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Tim Godfrey
http://profootballspot.com/_/nfl/nfc-west/st-louis-rams/rams-mason-should-not-worry-r10400
No one expected the Todd Gurley pick, especially Tre Mason.
Coming off a decent rookie year, considering getting the starting gig after the first few weeks of the season, Mason and others expected him to be the new No. 1.
Then the Ram’s first round pick came.
“At the time, with a pick like that, it’s a replacement,” Mason told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Normally when a team picks a position in the first round, the current holder is in trouble of losing it to the new kid on the block. But in the case of Mason, this may be a different story.
Will Mason be replaced? No, but his touches will probably be scaled back gradually from his usual lone back workload to a shared role. He will get a lot of carries early in the season as Rams wait for Gurley to get his groove (and health) back and find a good rhythm for a two-back system.
Mason knows it’s a competition and the better back will be getting slightly more touches of the pair. Starting out, Mason will be getting the lion’s share of the carries because he knows the offense better and, pending injuries, he is the healthiest of the two.
Mason should not be worried and frankly, he does not seem like it. If he was, he would have requested a trade to a team. Except instead of his former teammate Zac Stacy, he would request a trade to a team without a crowded backfield.
You should always take every word you hear from an NFL coach with a grain of salt. Yet when Rams head coach Jeff Fisher says the Gurley pick was to add to, not replace, the group, it’s hard not to believe him.
Mason is a talented back who could be a starter on another team. He has strength, speed and can catch a pass or two (16 catches, 148 yards). He can also get his team big chunks of yards. In 2014, Mason led the team in yards-per-carry (4.3). After gaining 765 yards in 12 games (nine as a starter), and establishing himself reliable, why would they go running back in the first round?
Because Fisher cannot pass up an incredible talent, no matter what position.
Remember when Jadaveon Clowney was belle of the ball in the 2014 draft? Fisher entertained the idea that, if available, the Rams would take him even though they were set at defensive end.
“You can never have too many pass rushers,” Fisher would say to the media.
This is the same boat, except this time it actually happened. Fisher saw a tremendous talent, disregarded the fact that he was fine at that position and took the best player at that position off the board. Was Fisher wrong to do so?
Absolutely not.
Could he have gone with another pick? Sure, but which one? Both first round quarterbacks are off the board, La’el Collins was in the middle of a homicide investigation (which later turned out that he was innocent of any involvement, but still, at the time you cannot risk that) and Amari Cooper was in Oakland. The Rams could have gone lineman, but if it’s lineman versus Gurley, you would be an idiot not to go Gurley.
Plus, the running back group needed some rejuvenation. Zac Stacy had a terrible 2014 after having such a great rookie season the year before. He was not looking like the complement Mason needed in 2015 nor was Stacy looking like a capable replacement for Mason should he go down in the future.
Gurley, once he returns to full health and form, alongside Mason will be a tough train to stop in 2015.
http://profootballspot.com/_/nfl/nfc-west/st-louis-rams/rams-mason-should-not-worry-r10400
No one expected the Todd Gurley pick, especially Tre Mason.
Coming off a decent rookie year, considering getting the starting gig after the first few weeks of the season, Mason and others expected him to be the new No. 1.
Then the Ram’s first round pick came.
“At the time, with a pick like that, it’s a replacement,” Mason told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Normally when a team picks a position in the first round, the current holder is in trouble of losing it to the new kid on the block. But in the case of Mason, this may be a different story.
Will Mason be replaced? No, but his touches will probably be scaled back gradually from his usual lone back workload to a shared role. He will get a lot of carries early in the season as Rams wait for Gurley to get his groove (and health) back and find a good rhythm for a two-back system.
Mason knows it’s a competition and the better back will be getting slightly more touches of the pair. Starting out, Mason will be getting the lion’s share of the carries because he knows the offense better and, pending injuries, he is the healthiest of the two.
Mason should not be worried and frankly, he does not seem like it. If he was, he would have requested a trade to a team. Except instead of his former teammate Zac Stacy, he would request a trade to a team without a crowded backfield.
You should always take every word you hear from an NFL coach with a grain of salt. Yet when Rams head coach Jeff Fisher says the Gurley pick was to add to, not replace, the group, it’s hard not to believe him.
Mason is a talented back who could be a starter on another team. He has strength, speed and can catch a pass or two (16 catches, 148 yards). He can also get his team big chunks of yards. In 2014, Mason led the team in yards-per-carry (4.3). After gaining 765 yards in 12 games (nine as a starter), and establishing himself reliable, why would they go running back in the first round?
Because Fisher cannot pass up an incredible talent, no matter what position.
Remember when Jadaveon Clowney was belle of the ball in the 2014 draft? Fisher entertained the idea that, if available, the Rams would take him even though they were set at defensive end.
“You can never have too many pass rushers,” Fisher would say to the media.
This is the same boat, except this time it actually happened. Fisher saw a tremendous talent, disregarded the fact that he was fine at that position and took the best player at that position off the board. Was Fisher wrong to do so?
Absolutely not.
Could he have gone with another pick? Sure, but which one? Both first round quarterbacks are off the board, La’el Collins was in the middle of a homicide investigation (which later turned out that he was innocent of any involvement, but still, at the time you cannot risk that) and Amari Cooper was in Oakland. The Rams could have gone lineman, but if it’s lineman versus Gurley, you would be an idiot not to go Gurley.
Plus, the running back group needed some rejuvenation. Zac Stacy had a terrible 2014 after having such a great rookie season the year before. He was not looking like the complement Mason needed in 2015 nor was Stacy looking like a capable replacement for Mason should he go down in the future.
Gurley, once he returns to full health and form, alongside Mason will be a tough train to stop in 2015.
