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Bernie Miklasz
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_4cb4cf8f-6ba3-5ec3-ac41-54fc00a9cc2a.html
After filing a column and returning to my lair following the Cardinals' 3-1 loss in World Series Game 5, I decided to stay up even later and fire up the DVR to watch the Rams-Seahawks game.
A loss is a loss, but obviously there were a lot of positives to the Rams' performance. Their defense was exceptional, running back Zac Stacy was impressive (again) and the overall team attitude was sharp, edgy, and zealously competitive.
On the other side of the pigskin …
I'll keep this short and offer one observation:
Kellen Clemens is nifty, he competes like crazy, is a terrific teammate, works hard at preparation, and shows no fear on the football field.
But he isn't a starting-caliber quarterback in the NFL.
I'm really not trying to be a jerk here. But nothing in his NFL background suggests that it makes much — if any — sense to ride with him as a starter.
Clemens has started 13 games in his NFL career and is 4-9 as a starter. In the 13 starts he's completed 52.3 percent of his passes, has thrown four touchdowns and seven interceptions, and has a passer rating of 64.7.
Clemens' most extensive playing time came with the NY Jets in 2007. He started eight games, stepping in for injured starter Chad Pennington. The results were about what you'd expect: 52.3 completion rate, more interceptions (8) than touchdowns (5) and a passer rating of 64.7.
Clemens completed less than 50 percent of his passes in five of the 13 starts. The accuracy flaw is real, and it isn't going away, and you simply can't win with a quarterback who is so glaringly inaccurate.
Clemens entered the league in 2006. Here are the league-wide statistical markers for overall quarterback play since the start of 2006. The first number will be the league average; the second number will be Clemens' performance in the category.
Completion percentage: 60.7 percent … Clemens 51.6 pct.
Yards per attempt: 7.0 … Clemens 5.93
Touchdown/interception ratio: 1.42 … Clemens 0.47
Passer rating: 83.5 … Clemens 60.3
Sooner rather than later, the Rams need to take a look at Austin Davis to make a better read on his NFL future. The staff has to determine if Davis warrants a spot on the roster going forward, into 2014.
There's simply no reason to keep running Clemens out there. He has no upside. Does Clemens give you the best chance to win a game? That's what coach Jeff Fisher will probably say. But the easy counter to that is this: everything was in place for the quarterback to win a game and upset Seattle on Monday night, and he couldn't make plays to get it done.
I still don't understand the team's thinking with Davis. Rams coaches obviously liked him in the summer of 2012 when he made the squad as an undrafted rookie. Last offseason, Fisher went as far to declare Davis as the likely No. 2 quarterback for 2013.
In training camp this year, Davis fell out of favor. He didn't play as well as the coaches had hoped. He didn't seize the opportunity. I get that. But he still has more upside than Clemens. And Davis probably has more talent, too.
We already know what Clemens can do. There's a personal history of NFL play. We don't know what Davis can do, but it wasn't too long ago that he did enough to inspire coaches to give him an NFL roster spot.
Clemens has a history with Rams offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, who was the OC for the Jets during Clemens' time there. But that shouldn't be a factor. Schottenheimer has done such a poor overall job with this offense, his opinion shouldn't account for much at this point.
Once Davis gets acclimated, Davis should be given an opportunity. If he's lousy, so be it. What is he capable of? We don't know. But there's only one way to find out.
In a related note, some of you may be wondering …
“What about Brady Quinn? Why didn't you mention him?”
I just mentioned him. But someone else will have to volunteer to be the manager of the Brady Quinn campaign. I don't have it in me.
Thanks for reading …
— Bernie
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_4cb4cf8f-6ba3-5ec3-ac41-54fc00a9cc2a.html
After filing a column and returning to my lair following the Cardinals' 3-1 loss in World Series Game 5, I decided to stay up even later and fire up the DVR to watch the Rams-Seahawks game.
A loss is a loss, but obviously there were a lot of positives to the Rams' performance. Their defense was exceptional, running back Zac Stacy was impressive (again) and the overall team attitude was sharp, edgy, and zealously competitive.
On the other side of the pigskin …
I'll keep this short and offer one observation:
Kellen Clemens is nifty, he competes like crazy, is a terrific teammate, works hard at preparation, and shows no fear on the football field.
But he isn't a starting-caliber quarterback in the NFL.
I'm really not trying to be a jerk here. But nothing in his NFL background suggests that it makes much — if any — sense to ride with him as a starter.
Clemens has started 13 games in his NFL career and is 4-9 as a starter. In the 13 starts he's completed 52.3 percent of his passes, has thrown four touchdowns and seven interceptions, and has a passer rating of 64.7.
Clemens' most extensive playing time came with the NY Jets in 2007. He started eight games, stepping in for injured starter Chad Pennington. The results were about what you'd expect: 52.3 completion rate, more interceptions (8) than touchdowns (5) and a passer rating of 64.7.
Clemens completed less than 50 percent of his passes in five of the 13 starts. The accuracy flaw is real, and it isn't going away, and you simply can't win with a quarterback who is so glaringly inaccurate.
Clemens entered the league in 2006. Here are the league-wide statistical markers for overall quarterback play since the start of 2006. The first number will be the league average; the second number will be Clemens' performance in the category.
Completion percentage: 60.7 percent … Clemens 51.6 pct.
Yards per attempt: 7.0 … Clemens 5.93
Touchdown/interception ratio: 1.42 … Clemens 0.47
Passer rating: 83.5 … Clemens 60.3
Sooner rather than later, the Rams need to take a look at Austin Davis to make a better read on his NFL future. The staff has to determine if Davis warrants a spot on the roster going forward, into 2014.
There's simply no reason to keep running Clemens out there. He has no upside. Does Clemens give you the best chance to win a game? That's what coach Jeff Fisher will probably say. But the easy counter to that is this: everything was in place for the quarterback to win a game and upset Seattle on Monday night, and he couldn't make plays to get it done.
I still don't understand the team's thinking with Davis. Rams coaches obviously liked him in the summer of 2012 when he made the squad as an undrafted rookie. Last offseason, Fisher went as far to declare Davis as the likely No. 2 quarterback for 2013.
In training camp this year, Davis fell out of favor. He didn't play as well as the coaches had hoped. He didn't seize the opportunity. I get that. But he still has more upside than Clemens. And Davis probably has more talent, too.
We already know what Clemens can do. There's a personal history of NFL play. We don't know what Davis can do, but it wasn't too long ago that he did enough to inspire coaches to give him an NFL roster spot.
Clemens has a history with Rams offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, who was the OC for the Jets during Clemens' time there. But that shouldn't be a factor. Schottenheimer has done such a poor overall job with this offense, his opinion shouldn't account for much at this point.
Once Davis gets acclimated, Davis should be given an opportunity. If he's lousy, so be it. What is he capable of? We don't know. But there's only one way to find out.
In a related note, some of you may be wondering …
“What about Brady Quinn? Why didn't you mention him?”
I just mentioned him. But someone else will have to volunteer to be the manager of the Brady Quinn campaign. I don't have it in me.
Thanks for reading …
— Bernie