Rams could start Vobora on the weakside against Arizona

by Ryan Van Bibber on Dec 3, 2010 4:27 PM CST in 2010 St. Louis Rams season

As the linebacker world turns...or something like that. The St. Louis Rams, hurting for consistent help at weakside linebacker, could switch it up again this week, moving David Vobora into the starting WLB role.

For those of you keeping score at home, Vobora started 10 games last season for the Rams on the strong side. Vobora was solid last year in the starting role, one of the few bright spots on the defense, showing that he had a good nose for the ball. And I was shocked when they relegated him to a backup role this year. Backup isn't really the right term as he's mostly played special teams with a few reps during the rest of the games.

Vobora plays the run well, and the assumption was that he was moved aside in favor of better coverage guys. Obviously, the move hasn't payed off as well as hoped. Vobora, Mr. Irrelevant from the 2008 draft and owner of St. Louis' sweetest ride, tackles well and is an aggressive player. This move may or may not pay dividends. At the very least, the guy deserves a shot given his play last season. His acumen for following the play and the Rams recent trend of getting burned on misdirection plays probably have more to do with this move than the coverage thing alone.

On the injury front, the one to keep an eye on is CB Jerome Murphy. He was limited today and is questionable for Sunday's game. Spagnuolo pointed out that the team wants to have as many defensive backs available as possible, proving he hasn't seen much recent tape on Derek Anderson or that he's just being extra cautious given what happened last time. Hopefully, it's the later.

CB Justin King appears to be over his shoulder injury.

DT Darell Scott saw more reps in practice today, but is still dealing with a foot injury. Keep an eye on whether or not he's active this week. I'll go out on a limb and say that he won't be. Why's that? Check out this little nugget relayed by PD beat reporter Jim Thomas in his Tuesday chat:

The Rams had big expectations for Scott this year, and he has been a disappointment, slowed by injury and having very little impact.

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Why not give Vobora a chance?

He can’t do any worse on coverage than the others, and we could use some “inspiration” stopping run plays to the outside!

by Pekka for Predator Pontiff on Dec 3, 2010 5:39 PM CST reply actions

I wouldn't call D. Scott a dissapointment.

Gary Gibson is back from the IR, we added Fred Robbins and Clifton Ryan is a solid #3.

Scott was drafted in the fourth round, and he was obviously a project pick that they wanted to be part of a rotation. He’s been battling injuries and is only in his second year.

Give him some time! He wasn’t expected to come in and make a monster impact anyway.

Sam Bradford drops back, sees Laurent Robinson in the open, and he completes the pass for a gain of 28! Oh- Wait, looks like a holding penalty is going to call this one back...(Oh wait; Barron's gone, ignore that last sentence).

by Eric Nagel on Dec 3, 2010 6:45 PM CST reply actions