PhxRam
Guest
I like Gordon, but it seems a little early for this talk.
Rams coach Jeff Fisher won’t concede anything, but let’s be honest about the rest of this season.
Maybe this team will win another game or two — especially Tampa Bay at home on Dec. 22 — or maybe it won’t.
The Rams are decided also-rans, again. Given the demise of Sam Bradford and the team’s stunning defensive regression, they cannot defeat many teams by forcing turnovers, controlling field position and kicking field goals.
They will take a step back in Year 2 of the Fisher Regime. There is no avoiding that. The damage is done. The consequences are inescapable.
So the organization should focus on a Year 3 breakthrough instead. The Rams should use their remaining games to sort their roster, firm up their long-term nucleus and expedite player development.
Amid all the suffering, the Rams found their new feature back: Zac Stacy. He demonstrates terrific instincts running between the tackles and the drive to gain extra yardage.
Stacy is a real NFL player. Sadly, few (if any) of the other top prospects can say the same at this early point of their careers.
Fans and experts alike blast offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer for pedestrian game plans and dull play-calling. The much bigger issue has been this coaching staff’s inability to develop high draft picks into productive performers.
Wide receiver Tavon Austin is an exciting athlete, but he is not an impact player. Perhaps Austin would possess more confidence if his hapless teammates hadn’t negated all those big plays by taking clumsy penalties.
But after nine games he is still just a raw prospect. Austin drops a lot of passes. He doesn’t make many first tacklers miss. He makes odd decisions on punt returns. We’re not sure how many pass routes he can run because he remains a secondary option in the passing game.
During the remaining seven games the Rams must make every effort to make Austin a factor. Why wait until the OTAs?
Wide receiver Brian Quick is an exciting athlete, but he remains a fringe player. Sometimes he runs good routes, sometimes he doesn’t. Sometimes he catches the ball, sometimes he doesn’t. Sometimes he uses his size and strength, sometimes he doesn’t.
Cornerback Janoris Jenkins is an exciting athlete, but he yields big plays and seldom forces the big turnover or big stop. Perhaps some of his regression is due to soft scheming by coordinatorTim Walton. Or maybe he is too mistake-prone to play in a more aggressive scheme.
Outside linebacker Alec Ogletree is an exciting athlete, but he alternates big plays with total whiffs. He is another reason why the Rams allow so many explosive offensive plays.
Tight end Jared Cook is an exciting athlete, but he is just a middling performer. Sometimes he runs good routes, sometimes he doesn’t. Sometimes he catches the ball, sometimes he doesn’t. Sometimes he uses his size and strength, sometimes he doesn’t.
Running back Isaiah Pead has flashed athletic ability during his limited playing time, but he can’t get on the field during the second year of his career. He is making Trung Candidate look like Jim Brown. Is he hopeless? Is he worth further investment of time and money?
Apparently he is not. But some of these other fellows could become big pieces of the turnaround ifthe Rams can transform them from athletes into players.
(That process will have to wait at quarterback, perhaps until the next NFL Draft. Bradford’s injury will allow the team to develop a young player at that position. The new guy would benefit from taking all of Bradford’s repetitions during the offseason, training camp and preseason play. That is an opportunity the Rams can’t afford to squander.)
Since the Rams’ 2013 fate is sealed, we should spend the remaining games assessing player progress instead of checking the scoreboard.
Can other Rams follow Stacy’s lead and emerge as difference-makers? Will the team emerge from the season with fewer roster holes and more players to build around?
Or will Jeff Fisher, Les Snead and Co. fail to break the cycle that sent Scott Linehan, Billy Devaney and Steve Spagnuolo circling the drain?
These last seven games offer opportunity. If the Rams can make players out of all the exciting athletes, the franchise can remain on course for contention in 2014 and beyond.
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_901d6bd1-5795-5054-a936-aa8a60803dfd.html