Rams Receiving Options Taking Shape

[-X-]

By: X
http://www.ramsondemand.com/blog/rams-receiving-options/

Jeff Curry-US PRESSWIRE

After a couple of articles circulated casting a cloud of mystery on the Rams’ receiving corps and how it’ll all shake out, Nick Wagoner sheds a little light on how things are beginning to take shape.

[textarea]- Givens continues to impress and told me after practice that he is really focused on improving right now. Although he had a reputation as a great route runner coming out of college, he said it’s something he is working on and something he wants to perfect because this is a whole different level of route running with more advanced concepts. For the record, Givens is playing almost exclusively on the outside and he expects that to continue. Danny Amendola and Steve Smith have done most of the work in the slot.

- Salas is potentially an even more interesting case. He’s been impressive throughout OTAs, which is no small feat considering he’s coming off a serious injury that ended his season early. Not only is Salas healthy, he’s been productive.

- On Friday, Salas worked with the top unit and made some impressive catches from QB Sam Bradford including a diving one-handed number that looked nearly impossible considering the velocity on the ball. Count Salas out of the mix at your own peril but he was coming into his own before his injury last year and looks even better so far this year.[/textarea]
It was a forgone conclusion that Danny Amendola would remain on the inside, and it’s not all that surprising that Smith would be worked into the slot receiver role as well. At 5’11, 195 lbs, Smith had his most productive year in 2009 with the Giants where he became Eli Manning’s most productive target. Said Eli of Smith’s emergence in replacement of Plaxico Burress that year, “I knew Steve would have a great year going into his third year. He has always been a key guy on third down working in the slot and moving him around. I knew when he became the starter, being on the field for every play, he was going to emerge and step up and make some outstanding plays for us.” Smith finished the year with 107 catches for 1220 yards and 7 touchdowns, setting a Franchise record for receptions in a single year. The following year he suffered a season ending ACL injury against the Vikings in December of 2010, and subsequently signed with the Eagles in 2011.

Greg Salas returns from a season ending broken fibula suffered last year, but flashed potential in his limited playing time. Salas was renowned as a very sure-handed receiver coming out of Hawaii where he remains the school’s career leader in receiving yards (4345). At 6’1 (and change) and 210 lbs, Salas is a physical receiver who many projected to end up on the outside. With Brian Quick undoubtedly slotted to be the Rams’ #1 receiver, we could see Salas and Quick sharing time initially, with Salas being used in running situations to utilize his physicality.

On the other side Chris Givens gives the Rams a deep threat, and that’s something sorely needed for Sam Bradford. With 4.3 speed in the 40 yard dash, and a nice repertoire of route-running skills, Givens would obviously contribute to the objective head coach Jeff Fisher and GM Les Snead have in place to “protect the QB”, and having a receiver who can take the top off of a defense is one of many ways to achieve that. With the addition of Isaiah Pead (4.45 40) and UDFA WR Nick Johnson (4.3 40), the Rams have added speed and athleticism across the board. Danario Alexander could (and should) share time with Givens, provided he can make it through camp without any serious lingering issues with his knees or hamstring. Alexander also possesses rare speed (4.4 40) for a man his size (6’5, 220 lbs).

The Rams currently have a total of 10 wide receivers on the roster at the moment, including Brandon Gibson, Austin Pettis and Michael Campbell. Alexander is an asset that could easily be the Rams go-to receiver were it not for nagging injuries to both knees and a recurring hamstring problem. He continues to battle through those things and one thing’s for sure; you can never count him out. Brandon Gibson continues to be the team’s most productive receiver — in camp. As the receiving corps continues to improve, we could see Gibson get phased out entirely; but for now, he remains a solid #4 or 5 who has the ability to find the endzone. Austin Pettis is a tall receiver with exceptional hands, who could work his way into the rotation after serving his 2 game suspension for violating the league’s policy on performance enhancers. Michael Campbell is a 23-year-old former UDFA out of Temple, and is familiar with the Rams’ offensive scheme after spending last season on the Jets’ practice squad.

 

[Anonymous]

Like Wagoner, Softli has been watching some OTAs. He's thinking along the same lines.

With the signing of Steve Smith and drafting of two rookie receivers, who do you see remaining on the roster from last year?

@SoftliSTL: Quick, Givens, Amendola, Salas, Pettis, Smith. Alexander & Gibson outside looking in.

Any word on how Steve Smith is looking?

@SoftliSTL: looking very good on all short routes and exceptional in the redzone. Good routes runner with soft hands.

Do Rams fans really have to put up with 8 yards a catch again this season?

@SoftliSTL: I'm ok with 8 yards a catch, I want to see RAC ( run after catch) production which should be much improved in 2012

 

[-X-]

Ugh. I'm so sick of whoever keeps railing against Amendola's 8 YPR average. Who amongst us would be upset with an 8 yard gain on any down sans 3rd & long? And what if Jackson averaged 8 yards every time he touched the ball?

Amendola has an important role, and like Softli said, things should open up for him this year.
(if everything goes according to plan).

 

[Anonymous]

Ugh. I'm so sick of whoever keeps railing against Amendola's 8 YPR average. Who amongst us would be upset with an 8 yard gain on any down sans 3rd & long? And what if Jackson averaged 8 yards every time he touched the ball?

Amendola has an important role, and like Softli said, things should open up for him this year.
(if everything goes according to plan).

On a brighter note (as opposed to Those Who Don't Appreciate DannyDola), here are some relatively recent posts by guys who like Salas (including me):

InvaderRam

i think people look at salas' forty time and think he's not athletic. not so.

he's got very good athleticism.

short shuttle 4.10
3-cone 6.65
vertical 37 inches

it basically means he's got very good change of directions skills. that would be useful in running routes as running routes require players to cut and explode without losing speed. that's what salas shows. his speed isn't the greatest at 4.56, but he doesn't lose speed when he makes a cut. in fact, those short shuttle times and 3-cone times are about as good as it gets.

a lot of fast players lose speed when they have to change direction, thus their actual playing speed is diminished.

when he's not thinking so much, i think we'll see more of that athleticism showing through. combine that with a 6'1"

he's rugged with the ball in his hands - like a running back. reminds me of boldin. if they can find someone to stretch the field, it'll make him that much more effective when he has the ball in his hands.

my opinion, is he has starting wr potential. that's just from seeing him play those six games. he really started to come on.

can't find much on salas, but here's a video that shows his ability with the ball in his hands. i like the way he moves through traffic. very little wasted motion.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViJTPrAtLBg[/youtube]

zn


There were 32 WRs picked in round 4 from 2005 to 2011. Discounting 2011 for a sec (cause it's too soon to tell yet) of the WRs picked from 2005 to 2010, only 11 are still in the league. That's a bust rate of 60%. If you look just at 2005-2008--a time frame which allows players 3 years to make it--it's a bust rate of 74%.

Of those 32 WRs, only 5 had more receptions as a rookie than Salas did. All 5 of those are still in the league.

So he is already beating the odds.

Here's one reason why:

We know he had a rough start. But even with that--he has a superior catches to targets percentage.

27 of 38 = 71%.

Rookie or not, that's top notch.

Add by edit: actually if you subtract the Giants game, where he had rookie-itis and a lot of muffs and drops, the numbers are ever better.

Then it's 23 of 30, or 76.67%.

Which is, as they say, on fire.

No one can do that and NOT have the pre-reqs to be a good one. (Though I don't know his ceiling--too soon to say.)

Consider the conditions too. The entire Rams offense was out of sync and off balance when he played.

Yet he was catching nearly 75% of the throws his way.

max

it would be interesting to compare Salas to Hines Ward another 4th rounder without deep speed or great size, but a lot of toughness.

iamjeem

from what I have seen of Salas in the 6 games he played in before his injury,he was one of the few receivers we had that could get separation from DBs and he has much better rac than Danny Amendola who he is most compared to.He also seemed fearless going across the middle of the field and had very good hands to boot,after he settled into playing last year.But that's just my take on it,I believe its going to be a very competitive camp this year for the WR position,and fun to watch

alas is quick as a cat...he put Blackmon to shame in these 2 drills.

Ramsomnia

he seems to track the ball well through the air. he then stops very fast and positions his frame to shield the defender from any chance of catching it.then to leave nothing to chance he fights the db for the ball.after the catch he refuses to go down easy or run out of bounds.these qualities should make Fisher and Bradford love him.Salas is my choice for surprise of the year.

tbux

it was a shame when Salas went down as he was starting to show some signs of being a really good one

I love how absolutely fearless he is- in college he was routinely doubled in some manner- everyone knew who they were going to when they needed a first down- and he often had to catch in traffic- and was a beast to get down. He just wants the ball more than the defended and goes and gets it- I hope he stays healthy and continues to progress.

 

[Memento]

I love Amendola as a receiver. Hell, he's probably the best slot guy we have (I think that S. Smith is really more of an outside option than a slot guy), and I truly do think that he can eclipse the 100 receptions barrier. I mean, who wouldn't want a Wes Welker clone on their team?

 

[-X-]

On a brighter note (as opposed to Those Who Don't Appreciate DannyDola), here are some relatively recent posts by guys who like Salas (including me):

Yeah I like Salas too and I fully expect him to play on the outside more than in the slot, though I guess with Schotty he could motion him all over the place trying to get a mismatch. He's been a bit banged up too. Not just the fibula, but he missed some practices early on with a hamstring, and I think he jacked his foot up in college too.

 

[RamFan503]

Yeah so 8 yards per catch... I could live with that stat alone. The problem is that this douche and many others are talking about the throw in relation to the line of scrimmage. How many huge receptions start out as a 5 - 10 yard pass? Most of them? ZN probably already has this stat stashed away somewhere. What say you ZN?

I realize you have to have the ability to hit the long ball in order to keep defenses honest but how much of any good offense really consists of throwing the ball 25 yards plus down field?

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah so 8 yards per catch... I could live with that stat alone. The problem is that this douche and many others are talking about the throw in relation to the line of scrimmage. How many huge receptions start out as a 5 - 10 yard pass? Most of them? ZN probably already has this stat stashed away somewhere. What say you ZN?

I realize you have to have the ability to hit the long ball in order to keep defenses honest but how much of any good offense really consists of throwing the ball 25 yards plus down field?

I don't know on the first thing. On the second thing I have a better idea. It runs around 5% of the pass attempts, or around 1.5-2 attempts per game. A good completion rate on those is 40%; 30% is acceptable, and 50% is rare and exceptional.

 

[RamFan503]

Yeah so 8 yards per catch... I could live with that stat alone. The problem is that this douche and many others are talking about the throw in relation to the line of scrimmage. How many huge receptions start out as a 5 - 10 yard pass? Most of them? ZN probably already has this stat stashed away somewhere. What say you ZN?

I realize you have to have the ability to hit the long ball in order to keep defenses honest but how much of any good offense really consists of throwing the ball 25 yards plus down field?

I don't know on the first thing. On the second thing I have a better idea. It runs around 5% of the pass attempts, or around 1.5-2 attempts per game. A good completion rate on those is 40%; 30% is acceptable, and 50% is rare and exceptional.

Thanks. An aspect of an offense - sure. Hardly something you hang your hat on though - eh? Those 8 yard completions that move the chains and sometimes turn into long gainers are a much bigger part of successful passing games. Or so it seems to me. And I also think we should plan on seeing a lot of that exact thing if our offense is working. That and heavy doses of SJ and Pead.

 

[Anonymous]

Here's some numbers from a couple of relevant offenses:


SANCHEZ 2010:
Short. 10 Yards & below: 66.3% of total attempts, with 60.4% completions
Medium. 11-20 yards: 22% of total attempts, with 55% completions
Deep medium. 21-30 yards:6% of total attempts, with 30.0% completions
Long. 31+ yards: 5.7% of total attempts, with 17% completions ...which btw is pretty bad on long attempts.

BRADFORD 2010:
Short. 10 Yards & below: 74.4% of total attempts, with 66% completions
Medium. 11-20 yards: 18.5% of total attempts, with 47% completions
Deep medium. 21-30 yards: 3.7% of total attempts, with 27.3% completions
Long. 31+ yards: 2.9% of total attempts, with 23.5% completions ...which is a below okay completion rate on long attempts.

COLLINS 2008:
Short. 10 Yards & below: 62.4% of total attempts, with just under 70% completions
Medium. 11-20 yards: 22.9% of total attempts, with a dismal 38.9% completions
Deep medium. 21-30 yards: 8% of total attempts, with 36.4% completions
Long. 31+ yards: 4.3% of total attempts, with 27% completions ...which btw is low end "okay" on on long attempts.

 

[brokeu91]

On a brighter note (as opposed to Those Who Don't Appreciate DannyDola), here are some relatively recent posts by guys who like Salas (including me):

Yeah I like Salas too and I fully expect him to play on the outside more than in the slot, though I guess with Schotty he could motion him all over the place trying to get a mismatch. He's been a bit banged up too. Not just the fibula, but he missed some practices early on with a hamstring, and I think he jacked his foot up in college too.

I also like Salas. He was really coming on at the end (before the injury). The way he was progressing made me think he would have been a sure fire starter this year. But alas, he has to start all over with another coaching staff. I think he'll pleasantly surprise them.

 

[libertadrocks]

Great post on Salas ZN.

Im excited to watch this receiver battle unfold. I have a feeling that the final 5 or 6 WR will have a surprise in there.