Random Ramsdom: 8/16/2010

by Eric Nagel on Aug 16, 2010 12:32 AM CDT in St. Louis Rams news

It's Monday again. That means general slacking off while your supposed to be doing work, going to TST to get your Rams fix on, and shenanigans that just wouldn't happen on Tuesday, which everyone knows is the real start of the work week. Take a quick glance back to make sure the boss isn't looking, and dive into these links:

Only one year removed, but the 2009 OT Draft class is shaping up to be...well, not very good at all. Maybe JaMarcus was gaining all that weight because he thought some desperate team would sign him as a OT.
If anyone says Sam Bradford passed his first test, they must mean his shoulder held up to the punishment. He didn't moan about the horrendous offensive line play, because it would be pretty stupid to bite the hand that feeds him THIS early in the season. But will it last? Leave that to Florio:

Whether Bradford is as charitable after he's been tossed around all year like Rottweiler with a rag doll remains to be seen.

I always like how the couch GM's of TST want the Rams to pick certain players...like Anthony Dixon...only to see the Rams pass. How's that going right about now? I'd rather have Darby.
Spagnuolo stated that offensive line play will have a say in who is picked for the QB job. That's not a slap in the face to AJ Feeley by saying they'd rather have him be annihilated behind 5 300+ lb men who couldn't stop a defensive line containing Richard Simmons, Betty White, Mel Gibson and Shia LaBeouf to save their life (or their job).
Ramsherd's title of the article says it all...hope gets slammed down, then get's back up. Four times.
Marc Bulger really wasn't a "defeated guy". Who would've made that assumption?

That's all for this morning. Check back later for more Rams news, and of course, go Rams!

(3k's extra links):

- The AP has a story up on the futile offense (or the offensive futility?) from Saturday.

- From the P-D, one of the more interesting battles this preseason is the fight in the secondary. Making it tougher is the fact that the unit is covered in injuries, adding another victim on Saturday: 3rd-round draft pick Jerome Murphy.

- I'm just gonna pass along the headline on this one (from the P-D also): Offensive line is big early concern

- The Niners beat the Colts last night in Indy, 37-17. The story was the QB play. Peyton is Peyton, but Colts backup Curtis Painter threw a trio of interceptions. More interesting for the Rams was the Niners' QBs. Alex Smith actually finished with a worse QB rating than Painter, going 3-9 with an interception and earning just two first downs. David Carr, who with Peyton and Smith was the third #1 overall pick to come into the game, had the best game overall, going 9 for 11 with a TD. I know it's too early to suggest there's a QB battle in San Francisco....but is there a QB battle in San Francisco?!?!?!!

- Arguably the most intersting QB battle is going to be waged in Denver. With Kyle Orton, Brady Quinn and wunderkind Tim Tebow all vying for the job, Josh McDaniel is going to have to make a career-defining choice, at least as it pertains to his career in Denver. Out of the three, Quinn looked the worst in the Broncos' 33-24 loss to the Bengals last night. Of course the big story is going to be Tebow's rushing TD on the final play of the game...in which he absolutely knocked the can shit out of Cincy safety Kyries Hebert. I'm not saying it's going to happen, but a 2012 Super Bowl between the Rams and the Broncos would have some ridiculous storylines.

- I should be heading out of Iraq in less than a week...I think the Secretary of Defense got my letter begging him to let me get home in time for football season. Good stuff. Holler, and go Rams.

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Denver QB situation

Orton has done nothing to prove he is not worthy/deserving of the starting job in Denver. Quinn has done nothing to prove he can play QB in the NFL. Tebow is the type of college QB that so rarely ever translates into an even average QB. There should not be a QB debate/competition in Denver.

by bdemartin on Aug 16, 2010 2:52 AM CDT reply actions

Crap...Tim Tebow had a better debut than Sammie.

Come on O-Line. That’s inexcusable.

"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."

" 'So what if I hit the wall?"
(Reporter): 'Why?'
'Because I'll run right through it."

-Kobe Bryant

by TrojanRam on Aug 16, 2010 3:48 AM CDT reply actions

I heard it on espn sports radio

I am still laughing at all the nay-sayers.

Pro Sports is becoming fraudulant with the amounts of money being grafted from society.

by jlcdb70 on Aug 16, 2010 9:19 AM CDT up reply actions

Well hey.

Peter King says Rodger Saffold had a good debut at tackle. So apparently we’re all wrong about him looking really bad out there. Yay!

Oh, sorry. My bad. Somebody named Rodger Safford apparently had a good debut at tackle. Never mind.

by Spielman on Aug 16, 2010 8:56 AM CDT reply actions

Couch Gm?

Even if the couch GM made better selections than the Rams FO, year after year after year?

Something tells me that the San Diego Padres, who hired their field maintenance supervisor, were not as biased when considering who knew what the f u c k to do during a draft selection process!

by jlcdb70 on Aug 16, 2010 9:18 AM CDT reply actions

Lets leave the F Bombs for Shurmur's playcalling

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 Aug 16, 2010 1:35 PM CDT up reply actions

hahaha

Unleash King Sam #8

by douchiedude on Aug 16, 2010 3:55 PM CDT up reply actions

Rams better sign a few

more QBs. They’re gonna be dropping like flies if this onslaught continues.

by Brawnwitch on Aug 16, 2010 9:37 AM CDT reply actions

Everybody breathe

I’m glad I didn’t post an overreaction Monday post; I might have put someone in the hospital…

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 Aug 16, 2010 10:15 AM CDT reply actions

That's just my sarcastic attitude bubbling over

That and the fact that I’m not optimistic.

by Eric Nagel on Aug 16, 2010 1:36 PM CDT up reply actions

I just watched the replay and I have to say ...

… the sky is NOT falling.

We certainly had some bad plays. But we also had some good ones.

Hank Fraley got pushed three yards into the backfield on third and short. Awful.

Jason Smith bulldozed the starting RE (Ray Edwards I think) 5 yards off the line of scrimmage in the first quarter. Sweet.

Jason Smith got beat inside often. Awful.

Laurent Robinson looked very good. Let’s hope he can avoid injury because he’s quite good when he can play.

Ogbonnaya often looked decent running and usually looked good catching the ball out of the backfield, but whiffed on a blitz pickup or two.

Larry Grant was amazing. Chris Chamberlain was miserable.

Danny Amendola, Chris Long, Roger Saffold, Sam Bradford all looked pretty good most of the time.

We we missing a lot of CB’s and it showed. Our secondary was really the weakest part of our team.

Take a re-look. The line mistakes were MOSTLY fixable. It isn’t a talent issue.

The bottom line: this team is inconsistent. This team is not awful.

I can take a beating ... I'm a Rams fan.

by Midasknight on Aug 16, 2010 10:45 AM CDT reply actions

...and Feeley truly looked awful.

I can take a beating ... I'm a Rams fan.

by Midasknight on Aug 16, 2010 11:00 AM CDT up reply actions

hahahahah

had to add that, poor guy.

Unleash King Sam #8

by douchiedude on Aug 16, 2010 3:57 PM CDT up reply actions

I too have now watched the replay

        And I agree, it’s not the end of the world. I don’t expect wins this time of year. I expect missed assignments from young linemen, especially those playing out of position. I expect a vanilla offensive game plan. I expect a lot of learning right now. I saw a lot of effort and some flashes of talent and ability. We aren’t contenders for the playoffs, and I’m not happy about that but it’s what I expected.
        I’m confused about the couch GM thing on Dixon, when the article in the link was more complimentary. I still think Darby is an area of necessary improvement, but it looks like Ogbannaya will replace him as a 3rd down back, ready or not. And I still think Dixon was great value in the 6th round.
        I sure would like to see another QB on our roster like Webb, maybe Lewis is that guy but Null and Feely aren’t. Bradford’s absence at some part of the season has to be planned for. An improvisational stand-in would be interesting.
        Bottom line is, we should see improvement now, that’s what I expect from the pre-season. It’s necessary for the 4-6 wins we should be able to see this year.

by dbcouver on Aug 16, 2010 1:51 PM CDT up reply actions

Very predictable

with the inexperience on the O-line. You can’t just put rookies on the ends and QB, 3 of the most important spots on the Offense, and think it’ll work out right away. 4 words for you: Rookie Triangle of Death. That said, it’s only a matter of time until they get it together. I guess this place will be a Chicken Little paradise until they do.

Ogbonnaya had trouble this time last year with blitz pickups and he didn’t see the field much. Spagnuolo has been sounding like they’re counting on him to step up. He better get his head out, immediately.

I don’t know what you can tell from this game, really. I don’t think there were any real suprises, were there? Brown not at C, maybe.

by CoachConnors on Aug 16, 2010 12:19 PM CDT reply actions

that nbc sports guy

completely exaggerated about eugene monroe. he was benched because he was sick and he showed some potential last year for the jags… andre smith is a guaranteed bust, it’s clear he won’t try now that he has the money. but think about how good the raiders would be if russell, run dmc and dhb all panned out and gallery panned out at left tackle, that would be a pretty scary offense haha. that’s terrible luck having 4 busts at 4 important positions.

Unleash King Sam #8

by douchiedude on Aug 16, 2010 4:04 PM CDT reply actions