Rams signing C.J. Anderson

[thirteen28]

He is truly special player IMO & how much longer could we get from TGII if we were able to use him in tandem with CJ?

That question cuts to the exact reason we should try to retain CJ beyond this season - and not only that, it would extend BOTH of their careers.

 

[Loyal]

That question cuts to the exact reason we should try to retain CJ beyond this season - and not only that, it would extend BOTH of their careers.

I would like it, but McVay made a point of talking up Malcolm Brown in the press conference today, so I don't think retaining CJ is in their plans at the moment...

 

[dieterbrock]

He may really like being with the Rams after what he has been through this past season and sign a team friendly deal. Plus if he stays I believe they let M.Brown walk.

I say he gets a 3 year 15 mill deal somewhere. Similar to the deals that Mark Ingram, Gio Bernard and Lamar Miller got
Rams can’t touch that

 

[BonifayRam]

He may really like being with the Rams after what he has been through this past season and sign a team friendly deal. Plus if he stays I believe they let M.Brown walk.

I would think that CJ is very much aware of his true limitations & the type of offensive OL schemes best fit his talents vs his limitations. CJ knows that the run blocking zone scheme that Denver ran in the past was very close to what the Rams run here. Never know CJ might feel that Kromer's scheme is far best for him in LA than anywhere else in the entire NFL. That's it's better to have a constant paycheck & employed after being Unemployed after two major rejection events with Carolina Panther's & Oakland Raiders this season, in addition to having a new baby on its way.

CJ is a very short fat model that works wonders if used in the right way @ the right time in the right spot. Finally, he is born & raised in California he's back home.

 

[dang]

I love what Anderson is doing but it could be that it is a case of catching lightning in a bottle. He is a tough veteran RB who came into the season fresh as a daisy and behind an excellent run blocking OL. He will get a number of offers in the offseason. I think the Rams should offer as well and emphasize the 2 headed RB approach on a team on the rise would be fun and healthy option. It’s also obvious that Gurley needs more cleanup relief to stay healthy. Maybe a 3 year $10m deal??

 

[Classic Rams]

Over a decade ago the Rams traded away "The Bus." Looks like they've got him back!

 

[Stl2La]

Over a decade ago the Rams traded away "The Bus." Looks like they've got him back!

Over two decades ago. Damn I feel old lol.

 

[jacktheripper85]

With the shelf life of a RB it will come down to guaranteed money. If someone offers 2 years at $10M vs 3 yrs at $15M and the money is guaranteed in both instances he’s taking the 3 year deal regardless of what scheme he’ll be running in.

 

[IBruce80]

Spot on with fhe Bettis comparisons.
Anderson has got that style going on.
Bettis carved out a career in Pittsburgh, and I am happy CJ has made good on his season with us.

At the very least, if he stays or goes, he has had a huge impact and teams with a good o line will be watching him.
I want him to stay, but I'm also a Brown fan.

 

[Merlin]

I would think that CJ is very much aware of his true limitations & the type of offensive OL schemes best fit his talents vs his limitations. CJ knows that the run blocking zone scheme that Denver ran in the past was very close to what the Rams run here. Never know CJ might feel that Kromer's scheme is far best for him in LA than anywhere else in the entire NFL.

I found it interesting when Sharpe mentioned his conversation with the Rams where they said they run the same stuff on the ground as those Denver teams did. Particularly since they possessed an elite running game and sustained it through the playoffs. When the zone run scheme has an OL with mastery and a one cut back who can run downhill it's a fearsome combination.

Also it occurred to me that maybe our OL has taken a step forward in their understanding and mastery of the zone scheme when they worked their way back from a stretch of poor play vs the Bears/Lions/Eagles. Maybe the fact that this is the second full season in the scheme for our OL and that they've had strong continuity leads to the fact that they have grown to a new level of performance.

In the last few outings our run game has been dominant. Not just good. And what's really interesting here is that we have two backs that can keep the pressure on a defense with a freshness. In the back of my mind that voice is telling me not to get too excited, that a run game can be stuffed at any point in the playoffs and that it's too good to be true that we might have a dominant run game that playoff teams will struggle to stop. But my eyes are telling me there's something special going on with our OL. Really hope my eyes are right.

 

[Tano]

Over two decades ago. Damn I feel old lol.

I was ticked when Georgia let Bob Brudzinski and Jack Reynolds go in 1981

I am really old

 

[Prime Time]

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2019/1/17/18185906/cj-anderson-rams-x-factor-nfc-championship-saints

The Rams’ NFC Championship Game X-Factor Could Be … C.J. Anderson?
The veteran running back was added to the L.A. roster just a month ago, but in that span he’s become one of the team’s most intriguing offensive weapons. This weekend, going up against a stout Saints rush defense, he could provide the extra dimension needed to put the Rams over the top.
By Riley McAtee

Getty Images/Ringer illustration

Sunday’s Rams-Saints NFC championship game will feature two of the most star-studded rosters in the sport. On one side, there is Drew Brees, Alvin Kamara, and Michael Thomas, backed by one of the most electric crowds in the NFL. On the other side is Jared Goff, Todd Gurley, Robert Woods, and Aaron Donald, who will be trying to avenge a Week 9 loss to this very team.

But for all those stars, the X-factor who could swing this matchup isn’t an MVP candidate, a favorite to win Offensive or Defensive Player of the Year, a member of an All-Pro team, or even a Pro Bowler. Hell, just a month ago he thought his season was over. He’s Rams running back C.J. Anderson, and as he’s proved over the last three games, he may be exactly what the Rams need to clear their biggest hurdle yet.

L.A. picked up Anderson in December as an insurance policy for Gurley, who was dealing with a knee injury at the time. But there was no indication that the back out of Cal would see the field. Anderson’s signing seemed like a simple move that would add veteran depth behind the team’s lead back as Malcolm Brown had recently gone to the injured reserve list with a broken clavicle.

But then Gurley was unexpectedly ruled out for the Rams’ Week 16 tilt with the Cardinals, and the team put Anderson to work. The freshly signed back put up a monster statline, recording 167 rushing yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. The next week against the Niners, with Gurley out once again, Anderson had another strong performance: 132 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries.

When it was announced that Gurley would return for the Rams’ divisional-round game against the Cowboys, even Anderson expected his number of carries to drop. But in a surprising move, the Rams kept giving him the rock, and Anderson clocked another incredible performance: 123 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries.

Put it all together, and Anderson has amassed 422 rushing yards on 66 carries with the Rams, good for a 6.4-yards-per-tote average. Some of that success, of course, is due to the Rams’ supremely talented offensive line—the unit ranks no. 1 in Football Outsiders’ adjusted line yards and no. 1 in Pro Football Focus’s run-blocking grade—and Sean McVay’s scheme, which is known for creating light boxes for his running backs.

But even after recognizing that Anderson has benefited from an essentially perfect situation, we have to acknowledge how wild his production has been. Per Sharp Football Stats, Anderson has been successful on 74.2 percent of his rushing attempts with the Rams, an inevitably unsustainable number that dwarves both Gurley’s figure (57.0 percent) and the NFL average (47.5 percent).

But a closer look at the tape and advanced stats reveals that Anderson has been much more for the Rams offense than just a Gurley replacement. His running style—which is completely different than that of L.A.’s star back—has added a new dimension to an already-lethal offense. Anderson’s ability to power straight through the middle of a defense may prove the difference for the Rams in this rematch.

During Anderson’s first three games with L.A., it became clear that McVay loves to send his 5-foot-8, 225-pound bowling ball right up the middle:

As those charts from NFL Next Gen Stats show, Anderson has seen consistent success running behind the Rams’ offensive line. But McVay’s system uses him in a vastly different way than Gurley:

While Gurley thrives as a slasher, Anderson bursts through the line like a blue-and-yellow Kool-Aid Man. According to the NFL’s play-by-play data, Anderson has run “up the middle” on 37 of his 66 carries with the Rams—56.1 percent.

Gurley did that on just 21 percent of his attempts this season. Initially, this up-the-middle tactic seemed like a simple adjustment the Rams had to make when Gurley was out. But after the Dallas game, in which Gurley and Anderson combined for 238 rushing yards and three touchdowns, it seems the Rams have now decided to use both styles to make their ground game even more effective.

As Ringer staff writer Robert Mays pointed out on Monday, the Rams ran Anderson out of shotgun a couple of times against Dallas, even though the team virtually never ran out of shotgun during the regular season. One of those runs came early in the first quarter:

And then we saw a similar run in the second:

Between the Rams’ use of jet-sweep motion and the team’s tendency to almost always pass out of shotgun (95 percent of the time), the Dallas defense was almost certainly not expecting Anderson to come crashing through the interior of the offensive line in that formation. Both of these plays worked to great success—for 12 and 11 yards, respectively.

Anderson also has a knack for breaking tackles, which he says he’s had to learn to do because he’s “slow” and is carrying 10 extra pounds of “man pregnancy weight.” According to Pro Football Focus, the stocky running back is averaging 4.0 yards after contact per carry, the third-highest mark in the league for runners with at least 50 carries.

Gurley isn’t bad in this category either—he averages 3.21 yards after contact per carry, good for 17th—but Anderson has been special. He’s forced 13 missed tackles in his three games with the Rams, per PFF, compared to 45 missed tackles across 15 games for Gurley. Here he is bulldozing through defenders on a second-quarter carry against the Cardinals:

Even when Anderson isn’t able to break out of a tackle, he keeps his legs churning to gain extra yards. Look at the way he trucks Niners defensive back Richard Sherman to gain the first down on this run from Week 17:

When Anderson and Gurley are paired together, their opposite skill sets must be psychologically infuriating for defenders to deal with. On one play, Anderson could come rumbling into the secondary, forcing defenders downhill to try for a tough tackle. On the next, Gurley may zip through his offensive line and annihilate defensive pursuit angles like he did on his 35-yard touchdown runagainst Dallas.

That combination of attacks somewhat resembles the backfield duo of Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara that the Rams will be facing on Sunday. Suddenly, L.A. has a little lightning and thunder of its own—and that could give them an edge against a stout Saints rushing defense.

New Orleans finished this season no. 3 in Football Outsiders’rushing defense DVOA, and that unit was equally steadfast against the Rams back in Week 9—Gurley recorded just 68 rushing yards on 13 carries in that game after the Rams fell behind early.

But if there is one area of the field where the Saints defensive line could be vulnerable, it’s right up the middle. According to Sharp Football Stats, New Orleans has allowed a 49 percent success rate on runs up the middle this season, with running backs averaging 4.1 yards per carry. That’s the worst area on the field for New Orleans’s rushing defense:

To be clear: New Orleans’s weakness at defending runs up the middle is far from a fatal flaw—a 49 percent success rate is only slightly worse than the league average of 47 percent on runs in that area of the field. But that weakness could be exacerbated in the NFC championship game, as the Saints will be playing without defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, who tore his Achilles in the first quarter of the Saints’ 20-14 win over the Eagles in the divisional round.

According to Pro Football Focus, Rankins picked up a run stop—defined as a run play that goes down as a “loss” for the offense—on 8.6 percent of running plays. That’s only 31st among defensive tackles, but it is the highest mark among any Saints interior defensive lineman. His absence could leave a hole for Anderson and the Rams’ ground game to exploit—one of the few obvious advantages the Rams offense will have.

Over the past three weeks, Anderson has downplayed his success, saying he’s “just a fat kid running.” But his value to this offense is evident, even to Gurley. “I guess it was a good thing I got hurt,” Gurley joked to the Rams’ website after the team’s playoff win over Dallas. Sunday’s matchup against the Saints will put that hypothesis to the test.

 

[Merlin]

Different opponents in those vids above but those results look reaaaal similar.

 

[Prime Time]

https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2019/01/23/nfl-rams-patriots-cj-anderson-playoffs-super-bowl/

C.J. Anderson looking to beat Patriots in postseason for 3rd time
By: Cameron DaSilva

Unlike the New England Patriots, the Los Angeles Rams don’t have much experience in the Super Bowl. Tom Brady has more appearances in the big game by himself than the Rams do as a team, which shows just how dominant he’s been for the Patriots.

One player who has played in the Super Bowl before is C.J. Anderson. He’s made two trips to the championship, both coming with the Broncos. He lost one to the Seahawks and won the other over Cam Newton’s Panthers, but both times, he had to go through the same team to get there: the Patriots.

Anderson and the Broncos beat the Patriots in the 2014 and 2016 AFC championship games, both taking place in Denver. Anderson didn’t play in the first matchup, but he had 72 yards in the 2016 title game, helping lead the Broncos to the Super Bowl.

He’s ready for yet another showdown with the Patriots, this time for a Lombardi Trophy instead of just the right to play for one.

“I’ve always played them for something significant, whether that’s No. 1 seed when I was in Denver or a trip to the Super Bowl,” Anderson said. “And I’ve been on both ends playing against them losing, and also beating them twice for that trip to the Super Bowl, so what better way to finish it off than playing them for the big one?”

Anderson would love nothing more than to add another ring to his finger, especially against a team he has so much history with like the Patriots. That’s easier said than done because of how talented New England is, but he’s ready for the challenge Bill Belichick and Tom Brady present the Rams.

“They are a good football team, they’ve been good for a very long time and they’ll be ready,” Anderson said. “Obviously I got history playing him and he’s got history playing against me, so it’ll be fun. It’ll be fun to break them down.”

The key to the game, Anderson says, is protecting the football and making as few mistakes as possible.

“At the end of the day it’s going to come down to two great football teams. Whoever makes the least mistakes, don’t turn over the football — I can promise you they will win the football game,” he said.

With the most Super Bowl experience of any player on the Rams, expect Anderson to be a vocal leader in the locker room leading up to the game.