POLL: Just want to check our Sloman Pulse

[Soul Surfer]

See my response

I don't give a damn about touchbacks

And Zuerlein was almost automatic on extra points

Zuerlein was an awesome placekicker for us. Missed too many over 50 to my liking but was damn consistent under 50 (including extra points).

And I was only defending Zuerlein in my post against Old Schools post that Sloman was so much better than Zuerlein in his rookie year.

So far they are about equal on kicking field goals except Sloman hasn't been asked to kick over 50 other than the 1 time

Sloman may become an awesome placekicker for us but right now, he is missing way too many extra points for my liking.

Too often a missed extra point comes back to haunt the team at the end of the game.

One other point - Sloman may as well be kicking in a dome because of the roof with only the openings at the side.

I doubt much wind gets into the stadium being a few miles inland and all.

It is surprising how there is so much wind at the beach but get one mile away from the beach there is hardly any wind.

I lived two blocks from the beach in Redondo Beach in the 90s and I mainly only encountered wind when I went down the steps to the beach. After 8 PM it would get windy beyond the beach.

So you're saying you only wrote this entire post to brag about how you used to live on Redondo Beach?

Right on.

 

[Snaz]

But if he was outplayed in camp how is he a better option. That’s what seems to be forgotten. McVay said it was a close battle all camp and Sloman made the case by being better the last 2-3 weeks of camp. How does that make Lirim better if he can’t beat out Sloman?

There has been talk it was nepotism not performance and what as fans we saw/read it clearly wasn't a out performance by Sloman.
All three missed and has similar issues in TC.

I'm not going to argue since you disagree with stats and the eyeball tests. Like I said I hope the kid does well. But I'll be a tad more upset if he loses us a game by a missed FG or XP that I beleive another kicker should make under the same circumstances. That's all.

 

[Tano]

So you're saying you only wrote this entire post to brag about how you used to live on Redondo Beach?

Right on.

No bragging there - I lived in an apartment.

Only cost $1000 a month which is a lot less than a lot of places in LA. I got lucky that my rent didn't get upped to $2000 a month

And yes - I loved living two blocks from the beach in Redondo Beach. Why oh why did I move to West fricken Virginia?

Oh yeah - the ring on my finger. What in heck was I thinking?

 

[PhillyRam]

Our kicker...

 

[OldSchool]

There has been talk it was nepotism not performance and what as fans we saw/read it clearly wasn't a out performance by Sloman.
All three missed and has similar issues in TC.

I'm not going to argue since you disagree with stats and the eyeball tests. Like I said I hope the kid does well. But I'll be a tad more upset if he loses us a game by a missed FG or XP that I beleive another kicker should make under the same circumstances. That's all.

I don't disagree with stats, stats are great but I won't cherry pick out stats to make my case looks better. Again he beat out the other 2 in camp not sure why you're saying they looked better in camp.

Was nepotism the word you wanted there? Wasn't aware Sloman had a relative on the team's staff in any way.

Or are you arguing it was because of the college he went to? Sorry if that's the case you're right we can just stop discussing because that's pretty silly.

I've never said I was happy he missed kicks or he was good because he missed kicks. The only one I'd made any kind of excuse for was in the wind in Buffalo and I'd make the same argument regardless of who our kicker was. But I've yet to see anybody arguing against Sloman say they understand the wind could have played a factor in him missing that.

What eyeball test? I've said he needs to make more kicks.

I don't dislike the other kickers he beat out and I don't like Sloman other than the fact he's on my team. If it was Lirim that made the team and missed kicks he'd have my support too but less leeway from me since he's 30 and has some experience even if it's just the CFL. But Sloman won the camp battle and there's really not much else to argue about it.

 

[OldSchool]

Our kicker...

View attachment 39930

You got that right!!! All Rams players are


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1X7IwtPTsc

 

[RamsOfCastamere]

Sloman's leash is until the end of season. If he doesn't improve, there's no way McVay and Snead would allow us to enter the playoffs with an iffy kicker. I'm sure they have a list of ppl on call.

 

[London_Ram]

I'm not sold on Sloman but I'm not ready to give up on him.

Recent example: Sam Ficken. Looked - and kicked - worse for us than Slomam and rightly we couldn't wait for GZ to get fit.

Went to the Jets and last year went 70% on FG and 88% on PAT. This year improved and 9 out of 9 and 6 out of 6 respectively. It could be this year is the blip, or it could be it takes time to find your feet.

I don't want that acclimatisation period with Sloman, but, if the coaching staff think the base mechanics and power is there I'd rather go through the teething trouble with Sloman now as opposed to chop and change from rookie to rookie in the absence of a proven available kicker.

The problem was letting GZ leave.

 

[kurtfaulk]

Lirim Hajrullahu Football DB

Last 2 years, not full career I clearly put 2018/2019 but 177/193 career 91.7% and 134/143 93.7% on XP

he missed 4 out of his last 5 kicks as a ram.

.

 

[gogoat1]

Curious, and I'm not harping on or trying to belittle your opinion or anybody elses, but why the 50 yards? The one he tried over 50 had more than enough leg it just blew left in the wind.

GZ missed 50 yard kicks that would have been good from 70 had they been straight. We went from a fire breathing Hemi Cuda to a Yugo in the power department.
T Rex's kickoffs have not been so bad. GZ, for all his leg strength could have been better at kickoffs. You would see him blast a field goal over the top of the goal post, then barely make the 1 yard line on the kickoff.
Does the kid from Canada have a job I wonder. Hope not, we will have a position for him at some point.

 

[Merlin]

Was talking about Legatron as a rookie. Not a fan of Sloman. I would cut him right now and make Hajrullahu or MacGinnis the kicker. Not a fan of developmental kickers. Trying to win now. Sloman had a 79% while GZ had 95% in college. He has a slightly above average leg. We will see but I'm not impressed.

There's a part of me that wants to agree with you here. And actually I did agree with you at a couple points thus far this season. But I have to recognize it's still too early.

I think a good way to summarize it is they went with upside and the guy they drafted in the choice. And I'm fine with that btw. What I am not fine with, however, is a kicker who has a restrictive range. And at this point in combination of the kicks I've seen from him he looks like a guy with a "good enough" leg. Which brings me back to the decision process by Bonamego and makes me wonder what he's seeing in Sloman's upside.

Bonamego did say he self-corrected which was rare in young kickers. Ok. So we're gonna see if he can correct his low kicks and if he's got enough leg to hit from respectable ranges without having a low trajectory. As long as that's the case I'm fine with him. But yeah I am fuckin worried to say the least although I will admit I figured I'd feel this way at some point this season the moment we let GZ go.

 

[dieterbrock]

See my response

I don't give a damn about touchbacks

And Zuerlein was almost automatic on extra points

Zuerlein was an awesome placekicker for us. Missed too many over 50 to my liking but was damn consistent under 50 (including extra points).

And I was only defending Zuerlein in my post against Old Schools post that Sloman was so much better than Zuerlein in his rookie year.

I see your responses, and you excuse Z for x,y and z and dont care about things Sloman does better. Meaning, its is no way an honest comparison.
Zuerlein was shaky as a rookie, XP are irrelevant since nobody missed XP at that distance. And @OldSchool can speak for himself but I dont see where anyone is saying Sloman was "so much better", just that we gave Zuerlein a chance, give this kid a chance.
Zuerlein as a rookie made 15 of 17 kicks from 20-49 yards (88%). So far Sloman is 20 of 23 (87%)
Its fair to call it comparable

 

[OldSchool]

I see your responses, and you excuse Z for x,y and z and dont care about things Sloman does better. Meaning, its is no way an honest comparison.
Zuerlein was shaky as a rookie, XP are irrelevant since nobody missed XP at that distance. And @OldSchool can speak for himself but I dont see where anyone is saying Sloman was "so much better", just that we gave Zuerlein a chance, give this kid a chance.
Zuerlein as a rookie made 15 of 17 kicks from 20-49 yards (88%). So far Sloman is 20 of 23 (87%)
Its fair to call it comparable

Yeah so far the only reason I can see other than he's missed some kicks to get rid of him from people is he's short. Everything else is made up, conjecture or just out of left field. I'm pretty much done here. If he doesn't get better McVay will make a change, worrying about it until then just isn't my style. Let it play out I'm pretty much done here unless somebody gives me a valid reason we need to make a move and more importantly comes up with a player who's better and we can sign. Because with all the kicker's signed since the season started Lirim and the other guy who's name I forget still are free agents. That alone speaks volumes.

 

[LARAMSinFeb.]

Our pulse? Slo, man

 

[Snaz]

I don't disagree with stats, stats are great but I won't cherry pick out stats to make my case looks better. Again he beat out the other 2 in camp not sure why you're saying they looked better in camp.

These are reasons why I think Lirim was supposed to be the choice.

Rams waived K Lirim Hajrullahu.
This comes as a surprise since Hajrullahu was reportedly leading the competition to replace Greg Zuerlein in camp. The job now becomes Sam Sloman's, who the Rams drafted in the seventh round this year. Austin MacGinnis is also expected to be waived in the next 24 hours.
SOURCE: Dave Birkett on Twitter
Sep 4, 2020, 12:20 PM ET

From the moment the LA Rams signed up CFL kicker Lirim Hajrullahu, the Rams have a new special teams secret weapon
Hallelujah Hajrullahu! If you are not yet familiar with that catchy phrase or what it signifies, you soon will be. You see, Lirim Hajrullahu is the former CFL kicker signed to compete for the LA Rams now vacated kicker role. How good is he? Patience, please. This is a tasty story, so you cannot rush to the dessert before the appetizer and the main course.

Ramblin Fan

Rams training camp battles: Lirim Hajrullahu appears positioned to be LA’s kicker
Hajrullahu went 5-of-5 on Saturday night, connecting from 38, 38, 43, 48 and 50. They were reportedly all “no doubt” kicks that cleared the crossbar with ease.
Rookie Sam Sloman may have been drafted this year but could be lagging behind based on Saturday’s event.

Projecting the 53-Man Roster and Practice Squad
Specialists
Jake (3): K Lirim Hajrullahu, P Johnny Hekker, LS Jake McQuaide

Cut: Austin MacGinnis, Samuel Sloman

Obviously, Johnny Hekker and Jake McQuaide are locked in every year but Lirim Hajrullahu is the kicker I decided to go with. There is an argument for XFL standout kicker Austin MacGinnis but at the end of the day, I trust Hajrullahu’s experience more. Could Samuel Sloman be chosen? Sure, but it would be a mistake to choose him over the other two that have outperformed him. If Sloman made the roster over the other two it would entirely be based on his draft label.

Since the Rams won’t be doing that it’s between MacGinnis and Hajrullahu. I have Lirim getting the nod and MacGinnis headed to the practice squad.

Blaine (3): K Lirim Hajrullahu, P Johnny Hekker, LS Jake McQuaide

Cut: Austin MacGinnis, Samuel Sloman

Echoing Jake’s thoughts here. Hekker and McQuaide aren’t going anywhere. The only question mark all offseason has been kickers and Hajrullahu has been the most accurate and consistent out of the group. It wouldn’t be surprising if the Rams keep one extra kicker on the practice squad.

 

[dieterbrock]

There has been talk it was nepotism not performance and what as fans we saw/read it clearly wasn't a out performance by Sloman.

Because fans dont see what the coaches see. Especially this year with no fans at training camp or pre-season games. All we have is regurgitated opinions based on individual narratives.
The only talk of nepotism is the reach of said fans.
People are out their minds if they think McVay is going to risk wins and losses over solely over his alma mater

 

[Tano]

I see your responses, and you excuse Z for x,y and z and dont care about things Sloman does better. Meaning, its is no way an honest comparison.
Zuerlein was shaky as a rookie, XP are irrelevant since nobody missed XP at that distance. And @OldSchool can speak for himself but I dont see where anyone is saying Sloman was "so much better", just that we gave Zuerlein a chance, give this kid a chance.
Zuerlein as a rookie made 15 of 17 kicks from 20-49 yards (88%). So far Sloman is 20 of 23 (87%)
Its fair to call it comparable

Where in hell have I stated in any of my posts that we shouldn't give Sloman a chance.

The only thing I was stating in my posts was that Sloman is NOT doing better than Zuerlein in his rookie year.

Old School stated in his post that Sloman is doing much better in his rookie year than Zuerlein did in his rookie year.

That was the only thing I was defending in my posts. However, I stated he is very comparable to Zuerleins rookie year so far except for the missed XPs which I will agree with you on is an unfair comparison. However, I will say that I am concerned about Sloman because he has already missed 2 extra points this year and Zuerlein never missed 2 XPs in a season except for his shit year and last year where I believe with all my heart that he was hurt.

He missed one in total in 2016 2017 and 2018 when the XP was 30 yards.

Old School also stated that Zuerlien FG % was only above 90% in two years and that we are overstating Zuerlein as a place kicker in our hearts. I believe otherwise since Zuerlein kick 92.3% accuracy for FGs under 50 yards except for the two years where Zuerlein either sucked (2015) or was hurt (2019). I miss Zuerlein. I will state that for the entire year.

I don't hate Sloman .... not yet but he needs to show more imho. I have yet to see Sloman attempt anything between 40 and 49 and he has missed his only attempt over 50. However, that was in the wind. It happens. Zuerlein was only 60% over 50 in his career. Can't expect much better unless you have a Justin Tucker.

I am giving Sloman his chance but he needs to up his game on XPs. Zuerlein only missed 1 FG in his career under 30. I think he would have made the XPs in 2012 at the current range with that percentage.

 

[dieterbrock]

Yeah so far the only reason I can see other than he's missed some kicks to get rid of him from people is he's short. Everything else is made up, conjecture or just out of left field. I'm pretty much done here. If he doesn't get better McVay will make a change, worrying about it until then just isn't my style. Let it play out I'm pretty much done here unless somebody gives me a valid reason we need to make a move and more importantly comes up with a player who's better and we can sign. Because with all the kicker's signed since the season started Lirim and the other guy who's name I forget still are free agents. That alone speaks volumes.

I'm with you.
No point any more. To be honest, if they cut Sloman tomorrow I wouldnt care. He's having what you would expect out of a rookie.
I would have liked Zuerlein back, but it was time to move on, and his results this year show that.
End of the day, I'll go with what McVay believes. Not only did he pick the kid, he didnt even put either of the other guys on the practice squad. That's a pretty solid commitment

 

[dieterbrock]

Where in hell have I stated in any of my posts that we shouldn't give Sloman a chance.

The only thing I was stating in my posts was that Sloman is NOT doing better than Zuerlein in his rookie year.

Old School stated in his post that Sloman is doing much better in his rookie year than Zuerlein did in his rookie year.

That was the only thing I was defending in my posts. However, I stated he is very comparable to Zuerleins rookie year so far except for the missed XPs which I will agree with you on is an unfair comparison. However, I will say that I am concerned about Sloman because he has already missed 2 extra points this year and Zuerlein never missed 2 XPs in a season except for his shit year and last year where I believe with all my heart that he was hurt.

He missed one in total in 2016 2017 and 2018 when the XP was 30 yards.

Old School also stated that Zuerlien FG % was only above 90% in two years and that we are overstating Zuerlein as a place kicker in our hearts. I believe otherwise since Zuerlein kick 92.3% accuracy for FGs under 50 yards except for the two years where Zuerlein either sucked (2015) or was hurt (2019). I miss Zuerlein. I will state that for the entire year.

I don't hate Sloman .... not yet but he needs to show more imho. I have yet to see Sloman attempt anything between 40 and 49 and he has missed his only attempt over 50. However, that was in the wind. It happens. Zuerlein was only 60% over 50 in his career. Can't expect much better unless you have a Justin Tucker.

That's a lot of writing for a guy who only wants to say Sloman wasnt better than Zuerlein as a rookie...

Zuerlein only missed 1 FG in his career under 30. I think he would have made the XPs in 2012 at the current range with that percentage.

Well, you'd be wrong.... He's missed 2 this year alone, same as Sam... And an XP is from 33 yards, not under 30

 

[Merlin]

Because fans dont see what the coaches see.

This is true dieter. They also know more than us. But what fans do have is a simplistic view that is largely determined by what happens on the field. And sometimes that is an advantage, i.e. not having to deal with the human side of things.

Sometimes the truth is simple. Like us fans.