Recent Forum Topics › Forums › The Rams Huddle › Wagoner: Rams mailbag … parts 1 & 2
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August 8, 2015 at 1:54 pm #28357
znModeratorRams mailbag: Early training camp impressions
By Nick Wagoner, ESPN Staff Writer
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/20134/rams-mailbag-early-training-camp-impressions
EARTH CITY, Mo. — The St. Louis Rams are little more than a week into training camp but their first preseason game is less than a week away in Oakland.
With that in mind, there’s no shortage of questions for this week’s mailbag.
Brenden Finnerty @BengySTL
Who has been the most impressive player at training camp so far?@nwagoner: This is a hard question to answer only a week into training camp but let’s be clear that the team has only had three padded practices to this point, so the bigger body of work to judge is at the skill positions on offense and the secondary on defense. To that end, in my early estimation, it’s been a strong camp so far for cornerbacks Janoris Jenkins and Marcus Roberson and safety Rodney McLeod. McLeod looks particularly instinctive and hasn’t been caught out of position at all from what I’ve seen. That’s a good sign after he vowed that he wanted to cut down on the mistakes that led to big plays last season. At receiver, it’s hard not to be impressed with receiver Brian Quick. Quick has recovered from a devastating shoulder injury and doesn’t look like he’s missed a beat.
Robert Connelly @RConnelly_
Top 5 jerseys you have seen fans wearing, I’m sure some Archuleta 31s were out at Rams Park.@nwagoner: I’m answering this question at the team’s Friday night scrimmage and actually have seen some good ones here. There’s a No. 25 Corey Chavous jersey right in front of me, for example. There’s been quite a few No. 87 Rickey Proehl jerseys floating around as well. But the best was early in camp when a fan showed up in the classic throwback No. 24 Trung Canidate jersey.
Josh @josharace
Fisher says he isn’t worried about the young o-line, do you believe him or is he just putting confidence in his guys?@nwagoner: Well, I believe him to some extent but let’s be real here: What else is he supposed to say? What good would it do him to publicly come out and wonder whether the offensive linemen — whom he had a huge part in drafting, by the way — can get the job done, especially at this time of year. Put it this way, despite the positive reviews that Jeff Fisher has consistently floated, there’s still a lot of work to be done. There’s no set starter at center and nobody has really separated in that spot yet. Greg Robinson and Rodger Saffold look solid but the two rookies will remain a work in progress. That isn’t to say they have been bad, just that they’re rookies still up against a fairly steep learning curve with little time to get caught up.
J-Rod @jhoodswag
U said before that Rams drafted Battle in hopes to compete w/ Havenstein for RT. Is he not living up to his draft stock?
@nwagoner: I actually said the Rams were hopeful Isaiah Battle could compete with Robert Havenstein for the job in 2016. While the Rams have certainly kind of walked back from the “redshirt” comments general manager Les Snead made when the team drafted Battle, it just doesn’t seem likely that he’ll be able to catch up quickly enough to push for a starting job this season. Still, Battle does need to catch up enough to be able to contribute in case of an emergency. The Rams will probably have to keep him on the roster and if he’s on the roster, the Rams can’t afford to have a player who can’t help since he’s always only a couple of plays from being in a game.
Mark Warren @MarkWarren_39
I get the impression J. Brown is impressing more than Havenstein. Truth to this? I worry about Big Rob. Plays too high@nwagoner: I think that’s probably a fair assessment at this point. From what I’ve seen, the praise for Jamon Brown rings more true than the praise for Havenstein. Havenstein has been better since the pads came on and by his own admission still has some work to do. Namely, Havenstein told me last week that he is struggling more to adjust to the speed of his opponents. Brown has been able to adjust fairly quickly to playing guard, an effort that’s been buoyed by coming in and playing the same position the whole time rather than bouncing between tackle and guard as Greg Robinson did a year ago.
August 8, 2015 at 2:20 pm #28359znModeratorin my early estimation, it’s been a strong camp so far for cornerbacks Janoris Jenkins and Marcus Roberson and safety Rodney McLeod. McLeod looks particularly instinctive and hasn’t been caught out of position at all from what I’ve seen. That’s a good sign after he vowed that he wanted to cut down on the mistakes that led to big plays last season.
This alone IMO will make a big difference. Namely, cutting down on the huge, costly coverage mistakes that allowed easy big plays and easy scores.
August 9, 2015 at 1:02 pm #28394znModeratorRams mailbag: Talking wide receivers
Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/20173/rams-mailbag-talking-wide-receivers
EARTH CITY, Mo. — In Saturday’s mailbag, we got a chance to offer some early impressions from training camp with an emphasis on, you guessed it, the offensive line.
Today, we turn our attention to the wide receivers.
Sean Mack @MackSW
What do you expect the WR hierarchy to be this year?@nwagoner: First, I’m a big fan of the use of the word hierarchy instead of simply asking how the depth chart would shake out. So kudos on that. Right now, it looks like it’s going to be quite similar to last season. Assuming Brian Quick continues on his path to recovery, he’ll be one of the starters opposite Kenny Britt. The Rams like having the two bigger guys on the outside not only for pass-catching purposes, but also as run blockers. From there, the slot position is an interesting one. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Rams sprinkle Stedman Bailey into the slot more with Tavon Austin operating as a sort of movable piece capable of playing inside or outside. I still expect Quick and Britt to get the most reps followed probably by Austin and Bailey.
Edward Henderson @dapipeftr
Previously I asked if any FA Wr’s standing out in practice. Since, what can you report now that turning heads?
@nwagoner: I don’t think I’d go as far as to say any are really standing out. Bradley Marquez was a guy that did some really good things in the spring and caught some eyes but he hasn’t done a whole lot in training camp. He did have some good moments in recent days but I wouldn’t say he’s been a “standout” necessarily. Daniel Rodriguez has been fun to watch with his ability to catch punts behind his back and with other footballs in his hands but that’s obviously not something that’s going to put him closer to a roster spot. The others, guys such as Tyler Slavin and Isaiah Ferguson, have been mostly nondescript, though Ferguson has flashed every once in a while. I don’t see anyone who looks poised to take Chris Givens’ spot right now, though that could change as we get into the preseason slate.
Blayze1 @jblayze611
Do you think any team will you give Aldon Smith another shot@nwagoner: It’s awfully hard to answer right now since we don’t know the extent of Aldon Smith’s latest run-in with the law and what the subsequent punishments will be in a court of law or from the NFL. Recently, the Jaguars came out and said receiver Justin Blackmon probably won’t play again. Of course, Blackmon didn’t have the resume of Smith in the NFL, but he did have the draft position. Really, it’s up to Smith on how he handles himself moving forward to determine his future. As a human being and, to a far lesser degree, a Mizzou alum, I hope he can figure it out even if he never plays another down.
Justin @Jutt7777Justin
Who’s ahead in the center battle right? Your opinion.
@nwagoner: This question is almost as difficult to answer as the previous one. The Rams haven’t tipped their hand, as Tim Barnes, Barrett Jones and Demetrius Rhaney continue to rotate. To my eyes, Rhaney looks like he has the most upside as a pure blocker but I’m not sure he’ll be comfortable enough handling all of the checks and things a center must do to be ready to start this season. So I’m going to continue to give the slightest of edges to Jones at this point. As I’ve maintained all along, though, there’s not an outcome that would surprise me in this contest.
Gregory Yeh @yeaforyeh
If you had to guess, when do you expect Gurley to make his season debut? Midseason?@nwagoner: I’d be very surprised if we didn’t see Todd Gurley until midseason. Jeff Fisher has said recently that Gurley probably won’t play in the preseason and that he doesn’t need to see Gurley take preseason reps to know when he’s ready. He’s moving around well in practice and doesn’t look like he’s had any setbacks. It’s still possible we could see him in Week 1, though I tend to doubt that if he was ready that first week he’d have much of a role. But since your question is when he would debut, as in appear in a game, I’m going to say at some point in the first three weeks. That’s just a guess right now, but it seems as though one option might be to slowly start working him in the mix early in the season. As for when he might be prepared to handle a big workload, sometime after the first quarter of the season appears more likely.
August 9, 2015 at 1:56 pm #28400
rflParticipantJustin @Jutt7777Justin
Who’s ahead in the center battle right? Your opinion.@nwagoner: This question is almost as difficult to answer as the previous one. The Rams haven’t tipped their hand, as Tim Barnes, Barrett Jones and Demetrius Rhaney continue to rotate.
To my eyes, Rhaney looks like he has the most upside as a pure blocker but I’m not sure he’ll be comfortable enough handling all of the checks and things a center must do to be ready to start this season.
So I’m going to continue to give the slightest of edges to Jones at this point.
As I’ve maintained all along, though, there’s not an outcome that would surprise me in this contest.
Listen to the message beneath the empty comments.
Here is a team publicist (?) asked about the center position. And not a single word here about anyone looking good.
Rhaney is said to have “upside” as a blocker. But not likely to be comfortable making the calls.
There’s a slight edge given to Jones. No comment as to why. No indication that he actually showing anything as a player. Nothing. Crickets.
And not a word of any kind about Barnes, the only guy with experience.
But the rotation goes on and nothing would be surprising.
The pundits are not saying anything, folks. I think that makes a thundering statement–we have a big, big problem at OC.
And the camp reports have either noted our guys being overrun or said precious little. I’m still looking for the first observation that would make me begin to have hope.
The soft spot at OC is going to hurt everything we do on offense. It’s up the middle, guys. And it’s going to blow us up. I’d hate to be Foles, and I doubt he remains healthy for long.
By virtue of the absurd ...
August 9, 2015 at 5:37 pm #28413znModeratorHere is a team publicist (?) asked about the center position
Wagoner left that job a couple of years ago. He no longer works for the Rams. He works for ESPN. He’s a colleague of Sando’s now.
I don’t know what effect that has on your overall point, but I thought I would just clear that one bit up.
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