The Mysterious Case of the Rams Receivers
by EddieP on Oct 7, 2011 11:15 AM CDT
in 2011 NFL regular season
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PrintRemember last season, when every receiver the St. Louis Rams had – other than Danny Amendola – couldn’t catch a cold? Remember the season finale, the one where Danario Alexander dropped a long pass that would have put the Rams in position to go 8-8 and into the playoffs? Well nothing as changed this season either.
Last week’s game versus Washington was unacceptable. This loss can be put squarely on the receivers. The defense forced timely turnovers and gave the ball back to the offense in great field position. When it was time to move the ball through the air, targeted receivers kept dropping passes. Why don’t we have guys that can catch? Oh wait…
This past draft, the Rams and its Front Office drafted three pass catchers in the first four rounds – the only round where a receiver was not picked was the first round. Those three receivers – one being tight end Lance Kendricks – had the reputation in college of catching everything that came near them. Austin Pettis and Greg Salas, the two WRs, had uber-productive careers at their respective educational institutes. Why have we not seen these sticky hands translate in the pros?
So these guys the Rams drafted are supposed to be pass-catching machines. Yet, so far they have only proved the can drop passes.
According to the STATS LLC, Kendricks doesn’t have any dropped passes – dropped catches is a tricky stat – but we can say otherwise. Let’s begin with the most recent game. On the Rams’ field goal drive, I can remember Sam Bradford going to Kendricks over the middle. It could have resulted in a touchdown, but he was unable to come up with the reception. Then on the next scoring drive, Kendricks was also unable to make a catch that would have resulted in six points. Luckily, Steven Jackson was able to catch and ran it in for the TD.
The other guy, Greg Salas, does have two dropped passes so far this season and I’m pretty sure those came in the game against the Giants. One of them was a legitimate catch, but a defender smacked him hard causing him to drop it. I do not really remember when the other drop came. What really hurts when it comes to Salas is his catch rate: an abysmal 45.5 percent. Less than half of the passes thrown his way are caught. That is unacceptable. You are a professional, man!
Now, Pettis did not play in the first two games – a result of his own misfortunes during the preseason. He was placed in the doghouse and hardly got playing time. Injuries sent Amendola and Salas down, and Pettis filled in. In his first game against Baltimore, Pettis made two catches for eight yards – hardly anything to celebrate. Against the Redskins, he made more of a presence, catching four balls for 32 yards. Pettis has not had a dropped pass this year, considering his preseason woes.
The rookies haven’t done their part, but neither have the veteran receivers on the squad. Brandon Gibson has two drops, but he does lead the team in catches (13) and catch rate (61.9). Mike Sims-Walker – aka Sky Walker, the coolest nickname ever – has one dropped catch but his catch rate is worse than Salas’ at 40.7 percent. DX has an even more disastrous catch rate at 34.8 percent.
If this offense is going to start clicking anytime soon, these main receivers have to step their game up. No excuses.
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I heard the guys say when they were getting their manicures say...
Bradford throws the ball to hard and that it can tear your hands up pretty good.
That didn't stop John Elway...
"When I got to Colorado, they just said go out and play your game, be the player that you can be, we're not going to put any restrictions on how you play. That gave me a big boost of confidence. That's something I lost in St. Louis." - Erik Johnson
The 2011-2012 Colorado Avalanche: there will be blood and there will be wins.
"God I'm excited for those two to fail miserably." - SBNation writer Andrew Sharp on Josh McDaniels and Tim Tebow.
The Number Zero, now in colour. DSB Record: 1-3-0
by Tempestuous Binary on Oct 8, 2011 5:34 AM CDT up reply actions
Those numbers don't match up
In the game against the Redskins Sims-Walker had at least 3 drop passes. So who ever runs that STATS LLC is way off
The answer.....
the lack of proper coaching. Or the passing machine needs to be turned up to mimic Sam’s throws.
"The only thing better than watching the Rams win is watching the Rams win with my wife."
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OK, so "officially" MSW might have one srop,
but I watched him NOT CATCH 3 balls that touched his hands in the Skins game. WTF?
This team is a travesty of a mockery of a sham. An exercise in futility. A tumbleweed on the gridiron of life.
one drop, even
This team is a travesty of a mockery of a sham. An exercise in futility. A tumbleweed on the gridiron of life.
Whoever keeps track just lost count
And probably gave each WR 1 drop…I mean, they can’t have more than that, they’re pros, right…?!
If anyone cares what I have to say on Twitter: @Sergey_Konyshev
by sergey606 on Oct 7, 2011 11:46 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions
heh
This team is a travesty of a mockery of a sham. An exercise in futility. A tumbleweed on the gridiron of life.
Good Post Eddie! I've been confused by more than one place counting a stat one way and another place counting it in a different way...
… The point is well made though no matter how many dropped passes there have been. Spags in the radio interview yesterday made a valid point too, in that these missed catches are having a ripple effect. Not being able to close the deal with a third and long, not to mention in the Red Zone, is really haunting our WRs.
If I were to ask Spags one question, it would be for him to explain why these WRs can’t at least catch a pass, when they made it look easy in college.
That's the question
The easy answer, I think, is coaching. Confidence is obviously as low as it can be right now, so that doesn’t help either. They are simply not focused, or worse yet, focusing more on not-catching the ball, ie. dropping it. What other answers are there? Did they simply forget how to catch the ball? Doubtful. The WRs need someone to instill some confidence in them. It’s as simple as that, I think. The ripple effect can work both ways. Would it be possible to bring in Holt and/or Bruce as specialty “advisors”? Or someone to work with them and make them believe again in their ability to catch the ball? To help them regain proper focus?
A decent HC would have them sleeping with a football
Carry one around wherever they go. Like the egg baby thing high school girls do. They should be holding one when they take a shit. If I were their coach they would have done nothing this week but catch and hold a football.
Haha
I have the total in the neighborhood of 26 or 27 dropped passes. They been averaing almost 9 a game. That’s despicable. Not to mention the horridness of the offensive line.
The real question is how does one entire receiving corps completely lose focus on catching passes? How does an entire team do that?
by DaFranchiZe on Oct 7, 2011 11:51 AM CDT reply actions 1 recs
+1
Last game I was throwing things. I am a laid back person.
yep
your calculations are probably more like it.
This team is a travesty of a mockery of a sham. An exercise in futility. A tumbleweed on the gridiron of life.
Why did we sign Nick Miller???? The guy cant run without tripping over himself!!!
He played for the Raiders up until a few weeks back. They cut him after he tripped himself behind his own 20 returning a kick. I didnt not like this guy when he played in Oakland and dont like the move the Rams made by signing him. Much better players were out there.
another injury prone WR
Rams signed WR Nick Miller.
Miller was waived by the Raiders five days ago. Used mostly as a returner in Oakland, Miller has just three catches in 11 career games, and has been injury prone since entering the league as an undrafted free agent in 2009. With the Rams struggling to find anybody who can catch the ball, however, Miller will likely be given a look on offense with Danny Amendola lost for the season. He’s worth monitoring in deeper leagues, but that’s it for the time being
These numbers are so far off it's rediculous! In two games I counted 14 dropped passes and the announcers counted 12 (5 & 7).
Does the ball have to be thrown inside of the body to make it a drop. So stupid. DX has two dropped balls BTW. I would stay away from what ever site it is that you are referencing. Kendrick dropped two in the Ginas game alone, the one over the middle and the one in the right flat. Ozzie Newsome used to say “If it touches your hands, it should be a catch”.
Ron Paul 2012
In the Eagles game it was a total of 10, the Giants game was the best by default
They only had 5 and I counted the Cadillac Williams moron play as a drop + fumble because that’s what it was.
I can forgive him for missing the catch but
not trying to recover it was inexcusable. Coaching or not he has to know that a lateral is a live ball until caught or covered.
Geeze tst loves shitting on dx
Leads team in yards but is only mentioned for last years drops abd a low catch rate? Sheesh
by Ram_Redemption on Oct 7, 2011 11:59 AM CDT via mobile reply actions
Haha! Yeah and DX actually only has 2 drops this season which is the lowest number of active receivers.
Ron Paul 2012
On the rams or in the league?
He has number 1 material and he is young. Lets put michael floyd next to him and and draft matt kalil. O by the way… Can I plz call u chris everett? Lol
by Ram_Redemption on Oct 7, 2011 1:03 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions
He's been our default number 1
thus far this season! Least amount of drops, most yards, tied in TD’s, and those would be higher numbers had he played against the eagles! This site does hate on DX an awful lot.
stop beating a dead horse
that shipped has sailed and is never coming back, teams almost never bring back someone they just cut.
i will beat it until the horse wakes up
we have BAD coaches incapable of making the right moves during teh draft or FA or even cuttin the right ppl so we bring in a man who ruined a franchise to be our OC and then give him a hand at picking players haha its so funny it hurts
Rams Bulls and Mets allllllllll day also i do love white castle
after they treated him like shit all preseason
didnt even give him a shot at playing with the first team. he was the best WR we had but spags and mcd didnt like him.
Rams Bulls and Mets allllllllll day also i do love white castle
My question is what can the Rams do that is proactive?
Apparently the juggs machine, reps with Sam, etc. isn’t working, so is there any other out side the box drills they can do to give them the confidence to catch simple passes? Maybe watching Mark Clayton will give them confidence, I don’t know but I hate the fact the Rams are worried about simple fundamental issues while other teams are worried about detailed issues involving schemes, audibles, presnap adjustments and so on.
When will these offensive skill position players get their heads of their asses?
Agreed totally.
with everything. to many drop passes for sure, i think we lead the league. way to many stupid penalties, giving up to many 3rd down conversions. even sam fumbling 4 straight games. just put it this way, everybody including the coaching staff are doing a shitty job.
This corps sucks
See just summed it up in 4 words :)
Sam Bradford + Alshon Jeffery = All other teams are screwed!!
by RG31 on Oct 7, 2011 12:20 PM CDT via mobile reply actions
+100
gibson was garbage that the stl media and the dumb fans that listen to em made seem like gold because he was good for a couple practices lol. salas and pettis i wont even start to talk about that waste of draft picks MSW i thought he would be good but damn he looks really bad right now.
Rams Bulls and Mets allllllllll day also i do love white castle
To be fair
Gibson has been our most consistent and reliable receiver as of now. Also, how can you get on Pettis right now? Sure he only has been active for two games, but he hasn’t dropped a pass yet and seems to be able to get open on those shorter routes. I’m really curious to see how he does from here on out. Salas has been pretty bad these first two games, I was upset we even drafted him, but why are you giving up on him after TWO games in a SHORT off-season, as a ROOKIE? That makes no sense whatsoever. Perhaps the Raiders should’ve cut McFadden because he didn’t show instant glimpses of stardom his rookie year. Maybe Anquan Boldin should’ve been cut for sucking for years. Give the man time, and come back if this continues throughout the entire season.
It's put up or shut up time for these WR's. Someone's going to have to perform or else they'll all be hitting the street. ESPECIALLY YOU ALEXANDER
dude ur sig haha
Alexander? really thats who your calling out the most?….i bet you weere a mardy fan huh
@JBarznas
i gave up on him when we drafted him
i never liked his skill set (he doesnt have one).pettis maybe your right about that but i didnt like the pick and i wish we woulda took a dt or lb or lg there but i will give him time. gibson is the most reliable of the worst WR group in the NFL yeh i am so happy for him lol. gibson is a 5th WR maybe 4th he makes decent plays then bad plays but not good plays even when he catches it he looks surprised and makes weird looking catches not like he knows what he is doing. and i hope they all do good but thing is 4 games in i would take every WR off the team except DX MSW and pettis cuz ur right he does have some potential
Rams Bulls and Mets allllllllll day also i do love white castle
As vince lombardi once said
what the hell is going on out there. if you get a chance check out vince lombarti’s famous quotes, priceless. the rams need to have them for reading maybe they will find some inspiration. classic writing. have fun my friends
Pettis hasnt dropped a single pass yet. I said it in the preseason and I am going to say it again..
Pettis will be our best WR by season end.
I don't think that's saying a whole lot.
Amendola’s out. Sims-Walker, Salas and Gibson are dreadful. Clayton may not be the same as last year after the severe injury. And, Alexander can only be used part time due to the bad knee.
I didnt say he was going to be the best in the league but..
I think he will be our most reliable WR.
They can catch
but not in these first 4 games.
I wonder how they count the drops?
I remember two Gibson drops easily, I know he had 4 at least. Mike Sims Walker dropped two, I don’t know if one would count.
Maybe they count drops as two hands on the ball?
Is that great man formally known as Tevin T. Broner, also I'm on twitter T_bron
Yea its a tricky stat to measure
If I were to keep track, every receiver would have more than just two
Dependable Rookies Really!!!!!!!!!!!
I understand drafting a rookie with good hands and hoping to mold him into a good NFL reciever BUT what I don’t understand is WTH ARE WE DOING. From what I understand in order to mold a rookie you need the following.
1. A PLAN (first and foremost)
2. A good recieving coach (obviously)
3. Nice core of veteran recievers (not necessary but useful)
4. OFFENSIVE LINE
I do like the offensive lineman we have put together just don’t know what the beep is going on/happened with the protection. Bottome line is we did not meet our expectations this year and who is to fault? I answer that simply with another question, WHO RECRUITED THESE PLAYERS?
Just a man who loves football
Forgot to Add
The whole reason for my previous post is we should not have tried and fix our receiving problems with rookies.
Just a man who loves football
by BurnoutJoeB. on Oct 7, 2011 12:52 PM CDT up reply actions
Jones
We should have traded up and got Julio Jones…why can other teams pull it off but we can’t. That guy can flat out play. Bradford needs weapons. Not a bunch of 3rd string WR’s.
by ksmooth on Oct 7, 2011 12:55 PM CDT reply actions 2 recs
But then we wouldnt have been able to get pettis salas and kendricks!
Lmao!
by Ram_Redemption on Oct 7, 2011 12:59 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions 1 recs
haha...very true! Those guys have been so great lol
The Rams love keeping every draft pick and getting a bunch of average guys versus some actual playmakers. We need speed and raw talent…Dez Bryant/DeSean type players. We have the back just need something at WR
So if Justin Blackmon is there next year, we pick him up, right?
I mean… dang… can a brother get a catch up in here?
idk
how about the one from SC? he seems better to me…im not big on college but from what i hear
@JBarznas
Alshon is big and strong from SC, but Blackmon has breakaway ability and can leap!
Blackmon can score from anywhere on the field. But Alshon from SC is unbeatable in one-on-one end zone passes. Blackmon is a burner after the catch.
Not Suprised
Everyone was banking on Donnie Avery and the old guy we got from the Ravens,well
look at the bright side Hank Williams Jr is available.
DB for WR's
I always thought that the reason defensive backs don’t play offense was because they don’t have hands. So why then do we have a retired DB (Nolan Cromwell) coaching wide receivers? Is he the one that is teaching the receivers how not to catch?
Nolan Cromwell was a College QB who led the nation in passing at one point.
He was the QB of our DB’s when he played too.
However:
Good question now Mooseram13. Maybe we should get Henry Ellard or Isaac Bruce or Holt to Coach the WR’s. They couldn’t be any worse.
Let's see
We got Green Bay next, then Dallas. After that Clayton will rejoin practice from the PUP list. Hopefully this will inspire the other receivers to play better. He is the best route runner the Rams have and he can catch. We’ll need this against New Orleans.
This is like the Mysterious case of the new ESPN QBR ratings
that they are trying to shove down our throat. I don’t know how it works, I don’t care how it works, I only know what I see. More balls have been dropped on this team than a 80 year old male nude dodgeball team(sleep well). Give me what ever the stats there are but from my point of view it ain’t pretty.
Okay now to finish you off for next week.
Just looking at it you know the song. Come on push play I know you want to.. LOL
Mysterious Case, huh?
This sounds like a job for the Hardly Boys. Couldn’t help myself….
Anyone have stats of the receivers at OU when Sam played? Did they drop a lot of passes too?
Are your ready for some f----king football
only if the rams are. get it together boys because the season will be over quicker than you think. you still got a shot but it’s time to kick it up a notch, BAM
Dropped passes are not that hard to define are they?
We know them when we see them.
Wolf. Wolfgang Wolf
Honestly
If mark Clayton would have never gotten hurt. Mark clayton would have been the number 1 target. He can catch and I hope next year, him and DX take over as number 2 receiver
Slinging Sam...Man College announcers suck!
by RAMSALLTHEWAY on Oct 7, 2011 11:02 PM CDT via mobile reply actions
DX's low catch rate
I think is really misleading. Most of the balls thrown to him are deep routes and fades, which inherently will lead to a low catch rate. Additionally, usually at least once or twice a game Bradford has gotten in trouble and just thrown it up at DX’s direction, hoping he can make a play. In limited action Alexander has pretty clearly been our best receiver. He has also been productive and a pretty reliable pass catcher. He may not be Jerry Rice, but he has not been part of the problem.
did anyone watch the Cowboys-Lions game?
I thought it was comical how Rams castoffs were the star of the show. Laurent Robinson was getting all the love from the FOX broadcast team as he tore it up as Miles Austins replacent and then Bobby Carpenter ran back an interception for a Lions TD. I’m telling you these Rams uniforms are cursed. Pro football players forget how to play as soon as they put on the blue and gold!
I'm suffering from an extreme case of laurinaitis!
by NachoD on Oct 9, 2011 3:28 AM CDT via mobile reply actions
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