So, I see 3 ‘weak links’ on Rams team that need to be plugged…

[Rams43]

Van Jefferson is simply not pulling his weight. Nacua and Atwell have picked up the slack beautifully but I do believe that Rams O would benefit from some combo of Robinson, Skow, or Trammel instead of VJ until Kupp’s return. Once Kupp is back I think VJ’s fate is sealed as a 4th WR to be allowed to walk next offseason. Problem solved. I would make this move as soon as the Bengal game. Seriously.

Derion Kendrick is the weakest link on our D and every team is gonna attack him without mercy until further notice.. He is a penalty machine and his tackling leaves much to be desired. How he starts ahead of Tomlinson is beyond me. Tomlinson is a rookie, yeah, and has made a few penalty causing moves himself , but damn, is he ever sticky in coverage even against bigger and elite WR’s. Plus he is a willing tackler. He is the future so I advocate letting him get his needed experience now in the early part of our promising season while everybody is gelling so that he will be effective in a potential playoff run. I consider him a draft steal so let’s take full advantage now. This change should occur immediately.

Michael Hoecht is a very likable fellow, one that’s easy to root for. But he seems miscast as OLB. A square peg in a round hole situation. Snead would be well advised to try to bring in a journeyman vet of some kind. Even a 3rd tier vet would be an upgrade. A permanent solution will have to wait until next offseason, I’m afraid. But Hoecht is currently our 2nd biggest weak link on D and will be attacked accordingly until some adjustment is made.

If these 3 positions could be improved then I think Rams could become a legit playoff threat in this, our ‘rebuild’ year. A very impressive thing, indeed.

Thoughts?

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

McVay has faith that Van will be an integral part of the offense going forward. I don’t think he will have his snaps reduced any time soon. It’s only been two games. It’s a contract year too, so he should be motivated to get right.

Supposedly the Rams coaches love Kendrick’s physicality. Imo it’s just a penalty waiting to happen. I bet that they don’t feel T-H is ready yet.

Hoecht is what we got. He played better in week two. Hopefully he keeps improving.

 

[Riverumbbq]

6 Rams to watch in Week 3 vs. Bengals

Here are our six players to watch from the Rams in Monday's matchup in Week 3 vs. the Bengals.

www.yahoo.com

 

[tempests]

Deferring to the Rams coaches' judgement. They see these guys up close every day.

Might as well give these players a chance. If Van Jefferson catches a game winning TD, people won't think it's so bad having him out there.

 

[PARAM]

I think Kendricks is better than most believe. What's amusing is the fans who believe Kendricks takes too many penalties want T-H-T to replace him......the guy who took too many penalties in preseason. Having said that, the penalties don't upset me....they usually accompany aggressiveness.......something many fans want more of. So I hope both play a big role going forward.

 

[Rams43]

McVay has faith that Van will be an integral part of the offense going forward. I don’t think he will have his snaps reduced any time soon. It’s only been two games. It’s a contract year too, so he should be motivated to get right.

Supposedly the Rams coaches love Kendrick’s physicality. Imo it’s just a penalty waiting to happen. I bet that they don’t feel T-H is ready yet.

Hoecht is what we got. He played better in week two. Hopefully he keeps improving.

So, you advocate sticking with the status quo, Elmendorf?

I see all 3 positions crying out for changes.

 

[Merlin]

I'm not done with Kendrick yet. The guy got burned, that happens with young DBs. He has also been in position and done some good things. Tomlinson has to be one of our top 3. It's gonna happen. But I like the way he's going to push those starters because none of them want him coming in for them. Let's see who sustains over the next couple games.

Hoecht is disappointing because contain was his biggest issue last year and he had a full offseason to improve his game in that regard but still is a bit of a liability. That said he was much better vs SF. And honestly we don't have a better option on the depth chart than him right now. So I would not change him either.

Van I agree with. What I'd do is take half those snaps he got vs SF and give them to his competitors. Then see if he's got some dog somewhere inside and wants to fight for his spot.

 

[OnceARam]

In Van's defense, he is running routes that are opening up underneath routes for Tutu and Puka.

I thought Tutu would be doing that more than he is. It'll all change again when Kupp comes back.

What matters is that the production on offense in aggregate is there.

Defensive is another story. And yes, Kendricks is a total liability.

 

[TexasRam]

Personally, I would not give up on Hoecht just yet. He played with contain much better vs the Niners and can make plays including generating pressure, I could easily see him being a 12+ sack guy if used correctly.

Jefferson doesn’t have the ability to play as a consistent starter, though as a backup he provides value. I would let him walk in the off-season.

Kendrick. He’s a massive liability. When you combine the penalties with the big plays he gives up and then look at the other times the QB missed the throw but his guy was wide open, it’s ugly and going to lose us games.
The kid plays with the right physicality but that’s not enough. He can’t cover, recover or play with the right technique.

Durant looked bad vs the Niners as did Witherspoon. Jury still out on those two as well.

We easily beat the Niners if our CBs were up to par.

But they are all young or new to the system so the potential is there. At a minimum i start increasing the snaps for THT and Shelley and see if there is a noteable difference.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

So, you advocate sticking with the status quo, Elmendorf?

I see all 3 positions crying out for changes.

What can they change. I think the only possible one could be eventually playing Tomlinson-Hodges over Kendrick’s, but that will take time and may not ever happen because for some reason the coaches seem to like Kendrick’s.

I think if they had a better player to get snaps over Hoecht then we’d be seeing whoever that would be taking some of his snaps.

As far as Jefferson goes, he has come through as a deep threat in the past. I don’t think he forgot how to play. I’ve never liked his hands but do they really have someone on the roster aside from Puka and Tututhat can get open deep?

 

[Oregonram]

I think Kendricks is better than most believe. What's amusing is the fans who believe Kendricks takes too many penalties want T-H-T to replace him......the guy who took too many penalties in preseason. Having said that, the penalties don't upset me....they usually accompany aggressiveness.......something many fans want more of. So I hope both play a big role going forward.

Kendrick’s needs to be better playing the ball instead of the WR only…hope he continues to improve.

 

[I like Rams]

Kendrick is going up against teams #1 receivers, and doing a pretty good job at shutting them down. Metcalf had 3 receptions and Aiyuk (sp?) had 4 on him. Aiuyk was the offensive player of the week in week 1, putting up over 150 yds on Pitt. He put 40 something on us. Teams are not exposing Kendrick, Kendrick is making young player mistakes, but the dude is playing much better than he did last season. Give him time and see if he cleans up his play.

 

[kurtfaulk]

Kendrick is going up against teams #1 receivers, and doing a pretty good job at shutting them down. Metcalf had 3 receptions and Aiyuk (sp?) had 4 on him. Aiuyk was the offensive player of the week in week 1, putting up over 150 yds on Pitt. He put 40 something on us. Teams are not exposing Kendrick, Kendrick is making young player mistakes, but the dude is playing much better than he did last season. Give him time and see if he cleans up his play.

well said.

good cbs are getting burned in every game every week. the problem is fans only see their team's cbs giving up plays. when their offense is on the field making plays they're looking at the wrs, not the opposing cbs giving up plays.

the cbs that aren't are the elite of the position.

they always say the best attribute a cb can have is amnesia. forget about what happened and go to the next play. a saying like that doesn't pop up because cbs are shutting down wrs, it means they're gonna get burnt some times.

.

 

[SteezyEndo]

These guys will progress better as the season goes they will be familiar with their assignments and work on their craft. I do expect better from Van though hoping he comes with some heat next game.

 

[snackdaddy]

Two things I want to see. Better run blocking on offense and more pressure on the quarterback on defense.

 

[Londoner]

Deferring to the Rams coaches' judgement. They see these guys up close every day.

Obviously. But there must be days when the coaches think that they need new talent.

 

[dang]

Van Jefferson is simply not pulling his weight. Nacua and Atwell have picked up the slack beautifully but I do believe that Rams O would benefit from some combo of Robinson, Skow, or Trammel instead of VJ until Kupp’s return. Once Kupp is back I think VJ’s fate is sealed as a 4th WR to be allowed to walk next offseason. Problem solved. I would make this move as soon as the Bengal game. Seriously.

Derion Kendrick is the weakest link on our D and every team is gonna attack him without mercy until further notice.. He is a penalty machine and his tackling leaves much to be desired. How he starts ahead of Tomlinson is beyond me. Tomlinson is a rookie, yeah, and has made a few penalty causing moves himself , but damn, is he ever sticky in coverage even against bigger and elite WR’s. Plus he is a willing tackler. He is the future so I advocate letting him get his needed experience now in the early part of our promising season while everybody is gelling so that he will be effective in a potential playoff run. I consider him a draft steal so let’s take full advantage now. This change should occur immediately.

Michael Hoecht is a very likable fellow, one that’s easy to root for. But he seems miscast as OLB. A square peg in a round hole situation. Snead would be well advised to try to bring in a journeyman vet of some kind. Even a 3rd tier vet would be an upgrade. A permanent solution will have to wait until next offseason, I’m afraid. But Hoecht is currently our 2nd biggest weak link on D and will be attacked accordingly until some adjustment is made.

If these 3 positions could be improved then I think Rams could become a legit playoff threat in this, our ‘rebuild’ year. A very impressive thing, indeed.

Thoughts?

Yeah. I don’t get the Hoecht experiment. It was ok to try last year b/c the team was desperate for options but come on he’s a 4-3 DE not an OLB/Edge.

 

[Steve808]

I think the Rams need to try and get a veteran but not too expensive edge that could really help us defensively. If healthy, our offense is okay right now and will get better when Kupp returns.

Good thing we didn't pencil in Boom as LT. The guy can play okay but can't stay healthy.

 

[Tano]

I see a 4th weakness - Rozeboom

He is too slow and misses tackles too often for my taste

 

[muggmeister]

McVay has faith that Van will be an integral part of the offense going forward. I don’t think he will have his snaps reduced any time soon. It’s only been two games. It’s a contract year too, so he should be motivated to get right.

Supposedly the Rams coaches love Kendrick’s physicality. Imo it’s just a penalty waiting to happen. I bet that they don’t feel T-H is ready yet.

Hoecht is what we got. He played better in week two. Hopefully he keeps improving.

What? Of course his snap counts are gonna WAY down after Kupp comes back, unless you are only referring to the next 2 games.