No QB means no hope
Benjamin Hochman
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/benjamin-hochman/hochman-no-qb-means-no-hope/article_14d4af46-98d7-5b33-8474-48038a42de46.html
On Jan. 15, 2005, a spry ballplayer, fresh off his rookie season, turned 25 years old.
His name was Matt Holliday.
On that same date, Topher Grace hosted “Saturday Night Live” and “The Da Vinci Code” topped the New York Times bestseller list. And the St. Louis Rams played a playoff game.
Their most recent playoff game.
Eleven consecutive seasons now, the Rams haven’t made it to the postseason, confirmed Sunday with Seattle’s win. The Rams are officially eliminated from playoff contention, so I suppose this is the obituary of the Rams’ playoff hopes.
Now, the Rams could very well win at Seattle and San Francisco, finishing 8-8, and then you’ll hear about momentum for St. Louis heading into next season (assuming the Rams play in St. Louis next season). “They won their four final games! Case Keenum could be the answer!”
No. No. Stop it. No.
Whether the Rams finish with six, seven or eight wins, this season was a failure.
We can talk about Jeff Fisher, and how it’s historically inexplicable that he’ll probably keep his job after four seasons without playoff football.
But the Rams’ problem is the man he and the front office picked to be the franchise’s quarterback – a man who hasn’t played like a franchise quarterback.
Nick Foles — a nice fellow and all that — isn’t the future. Keenum — fun story and all that — is not the transcendent signal-caller who can lead a team to relevance over a full season.
The Rams’ starting quarterback for 2016 should be someone who isn’t on the team in 2015.
As for Foles, the Rams can’t do much about the extension and guaranteed money they gave him before his first St. Louis game. It happened. And yes, give the Rams some credit for taking a chance on Foles. But they cannot waste time trying to see this particular investment through. They haven’t played a playoff game since Jan. 15, 2005. And next season, they’ll either be trying to win over a new fan base, or trying, somehow, to convince their current fan base that something will actually be different in 2016.
The Rams must be creative in the trade market or bold in the draft room and find a quarterback.
I know this sounds simple, for football is such a complex and strategic puzzle, but if you don’t have a quarterback who is really good at football, you probably won’t make the playoffs. The amount of impact a quarterback has on a team is disproportionately high compared to the other positions. Ernie Accorsi, the longtime NFL executive, was often quoted of saying that, in a way, maybe the second-most important position on a team is the backup quarterback. Defense is important but a quarterback is imperative. A rushing game can change the game — we’ve seen it at times with Todd Gurley — but a complementary passing game isn’t a luxury in the 2015 NFL; it’s a necessity.
Accorsi actually mentored John Elway, now the Broncos’ general manager. Elway has occasionally quoted Accorsi’s advice: “If you want to build a winning team, you need two things. You had better get a quarterback, and then you had better get a guy who can knock down the quarterback.”
The Rams have Aaron Donald (and Robert Quinn should be back next season), but they don’t have a quarterback and, really, they don’t have an offensive line to protect him.
The result, when Foles played, was gross. And, man, what a tease, too, after that opening win against Seattle.
So, ESPN has a stat called Total Quarterback Rating (Total QBR) . Yes, some of you are wary of a stat that wasn’t on the back of trading cards in your childhood. But smart people cook up these numbers — I actually personally know Dean Oliver, the mathematician who helped popularize this stat. As Oliver explains to readers on ESPN’s site: “The Total Quarterback Rating is a statistical measure that incorporates the contexts and details of a quarterback’s throws and what they mean for wins. … We understand first what each play means to the team, then we give credit to the quarterback for what happened on that play, based on what he contributed.”
OK, so here we go. Entering Sunday, Carson Palmer led the NFL with an 83.6 Total QBR. Ranked 32nd? Nicholas Edward Foles, 30.0.
It doesn’t matter what city the Rams call home next season: If they don’t get good quarterback play, they’ll still be the same old Rams.
.
Agamemnon
