Bulger's broken tibia ends an era
by Ryan Van Bibber on Nov 24, 2009 7:00 AM CST
in 2009 St. Louis Rams regular season
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PrintAnd so it was the tibia. The St. Louis Rams truly have experienced the end of an era with Marc Bulger and his broken tibia. The last, most visible connection to the Chaplin-esque Martz/Zygmunt/Shaw/Linehan era has now likely played his last game as a Ram. That administration, synonymous with Brezhnev era levels of bumbling incompetency, signed Bulger to a massive contract after a fine 2006 season. That was also the same season he was sacked 49 times. The team's ham-fisted moves to upgrade the offense around him failed as well with Drew Bennett, Randy McMichael, Joe Klopfenstein, releasing Isaac Bruce, and neglecting the offensive line in front of Bulger as they moved forward with some hybrid of the Martz offense and whatever unformed notion it was that Scott Linehan brought to the team. It's over now.
The breadth and scope of Bulger's injury history foretells the likelihood of the full six weeks of recovery, if not more. And even if it's only five weeks, why bring him back to take a few more punches from an offense he never paired with well. The whole thing is really kind of merciful for all sides. Fans no longer have to suffer the ups and downs, we can officially accept the rebuilding of the team. Coaches, front office guys now have every reason to cut his contract, when everyone will have just watched him into memory. And Bulger can just fade away.
We all walk away with best possible outcome.
Whether or not Bulger was the right QB for this system, didn't have the right players, had too little left to give or a combination of all three, it just wasn't working. He'll probably get another job somewhere else next season, backing up a QB in a more established offense. There's plenty of time to speculate on that. Now the Rams can officially turn their eyes toward the future, remaking this team as they see fit.
Some links for you to ponder...
Chris Long credits knowing the system with his late improvement...knowing the system after 10 games and a summer of work outs.
It's diagnostic day at Rams Park! Jason Smith & Chris Chamberlain will undergo neurological exams, Mike Karney will have an MRI on his neck, and Chris Massey has his surgery, which really isn't diagnostic at all.
Here's the first future QB watch article.
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Why is everyone in that picture
(Seahawks and Rams) running towards Bulger?
Just seeing that makes my tibia hurt.
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
Jacob Bell
is about to get a sack!
You don't seem to want to accept the fact you're dealing with an expert in guerrilla warfare, with a man who's the best, with guns, with knives, with his bare hands. A man who's been trained to ignore pain, ignore weather, to live off the land, to eat things that would make a billy goat puke. In *St. Louis* his job was to dispose of enemy personnel. To kill! Period! Win by attrition. Well, *Steven Jackson* was the best.
by 3k on Nov 24, 2009 7:55 AM CST up reply actions
This'll be fun...
…when Bulger revives his career elsewhere and we’re throwing millions of dollars at some poor rookie. I mean seriously, was Jason Campbell mentioned? Lord have mercy on us. Boy I can’t wait for next season. Let’s hope we aren’t set back another 5 years. I’m hopeful we end up with the 1 out of 5 QBs that ends up doing well. Come on Devaney…don’t fail us now!
"I was just letting the shots fly. You know, I don't leave any bullets in the chamber."
"Everything negative- pressure, challenges- is all an opportunity for me to rise."
-Kobe Bryant
A mantra for all athletes.
by TrojanRam on Nov 24, 2009 7:28 AM CST via mobile reply actions
When Bulger Revives his Career?
There’s a reason no other team in the league showed interest what-so-ever in Bulger when he was nearing free-agency. Why the Rams signed him to that ridiculous contract is beyond me. The Bulger we’ve seen for the last few years is the real Marc Bulger. It’s way past time that the Rams looked for another QB to take over, instead of trying out “respectable back-ups”.
It may be that Boller, with enough practice reps with the first string, may show us something. He can’t do any worse.
Which is exactly what we were saying about Warner...
…
Time will tell.
"I was just letting the shots fly. You know, I don't leave any bullets in the chamber."
"Everything negative- pressure, challenges- is all an opportunity for me to rise."
-Kobe Bryant
A mantra for all athletes.
by TrojanRam on Nov 24, 2009 10:45 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
Uh, I have a question
In the QB watch article from Bryan Burwell, he says
Would you risk a top three pick on Sam Bradford now when he won’t be able to even begin working out after his knee operation until six weeks before the 2010 draft?
Since when is he having a knee operation?
You don't seem to want to accept the fact you're dealing with an expert in guerrilla warfare, with a man who's the best, with guns, with knives, with his bare hands. A man who's been trained to ignore pain, ignore weather, to live off the land, to eat things that would make a billy goat puke. In *St. Louis* his job was to dispose of enemy personnel. To kill! Period! Win by attrition. Well, *Steven Jackson* was the best.
Good question?
Don’t care about the guy one bit though, unless we could get him in Rd. 2.
"I was just letting the shots fly. You know, I don't leave any bullets in the chamber."
"Everything negative- pressure, challenges- is all an opportunity for me to rise."
-Kobe Bryant
A mantra for all athletes.
by TrojanRam on Nov 24, 2009 7:58 AM CST via mobile up reply actions
See, I love him
I’m buying Bradford this draft
You don't seem to want to accept the fact you're dealing with an expert in guerrilla warfare, with a man who's the best, with guns, with knives, with his bare hands. A man who's been trained to ignore pain, ignore weather, to live off the land, to eat things that would make a billy goat puke. In *St. Louis* his job was to dispose of enemy personnel. To kill! Period! Win by attrition. Well, *Steven Jackson* was the best.
by 3k on Nov 24, 2009 7:59 AM CST up reply actions
Oh goodness...
…let’s just say I tried my best to scout him. Woke up one day at 8AM on the West Coast just to watch him come back and beat Texas, and the guy gets sacked by a CB and ends up out for the year. That’s kind of where my scouting report ended, and as good as he was last season, there’s big question marks around him for good reason.
That’s why round 2, while not too likely, would be ideal.
Plus, he looks like a gofer/beaver.
Then again, we have a beaver that looks like Predator, so I guess it might work out well if we take Bradford.
I just hope we win more games and are able to take one of these QBs past the 10th pick, if we indeed get a QB in Rd 1.
"I was just letting the shots fly. You know, I don't leave any bullets in the chamber."
"Everything negative- pressure, challenges- is all an opportunity for me to rise."
-Kobe Bryant
A mantra for all athletes.
by TrojanRam on Nov 24, 2009 8:05 AM CST via mobile up reply actions
Well, the way I see it...
…Campbell would undoubtedly fail, but it probably wouldn’t be as big a failure as it would be if we draft a top 5 pick rookie who doesn’t pan out, simply because of the money issue.
We could probably get Campbell for a reasonably low price.
Not that he’s the answer. Like I said, I think we’d been better off with Marky Marc. But everyone’s calling the end of the “era,” whatever that means, like we have Peyton Manning waiting for us on the horizon.
Those Florida/Oklahoma/Texas/Washington/Notre Dame QBs don’t quite strike me as DirecTv spokesman anymore than they do number 18.
In this case, I’m finally open to seeing Null. Maybe Mr. Brady part 2 is brewing in the later rounds with him. Who knows?
"I was just letting the shots fly. You know, I don't leave any bullets in the chamber."
"Everything negative- pressure, challenges- is all an opportunity for me to rise."
-Kobe Bryant
A mantra for all athletes.
by TrojanRam on Nov 24, 2009 9:36 AM CST via mobile up reply actions
Who said we wouldn't draft a QB anyway?
Don’t you see that Campbell would be a stop gap? Someone’s gotta start and if you sign him to a 1 year contract, then it’s a can’t lose situation.
Unless, you just want to be that way and act like signing Campbell prevents the team from drafting a QB. One has nothing to do with the other. And would give the team depth at the position until the new QB got up to speed and could take over as opposed going into the season with only the new QB and Keith Null.
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
I don't completely agree
with the article from stlouistoday, watching the game against the Cards, Bulger had quite a bit of time in the pocket, at least a lot more than last year. Although I’m sold on Suh, it would be nice to have a QB. All I can say is that they scout the hell out of the QBs in the draft, and pray it won’t be an Alex Smith
"Twin-headed infinite swirling vortex of grotesque suckitude known as Tony Clark and Eric Byrnes"
Bradford
Should be our priority. If you think we should trade down in order to make it acceptable, then fine. As long as we end up with him.
by ZamRam on Nov 24, 2009 10:21 AM CST via mobile reply actions
If it is Bradford
then we definitely need to sign someone like Campbell. Bradford, more than anyone, needs a year off to sit, learn, and heal.
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
Long actually didn't credit his recent play with knowing the system better
At least, not in the article that was linked. Spagnuolo was the one who gave that explaination.
They can say that if they want to, as if “Oh yeah he’s a good player and just needed to get to know the system in order to produce” but from what I have seen with my own eyes, Long isn’t playing in anything close to a dominating fashion, and can thank his non-stop motor for placing him in a position to mop up on a couple of plays. Really not much more than that.
It’s not like he was somehow confused in the first half of the season…..he really didn’t know what he was supposed to be doing?….and it’s not like he started throwing guys out of his way on the sack plays.
He’s had a nice little run and I hope it continues, but I don’t know if I buy what they’re saying. I think they don’t want to address another subject…that he has struggled to compete.
I agree...
Long has had 2 sacks in the last two games, but they were also his ONLY tackles. One lousy tackle per game. Lauranitis had 16. Long simply cannot find the ball carrier or the QB. In hindsight, NO ONE would’ve picked him that high in the draft if they’d known what his stats would be after 26 NFL games. That whole group of “top” defensive players in ’08; Long, Gholsten, Dorsey were way over-rated.
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