Reading between the offensive lines: Random Ramsdom, 11/3

by VanRam on Nov 3, 2009 9:22 AM CST in Random Ramsdom Comment 13 comments

Still basking in the glow of the St. Louis Rams first win? Yeah, me too. Let's dive into some random ramsdom.

RG Jacob Bell has a concussion and a neck stinger. Bell now has two concussions on the season, something that certainly won't help his effectiveness. Speaking of concussions, does it seem like the Rams have had an inordinate amout of concussions this season?

People can't seem to say enough good things about the Rams first round pick OT Jason Smith. He had a monster game at Detroit this week. I still don't understand why this guy isn't starting at LT. I think with his improved run blocking skills, switching him to LT and Barron to RT would give the Rams better run blocking on the outside lanes. And with Setterstrom, Brown and Incognito in the middle, you'd have the Rams best OL combo playing. Granted, not every game is going to be against the Lions. In pass blocking, you could put an extra blocker on Smith's side when the matchup wasn't favorable...or you could just let Marc Bulger get trashed, since it's not going to make him any worse (ouch. sorry).

The line is starting to gel. I can't help but wonder if Adam Goldberg has a future as a starter.

Bernie Miklasz gives his official endorsement to the Rams getting a new franchise QB. He does make a good point about Bulger, noting that the QB has done little with the extra time in the pocket he's had this season and pointing out that a rookie QB could fare no worse than Bulger. Amen on that. As I've said before, the Rams have a good OL, which should be better next year, and with Steven Jackson still set to thrive for a couple more seasons, it's a good situation for a rookie QB to step into, in the sense that he has some padding for early struggles. Imagine if Detroit had our offensive line and Steven Jackson, combined with Calvin Johnson; they'd have a lot more than one win this season.

Spagnuolo and the coaching staff will be taking a good, long look at the team and their own performances through the first half of the season.

Here's a drive-by-drive breakdown of the game, from Detroit blog Pride of Detroit.

Hey, what do you think about the new look at TST? I stayed up all night coding HTML...no, not really. Props to the gang at HQ for their hard work.

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The new look?

I’m not excited about it. It almost feels to me like it’s unfinished.

Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.

by Tackle Box on Nov 3, 2009 9:32 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

I thought so at first

But I think I like the simplicity of it. Reminds me of the hyperminimalism sketch from UCB

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 3, 2009 9:51 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree with TB

I thought my browser wasn’t rendering the site right. This is the way it’s supposed to look now? Weird.

RamsHerd.com - Graphic Rams Discussion

by taiko on Nov 3, 2009 10:10 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

for some reason, i'm also having issues

with my “z” key advancing through the comments. I have no idea if this is related to the new layout, but it started today. So, it’s either caused by it or it’s a very strange coincidence.

Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.

by Tackle Box on Nov 3, 2009 11:29 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Z does the same thing to me too

I’d have to agree. It’s meh.

I believe in 2010

by ram_rod on Nov 3, 2009 11:40 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Smith at RT....what if

What if they decided they couldn’t run behind the LG? What if they thought going right side would be far and away more succesful than going left? Could that be a reason to put your best run blocking tackle on the same side, to solidify half the line for Jackson. To me it’d make sense to do it in that situation. It’s been pointed out before that everyone in the stadium knows Jackson’s getting ball anyway, so if yur going to play it that way maybe you Just put yur two best run blockers together and build to yur strength. Without Jaclson’s savagry we don’t win the Detroit game, obviously. Maybe they decided they can’t have that kind of reliability without the best half-line they can give him.

Lived in LA during the Rams and Raiders days. Now based in NorCal, I am still a die hard Rams fan and Raiders season ticket holder.

by CoachConnors on Nov 3, 2009 9:47 AM CST via mobile reply actions 0 recs

good point

but they seem to have run better at LG with Setts in there over Bell.

This really gets down the nitty gritty, but I wonder about pulling…do they like having Bell pull more than just straight up forward block? It doesn’t seem like he pulls that much.

Turf Show Times

by VanRam on Nov 3, 2009 10:11 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

The new look-

I can’t say much about the TST new look, as my compsputter loads so slow, I’m still waiting for day before yesterday. Anyway, It will be interesting to see how successful Setts would be when other teams start game-planning him. In my book he has always been pretty good. I’d like to see him start.

by Knoxfan on Nov 3, 2009 10:23 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Bell was pulling on his pre-season concussion play

From his spot on the left to the right side of the C when Bart Scott was blitzing at the same time and whacked him.

Lived in LA during the Rams and Raiders days. Now based in NorCal, I am still a die hard Rams fan and Raiders season ticket holder.

by CoachConnors on Nov 3, 2009 11:13 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

not going to lie

i hate this new look. there’s way too much white on the screen and it hurts my eyes. i have to literally look at the new comment thing on the bottom corner to see it, because it blends it with all the white. all the stories and content seem to run together on the blog, whether then have their own separate place. when i logged in today i honestly though my browser loaded the page wrong or something.

jd is legend for Cardinals' closer 2010!!

by stlcardinalsfang on Nov 3, 2009 12:17 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

At the risk of sounding like a broken record...

I think the O-Line would be better off with Setterstrom and Goldberg than with slugs Barron and Bell. I would be pleased no end to have been wrong about Jason Smith and find that he fits perfectly as out LT for the next decade. Barron is no problem after the season. He can be dumped and soon will be nothing but the bad memory of another wasted high draft pick. Bell, on the other hand, has one of those expensive Marc Bulger type contracts with 4 more years left. He’ll be with us longer than Obama… And, if we keep McMichael, he should only be used as a blocker. The guy can’t catch.

by edpjr on Nov 3, 2009 1:00 PM CST reply actions 0 recs