Rams and Gators
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- Aug 15, 2013
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And a nickname is born!
I like the "Tavon Awesome" nickname myself.
And a nickname is born!
I like the "Tavon Awesome" nickname myself.
Yeah, a good game (minus the fumble), I also saw all his drops.
I think Cook is being judged a little harshly in general.
That was his only fumble.
He had the most Rams receptions (51 for 16th TE in the league), most receiving yards (671 for 11th TE in the league), and most receiving TDs (5 tied at 12th among TEs), with 6 drops.
That's just over a drop every 3 games.
He was 5th in the NFL for yards per catch among TEs with 30 or more receptions and 3rd in the NFL for TEs with 50 or more catches. He was around 26th in the league for yards per catch among ALL receivers with 50 or more catches. That's pretty damn good for a TE.
Not as bad as it seemed. With a season in the system and Bradford back... top 5 in the league this season? Top 10 for sure.
Man I love this guy. We have to figure out how to get him the ball in space. No more excuses. We must UNLEASH the man on the NFC West.
That is by FAR the biggest question mark for the Rams receiving corps IMHO.
Can Schotty get him the ball in space?
All through last season some people criticized the notion that it is a unique requirement on ROD.
They said anyone could be great if you got him the ball in space. False. Tavon proved he can eat up yards wholesale when he has space where other players are just closed in on and dropped. TA has direction changes opponents can't adjust to. He has speed changes opponents can't adjust to. He has fakes opponents can't adjust to. What he does NOT have is size to power through 4, 5, 6 defenders 3 yards off and closing when he gets the ball.
Over and over Schotty called bad plays that harmed the Rams and the players. Not just TA but DR and others too.
He also didn't get Bailey involved. Bailey dropped ZERO passes last season and STILL Schotty didn't use him more. Dude has smooth moves and solid route running. He was a superstar in college and stepped up day one on special teams for the Rams. That's unexcusable.
I'm saddened that Schotty's still on the Rams. I don't see him adjusting and exploring the talents of the team. He seems to make players try to play the way he wants instead of scheming to the Rams' strengths.
There is no doubt in my mind he's the weak link in building a power offense this season. He's conservative, irrational, and insistent on repeating mistakes.
But you know my opinion.
Amen brother! Every damn time TA got the ball there were 2-3 defenders around him. Every time. How is that even possible? The only possible explanation is that Schotty could not (or would not) game plan to TA's unique skill set. It was almost like he was being treated like some average slot receiver.
I just don't understand it. TA is a wet dream for an OC. I mean how many guys in the entire league have the God-given talent of TA?
Anyway, year 2 is going to be a breakout year for him - and hopefully Bailey starts. We need some consistency and Bailey has consistency written all over him...
It's my only knock on Snisher that they allow Schotty to be the OC. It was a bad decision and he proved it over and over. He is not capable of using this talent in its margins. To the edge of the envelope. If it's vanilla again I will be setting up the FIRE SCHOTY petition game one.
But you know my opinion.
Highest number of drops on the team. If he caught more of those he would have looked incredible. You can't blame Scotty for that. In fact if I were to blame him for anything it would be giving the rookie too many targets.
Teams knew we were going to try to get him the ball and they respected his speed, and I think that mow all we have to do is exploit that. We need to use Bailey more and Givens less.
Oh I remember those, but I expect teams to key on him when he's targeted like that.
Like I said, he drops less, his decoy value goes up and we exploit it with someone who can make the catches.
I have my own issues with Scotty but not in regard to trying to get Austin the ball. He tried too hard on that regard and no doubt had political pressure to do so.
JMO drop Givens like a bad habit, play Austin more outside routes and use Bailey more.
My biggest problem with Shottenheimer was that he tried to run his stretch offense the same as his play action, trying to stretch the field vertically with Givens and coming up short on the intermediate stuff when he settled for it too little too late.
I'm not criticizing his drops or saying that he didn't or won't improve, just stating that between those and penalties his success was extremely limited by circumstance, not opportunities afforded him by Shottenheimer.
I think he will see more outside routes and as a side affect of that and Bailey will mean less Givens. It's no secret that even Pettis is a better route runner on intermediate stuff than Givens. I really do hope to see his role reduced.
The point is that it's an inaccurate herd mentality that Scotty was the reason for his lack of immediate success. He was a rookie.
And again Shottenheimer's true weakness was running the spread like play action.
Sorry what I meant was how he was trying to stretch the field vertically too fast. I just think he's used to setting it up with the run.What do you mean by "running the spread like play action"? The spread is an offensive system. Play action is just a technique. I don't understand the comparison that you're making.
The point is that it's an inaccurate herd mentality that Scotty was the reason for his lack of immediate success. He was a rookie.
I'm not criticizing his drops or saying that he didn't or won't improve, just stating that between those and penalties his success was extremely limited by circumstance, not opportunities afforded him by Shottenheimer.
I think he will see more outside routes and as a side affect of that and Bailey will mean less Givens. It's no secret that even Pettis is a better route runner on intermediate stuff than Givens. I really do hope to see his role reduced.
The point is that it's an inaccurate herd mentality that Scotty was the reason for his lack of immediate success. He was a rookie.
And again Shottenheimer's true weakness was running the spread like play action.