St. Louis Rams: The Fisher Project Is Facing It's Third and Long...

The five game stretch that was... WAS... That's the preposition haunting Jeff Fisher, his players, coach and St. Louis Rams fans. I wrote about this mid-season test; a five game stretch to use as a fair barometer of just where the St. Louis Rams are as a team. It began October 25th against the Cleveland Browns, and ended this past Sunday with the Ravens. Two wins, followed by three straight losses...

Why I found this group of games as a fair testing ground for how the Rams - Jeff Fisher, his coaching staff, and players - was well considered. Schedules for St. Louis since 2012 have been down right grueling. This offered a unique chance to see how the Rams would do against teams that were actually evenly matched. All the teams involved - including Cleveland - had strengths and weaknesses. They all were/are teams trying to fight their way to turning a corner in their respective divisions. Some were just trying to figure out what was going wrong. (see: Baltimore)

I put my own moaning and groaning aside as a fan, and focused on the many facets of the games played. Being fair-minded, I included injuries in my assessments. I excluded the "away game" component, since at some point it has to be removed as an excuse for not performing well. This is what I've found to be - at the very least - true for Jeff Fisher and the St. Louis Rams:

The St. Louis Rams players...

With all the high draft picks slathered across the St. Louis defensive roster, the unit has done moderately well, with the exception of the Chicago Bears game. I'm not even going to talk about that one, but it told me things I'll get to later on. I think it's fair to say the loss of Chris Long hurt this unit's cohesion, let alone losing Alec Ogletree early on. But with position depth, the defense has held its own. A slow start once again in run defense, they've patched things together. They've lived with poor field position, and waaaaay too much time on the field.

The offense for the Rams is another problem all together, and it literally covers everyone except running back Todd Gurley. I do mean everyone by the way, so lets start at the bottom of the list and work to the top.

The wide receivers for St. Louis hold one key thing in common: They are TOTALLY un-remarkable. None can be a force to sway a game one way or another, nor are they capable of changing how an opponent has to game plan to cover them. Tavon Austin is fast. I get it, and so do you. But all the banter since Austin was drafted about no one knowing how to "use" him has to stop. He's completely tied to: "if this and that happens, then this will happen..." Can we agree this is relatively true for virtually ANY player in the NFL? All he is is "fast" His hands aren't remarkable, nor is his field knowledge of the game itself. He's a short version of San Francisco's Torrey Smith, with a few open field moves that'll earn highlight reel moments on ESPN. If Austin were on a team with other play-makers, I doubt he'd sway any quarterback to make him his favorite target. He's just "there", and the game plan for him is simple: "If he has the ball, try your best to catch him..." The little end around thingy he's been doing has run its course, but it worked for a while...

Brian Quick is a shadow of what he was before being injured, and that's really not saying much. He's pieced together a few good, but not great, games. Quick will never be more than a middle rung wide receiver #2, if not #3. Kenny Britt has some tools, but his reliability to catch a pass, or even run a route, is suspect. Tight end Jared Cook is having a Dante-esk season, but then again I really haven't seen him step outside the rings of hell since he arrived in St. Louis. He has ONE game a year good enough to tease fans, then he slinks back into irrelevance. I wrote about him not long ago, and I was right then, and I'm right now... Stedman Bailey has the tools to be outstanding, but he's my biggest disappointment of the 2015 NFL season. I say this to young Mister Bailey: You are an incredible fool, wasting the chance of a lifetime with poor decisions. Finally, I think the Chris Givens trade was ill-advised. Les Snead, you blew this one...

The Rams offensive line will - one day - be very good. But it's not going to be this day, or any other of the remaining days in 2015. Injury riddled, and learning curve stricken, this entire group - outside of rookie guard Jamon Brown - should be on the "Don't even think you have a job in 2016..." list. Right tackle Rob Havenstein showed progress, but I'm not sold on him just yet.

While I've admire offensive line coach Paul Boudreau's work for quite some time, I've begun to question his ability to mesh offensive scheme with how he trains his players. There's a disconnect here somewhere, and someone smarter than me will have to suss out just what it is, and how it can be corrected.

Nick Foles is a great young man. Seriously, he's the kind of person everyone should have as a "best friend". Amiable, smart; he'll work his butt off, and stand with you through thick or thin. But there's more to being an NFL quarterback, isn't there? Yet this is where a fair observation gets tricky. We know from his time in Philadelphia he can fling the ball around enough to be worthy of mention. The issue here is: why? Why were the reads or choices he made for the Eagles there, and not with St. Louis? Did his ability to see the field change, or his check down philosophy shift? Did he alter how he stand in the pocket, or does it all come down to the breaking point of protection by his offensive line in pass protection?

Right now, Foles is standing on the sidelines. He's watching a "journeyman-at-best" Case Keenum lead the Rams' offense. In a desperation move by Jeff Fisher to find a way to change St. Louis' third and long miasma, he's slid his remaining chips to the center of the table. Hoping Keenum will be able to run for a third down or two is a risky bet to make, and it hasn't panned out so far...

The St. Louis Rams coaching...

Let's just look at the Rams' passing offense for a second. For me, it would seem it's all about how a play develops, and where the pass routes are designed to go on any given play. If so, we can start to parse this into two categories: Scheme, and scouting. Both of these hinge on pre-game preparation, and how an opponent's game film is broken down, then applied to a plan of attack. The St. Louis Rams can draw their woeful "third down" conversion rate to this very small area of concern. Again, if so, the problem line can be drawn directly to rookie offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. Outside of a few small successes varying what Tavon Austin has done, he's failed. He constantly says he wants to put players in "a position to succeed..." Well Frank, the position where they succeed or fail is third down. His failure at this point - to know where any point or opportunity is present on the field on any given play - is more than glaring...

In my opinion, the St. Louis Rams have the offensive talent to be "acceptable", but not remarkable. They do not have the position coaching in place to take advantage of any of their player assets, as marginal as they may be. What's more, to turn the tide for the Rams, it'll take serious draft capital - over a couple years - to correct. They could spend big on a free agent wide receiver and tight end, but these kinds of moves are never more than a coin flip when all is said n' done. To me, spending gobs of money on a player in free agency usually smacks of desperation by a head coach or team general manager. They use it to placate fans, then ever so slightly blame the multi-million $$ player for not performing up to expectations. That these coaches and GMs force a player into a system they may very well not be suited for is another matter altogether. Fan blood thirst quenched, they continue down their ill-fated road until a team owner says: "Enough!..."

I'm a fan of Jeff Fisher. If you've read my many articles, I'm pretty sure you've tracked in on why I'm a fan. In truth, I don't look at things the way a hardcore football purest does. "Liking" a coach or player is a big thing with me. It's not a great measurable, but it's who I am. I've ALWAYS believed that a happy workplace thrives. I do know - or at least have an inkling - that the NFL lives and breathes based on winning. Players can't lose for long before they flat out give up, and begin to go through the motions for a paycheck. Right now, I think the St. Louis Rams' players are on the verge of this tipping point. They have confidence in what they can do, but zero belief - at least on the offensive side of the ball - that the people leading them can deliver. In this, Jeff Fisher holds the lion share of the blame, and rightly so...

Building a defense is what Jeff Fisher knows how to do. He's picky when it comes to the defensive coordinator, having fired a few since he's been with the Rams. While he focused on building the defense for St. Louis, he gave the keys to the offense to Brian Schottenheimer. "Schotty" lost the keys quickly, but not before wrecking what he steered. While it's true he wasn't given much in the way of "Draft Day" capital to spend, his failure to become involved at every position level looms large. He was a timid, playbook guy, and it showed. When Fisher handed the reins to Frank Cignetti Jr. in 2015, I think it had to do with two things: First, available offensive coordinators looking for work flat out refused to come to St. Louis. Second, Cignetti Jr. presented Fisher with what I'll call a "Continuity-Plus" offense. He planned to use Brian Schottenheimer's scheme, but make it more "user friendly". He simplified terminology, then added a couple frills. Yet, the fact Cignetti Jr. hadn't ever called plays in the NFL didn't seem to bother Fisher? Successful at the college level, it hasn't translated well to the NFL.

I'm not just picking on Cignetti Jr. here. Every offensive position coach for the Rams' has caused "fail" flags to be waved. Wide receiver coach Ray Sherman has found new ways to establish a mediocrity line. Rob Boras, a tight end coach - and candidate for the offensive coordinator job he lost to Cignetti Jr. - can't seem to find ways to harness Jared Cook's athletic talent. In truth, there isn't a coach on the offensive side of the ball who can make a case for their being around in 2016.

The Bottom Line...

I don't think making a coaching change at this point in the 2015 NFL season would alter anything for St. Louis. Removing Cignetti Jr. would only complicate things, and the same could be said for head coach Jeff Fisher. This is - with the exception of the defense - a coaching staff on a seat so hot it would melt polar ice. If St. Louis wins all their remaining games, it may save Fisher, but the offensive coaching staff needs to start updating their resumes right now. The Rams need a Norv Turner-Adam Gase level hire for their offense, and Draft Day capital has to shift totally to the offensive side of the ball. If there's a Julio Jones level wide receiver talent in the 2016 Draft Class, the Rams need to trade up to get him. They need a solid tight end option, and Jared Cook has to be tossed in the free agent  "bust bin". St. Louis needs a top tier center to bind their offensive line together...

For the St. Louis Rams and Jeff Fisher, it's third and long. They need to get this call right...