Spags Conference Call w/ SF, some excuses new

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Spags Conference Call w/ SF, some excuses new

Steve Spagnuolo explains why the Niners are good and the Rams aren’t, plus more

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Grant Cohn

Here’s what St. Louis Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo said on a conference call with Bay Area reporters this morning.

Q: You’ve seen the 49ers quite a bit over the years. Could you talk about differences you see this year with their offense?

SPAGNUOLO: A lot of the personnel’s the same. I know I counted up a lot of guys, same guys we played in the second-to-the-last game of the season last year, and yet I think they’ve been very, very productive. They find ways to control the football – they certainly do that in the pass game, very good on play-action and I think they’ve got some wide receivers that are making some plays for them, including those tight ends, because they’re just like wide receivers. We’ve got of respect for them.

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-X-

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I guess you mean this -- ?

Q: Speaking of the stuff that was out of your control, you had the lockout and a new offensive system coming in. But at the same time the 49ers did, too. Why do you think it’s been more difficult on you guys than it has been on the 49ers?

SPAGNUOLO: The one challenge we’ve had – now we’re never going to use this as an excuse, but you’re asking the question – one thing that’s really important on offense, especially when you’re putting a new one in, is continuity, especially on the offensive line. We haven’t had that. We haven’t had continuity at wide out. You really need it in the landscape of this year, and with teams like ourselves and San Francisco where you’re putting in new offenses especially. You really had to bank on having the same 11, 12, 13 guys through training camp. In the beginning of the year we knew there’d be some rough edges, but you’d hope that you’d get to this certain point of the season and those reps underneath your belt would surface and you’d have some success. I think that’s happened for San Francisco. I know Jim has spoken of it quite often, that the goal is just to get better and get better. I think you have a better chance of doing that when you can keep the same the same 11, 12, 13 guys on offense. We haven’t had that, and again, as a professional football team, professional coaches, professional players, you have to find a way to overcome that and it’s been tough for us to do that.
 

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RealRamsFan said:
Lockout was projected and expected......regime decided to go with Josh McD (and his new complex offense) instead of Josh Childress (and his familiar offense).

WR on Roster on opening day *(Starters);

MSW- Huge underachiever in JAX....Huge underachiever in STL
Gibson -Marginal in previous years....Marginal this year
Dola - Excellent last year, potential to continue that
DX - Injury plague in the past...injury plague this year
Salas- Rookie during lockout season
Pettis - Rookie during Lockout Season
Curry - No effect or contribution on offense
Clayton - major knee injury...questionable if even able to return....tried to return and as expected....unable to

HoHo - Injury plagued thoughout his career....IR now

Released or didn't sign the following
Fells - Productive elsewhere
Avery
Gilyard
Robinson - productive elsewhere

This was an self inflicting wound
And you would have signed....... who? Some day you'll have to answer that.

And that unproductive and pitiful group of receivers were fluid and in sync during the preseason running a vanilla, dumbed-down version of McDaniels' offense. Everyone did very well. When McDaniels decided to open up and implement his playbook during the regular season, what happened? Seriously, am I the only person who holds this point of view? If I am, I'll just stop insisting that McDaniels is the reason why the offense turned to shit overnight.

Robinson went on IR in September of 2009 and never fully recovered in 2010. Holding onto guys like that is the reason why you're complaining about the roster now. And yet you're using his departure as a reason why the Rams don't develop players, or let good ones go. That kinda shit is maddening to me.

Damned if they do, damned if they don't.
 

Lesson

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Robinson shouldn't even be part of the conversation.

He showed some potential, yes, but he was injured more times than not.
 

bluecoconuts

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If we hired Childress people would be complaining that we got a soft coach that drives his QB to and from practice like a glorified chauffeur.
 

Memento

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RealRamsFan said:
X said:
RealRamsFan said:
Lockout was projected and expected......regime decided to go with Josh McD (and his new complex offense) instead of Josh Childress (and his familiar offense).

WR on Roster on opening day *(Starters);

MSW- Huge underachiever in JAX....Huge underachiever in STL
Gibson -Marginal in previous years....Marginal this year
Dola - Excellent last year, potential to continue that
DX - Injury plague in the past...injury plague this year
Salas- Rookie during lockout season
Pettis - Rookie during Lockout Season
Curry - No effect or contribution on offense
Clayton - major knee injury...questionable if even able to return....tried to return and as expected....unable to

HoHo - Injury plagued thoughout his career....IR now

Released or didn't sign the following
Fells - Productive elsewhere
Avery
Gilyard
Robinson - productive elsewhere

This was an self inflicting wound
And you would have signed....... who? Some day you'll have to answer that.

And that unproductive and pitiful group of receivers were fluid and in sync during the preseason running a vanilla, dumbed-down version of McDaniels' offense. Everyone did very well. When McDaniels decided to open up and implement his playbook during the regular season, what happened? Seriously, am I the only person who holds this point of view? If I am, I'll just stop insisting that McDaniels is the reason why the offense turned to shit overnight.

Robinson went on IR in September of 2009 and never fully recovered in 2010. Holding onto guys like that is the reason why you're complaining about the roster now. And yet you're using his departure as a reason why the Rams don't develop players, or let good ones go. That kinda shit is maddening to me.

Damned if they do, damned if they don't.


I'm not paid to make the roster decisions....but I will play this role on ROD.

I would have drafted Mike Williams...but we passed Williams has five-hundred yards and three touchdowns as a number one this year, and Tampa Bay is still looking for speed from the wide receiver position. He also has serious character and academic issues. Do you think that he would have been able to pick up McDaniels' offense? Add that to the fact that he has seven drops this season, and he wouldn't be helping our problems at all.
I would have drafted Torrey Smith...I mean didn't we need a WR who coud go over the top of a defense? That's actually a very good point. There was a lot of talk about Torrey Smith being drafted by the Rams - from both fans and draft sites. However, can you honestly say that we didn't need a tight end who could stretch a defense? Onobun wasn't exactly proven - I was a big supporter of him, and I think we could have kept him, but he's still struggling to catch on in the NFL. Hoomanawanui was considered injury-prone before he joined the Rams, and Bajema is a third tight end at best. Plus, we had Avery and Alexander healthy at the time - and I do recall that you were wanting to give both of them a chance to prove themselves.
I would have drafted Parrish Cox.....we needed CB depth Perrish Cox wouldn't have been very helpful last year; it's pretty difficult for a guy awaiting charges on sexual assault to get out of jail and play football for his team.
I would have drafted Riley Cooper instead another D Linemen This guy wasn't drafted for a reason; he can't even beat out Jason Avant or Steve Smith on the Eagles roster - that is, unless they're both injured. You might as well ask for David Nelson; at least he's a tall guy that's starting in Buffalo. Size and hands are all that Cooper can offer.

My replies are in bold. I don't mean to offend you; I'm simply offering my perspective.
 

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RealRamsFan said:
I honestly would want to keep McD and get a HC who will control and delegate his OC.
Horse shit. The very second that a HC "controls and delegates" his offensive coordinator, is the day that every fan of the team outright revolts. And to prove that point, it's already happening amidst speculation that he's doing exactly that. It was the same last year when everyone was complaining that Shurmur was being handcuffed by Spags. You're honestly grasping at straws now. You were better off when you were saying it's his lack of yelling that was the problem. Or when it was the way he worded his pressers. Or when he didn't bench under-performers (all of which was proven incorrect). Now you'd rather he hire an offensive coordinator and then dictate the offensive playcalling from a defensive coordinator's experience and perspective.

Just forget it, man. You want him fired. I get it. I can't keep up with your circular logic anymore.
 

JdashSTL

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Lesson said:
Robinson shouldn't even be part of the conversation.

He showed some potential, yes, but he was injured more times than not.

And he was picked up and released by the Chargers after us. He showed absolutely nothing in preseason until the last game but the Chargers opted to cut him. Yeah I get a little pissed off every time I see a Cowboys game now because Robinson is becoming a big part of their offense, but I dont fault Spags for releasing him. One guy I do wish we kept was Fells. He was just a solid player for us. Wasnt great at one specific area, just good at everything.
 

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JdashSTL said:
Lesson said:
Robinson shouldn't even be part of the conversation.

He showed some potential, yes, but he was injured more times than not.

And he was picked up and released by the Chagers after us. He showed absolutely nothing in preseason until the last game but the Chargers opted to cut him. Yeah I get a little pissed off every time I see a Cowboys game now because Robinson is becoming a big part of their offense, but I dont fault Spags for releasing him. One guy I do wish we kept was Fells. He was just a solid player for us. Wasnt great one specific area, just good at everything.
Yeah, I can agree with that. Fells wasn't the best blocker in the world, but he's simply a level above Bajema in every other aspect of the game. Not entirely sure why that went down the way it did. I should research that a little. I know Kendricks had a hand in that, but Bajema? Ehhhh. I still don't see the logic there.
 

JdashSTL

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X said:
JdashSTL said:
Lesson said:
Robinson shouldn't even be part of the conversation.

He showed some potential, yes, but he was injured more times than not.

And he was picked up and released by the Chagers after us. He showed absolutely nothing in preseason until the last game but the Chargers opted to cut him. Yeah I get a little pissed off every time I see a Cowboys game now because Robinson is becoming a big part of their offense, but I dont fault Spags for releasing him. One guy I do wish we kept was Fells. He was just a solid player for us. Wasnt great one specific area, just good at everything.
Yeah, I can agree with that. Fells wasn't the best blocker in the world, but he's simply a level above Bajema in every other aspect of the game. Not entirely sure why that went down the way it did. I should research that a little. I know Kendricks had a hand in that, but Bajema? Ehhhh. I still don't see the logic there.

Exactly. Fells had 41 catches last year, probably should have had more. This coaching staff must love Bajema tho lol.
 

bluecoconuts

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X said:
JdashSTL said:
Lesson said:
Robinson shouldn't even be part of the conversation.

He showed some potential, yes, but he was injured more times than not.

And he was picked up and released by the Chagers after us. He showed absolutely nothing in preseason until the last game but the Chargers opted to cut him. Yeah I get a little pissed off every time I see a Cowboys game now because Robinson is becoming a big part of their offense, but I dont fault Spags for releasing him. One guy I do wish we kept was Fells. He was just a solid player for us. Wasnt great one specific area, just good at everything.
Yeah, I can agree with that. Fells wasn't the best blocker in the world, but he's simply a level above Bajema in every other aspect of the game. Not entirely sure why that went down the way it did. I should research that a little. I know Kendricks had a hand in that, but Bajema? Ehhhh. I still don't see the logic there.

Bajema wasn't a free agent, Fells was. Most likely a cap issue, since Bajema is pretty cheap, cheaper than Fells is I assume.

Robinson benefits a lot from having Miles Austin, Jason Witten, and Dez Bryant on the field as him as well. Defenses have a choice "Do we cover the likely Hall of Fame TE? Or the explosive young receiver who can make insane catches and is really good at getting yards after? Or the #1 WR who can destroy us over top? Or Robinson?"

I'd take my chances on Robinson too if I was a defense.
 

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bluecoconuts said:
X said:
JdashSTL said:
Lesson said:
Robinson shouldn't even be part of the conversation.

He showed some potential, yes, but he was injured more times than not.

And he was picked up and released by the Chagers after us. He showed absolutely nothing in preseason until the last game but the Chargers opted to cut him. Yeah I get a little pissed off every time I see a Cowboys game now because Robinson is becoming a big part of their offense, but I dont fault Spags for releasing him. One guy I do wish we kept was Fells. He was just a solid player for us. Wasnt great one specific area, just good at everything.
Yeah, I can agree with that. Fells wasn't the best blocker in the world, but he's simply a level above Bajema in every other aspect of the game. Not entirely sure why that went down the way it did. I should research that a little. I know Kendricks had a hand in that, but Bajema? Ehhhh. I still don't see the logic there.

Bajema wasn't a free agent, Fells was. Most likely a cap issue, since Bajema is pretty cheap, cheaper than Fells is I assume.

Robinson benefits a lot from having Miles Austin, Jason Witten, and Dez Bryant on the field as him as well. Defenses have a choice "Do we cover the likely Hall of Fame TE? Or the explosive young receiver who can make insane catches and is really good at getting yards after? Or the #1 WR who can destroy us over top? Or Robinson?"

I'd take my chances on Robinson too if I was a defense.
That's right. Thanks for the clarification. And yeah, I wasn't sweating Robinson either. He had more than his share of shots here, and landing on IR sure didn't help his cause to stick around. I'm glad he's got his game back and he's producing. He seemed like a decent enough dude.

On a related note, too bad about Avery though. Guy just fell straight off the map when most were convinced he was going to put up some decent numbers this year.
 

JdashSTL

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X said:
bluecoconuts said:
X said:
JdashSTL said:
Lesson said:
Robinson shouldn't even be part of the conversation.

He showed some potential, yes, but he was injured more times than not.

And he was picked up and released by the Chagers after us. He showed absolutely nothing in preseason until the last game but the Chargers opted to cut him. Yeah I get a little pissed off every time I see a Cowboys game now because Robinson is becoming a big part of their offense, but I dont fault Spags for releasing him. One guy I do wish we kept was Fells. He was just a solid player for us. Wasnt great one specific area, just good at everything.
Yeah, I can agree with that. Fells wasn't the best blocker in the world, but he's simply a level above Bajema in every other aspect of the game. Not entirely sure why that went down the way it did. I should research that a little. I know Kendricks had a hand in that, but Bajema? Ehhhh. I still don't see the logic there.

Bajema wasn't a free agent, Fells was. Most likely a cap issue, since Bajema is pretty cheap, cheaper than Fells is I assume.

Robinson benefits a lot from having Miles Austin, Jason Witten, and Dez Bryant on the field as him as well. Defenses have a choice "Do we cover the likely Hall of Fame TE? Or the explosive young receiver who can make insane catches and is really good at getting yards after? Or the #1 WR who can destroy us over top? Or Robinson?"

I'd take my chances on Robinson too if I was a defense.
That's right. Thanks for the clarification. And yeah, I wasn't sweating Robinson either. He had more than his share of shots here, and landing on IR sure didn't help his cause to stick around. I'm glad he's got his game back and he's producing. He seemed like a decent enough dude.

On a related note, too bad about Avery though. Guy just fell straight off the map when most were convinced he was going to put up some decent numbers this year.

Yeah that was suprising. How the hell has he had no production for the Tians this year? I cant even name one of their WRs after Kenny Britt.