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how exactly does keenum alleviate any of those problems fisher just mentioned?
my guess is fisher thinks that to take a step forward the rams need to take a step back first? let foles sit back and get evaluate?
he pretty much says that foles will be the starter again at some point which to me seems to mean that he doesn’t think keenum is the answer.
also
I see that both Williams and Brown suffered season ending injuries on the Foles INT late in the game.
who is williams?
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/rams-report/rams-bench-qb-foles-keenum-to-start/article_62d1ed44-4a88-506b-a185-2f118f252f14.html
Rams bench QB Foles; Keenum to start
2 hours ago • By Ben Frederickson, Jim ThomasRams coach Jeff Fisher benched quarterback Nick Foles on Monday and named Case Keenum the starter for Sunday’s game at Baltimore.
In making the announcement at Rams Park, Fisher said Keenum could provide a spark to a team that has lost back-to-back games.
“We’ve been over the last — I would say four to five weeks — looking at the offense and the big picture (on) the offense,” Fisher said at his regular early Monday evening media session. “And just the production of our offense.
“Decided to go ahead and make a quarterback change. We’re gonna go ahead and go with Case. I have recently — an hour or so ago — talked to all three quarterbacks, and Coach (Chris) Weinke.”
Weinke is the Rams’ quarterbacks coach.
“This is my decision,” Fisher said. “Nobody came down the hall and said this is what we need to do. This is my decision. As I told the quarterbacks, the lack of production is not Nick’s fault. The lack of production is a collective offensive effort and coaching.
“But we need more production and it starts with that position.”
Foles, who was traded by Philadelphia to the Rams in the offseason in exchange for quarterback Sam Bradford, has completed 55.6 percent of his passes this season. He has thrown seven touchdowns and six interceptions. His passer rating this season is a lowly 75.9, which ranks 29th in the league.
The Rams signed Foles to a three-year, $26 million contract extension in early August, before he had thrown even a preseason pass for the Rams. The deal included $13.79 million in guaranteed money, and included incentives that could max out the deal at $39.5 million.
“By no means do we regret the trade, by no means do we regret the extension,” Fisher said. “Nick is a good quarterback. He’s captain of the football team. But at this point, right now, based on where we are offensively I feel like this is the direction we have to go.”
In Sunday’s 37-13 loss to the Chicago Bears, Foles completed fewer than 50 percent of his throws (17 of 36), threw a late interception and didn’t look comfortable in the pocket.
Foles threw high and late on several occasions and continued to miss open receivers — including not seeing a wide open Jared Cook in the end zone in the third quarter. Foles instead threw incomplete in the other direction to Brian Quick.
Keenum, who was added to the Rams roster last season, has never started a game for the Rams, but started 10 games for the Houston Texans during his short career.
“As I told Case, he doesn’t have a short leash,” Fisher said. “I’m gonna let him play. I’m gonna let him use his legs, and let him make some plays. Nick also understands that he eventually will be under center for us again.”
After the preseason injury to Bradford on Aug. 23, 2014, the Rams claimed Keenum off waivers from the Houston Texans. He spent the first seven games of the ’14 season on the Rams’ active roster, and then spent the next seven on the practice squad.
But Houston signed Keenum to their active roster Dec. 15, and Keenum led the Texans to victories over Baltimore and Jacksonville in the final two games of the season.
Fisher, however, wanted Keenum back. So on the same day (March 11) that the Rams engineered the Bradford for Foles trade with Philadelphia, they also sent a seventh-rounder to Houston for Keenum.
Keneum has a 55.2 percent career completion percentage, and has thrown 11 touchdowns to eight interceptions in the NFL. He also started eight games with Houston in 2013.
AgamemnonJeff Fisher looking for Case Keenum to provide ‘offensive spark’ for Rams
EARTH CITY, Mo. — The St. Louis Rams are making a quarterback change.
One day after the Rams lost 37-13 to the Chicago Bears, Rams coach Jeff Fisher named Case Keenum his new starting quarterback and sent Nick Foles to the bench in a move Fisher said he has been contemplating for the past four or five weeks.
“We’re going to go ahead and go with Case,” Fisher said. “This is my decision. Nobody came down the hall and said, ‘This is what we need to do.’ The lack of offensive production is a collective effort and coaching. But we need more production, and it starts with that position.”
Nine games into the season, Foles ranked 32nd in QBR (34.1), 29th in passer rating (75.9) and 28th in passing yards (1,678). As an offense, the Rams are 31st in yards per game and 32nd in passing yards per game.
Nick Foles, right, was part of the trade that sent Sam Bradford to Philadelphia. “By no means do we regret the trade, by no means do we regret the extension,” Rams coach Jeff Fisher said. “Nick is a good quarterback.” AP Photo/Mark ZaleskiDespite those offensive woes, the Rams were 4-3 just two weeks ago, after consecutive wins over Cleveland and San Francisco. However, Foles’ struggles came into view more clearly after back-to-back losses to Minnesota and Chicago, which apparently tipped the scales in Keenum’s favor.
“I don’t expect Nick to like it,” Fisher said. “He’s competitive, but he understands, and we’re gonna move forward here. I’m not saying this is week-to-week, but this is what’s best right now for our team as we move forward, from a production standpoint offensively.”
Keenum has started 10 games since he signed with the Houston Texans in 2012 as an undrafted free agent. In those games, the Texans went 2-8 and Keenum threw for 2,195 yards, 11 touchdowns and eight interceptions with a QBR just above Foles’ current mark of 34.5.
Fisher is seeking to jump-start his offense, and with rookie offensive linemen Jamon Brown (leg) and Darrell Williams (wrist) lost for the season, Keenum’s mobility could be important behind a patchwork offensive line.
“He’s won games at Houston with a team that had significant injuries around him and he found ways to win games,” Fisher said. “We’re going to trust his mobility and his ability to extend plays and things and just give us an offensive spark that we need.”
Fisher stopped short of committing to Keenum for the rest of the Rams’ seven games, but he said he’s not going to have Keenum on a short leash if the QB struggles against Baltimore on Sunday.
“He’s going to play, we’re going to use his legs and going to make some plays,” Fisher said. “Nick also understands that he will eventually be under center for us again. But this is my decision, based on what I think is best for this team, offensively, is to go this direction.”
“This is my decision. Nobody came down the hall and said, ‘This is what we need to do.’ The lack of offensive production is a collective effort and coaching. But we need more production, and it starts with that position.”
Rams coach Jeff FisherKeenum spent part of the 2014 season with the Rams before Houston signed him off St. Louis’ practice squad at the end of that season. Although he never got much of a chance to play in St. Louis, Keenum did enough to impress for the Rams to attempt to get him back.
The Rams traded for Foles and Keenum in March. They sent quarterback Sam Bradford to Philadelphia for Foles and draft picks and reacquired Keenum from Houston for a seventh-round 2016 pick.
Before Foles took a snap in a regular-season game, the Rams signed him to a deal that guarantees him almost $14 million.
“By no means do we regret the trade, by no means do we regret the extension,” Fisher said. “Nick is a good quarterback.”
Fisher said Foles will step into the backup role with rookie Sean Mannion continuing as the team’s third quarterback.
“Nick just needs a break,” Fisher said. “He just needs a break right now. He’s going to continue to work. He’ll run scout team, he’ll be prepared to play, but he just needs to get more experience under his belt in this offense. And we need to do a better job around him. I keep circling back to that. It’s not easy. It’s hard, but to me, it’s the right decision for us moving forward.”
AgamemnonI dunno, but the vast majority of those hi-lites
involved a nice clean pocket or at most
one pass-rusher attacking from one edge,
and Nick could easily glide away from the rusher.w
v
Those were just highligths. He was sacked 20 times in 7 games. That is about twice what he got this year. AgamemnonMany people who were against the trade said there were flaws with Foles’ game, but there was nothing that could have predicted this complete futility.
Foles as a rookie for Reid. Why is he worse now?
It would be interesting to find out how much shotgun he played in for Reid. I believe he was all shotgun in college and certainly was all shotgun with Kelly.
So I think it’s telling that Fisher in effect says he still has to learn the offense.
I don’t think he means the playbook. I think he means executing the offense in real time with real bullets while dropping back from center.
A lot of that was new to him. To me he looked unconfident and overwhelmed. If he gets back to his Philly 2014 level he will be of course better than he was in his last 5 games. But that again may be rhythm, feeling comfortable, executing etc. while dropping back from center. ‘
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It looks to me like 2014 is the exception or outlier , Chip Kelly’s offense before the rest of the NFL caught. Foles never was that guy. imo
AgamemnonIt looks to me like 2014 is the exception or outlier , Chip Kelly’s offense before the rest of the NFL caught. Foles never was that guy. imo
I think you’re thinking of 2013.
2014 is more the guy I would expect if he rights himself.
I agree that 2013 is the outlier.
Your right, I meant 2013. I agree with that.
Agamemnon
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