8/6 camp reports (the coliseum scrimmage)

itsjohnben

I’m 27 years old, from Los Angeles, been a Rams fan, my entire life! But never had the chance to attend a St louis Rams practice but always enjoyed reading all the camp reports every summer, so now that the Rams are in Los Angeles, I decided to contribute with a little report of my own.

Location: LA Coliseum Attendance: 30K

Jared Goff: I was extremely impressed with Goff’s performance today! He was nearly perfect today, he completed 98% of his passes, the other 2% of his passes hit the receivers in the hands, but were dropped. He was poised in the pocket, spreading the ball around to multiple rookie pass catchers (Higbee, Thomas, Williams & Spruce) at one point, in the red zone he rolled out and hit one of his receivers (forgot who) in stride, for a perfectly thrown TD pass! Another thing I noticed about Goff is that he’s really good in the red zone, like damn near perfect good, (something we haven’t been really good at in YEARS!

Todd Gurley: IS A BEAST! he looks so much faster this year, if this guy is healthy…LOOK OUT! He’s scary good.

Mike Thomas: Caught a 30 yard bomb from Goff … he’s fast, runs good routes and catches everything thrown his way

Duke Williams: This is another guy that caught my eye, this guy can flat out ball, he’s a big physical receiver that seems to have great chemistry with Goff, He dropped a pass in the end zone but made up for it the very next play by plowing his way and dragging DB’s to the end zone, very Alshon Jeffery like.

Tyler Higbee: or shall I say “Tyler BEASTBEE” This guy is already running with the first team offense and looks like he belongs..standing at 6’6 250 he is a red zone machine, catching multiple TD’s from both Keenum and Goff, I’ll go as far as saying that he’ll be an early offensive rookie of the year candidate..catches everything thrown his way and breaks arm tackles like it’s nobody’s business

Nelson Spruce: had himself a nice day! he’s a great route runner and has soft hands, this dude makes plays…he’s a bigger/faster “Danny Amendola” we’re loaded at WR this year..If he doesn’t make the team, somebody’s gonna snatch him right up

Tavon Austin: TA was TA caught a 10 yard in route and took it to the house..look for him to do more then just jets sweep’s and screen passes this year, he looks like a legit WR threat this year.

Kenny Britt: Look for KB to have a break out year..Keenum was looking his way early and often and KB didn’t disappoint, he caught a nice 35 yard bomb from Keenum.

Offensive Line: This group has me worried as hell..I understand stopping our Defensive Line is task not many offensive lines in this league can accomplish but it seemed like the D-Line was getting constant penetration on every snap… we’d still be trying to pick up our QB’s off the turf if that was a live game situation.

Defensive Line: With out a doubt the best unit on this team..Robert Quinn was man handling Greg Robinson, having his way with him on 1 on 1’s and 11 on 11’s, Will Hayes is Monster!!!! AD99 is unstoppable, even saw him drop in zone coverage at one point and he looked good doing it 😉

Defensive Backs: Tru J0 picked off Keenum and took it to the house and broke up multiple passes, he’s easily our best CB…I’m not sure how I feel about Mo Alexander at FS, I don’t know, maybe I’m wrong but he looked kinda slow out there today.

Greg Zuerlien: Was a perfect 6/6 today even connecting on a 64 yard field goal..very impressive, “Young GZ” he has to be the most hot and cold kicker i’ve ever seen, If he can be consistent this year, he’ll be the best kicker in the league.

Well that’s it for me, I hope you guys enjoyed my little camp report.

Thanks for reading!

ramsman34

Classic stadium feel. My first time there, this place is old and antiquated – there is only one “seeable” jumbo-tron opposite the Peristyle side. If you, like me are in that end zone, seeing replays, scoreboard, etc. will require turing around 180 degrees. not good. the opposite end “monitors” are terrible and in bright daylight – you can’t seem to see a thing. Maybe a USC fan can help me out on this. What is the view like of the peristyle end scoreboards, etc. during afternoon games? you may not think this important but, at the end when Goff ran the 2-minute drill, you could not see down, distance, time remaining on the scoreboard at that end. it’s too damn tiny.

It was warm and breezy like ’71 said but let me tell you; my face is bright red sunburnt. sunscreen is mandatory for those of us who lack olive skin. LOL.

Beer: $13+ WHAAAAT, no thanks. but, a lot of different food types there. I was impressed with the variety, not the prices.

FYI My end zone seats are pretty nice (sec 13) but my sec. 17 have better sight lines.

Crowd and announcer: I estimated the crowd at 30K, and they/we were pretty loud upon occasion. I do think we will have a home field advantage for the first season, especially if we are winning. If not, the LA factor might kick in (quiet, texting, occasional boos, and leaving early). the announcer was awesome, lol. Very monster truck like deliveries…”PA, who’s house is it…FANS, “rams house” THAT will be a catch phase that all fans will jump on I am sure. Crowd went nuts when he announced “TD, Todd Gurley”. One fan said to me the Rams had 4 years to win a SB – that is how long it took in STL. Interesting take.

Did I mention the sun, lol. No shade anywhere regardless of sideline unless you are under the press box, high up. You are either getting face-baked or red-necked. Sunscreen, don’t forget sunscreen!

Practice:

I watched/enjoyed more than took notes but still have about 3 pages worth.

STs:

Started with some 2-man wedge set up drills, then half field stuff before full on kick returns. Fassel pays attention to detail and this will once again be a strong suit of our team. I saw Mike Thomas and I believe Cooper returning kicks along with Benny.
BTW – Benny looks great? leaner, quicker, faster, more patient – and this is at RB.

WRs – Easy ups and 1 on 1s: Not much to see here. Guys running pretty nice routes and all making almost every catch. However, Spruce and McRoberts have velcro for hands – they rarely if ever drop anything within their vicinity. there were some nice battle btx DBs and WRs, with True getting called for PI at least twice – he was being aggressive and physical – teach them rook WRs Tru!!!

7 v 7 was rather uneventful, a couple TD throws mixed in with some good pass defense, bad throws, drops, and PI.

11 v 11 is once again where my focus was: 1s v 1s – KEENUM

Real quick regarding personnel groups. For those who might not know, the numbering system refers to the number of RBs, then TEs. The total number of eligible pass catchers always = 5. So (00) personnel is an empty set w/ 5 WRs (i will always call this “empty”), (10) = 1 back, 0 TE, 4 WR, (11) = 1 back, 1 TE, 3 WR and so on.

First play, (21 personnel), back shoulder fade to Brit good for 20+
(21) – short motion TE to off set “I”, 90- flip, Gurley, big gain
(11) – Slant to TA off play action, 7yds
(12) – delay handoff to Benny, 6+
(11) Cooper in motion, TA false start; repeat play – outside zone, Benny 9+ (Cooper is back and in a number of situational packages with both the first and second team)

GOFF
(21) Draw, Brown, nice gain
(20 personnel – 2 back, no TEs, 3 WRs) – Ck down to Brown, 7+ this is a look with RB, a fullback who can also then be used as a move TE, and 3-wide.
(12) Quick in motion, “kill” as ’71 stated, check to run EVERY time – that has to change – inside zone play or power 9was watching the d line – blown up by Westbrooks.
(11) against cover-2, draw play, short gain

MANNION – He didn’t get many reps until the live session at the end of the day
(21) – inside run by A. Green that he bounced outside – that was his bread and butter in college. It will work occasionally here. But, he has to accept pressing the hole inside and grinding for 3-4 yds from time to time. It’s the NFL son.
(20) – Draw A. Green for 7
(12) – Motion #9 (Hill), to stack twins right, check down to TE #49 Stoneburner – Great name for a TE. (Elvis, there are 2 #49s on the roster and Darreon Herring is a LB)

11 v 11 RED ZONE – 1s – KEENUM
(11) SACK
(12) – Inside zone off jet action, short gain
(11) – TE curl, Higbee, 7+
(21) Inside run – Benny, short
(12) ck down to Benny TD

GOAL LINE – Exclusively in (23-personel, 2 RB, 3 TE)
first play – SACK – looong developing TE crosser from right side to left corner.
false start
inside run to Benny
oustide zone to TG, TD

11 v 11 RED ZONE – 2s – GOFF
Empty – quick out to Quick, pun intended, 5+
(11) – Draw to Brown – 4
(12) Quick out to Harkey – 4
(11) – off tackle to Reynolds, 10-TD
(11) – same play as before, blown up, defense learns lessons quickly, lol
GOAL LINE – THIS TIME 22-PERSONNEL
Sprint right option, TD – right corner of end zone to TE (not sure who) – BEST PLAY OF THE DAY. It was scary how Goff looked like Montana on this throw. He was absolute money on this throw.
Draw – Brown, TD

2 MINUTE DRILL – 1s – KEENUM
(11) jailbreak screen to TA, blown up
(?) outside zone to Gurley, big gain
missed play 3
(11) – TE short curl – Drop by Kendricks – I agree with 1971; he will be sitting behind Higbee on passing downs if he isn’t careful
(11) – Keenum keeper and slide
(11) – benny outside zone, decent gain
(11) – deep out to Tavon, nice ball by Case, gain of 17+

2 MINUTE DRILL – 2s – GOFF
(11) – Blitz/LB/left side – screen, dropped (39 i think) would have been a nice blitz beater for a decent gain
(?) – Brown inside run, nice gain
(11) – M. Thomas, speed out, 5
(11) outside zone, #34, 4
(11) zone coverage, crosser to “sit” in hole by Marquez – good zone recognition, 5
(11) – draw, 3
(11) M. Thomas, fade for big gain
(11) – quick out to Duke #81, 7

The last session before the “Back-up, nice to see ya Bowl” was mainly blitz pick up. Keenum threw a bad pass on a dig route to Britt only to be picked by Tru, which he then took ceremoniously to the end zone. In empty and against 6 man pressure, Case hit Ta on an out route for a big gain. Then a mis communication btx hm and Kendricks (those footsteps you hear Lance; Tyler Higbee). then hit Britt on a fade for a nice gain
Goff was just ok in this session. Held the ball too long; a 5yd swing, followed by 2 incompletions and a sack.

Goff really shined in his 2 minute work at the end with the 2’s. He connected with Spruce, Thomas, and Duke on a number of impressive throws. Duke heard footsteps on a shallow cross in the end zone, it bounced off him for the near pick. He scored on an out route the very next play.

After Tuesday in Irvine, I was convinced Goff would be the starter…not so fast my friend. After reading Bucky Brook’s article (yes, he knows more than I do about the game and gets to do it full-time, watch lots of film, etc.), I can see where the 2nd string D is not as exotic as the 1st string. and, that Goff is still inconsistent and a bit slow reading post-snap. Al QBs “seem” to lock on to a WR or side of the field but this is what it looks like to fans in the stands. We might be wrong on this. We don’t know the play call and we can’t see the QBs eyes to see if if is staring guys down or looking at multiple routes to one side. Preseason games should reveal more about this.

As it stands today – Keenum is our starter. Goff is progressing but he just has so much left to master to give us a shot at winning. My opinion on this is likely to flip flop multiple times before the SF game – cut me some slack on that, lol. Goff looks awesome when he is on and in rhythm, he looks shakey as hell and rushes throws when he is unsure – makes sense. Keenum is a gamer who has a command of this offense. His arm strength is what it is and renders the deep middle, and dig routes useless areas of the field to attack. He can throw the deep fade when he really anticipates it. Mannion makes the most of his reps and will become a very good #2 for us. He was not a wasted pick as some have opined – Not even close. He looks like a cat that can win you some games if the starter goes down. Better command of the O and pace than Goff, just not a quick or accurate.

Saturday against the Cowboys should be great. I wish I could get a press pass to give RFU a solid report. If I am in the stands, I am just going to watch and not take notes. I don’t think their pass rush/blitzing can beat out O at all. The QBs should have more time than they do against our D and hopefully shred them in the passing game. Look for everyone accept TG to run the rock. He will be bubble wrapped on the sideline, lol.

*

* Goff not ready yet, will be sooner rather than later. His 2-minute drill was great and he is a surgeon in the red zone – been a while since we had that. In fact, with TG, Tavon, the big WRs and the TEs – we should be significantly improved in red zone efficiency, especially when Goff is running the show.

* Another thing on the Coliseum, the field itself looked impeccable and fast. The signage will be nice but understated. this will feel a lot like a college atmosphere vs a real NFL environment. And, that just might be a good thing!

quote: we watched d line work get offs and one on one pass rush moves and Quinn looks very explosive and back to his flexible “Gumby” self. ADon also very explosive. there is some great competition and our depth there should be even better than last year.