- Joined
- Jul 31, 2010
- Messages
- 8,874
No Excuses For Rams. Just Look at Arizona
Posted by: Bernie Miklasz
http://www.101sports.com/2015/09/30/no-excuses-for-rams-just-look-at-arizona/
When the Rams released running back Isaiah Pead, the 50th overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, it was the latest example of how the regime of GM Les Snead and head coach Jeff Fisher has failed to maximize the opportunity to transform a losing team into a winner.
isaiah pead
The Rams released RB Isaiah Pead on Tuesday.
No question, Snead and Fisher have improved this roster after taking charge of a team that had gone 15-65 in the five-season stretch (2007-2011) that preceded their arrival. And in some areas, the upgrades are substantial, especially on the defensive side. But the point is, Snead-Fisher didn’t take full advantage of having more draft picks (37) in their hands than all but two teams since 2012. (San Francisco had 40 picks; Minnesota 39.) And over the past four drafts, the Rams had more selections in the first three rounds (17) than any NFL team.
The 2012 draft is telling. The Rams had four of the first 50 choices overall and came away with defensive tackle Michael Brockers (14th), wide receiver Brian Quick (33rd), cornerback Janoris Jenkins (39th) and Pead (50.)
Brockers is a good player. Jenkins is talented, and he’s made some big plays, but he’s also suffered some burn marks with his aggressive, gambling style. Quick, a non-factor, has been excluded from the game-day roster over the first three weeks. And Pead was a flat-out bust. A 50 percent “hit” rate on top 50 draft choices doesn’t qualify as a success.
It’s fair to second-guess the decision to trade down from the No. 45 spot to the No. 50 slot to select Pead; by doing so the Rams bypassed a chance to draft future All-Pro middle linebacker Bobby Wagner who was taken by Seattle at No. 47. And wideout Alshon Jeffery went to Chicago on the 45th selection; he’s pulled in 2,999 receiving yards and 20 touchdown passes for the Bears.
Snead and Fisher deserve credit for pulling the Rams out of the muck. They went 7-8-1 in 2012, and followed up with a 7-9 mark in 2013. The progress was understandably viewed as a build-up to a breakout season in 2014, but the Rams stalled and went 6-10. And with upcoming road games at Arizona and Green Bay the Rams are looking at a strong possibility of staggering out to a 1-4 start in 2015.
Instead of winning more frequently in their third and fourth seasons under Fisher-Snead, the Rams have gone in the other direction. They’re losing more often, having dropped five of their last six games since late last season. They’re 7-12 since the beginning of 2014, mostly held back by a stagnant offense.
Instability at the quarterback position in 2013-2014 was certainly a factor that shouldn’t be overlooked. But with quarterback Nick Foles in place — joined by wide receivers, running backs, tight ends and offensive linemen brought in by Snead-Fisher — the Rams should be trending favorably on offense.
jeff fisher-7
Under Fisher, the Rams are 21-29-1.
After all, the Rams have invested 21 draft choices in the offense during the last four drafts — and supplemented the draft-first strategy with prominent free-agent signings and the Foles deal to stimulate their attack. But after three weeks, the Rams are last in the NFL in offensive points from scrimmage, with 43.
Snead-Fisher are into their fourth cycle of growing and developing the roster. But for the fourth consecutive year, the Rams entered 2015 season as the NFL’s youngest team.
The Perpetual Rebuilding Process is still in effect.
Question: why?
The Arizona Cardinals didn’t need four seasons to construct a winner.
In 2012, Snead-Fisher’s first season in St. Louis, the Cardinals went 5-11 and finished in last place in the NFC West.
After the ’12 season Cardinals team president and de facto owner Michael Bidwill decided to install new leadership at the top of the football operation. Bidwill promoted Steve Keim to GM and hired Bruce Arians as head coach. (Keim, by the way, was interviewed for the job that went to Snead.)
Despite starting a year later than Fisher-Snead, the Keim-Arians combination has guided their team to the league’s fifth-best winning percentage (.686) since relaunching the Cardinals in 2013.
The Cardinals are 24-11 over that time and made the playoffs last season.
The Rams are 14-21 over the same 35-game stretch.
The Rams haven’t had a winning season since 2003, and were last spotted in the postseason back in 2004. And if quarterback Carson Palmer can keep his knees intact, the Cardinals will likely zoom into the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
Keim and Arians have found the right balance in their roster composition, mixing draft picks with shrewd free-agent signings and the pivotal trade for Palmer before the 2013 season.
Keim and Arians have taken a more urgent approach to winning, bringing in multiple starters and contributors that range from age 27 to age 36. That list includes Palmer, left offensive tackle Jared Veldheer, tight end Jermaine Gresham, linebacker Sean Weatherspoon, tight end Darren Fells, defensive end Frostee Rucker, linebacker LaMarr Woodley, running back Chris Johnson, guard Ted Larsen, defensive back Jerraud Powers and guard Mike Iupati.
Iupati — a three-time Pro Bowl choice and a bull in San Francisco’s running game during his first five NFL seasons — was sidelined with a sprained knee and missed the first three games and is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game vs. the visiting Rams.
The Cardinals also gave wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, 32, a new two-year deal before the season. Fitzgerald was seemingly in decline before Arians moved him to the slot-receiver position. And the revived Fitzgerald has 23 catches for 333 yards and five touchdowns in Arizona’s first three games.
With this blend of young players and viable veterans the Cardinals have jumped out to a 3-0 start this season, outscoring their three victims by 77 points. It’s early, but according to ESPN Stats & Information the Cardinals’ chances of winning the NFC West are 86.5 percent, and their chances of making the playoffs are 97.2 percent — with a projected final record of 12-4.
Keeping Palmer healthy is the overriding key to Arizona’s success, and last season he went down in with the second torn knee ligament of his career while playing the Rams in the sixth game. The offense gradually withered, and to no one’s surprise the Cards were rubbed out of the playoffs at Carolina in a game started by third-string quarterback Ryan Lindley.
The Cardinals are a different team with Palmer running point. As noted by Michael Silver of NFL.com, Palmer is the first Cardinals’ quarterback to win nine consecutive starts since 1948, and he’s 16-2 in his last 18 starts. Three games into 2015, Palmer is tied with Tom Brady for the most touchdown passes (9), and is ranked fourth in passer rating (117.8.)
Even with a heavy veteran influence and Palmer’s inherent injury risk, Arizona hasn’t sacrificed the future by assembling an old , brittle and vulnerable team. Going into the season, only 11 NFL teams had a younger roster than the Cardinals. By my quick count — which means it’s unofficial — 43 players on the Big Red’s current 53-man roster were brought in by Keim-Arians since their early-2013 hiring. That includes 19 draft picks and 16 free-agent signings.
It’s worth repeating: the Snead-Fisher Rams had a one-year head start on the Keim-Arians Cardinals.
And when you look at where these two teams stand as they prepare for Sunday’s game at Arizona, there’s no excuse for the Rams to be lagging behind the Cardinals.
Thanks for reading …
–Bernie
Posted by: Bernie Miklasz
http://www.101sports.com/2015/09/30/no-excuses-for-rams-just-look-at-arizona/
When the Rams released running back Isaiah Pead, the 50th overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, it was the latest example of how the regime of GM Les Snead and head coach Jeff Fisher has failed to maximize the opportunity to transform a losing team into a winner.
isaiah pead
The Rams released RB Isaiah Pead on Tuesday.
No question, Snead and Fisher have improved this roster after taking charge of a team that had gone 15-65 in the five-season stretch (2007-2011) that preceded their arrival. And in some areas, the upgrades are substantial, especially on the defensive side. But the point is, Snead-Fisher didn’t take full advantage of having more draft picks (37) in their hands than all but two teams since 2012. (San Francisco had 40 picks; Minnesota 39.) And over the past four drafts, the Rams had more selections in the first three rounds (17) than any NFL team.
The 2012 draft is telling. The Rams had four of the first 50 choices overall and came away with defensive tackle Michael Brockers (14th), wide receiver Brian Quick (33rd), cornerback Janoris Jenkins (39th) and Pead (50.)
Brockers is a good player. Jenkins is talented, and he’s made some big plays, but he’s also suffered some burn marks with his aggressive, gambling style. Quick, a non-factor, has been excluded from the game-day roster over the first three weeks. And Pead was a flat-out bust. A 50 percent “hit” rate on top 50 draft choices doesn’t qualify as a success.
It’s fair to second-guess the decision to trade down from the No. 45 spot to the No. 50 slot to select Pead; by doing so the Rams bypassed a chance to draft future All-Pro middle linebacker Bobby Wagner who was taken by Seattle at No. 47. And wideout Alshon Jeffery went to Chicago on the 45th selection; he’s pulled in 2,999 receiving yards and 20 touchdown passes for the Bears.
Snead and Fisher deserve credit for pulling the Rams out of the muck. They went 7-8-1 in 2012, and followed up with a 7-9 mark in 2013. The progress was understandably viewed as a build-up to a breakout season in 2014, but the Rams stalled and went 6-10. And with upcoming road games at Arizona and Green Bay the Rams are looking at a strong possibility of staggering out to a 1-4 start in 2015.
Instead of winning more frequently in their third and fourth seasons under Fisher-Snead, the Rams have gone in the other direction. They’re losing more often, having dropped five of their last six games since late last season. They’re 7-12 since the beginning of 2014, mostly held back by a stagnant offense.
Instability at the quarterback position in 2013-2014 was certainly a factor that shouldn’t be overlooked. But with quarterback Nick Foles in place — joined by wide receivers, running backs, tight ends and offensive linemen brought in by Snead-Fisher — the Rams should be trending favorably on offense.
jeff fisher-7
Under Fisher, the Rams are 21-29-1.
After all, the Rams have invested 21 draft choices in the offense during the last four drafts — and supplemented the draft-first strategy with prominent free-agent signings and the Foles deal to stimulate their attack. But after three weeks, the Rams are last in the NFL in offensive points from scrimmage, with 43.
Snead-Fisher are into their fourth cycle of growing and developing the roster. But for the fourth consecutive year, the Rams entered 2015 season as the NFL’s youngest team.
The Perpetual Rebuilding Process is still in effect.
Question: why?
The Arizona Cardinals didn’t need four seasons to construct a winner.
In 2012, Snead-Fisher’s first season in St. Louis, the Cardinals went 5-11 and finished in last place in the NFC West.
After the ’12 season Cardinals team president and de facto owner Michael Bidwill decided to install new leadership at the top of the football operation. Bidwill promoted Steve Keim to GM and hired Bruce Arians as head coach. (Keim, by the way, was interviewed for the job that went to Snead.)
Despite starting a year later than Fisher-Snead, the Keim-Arians combination has guided their team to the league’s fifth-best winning percentage (.686) since relaunching the Cardinals in 2013.
The Cardinals are 24-11 over that time and made the playoffs last season.
The Rams are 14-21 over the same 35-game stretch.
The Rams haven’t had a winning season since 2003, and were last spotted in the postseason back in 2004. And if quarterback Carson Palmer can keep his knees intact, the Cardinals will likely zoom into the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
Keim and Arians have found the right balance in their roster composition, mixing draft picks with shrewd free-agent signings and the pivotal trade for Palmer before the 2013 season.
Keim and Arians have taken a more urgent approach to winning, bringing in multiple starters and contributors that range from age 27 to age 36. That list includes Palmer, left offensive tackle Jared Veldheer, tight end Jermaine Gresham, linebacker Sean Weatherspoon, tight end Darren Fells, defensive end Frostee Rucker, linebacker LaMarr Woodley, running back Chris Johnson, guard Ted Larsen, defensive back Jerraud Powers and guard Mike Iupati.
Iupati — a three-time Pro Bowl choice and a bull in San Francisco’s running game during his first five NFL seasons — was sidelined with a sprained knee and missed the first three games and is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game vs. the visiting Rams.
The Cardinals also gave wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, 32, a new two-year deal before the season. Fitzgerald was seemingly in decline before Arians moved him to the slot-receiver position. And the revived Fitzgerald has 23 catches for 333 yards and five touchdowns in Arizona’s first three games.
With this blend of young players and viable veterans the Cardinals have jumped out to a 3-0 start this season, outscoring their three victims by 77 points. It’s early, but according to ESPN Stats & Information the Cardinals’ chances of winning the NFC West are 86.5 percent, and their chances of making the playoffs are 97.2 percent — with a projected final record of 12-4.
Keeping Palmer healthy is the overriding key to Arizona’s success, and last season he went down in with the second torn knee ligament of his career while playing the Rams in the sixth game. The offense gradually withered, and to no one’s surprise the Cards were rubbed out of the playoffs at Carolina in a game started by third-string quarterback Ryan Lindley.
The Cardinals are a different team with Palmer running point. As noted by Michael Silver of NFL.com, Palmer is the first Cardinals’ quarterback to win nine consecutive starts since 1948, and he’s 16-2 in his last 18 starts. Three games into 2015, Palmer is tied with Tom Brady for the most touchdown passes (9), and is ranked fourth in passer rating (117.8.)
Even with a heavy veteran influence and Palmer’s inherent injury risk, Arizona hasn’t sacrificed the future by assembling an old , brittle and vulnerable team. Going into the season, only 11 NFL teams had a younger roster than the Cardinals. By my quick count — which means it’s unofficial — 43 players on the Big Red’s current 53-man roster were brought in by Keim-Arians since their early-2013 hiring. That includes 19 draft picks and 16 free-agent signings.
It’s worth repeating: the Snead-Fisher Rams had a one-year head start on the Keim-Arians Cardinals.
And when you look at where these two teams stand as they prepare for Sunday’s game at Arizona, there’s no excuse for the Rams to be lagging behind the Cardinals.
Thanks for reading …
–Bernie
