some scrimmage reports

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Rams welcome thousands to fanfest

Aug 4th, 2012 | By Rita Kiry Ryan |StL Sports

http://stlsportspage.com/tenacious-rams ... to-fanfest

“We’re going to hunt down opponents,” Rams General Manager Les Snead promised fans who assembled at the Edward Jones Dome to watch the team’s scrimmage Saturday afternoon. Snead told onlookers the organization has taken “the right steps” in restructuring the roster and as a result, the team “will be heard” in the coming season.

Playing to the large crowd, Snead encouraged fans to be a part of the “pack” and help “raise the cubs.” He was referring to the many young players the Rams have added to their roster

Snead also told the audience he remembered how loud the Dome used to be in the Greatest Show on Turf days and he hoped fans would be just as enthusiastic in supporting the current team. Speaking of new Head Coach Jeff Fisher, Snead said, “Nobody told him he couldn’t win a championship right away.”

Immediately after the first horn of the day blew, practice began with special teams drills.

Rookie kicker Greg Zuerlein, from Missouri Western University, has a leg, but appeared shorter than his reported height of six feet. Zuerlein routinely made field goals from inside the forty yard line. He later thrilled fans by making field goals from fifty-four and fifty nine yards away. After being coaxed by the announcer, Zuerlein attempted both kicks again. He made the fifty-four yard attempt, but failed on the second fifty-nine yarder.

Running back Steven Jackson walked onto the field and was immediately greeted by rousing applause. As he caught passes on the sidelines, he joked with fans and posed for pictures with young children afterward. Clearly, he is the superstar on the team.

During the receiver-defensive back drill, Danny Amendola easily beat Cortland Finnegan for a touchdown. Brandon Gibson got tangled up with rookie cornerback Janoris Jenkins, who was in tight coverage. Gibson broke free and Jenkins fell to the ground, resulting in another touchdown. Brian Quick made a sensational one-hand catch during these drills, but did not score.

Star-crossed, but local favorite, wide receiver Danario Alexander finally returned to the practice field. Alexander ran with the other receivers, and participated in all drills.

He also played with the second team on seven-on-sevens. On a busted play, back-up quarterback Kellen Clemens looked to the opposite end of the end zone where Alexander was tied up with rookie cornerback Trumaine Johnson. Alexander broke free, waved to his quarterback, and caught Clemens’ pass for a touchdown. The receiver watched from the sidelines for the rest of practice.

If the Rams are going to be a run-first team, they’d better get help on the offensive line. During th e11-on-11 scrimmage Steven Jackson and back-up running back Isaiah Pead, both running hard, were repeatedly stopped for little or no gain. Jackson did have one nice long run, and Pead showed speed.

Quarterback Sam Bradford showed he has no lingering effects from his ankle injury of last year. Bradford rolled out of the pocket, and threw on the run several times.

His favorite target remains Danny Amendola, who caught everything within reach. Bradford also favored Brandon Gibson on downfield passes. Gibson continues to have a strong camp and appears to have improved substantially from last season. Brian Quick shows promise as does Greg Salas.

It appears the rest of the receivers need work, as they all dropped passes or ran the wrong routes. Several of Bradford’s passes were overthrown. One long pass to new receiver Steve Smith, who was open on the play, hung in the air and fell incomplete.

The Rams only attempt at a wildcat formation went awry. With Bradford playing receiver, the ball was snapped to Amendola who promptly dropped it. Isaiah Pead was also in the formation and the play (had it been successful) seemed to go to him.

As Jeff Fisher’s young “cubs” prepare for the season, the defensive side of the team is well ahead of the offensive side. While the Rams may profess to be “tenacious,” questions remain about how often the team will score points. If the offense stalls, at least Greg Zuerlein can kick a field goal from fifty yards away.

CoachO

The entire offfense looked out of sync today, much more that they have at any point thus far in camp.

Not sure what is up with either Saffold or Kendricks. Neither played.

Say what you want to about his occasional drops, Kendricks knows where he is supposed to be. On one pass, Bradford threw to a spot the McNeil was supposed to be on a seam route, and McNEil wasn't within 5 yrds of the ball. I watched him as he went to the sideline, and TE Coach Boras made it obvious that McNeil didn't run the right route.

Bradford still makes quick reads, and made some nice throws, especially in the 7 on 7 portion.

Clemons looks absolutely LOST in this offense, which shocks me in that HE is the one with the history in Schottenheimer's system.

Even on 7 on 7, he just doesn't know where to go with the ball. He holds on to it forever, and eventually just throws it away. Time after time. Never thought I'd say I miss AJ Feeley.

Offensive line: when looking at the overall depth, I think there has been a definite upgrade.

Turner, Ojinnaka, Valdez appear to be the early leaders for the backup roles. Compared to Goldberg, Wragge and Fraley?

If you are willing to accept that Watkins is a work in progress, but has a definite upside in terms of raw potential, then this unit is noticably deeper.

The questions marks will work themselves out, but seeing the "new" version of J. Smith, (its obvious the difference in his appearance and technique) I think he will be a pleasant surprise. But the one thing that has stood out to me, is J. Smith has improved tremendously in his techinque. He is no longer lunging and getting off balance in his initial set up. His drop step is consistent, and he is much more patient. He lets Long (or whatever DE it is) commit, and he reacts. Long has beaten him off the ball on occasion, and that is when he seems to get his pressures. But in most of the cases, Smith is doing a much better job of riding him deep and allowing Bradford to step up. The biggest question mark is the concussions.

This is the one unit that the sum of its parts are so much more important than the skills of the individuals. Scheme and technique will overcome alot of "deficiencies".

The biggest difference in what Fisher has done thus far, and IMO, its a very GOOD thing, is having the 1s go against the 1s, something that NEVER happened with the old staff. This will do more to make them BOTH better.


thehammer

observations from scrimmage? offense sucked...especially the oline

D might of had a dozen sacks if it was allowed..Bradford made 2 great passes to Gibson who was blanketed..

will say I went to practice to key on J Smith & Watkins and they both look good, especially Watkins..without Saffold players had to move up the depth chart and were way overmatched

Smith did a good job of running C long up the field

Watkins had 1/2 dozen pancake blocks, showed powerful hands, moved people and exhibited quick feet...looked like the guy I watched in college

Wells better get back quick..just not enough ammo in the gun without him and Saffold.

still think a line of Saffold, Watkins, Wells, Dahl, and Smith with Ojinnaka, Turner, Mattison or Valdez as reserves look solid...we just need some luck.

I thought Clemons was very bad but Clemons, Bradford and Davis were all dealt a bad hand with so much pressure..none had a lot of time to look around

Thouhgt Bradford was solid with some dink and dunk passes...our cb's are top drawer and our passing game is still a work in progress.

the lack of movement in our running game really showed our need for Watkins to be our lg...strong as a bull.

JustinGRams

First off, there had to be thousands and thousands of people there.

I had my 2-year old, so I couldn't stay focused on it the whole time, but:

-Bradford was hit and miss. If he missed his target is was more overthrown than underthrown.

-Offense didn't look that good honestly.

-Salas looked good. Brandon Gibson looked very good today also in the few passes I saw thrown at him.

-The rookie kicker (name escaping me) is a stud. Enough said. Wait till you see him come gametime if today was any indication.

-The rookie punter kicks it fairly long with some good air time.

-Brian Quick didn't have a lot of opportunities, but made two amazing catches. He broke loose on Jenkins in one-on-one and had a good body length and a half on him but dropped the pass. The next time around, Jenkins manhandled him.

-DX would drop great throws then catch the next few tougher ones to handle.

-Trumaine Johnson was the top CB in coverage. He's a lot bigger in person.

-Fisher is very intense. Watching him and Spags last year is night and day.

-Snead seems like a really cool guy. Spoke to fans for about 15 minutes before the scrimmage, and made a solid effort trying to motivate them to help make a difference this season.

Other observations on Fan Fest:

-Things to do included touring the locker room (line was unbelievably long), going on the field, kicking a field goal, throwing passes, looking into the instant replay booth, and cheerleader autographs.

-As said earlier, thousands and thousands there which led to very long lines. There was a line to leave the field from 10am-noon that stretched diagonally one corner to the next.

-Team store is pretty cool. Didn't notice anything drastically overpriced and they have a lot of items for sale.

Defensive players went to the visitors sidelines while offensive players went to the home sidelines:

-Brockers and Finnegan signed forever. Finnegan went the length of the visitors sidelines, the endzone length, and then also the home sidelines...really nice guy.

-Jackson signed 5 minutes tops.

-Guys like Pead and Quick literally had to have a team official basically drag them off the field because they signed forever. EVERYONE who wanted their autograph got one.

-Bradford signed a long time but was mobbed, so many left unhappy without his autograph.

-Janoris Jenkins was the first to start signing. He basically ran to the sidelines to be the first, and signed for awhile.

RevFarrakhan

LINK TO PHOTOS: http://www.realramsfans.com/viewtopic.php?t=70154

I have to say, the 1st annual FanFest was a success, at least for me. My wife and I couldn't make it early enough to tour the field, etc., but we had our tickets at willcall (thanks to Aaron!), went up the elevator, and grabbed front row seats on the club terrace right at the 50. Great food provided by the Food Network chefs, cocktails at the Clarkson Eyecare Club...and no, I make no money off these endorsements, sadly. I hope this FanFest at the Dome tradition continues!

Your Snapshots for FanFest, August 4:

- The punt returners did their drills today by holding a ball in one hand while fielding the punt with the other. A couple of guys got fancy by juggling one in the air or starting off backwards, obviously knowing the fans were there to be entertained.

- I'm starting to worry about Kellen Clemens. He just seems to be regressing, and if I'm not mistaken, he should know this offense already. He's audibling too often, he's erratic, and starting to do really questionable things like rollout or try to scramble during 7-on-7s. These are not good signs.

- Boy, Danario Alexander sure is lucky...unable to practice all camp so far until today when all the fans are around. How fortuitous and totally unsuspicious.

- Play-by-play for the redzone scrimmage, 1s vs 1s: 1st and 10 at the 14, 6 yard pass to Miller. 2nd and 4 at the 8, incomplete. 3rd and 4 from the 8, Jackson through the 1 hole for a touchdown, and the crowd cheers...except to be honest, he would have been tackled by two different defenders, including Laurinaitis, if this had been a real game. Ball reset, 2nd and goal on the 3, Jackson for no gain. 3rd and goal from the 2, play action fake, Bradford hits McNeill for what I consider the first real touchdown. Ball reset, 3rd and goal on the 2, this time Jackson gets the real thing on a 34 blast.

- Synopsis of the same setup for the 2s vs 2s...shut down the first four plays. On play 5, 1st and goal from the 2, they scored.

- Where did the 1999/2000 Superbowl Champion banner go? I saw every other banner but that one.

- Results of the 2 minute drill, starting from our own 30, trailing by a TD with 1:40 left and one timeout: Bradford 5/7, 56 yds, TD. McNeill 2 recs 24 yds. Gibson 1 rec 28 yds. Jackson 1 rush 14 yds. Salas 1 rec 3 yds, TD.

- Results of the same for 2nd unit: Clemens 2/7 23 yds. This included getting "sacked" and what should have been an interception on the same play, and a deflected shotgun snap recovered by Jamie Childers.

- But wait, results of the same for the 3rd unit: Davis 1/4 -2 yds (screen), 10 yds rushing on a scramble. Pead had 1 rush for 0 yds and 1 rec for -2 yds. This included a ball knocked out of his hand on a throw, and a tipped ball. I'd mention Brandstater but he was basically only allowed to hand off to Middleton. Please Lord, don't let Bradford get hurt.
 

Anonymous

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follow up scrimmage report


Coach O

Overall, it was the most sluggish offensive practice this far. Even in the 7 on 7 work, the WRs seemed out of sync. Bradford made some good throws, but Clemons continues to look lost. How does a veteran QB in a 7 on 7 passing drill hold on to the ball and not find someone to throw it to? Happens ALOT with him right now. Austin Davis is clearly worked his way ahead of Brandstater, who seems buried on the depth chart at this point.

*

I think the biggest issue with Bradford's deep ball, is he is trying to put it in a perfect spot, instead of just thrwoing it out there, putting some air under it, and letting the WR adjust to the ball in the air.

Most of his "deep" throws are along the sideline, and he is trying to fit it into a window, instead of just putting it out there. The timing is clearly not there, and given that so far in camp, he is throwing to so many different Wrs on this route, he just doesn't have any feel or "touch". There are way to many instances, where he is forced to throw it before he wants to, and just puts it where he thinks he needs to.

It has nothing to do with arm strength. its not like he is just throwing it as far as he can, and not getting it there.

*

Defensively, they seem to be ahead of the offense, in what they are doing. Both the 1s and 2s on defense seem fairly productive.

When you can line up Bradley Flethcer and Tru Johnson as your SECOND set of CBs it bodes well.

I didn't really pay attention to the OL and DL 1 on 1
drills, so I can't really comment on that.

When they did go 11 on 11, the offense just wasn't as crisp as they have been in prior practices. Other then the 2 minute drill with the 1s, not much stood out.

Gibson is getting his share of reps, and as was the case last year, is showing very well for himself. The guys on 101ESPN have donned him the moniker "Mr. August". Along with Amendola, has been here now, longer than any of the other WRs on the roster. So it makes sense that he is "first man up" in a camp where everyone is taking reps with the 1s.

*

The kicking display by Zuerlein has already been well documented. He is something to watch.

When describing my take on watching Zuerlein kick a football, I have used the comparison to that of watching Pujols hit a baseball. There is just something different about the sound of the ball coming off his foot, in much the same manner there was a "different" sound of the ball off Pujols' bat.

The height and explosion of his kicks are something special. And so far in camp, and especially in the demonstraton at the dome, his accuracy is almost as impressive as his length.

If this kid is as composed in game action as he has shown so far in practice, they have hit a home run with this pick.

*

Special teams have the look of being much improved. The details that Fassel expects shows. They spent the first 30 minuts working on KO return, both with the blocking schemes, and the returners.

They spent the first 30 minutes on KO return stuff, nothing LIVE, but they worked on blocking schemes, and yes, continued working on it as a group.

Amendola, Jenkins, Pead and Givens are the primary guys back there. Way too early to handicap who will be the main guy.

Amendola has already been christened as the Punt Returner, as as Fisher has been quoted, we are looking for his backup at this point.