There are 3 Rams players that are ‘underperforming’, all 3 on D…

[Rams43]

Namely, these particular players:

Darious Williams
Terrell Burgess
Jordan Fuller

Question. Why are 3 such promising young players all experiencing distinctly less quality results on the field than expected based upon their 2020 production?

It’s not from known injury.

Is it scheming? Is Morris using them non-optimally?

It boggles the mind that 3 projected starters should all stumble just as the new DC comes on board. Occam’s Razor indicates that it’s a byproduct of the Morris hire.

To be fair to Morris other D players are exceeding preseason expectations.

Hollins
Lewis
Obo
Bash (until injured)
Ramsey

Anybody have thoughts or suggestions that could elevate Burgess, Fuller, DW’s play to at least approach their 2020 trajectory?

I’m all ears…

 

[OldSchool]

And all three are very good scheme guys that Morris isn’t using.

 

[Kupped]

Jordan Fuller is NOT underperforming. Had a slow start to the season but has been getting better every week and is now a solid, solid starter again. He's growing into his role as a leader in that unit.
Burgess? No idea.. but he had a serious injury last year, just as he was starting to come around. I'm not putting any of that on Morris.

Williams? Yup. And questioning his usage seems very fair.

For adding and juggling new starters and losing two solid veterans, Morris has done a solid job here, imo.

 

[PressureD41]

D Will looked fine vs. Tenn let’s see how he does the next few weeks. Is he truly fully recovered

 

[Riverumbbq]

Namely, these particular players:

Darious Williams
Terrell Burgess
Jordan Fuller

Question. Why are 3 such promising young players all experiencing distinctly less quality results on the field than expected based upon their 2020 production?

It’s not from known injury.

Is it scheming? Is Morris using them non-optimally?

It boggles the mind that 3 projected starters should all stumble just as the new DC comes on board. Occam’s Razor indicates that it’s a byproduct of the Morris hire.

While Fuller may no longer belong on this list since his more recent games have shown improvement, his early problems may well indeed be attributed to the manner in which Morris used him.

Being a rookie, Jonah Williams may have been left off your list due to a lack of development as yet, and because he was unceremoniously waived without being given a medical release or IR'd, the question becomes more acute as to why he was dismissed quite so casually. We know that at least 3 teams other than the Rams have shown some future interest in him as Jonah received waiver claims only to discover that his physical failed because of a hernia. Now he is back on our Practice Squad, although the Rams still haven't addressed his injury situation, so I really don't know what to make of it all.
jmo.

 

[Kupped]

While Fuller may no longer belong on this list since his more recent games have shown improvement, his early problems may well indeed be attributed to the manner in which Morris used him.

Being a rookie, Jonah Williams may have been left off your list due to a lack of development as yet, and because he was unceremoniously waived without being given a medical release or IR'd, the question becomes more acute as to why he was dismissed quite so casually. We know that at least 3 teams other than the Rams have shown some future interest in him as Jonah received waiver claims only to discover that his physical failed because of a hernia. Now he is back on our Practice Squad, although the Rams still haven't addressed his injury situation, so I really don't know what to make of it all.
jmo.

I don’t get either of these takes.

Fuller is exceeding his performance last year by at least one measure, PFF grading.
And he’s playing the best ball of his short career right now.

Williams got caught in a numbers game when the got Miller.

 

[Ellard80]

because one year is just one year - it takes time to prove yourself as a player.

Hopefully they are good players that continue to develop but sometimes people don't get better.

 

[Riverumbbq]

I don’t get either of these takes.

Fuller is exceeding his performance last year by at least one measure, PFF grading.
And he’s playing the best ball of his short career right now.

Williams got caught in a numbers game when the got Miller.

I don't buy either of your responses. Fuller did indeed get off to a slow start in the eyes of many fans, he's turned that around now.

Jonah Williams was almost immediately replaced by Marquise Copeland. It would be difficult to conceive that there was no-one else among those on the 53 who could be sacrificed before Jonah Williams, a special teams member and the only pass rushing 5T DE getting significant snaps. Perhaps the Rams made a mistake in believing that J. Williams would somehow survive the waiver process, although that also seems far-fetched.
jmo.

 

[Kupped]

I don't buy either of your responses. Fuller did indeed get off to a slow start in the eyes of many fans, he's turned that around now.

Jonah Williams was almost immediately replaced by Marquise Copeland. It would be difficult to conceive that there was no-one else among those on the 53 who could be sacrificed before Jonah Williams, a special teams member and the only pass rushing 5T DE getting significant snaps. Perhaps the Rams made a mistake in believing that J. Williams would somehow survive the waiver process, although that also seems far-fetched.
jmo.

Fuller did get off to a slow start. He’s now playing better than ever.
By your logic, if we blame his early struggles on Morris, we have to credit Morris for him being better than ever.

As for the Williams thing? Go look at a calendar. He was claimed when the Rams tried to put him back on Practice squad. SJD was reinjured in practice AFTER that.. that’s why Copeland was elevated.

 

[1maGoh]

Occam's Razor also says it's because Aubrey Pleasant left (all three are DBs). It also says that players have year to year variations and it's no one's fault. It depends on what you *feel like* the simplest explanation is, which means it's basically just a tool for confirmation bias.

 

[Riverumbbq]

Fuller did get off to a slow start. He’s now playing better than ever.
By your logic, if we blame his early struggles on Morris, we have to credit Morris for him being better than ever.

As for the Williams thing? Go look at a calendar. He was claimed when the Rams tried to put him back on Practice squad. SJD was reinjured in practice AFTER that.. that’s why Copeland was elevated.

I'm not necessarily blaming Morris for Fuller's early struggles, I'm also not dismissing the possibilities, and neither of us are likely to ever know that answer.
As for Williams, my initial reply to the OP was based off his thread title. I thought adding J. Williams to the list made sense as he was drop kicked to the waiver wire without explanation, that doesn't usually happen to players who are performing well. It's also odd that right after a DL player gets IR'd that you would unload another defensive lineman in quick succession as depth comes into play. It didn't take long before inquiring minds started to wonder who would likely replace Williams as most fans thought that SJD's spot was more apt to be filled by our more rotational types in Hoecht & Bobby Brown. Copeland replaced Jonah Williams, that should be a fairly simple recognition. It was only later that we discovered Williams was suffering from a hernia, and we still don't know what level of concern exists for his immediate future. It also raises a question as to why Williams never received a medical designation. jmo.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Dwill didn’t adspt to moving around. Especially at slot and star

My guess on the other two is that it is easier to shine with good players around them. Missing JJ and even Hill.

 

[CanadaRam]

Rams lost Aubrey Pleasant. I wouldn't that impact, especially with DWill

 

[Merlin]

I would remove Burgess from the underachieving list. He simply is not very good. He was jumped by a later round pick from his own draft year, and to date has not done anything on the field that is noteworthy. This season is an extension of that and the only reason he's on the depth chart is because they know his draft value will lead to him being claimed. That stuff matters, teams remember their draft grades, so holding on to him and using him as a depth option has been the approach.

Fuller I agree is playing good ball now. He was struggling early on, but I think much of the problem with the safeties was Morris-related. It was probably the way he was calling things and setting keys in his gameplan. But things have been a lot better of late. So for me Fuller is not a concern.

The other safety spot I'm gonna wait and see btw. Still think Rapp is miscast there but that spot has been better too so we'll see.

Williams is the guy who played at a top level last season but looks like ass this year. So internally I am sure the Rams are looking at how/why that has occurred. I refuse to even guess on this since I refuse to watch the NFL's shitty fucking All-22 this year. That I paid for. But anyway. Something's definitely up with him and it may be him who knows. I just hope there's a big effort among that staff to get him playing how he can play.

Re: Morris I think he's picking up this defense now. It can't be easy to swoop in here with a team who was the best in the league last season in a scheme you don't know and then have to design the gameplans and teach it to the players. So if we're lucky he keeps getting better or finds that balance that works with what he's comfortable calling.

 

[Kupped]

I'm not necessarily blaming Morris for Fuller's early struggles, I'm also not dismissing the possibilities, and neither of us are likely to ever know that answer.
As for Williams, my initial reply to the OP was based off his thread title. I thought adding J. Williams to the list made sense as he was drop kicked to the waiver wire without explanation, that doesn't usually happen to players who are performing well. It's also odd that right after a DL player gets IR'd that you would unload another defensive lineman in quick succession as depth comes into play. It didn't take long before inquiring minds started to wonder who would likely replace Williams as most fans thought that SJD's spot was more apt to be filled by our more rotational types in Hoecht & Bobby Brown. Copeland replaced Jonah Williams, that should be a fairly simple recognition. It was only later that we discovered Williams was suffering from a hernia, and we still don't know what level of concern exists for his immediate future. It also raises a question as to why Williams never received a medical designation. jmo.

It wasn’t AFTER another DL was put on IR, it was BEFORE SJD was put on IR.

 

[Riverumbbq]

It wasn’t AFTER another DL was put on IR, it was BEFORE SJD was put on IR.

Whatever. The timeline has no relevance to how I answered the original OP. Find something else to bitch about.

 

[Kupped]

Whatever. The timeline has no relevance to how I answered the original OP. Find something else to bitch about.

?
I’m not bitching about anything.

I’m pointing out you’re factually wrong about Jonah Williams’ situation.

There’s a big difference.

 

[Kupped]

Nick Mullens passed for 252 yards in a 9ers road victory over the Rams last November.

Tannehill passed for 143 this week.

 

[Rams43]

Dwill didn’t adspt to moving around. Especially at slot and star

My guess on the other two is that it is easier to shine with good players around them. Missing JJ and even Hill.

‘That’s as good an explanation as any, Elmgrove. Extra points for being pithy, man.

 

[Rams43]

I would remove Burgess from the underachieving list. He simply is not very good. He was jumped by a later round pick from his own draft year, and to date has not done anything on the field that is noteworthy. This season is an extension of that and the only reason he's on the depth chart is because they know his draft value will lead to him being claimed. That stuff matters, teams remember their draft grades, so holding on to him and using him as a depth option has been the approach.

Fuller I agree is playing good ball now. He was struggling early on, but I think much of the problem with the safeties was Morris-related. It was probably the way he was calling things and setting keys in his gameplan. But things have been a lot better of late. So for me Fuller is not a concern.

The other safety spot I'm gonna wait and see btw. Still think Rapp is miscast there but that spot has been better too so we'll see.

Williams is the guy who played at a top level last season but looks like ass this year. So internally I am sure the Rams are looking at how/why that has occurred. I refuse to even guess on this since I refuse to watch the NFL's shitty fucking All-22 this year. That I paid for. But anyway. Something's definitely up with him and it may be him who knows. I just hope there's a big effort among that staff to get him playing how he can play.

Re: Morris I think he's picking up this defense now. It can't be easy to swoop in here with a team who was the best in the league last season in a scheme you don't know and then have to design the gameplans and teach it to the players. So if we're lucky he keeps getting better or finds that balance that works with what he's comfortable calling.

Good reply, Merlin.

DW was and is my biggest surprise and disappointment. Many were projecting a $15M UFA contract elsewhere for him after a stellar ‘21 season with the Rams.

Such a huge discrepancy between that projection and his ‘21 reality. Sigh…