking straw! I couldn't even watch him chomping on that thing. It was like he was trying to get the very last bit of caffein out of his morning starbucks.

Yeah he's taking the Alabama redneck gig a bit far with that straw.

 

[OldSchool]

See that's the thing. People still rag on Atwell for.....being drafted? But Skow is protected for some weird reason.

Making it on the field and actually contributing tends to give players a little bit more leeway than those that can't do either of those things.

 

[Angry Ram]

Cooper Kupp was essentially a starter and literally led the team in receiving yards his rookie year. That's not an apples to apples comparison.

See that's the thing. People still rag on Atwell for.....being drafted? But Skow is protected for some weird reason.

+1

 

[Faceplant]

Cooper Kupp was essentially a starter and literally led the team in receiving yards his rookie year. That's not an apples to apples comparison.

See that's the thing. People still rag on Atwell for.....being drafted? But Skow is protected for some weird reason.

+1

I have no problem with Atwell personally. I think he can be a player in McVay scheme, but for where these players (Atwell and Skow) were drafted??? Which would you expect to make a contribution in year one??

Let me guess, Skow gets "protected" cuz he's white.... That's gotta be it.

 

[FrantikRam]

Making it on the field and actually contributing tends to give players a little bit more leeway than those that can't do either of those things.

So now we're upset that he got hurt?

Because the only reason Skow himself saw the field was because of injuries to guys ahead of him on the depth chart.........including Tutu.

 

[FrantikRam]

Talk about apples to oranges. Where were these players (Atwell and Skow) drafted??? Which would you expect, from a draft position, to make a contribution in year one??

Let me guess, Skow gets "protected" cuz he's white.... That's gotta be it.

No it probably goes back to people just not liking the Atwell pick.

But it really doesn't matter where someone is drafted once they're on the field.

Or let's look at it another way:

The Bengals had a horrible G situation. Everyone knew it. AD blew it up and it lost them the Super Bowl.

In a similar vain, Skow dropped a wide open TD pass that, had we lost to the Niners, would have been the biggest reason we lost - because again, even an undrafted WR should catch a wide open TD. His awkwardness and general inability to play WR made it a more difficult play than it should have been.

The Bengals upgraded their G. They didn't say, well, we knew it would be hard for him.

Nothing against Skow - if we have the roster spots for him to just play special teams, I'm here for it. If we want him to play h back or TE, I'm here to see it tried.

But as far as WR goes? I don't see him getting on the field this year. And he shouldn't. He's an ideal candidate for the practice squad.

 

[Memento]

Cooper Kupp was essentially a starter and literally led the team in receiving yards his rookie year. That's not an apples to apples comparison.

See that's the thing. People still rag on Atwell for.....being drafted? But Skow is protected for some weird reason.

I’m not making an apples to
apples comparison. I’m making a point that even the best aren’t what they are as rookies.

 

[Merlin]

Nothing against Skow - if we have the roster spots for him to just play special teams, I'm here for it. If we want him to play h back or TE, I'm here to see it tried.

But as far as WR goes? I don't see him getting on the field this year. And he shouldn't. He's an ideal candidate for the practice squad.

Nobody disagrees with this. This is perfectly reasonable. But the fact is that as a 7th round pick he did get on the field for a Super Bowl champion team and his contributions were high end on special teams and solid as a WR. He was executing lead blocks off of motion too which helped soften the loss of Woody who is surgical in such things.

So beating him up about that drop, as irritating as it was, feels excessive. Especially when all this started with the basic correlation that maybe Notre Dame is going to be a feeder program for us going forward and citing Skow as evidence that things do translate which is kind of important for a varied and notoriously difficult offense for pass game weapons coming out.

 

[CanadaRam]

Skow was a key contributor on STs.
Nothing was expected as a WR in year 1. Bonus that he contributed.
He will improve (as all rookies tend to do).
it’s ok to be upset that he dropped a pass.
that said a great 7th round pick. He has already done more in his NFL career than most 7th round picks ever do

 

[Loyal]

I’m not making an apples to
apples comparison. I’m making a point that even the best aren’t what they are as rookies.

I am puzzled, to be honest. I was blown away by Kupp in his rookie year. The precision route running and clutch catches in the regular season, wowed me for a 3 rd rounder. He did make a drop or two that first year, but then so did Tory Holt for a TD in the Super Bowl. I am puzzled because you didn’t see that in him when he was a rookie (Kupp)?

 

[rdlkgliders]

Les is hilarious!

 

[FrantikRam]

Nobody disagrees with this. This is perfectly reasonable. But the fact is that as a 7th round pick he did get on the field for a Super Bowl champion team and his contributions were high end on special teams and solid as a WR. He was executing lead blocks off of motion too which helped soften the loss of Woody who is surgical in such things.

So beating him up about that drop, as irritating as it was, feels excessive. Especially when all this started with the basic correlation that maybe Notre Dame is going to be a feeder program for us going forward and citing Skow as evidence that things do translate which is kind of important for a varied and notoriously difficult offense for pass game weapons coming out.

That's fair

 

[OldSchool]

So now we're upset that he got hurt?

Because the only reason Skow himself saw the field was because of injuries to guys ahead of him on the depth chart.........including Tutu.

I'm not upset about anything. But my point stands and I thought was fair. If you can't get on the field and show the team and fans what you have you open yourself to criticism that players doing that are less likely to face. Tutu did nothing for the team at all in his rookie year. Skow did he will naturally get more leniency from people.

 

[Memento]

I am puzzled, to be honest. I was blown away by Kupp in his rookie year. The precision route running and clutch catches in the regular season, wowed me for a 3 rd rounder. He did make a drop or two that first year, but then so did Tory Holt for a TD in the Super Bowl. I am puzzled because you didn’t see that in him when he was a rookie (Kupp)?

Did I expect him to be a triple crown receiving threat? No. My point about Kupp and Skowronek is that you can’t really judge a player in one season, and Skowronek, in limited time and as a seventh round pick, still showed potential.

 

[FarNorth]

We talking about the same guy? The one that dropped a wide open TD in the NFCCG and then dropped an open pass that led to an INT in the Super Bowl?

His blocking was decent....even with that IMO he was a negative across the board.

I can't get excited about a receiver who consistently drops catchable balls. It's not like he has hands of stone. But he needs to be more consistent at tracking the ball and bringing it in. Hopefully he can improve. And hopefully the Rams will have other guys who can both block and catch available this year.

 

[blackbart]

Judging him being a 7th round pick, good pick.

But as a third WR? Horrible. That's not fair to him. But he just isn't an NFL WR.

He was wide open in the end zone and the pass hit him in the hands - any WR - even undrafted ones - should catch that.

I’ve through the video frame be frame it did not hit him in the hands. He may not have picked up the ball very well, it barely grazed off his left thumb.

He was only the 3rd WR because Woods and Beckham were down.

I think he was no more than a teams guy his first year when picked. In that perspective he had a great year but it could have been better. Now he’ll be lucky to see the field on offense again.

 

[CoachAllred]

I see Kyren Williams, RB, Notre Dame contributing early on especially
with Henderson's propensity for injury.
Williams has something that a lot of rookie backs don't have
His ability to pass protect is a strength of his. As well as his
hands, catching out of backfield. Hopefully he has the ability to
avoid injury. our backfield could use some of that.

 

[André]

If the Rams aren't moving on from Rapp, which I think they are, perhaps they are trying to move him to inside linebacker, like they did with Howard.

Makes more sense than trying to use him as a free safety, like they are now.

 

[dang]

Love the interview and insights. But DAMN Les... get rid of the fucking straw! I couldn't even watch him chomping on that thing. It was like he was trying to get the very last bit of caffein out of his morning starbucks.

Brilliant mind at work. But as often proven Snead is not socially polished nor is he an articulate speaker. But we are lucky to have him on the Rams hopefully for the next 10 years.