Finnegan: Walton's Defensive System "Atrocious"

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den-the-coach said:
Yes I heard that too and I realize that much was written about Blake Williams alienating himself from most of the defensive coaches, but he sure coordinated far better than Walton with less than half the experience. Well, I'm sure glad Fish and Williams let bygones be bygones and the Rams defense will be better off for it as Gregg Williams returns home to the Show Me State to Show Off his best defense ever!
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I'm not sure which Blake Williams you are remembering, as the Rams were running the same play 10 yards off the ball stuff in 12 as they were in 13. Yes, the defense did perform better, but there were still grumblings of Fisher taking over for Williams towards the end of the year as well and there was not much love lost when he was let go at the end of the season either.

Walton just seemed in over his head though. That was very apparent. Williams punched his ticket by butting heads with the rest of the staff (not good when you are the young gun on the staff).

Finnegan is what is he. He never was a speed guy and injuries have ruined him over the past couple years. He may bounce back, but you never know. Don't know about you guys but fracturing an orbital bone doesn't sound like fun to me
 
Walton seemed in over his head, but it was tough for Finny to slam into the wall leaving an already young secondary without their leader. Did we ever hear anything officially when/if Walton lost responsibility to Fisher for the defense during 2013?
 
GreeneCounty said:
I know Fisher likes to power run but I would like to see Bradford deep ball make strides this year.
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I don't think the deep pass is a concern for Bradford. I think he is a great deep ball passer. I think he struggles at the 15/20 yard pass. I want to see him hit those more consistently.
 
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Regardless of Walton's defense, he still regressed last season. He was torched a lot in man coverage, from crossing routes and deep balls, to physicality. I don't think he'll rejuvenate anything honestly.
 
Say what you want about Finnegan (and yeah, he did regress ... just got old almost overnight), but that doesn't change the merits of his argument. When you combine what he said with what JT reported a few days ago about Walton being a "my way or the highway" guy who didn't accept input from his players, the two reports tend to reinforce each other when you look at what happened on the field. Walton was prioritized his scheme above effectiveness and adapting it to put his players in the best position to utilize their talents, and it showed through much of the season until Fisher started getting involved.

I'm not necessarily opposed to the whole "my way or the highway" style of leadership, providing "my way" works. Steve Jobs was known as a notorious "my way or the highway" guy at Apple, but nobody really faults him for it given the results they got under his way. But when your way isn't getting results after giving it sufficient time, you need to change ways. Walton showed no such inclination, and his way led him straight to the unemployment line. Wonder if he'll learn anything from it.
 
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I like the fact that Fisher and CO knew when to pull the plug on Walton. I hope that sent a message to "Shotty" as well; Mediocrity is no longer tolerated here.
 
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Could it be that Finnigan had a problem with Walton to begin with? Which is why he came into camp out of shape?
 
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RamzFanz said:
Early on when? In his career?
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Rookie year under Shurmur. On those rare occasions he'd try to go deep he looked awful. Even his throwing motion just looked uncomfortable. I doubt the staff put much emphasis on it though. He's come a long way with it since then.
 
The DC by committee approach of 2012 was much better than 2013.
Never figured out why Fisher hired a DC that did not install his system.
Well 2014 will show us what Fisher had planned all along.
 
RamzFanz said:
How does that rate an inappropriate. He sucks. Is someone willing to say he doesn't?!
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I certainly had my problems with a lot of the offensive play calling. I thought it got better as the season wore on. But saying he sucks? I wouldn't go that far and I also don't like using those kinds of terms when talking about current members of the organization. That being said, I'm not sure why your initial one word post drew an inappropriate but I suppose I could see it.
 
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Dr C. Hill said:
I like the fact that Fisher and CO knew when to pull the plug on Walton. I hope that sent a message to "Shotty" as well; Mediocrity is no longer tolerated here.
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Fisher never really wanted Walton as DC. We got stuck with him when Ryan walked out at the last minute.

Schotty, on the other hand is Fisher's man. I'm pretty sure Fisher's standards for the defense are much higher than they are for the offense...
 
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