camp reports, 8/23

SunTzu_vs_Camus

I was sitting next to Alyo and we reality checked every play. We see things a bit differently sometimes, but this practice I agreed with a lot/most of his post [zn note: see above].

First off I really only watched the QBs & WRs mostly…along with the LBs/DBs covering…..
cuz without pads/hitting all it can truly ever really be is flag football with 7-7 and even when 11 vs 11. So I was watching the QBs intently…looking for any minutiae to help me get a true feel to as how I think they will perform…same with the WRs. Same with DBs and LBs in coverage.

So, with that said, the things that CAN be simulated best are the passing/timing & coverage drills.
IMO, those drills are good representations of how players play. Any OL/DL stuff without full pads and tackling to the ground is just a walkthrough. imo

1) QBs –
Keenum – He knows where to go with the ball and that’s re-assuring, but his throws beyond 15yds linger in the air for a disconcerting amount of time. He hit Britt on a 50yder…the same throw as last weeks game(where he under-threw the ball and drew PI)…cept he hit him in stride this time. As many folks have said, CK knows where to go with the ball and that’s what makes him effective. To me, the playcalling makes Keenum’s game easier. He’s not a natural talent but that’s just my own peeve about guys. Rivers is an ugly thrower and a great QB…so it’s just taste.

Mannion is a larger slower footed guy but very coordinated and got much stronger than he was in college. He has a strange motion too but throws a nice tight spiral and knows where to go with the ball. He’s our 2nd string if Keenum leaves and he hasn’t made silly mistakes which makes me think he can be our CKeenum for the next few years with more arm strength and accuracy for medium range throws. He impressed me a bit more than I thought.

Goff – A natural passer and needle threader! He’s a relaxed dude and it shows. He is still learning where to go with the ball…but when he sticks his foot at the top of his drop and let’s it go…it’s a completion.

btw –
That’s a good little thing to remember about QBs and the play called….you can test this when you watch games. When the QB hits the top of his drop and the ball comes right out….he’s seeing the field/making the right choice/or the play called was aces and the WR/TE/HB is open. The problem comes when a QB hits the back foot and it doesn’t come out.
NOTE: Gather steps when stepping up in the pocket from sticking yer back foot are not a sign the timing is off or missed…that’s normal. But if if it’s held a beat longer…that’s what separates the good QBs from journeymen. imo

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2) WRs –
Britt – Played big & strong and caught everything near him.
TA – Didn’t do much besides a few bubble screens and sat out doing tennis ball drills.
Duke – Very interesting player. Duke is large and fast…and gets his nose into action
McRoberts – Good hands catcher and strong to the ball in what I saw from him.
Cooper – Solid but spectacular in his route running or quickness. imo

Thomas –
Quick –

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3) TEs –
Kendricks – He’s solid as nearly always. Not flashy but gets er done. As zn has posted, Kendricks is the best balanced of all the TEs which makes him a weapon as he is unpredictable.
Higbee – caught everything thrown his way and had the Catch of the Day at the goalline getting clocked by Tree across the middle but holding onto the ball about a 1yd into the EZ. Tree hit him hard!….and Higbee went down hard in clump…but didn’t let go of the ball! TD!!!
Hemingway – Was targeted alot and caught everything – in fact, he appeared to be targeted more than any receiver and caught all the throws his way. Impressed me as a Rec TE. btw – I didn’t like his college tape and thot he looked slow( I didn’t like LB Forrest’s tape for the same reason but they are both playin faster! Who knew?! 😉

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Some real quick observations of coverage.

LBs –
Ayers – I was very impressed with Ayers as he was 30yds downfield on 3-5 occasions covering the TE and was step for step and even had a tip away in the EZ during the RZ drills.

Littleton was very good in coverage also with 2 tipped balls. The passes were good, Littleton just made good plays ion the ball – which is good cuz many LBs just cover the guy and have no ball awareness…..I hate those guys!!! 😉

CBs –
Hill looked real nice in coverage…quick feet and got his nose in there. Hill looked good in last week’s game too.
Tru had a great tipped ball where he jumped the route and just slapped the ball down as if you were blocking a basketball shot of a 4yr old. He’s just very long and levered. (is that even a word?! lol)

FS –
TJ made some good closing plays on balls and looked better than I thought in coverage…very fluid and decently fast when closing.
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Anyway, I’m tired and will stop as my mind has gone blank now! lol
I know practice info is not as sexy now that PS games have started and we can all see for ourselves.

SunTzu_vs_Camus

SOME MORE FOLLOW-UP

Mannion has been a good example of how a player grows in his 2nd year. He doesn’t move around alot, but is nimble in a short area and slides/steps up, slides a half step and micro-adjusts in the pocket 2nd best to Goff.

Keenum is the least physically able QB to me, compared to Goff & now Mannion…. however, Keenum is very sharp and knows where to go with the football and that’s where his success is. imo We CAN win with Keenum and he made very solid throws into tight coverage.

Goff is getting faster and faster in learning but would make mistakes if he starts 1st game. I’d like to think they wait to week 3 or 4…before Goff starts. It’s not a bad thing cuz you can see the passing talent…it flashes and stands out. Once Goff gets the offense under his skin….freakin LOOKOUT…he’s a dart thrower!! And he likes to throw downfield – which I delight in!! He’s gonna be murder with TEs runnin seam patterns against Cover 2 defenses…lordy! (Mannion nailed those also to Higbee or Hemingway!) When Goff holds the ball an extra beat…it’s confusion…he’s still learning…but he’s coming along and works the huddle just fine.

at the 8/22 practice I went to I didn’t think Goff was skittish at all. Even when Goff looked bad in the PS series where he fumbled, was sacked, etc The kid is resilient and that comes across. he’ll make his mistakes, but Goff is coming on. Once he knows where he’s going with the ball…there’s no other QB on our team that throws like he does. imo

Mannion is the biggest surprise. I thought he was 2nd best QB after Goff and I’m glad I was wrong about him. We have 3 good QBs and 2 with real upside!!

.

VeteranRamFan

Now this is important to understand. I have followed this team through the highs and the lows. The move from LA (Anaheim) to St. Louis didn’t deter me. I have watched this team every year and hoping that this is the year. 1999 was magical, we all know that.

I can’t put my finger on it but this team is different. They are going places. Whether it is the play calling of Boras, the route running of the receivers, the line blocking of the offense. Something is different and in a good way. To add to this, the intensity level was cranked way up. The players were showing what they could bring to the table. It made for an enjoyable practice.

On to the camp report. The usual warm ups took place. Special teams kick off and returns. Defense was on the far field so I didn’t see much of what was going on over there.

Battle and Havenstein were dressed but did individual drills on the sidelines. Kenny Britt didn’t participate in the practice but was on the field helping out. Never saw #3 WR North. Quinn was dressed but didn’t participate in any contact drills.

During 7 on 7, Goff went through his progressions but in four passes, he went to Higbee three times and Quick once. Quick dropped a sure catch, hit him in the hands and it would have been a TD. Higbee caught one about 3 yards’ shy of the end zone along the sideline, made a spin move and fought his way in for the TD. Nice move. Two takeaways from the 7 on 7. Goff went through his progressions and chose the safe outlet, Higbee. Modest gains in yards but they add up. The corners were covering well. That would be Tru J. and EJ. It was no picnic for the WRs.

Keenum looked good during 7 on 7 as did Mannion although Mannion was not as crisp. Did well but didn’t make you go WOW. Hemmingway caught a TD from Keenum that looked real good. Good route, good patience from Case to wait for the open man. If I remember correctly, Hemmingway was lined up in the slot on that play.

The real fun started when Goff started the 11 on 11 session with the 1st string. He was a different QB from what we have seen so far. He got the play call through the headset in the huddle, called the play, every skill position player lined up correctly (no last second changes from Goff) and executed the count. My point is he showed a command of the huddle, an understanding of the play called and his teammates responded like pro-football players should. The O line provided good protection and I didn’t see anyone getting close to the QB for a sack.

There were the obligatory hand offs to Gurley that went smooth as silk. Goff was showing a good fake after the hand-off too. The D line and linebackers did their part too. Run players were pretty much a stalemate. Then the passes started.

We all know Goff has a quick release. He demonstrated that a plenty Tuesday. One of his most impressive throws was a streaking Lance Kendricks going up the left sideline, made some sort of move to create separation from an unknown defender, had a two-step cushion and Goff throws a pass like he did to Cooper in the Dallas game. A frozen rope, a line drive. Hit Kendricks in stride, right in the hands and Lance trots in for the TD. This was a 30-40 yard throw in the air. Most QB’s tend to arc the ball up high and let it fall into the receivers’ hands. Not Goff. His type of throw does not allow a safety to react and have a chance for a pass breakup. It was beautiful and the crowd responded with claps and cheers.

Other throws were right on the money. Higbee caught a pass at the right sideline then spun towards the inside of the field freeing himself from a sure tackle or knocked out of bounds then fought his way into the end zone.

T. Magee took a screen pass out of the backfield and gained some good yards. Can’t wait to see Gurley do that. By the way, Gurley was used sparingly.

Case Keenum came in with the second team for his turn during the 11 on 11. It was not all that good for him. First he did a simple handoff to the running back Brown but either Brown didn’t take the right angle or Case stepped too far out and they had a mild collision. No fumble but Brown was stopped at the line. Is this a case of a new QB playing for the first time with this unit? Maybe. But Case had difficulties connecting with his receivers. On a deep post route to the end zone, a fast moving David Richards #12 was open but the ball was horribly overthrown.

Hemmingway looks like a keeper. Could be used in a WR role and not so much shoe horned in at TE. Higbee is ripped and has great hands. Didn’t see if he had blocking assignments but he sure knows how to get open and catches the ball. Missed seeing Spruce, still in a knee brace. Cory Harkey is very good at blocking and can catch although he was only targeted I think once during 7 on 7 and once more on 11 on 11. The other receivers did well with the exception of Quick.

Quick dropped a sure TD that square in his hands in the end zone. He was covered tightly but the ball was perfect. Goff threw it. On another play I think it was Mannion throwing, Quick catches one going up the seam and scores a TD. Now this was with the second team defense and offense. There was a break in the action and Quick was on the near sideline talking with Britt and one of the coaches I couldn’t recognized. He was visibly upset with something. I walked down to the fence to try and hear what was being said but I couldn’t make it out. Quick was on one knee at times then would get up and pace around Britt and the coach then back to the knee. It appeared that Britt and coach were trying to lighten things up with smiles, jokes of sorts and such. Quick never smiled. He knows the pressure is on.

In summary, Goff looked totally different than in the past. Keenum struggled at times as did Mannion. It was Goff’s team that day and he made the best of it. If you saw Coach Fishers presser after that practice you could tell he was very pleased with Goff.

As you can tell, I’m all about the offense in this report. I felt we know what we have in our DB’s now that Gaines is back. We know our front four are set, OH! By the way, Easley is a great addition to the D line. Expect great things from him. He is very quick off the ball. Linebackers will take some work, learning to play with each other but I’m not worried.

I cannot wait for Saturday against Denver and I want to see Goff start the game. I think you all will be pleasantly surprised with his improvement.

Take care my Rams Brothers!

SunTzu_vs_Camus

AND YET EVEN MORE FOLLOW-UP

Quick was an interesting draft day gamble cuz he does have great size, speed and jumps. However, he drops the ball in crucial moments and cannot be relied upon on 3rd down.

After 4 yrs, it didn’t work out. Quick is not standing out at all. imo and we’re talking about a 4yr vet who’s been giiven every chance to grow and take it. It’s slipped thru his fingers and now rookies are at, the very least, his equal…which makes his salary a liability. I think he’s already gone. If he makes the team he’ll make some catches…and drop some when we need them the most. A rookie could do the same at 1/4 the cost. I say go young and draft for more next year….or sign a Vet WR.

It happens sometimes with picks, especially with our 2nd rounders for the 1st few years Fisher/Snead got settled. In your mind, simply swap out the UDFA hits we have made and console yerself with the last two/three drafts and that might help. We’ve done pretty good in upgrading the team’s talent level.

Whether thru draft or UDFA…the team is much better than in 2012. imo

Personally, I think we are like the Pats in that we don’t really rely on that superman #1 WR type and get it done with a bunch of WRs and TEs. It’s okay with me…I just want the ball caught!!! Drops are absurd at this level of the game. imo

I think the 2 young TEs(Higbee & Hemingway) allow them to do what they wanted to do for a few years on offense. The WRs we have will be fine for the deeper shots, but this offense just doesn’t feel like it’s an WR-centric offense… as in we don’t need that star #1 WR necessarily, to do what they want on offense. We just need them to not drop the ball!