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znModeratorWell turns out the thread title was unintentionally ironic.
Bradford has knee issues and isn’t starting. Keenum isn’t doing that well so far.
znModeratorLooks like there’s a PS move yet to happen.
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znModeratorEight-in-the-box defense
As said in this thread, there was less of that in the Colts game than last year.
Per https://t.co/Ahna5dqQ2R NextGenStats, Todd Gurley faced 8+ defenders in the box just 10.5% of his carries. Down from 25.5% in 2016.
— Rich Hribar (@LordReebs) September 11, 2017
znModeratorGiven all this the Rams are lucky to have Whitworth.
Here’s a report out of Cincinnati in relation to that from https://www.cincyjungle.com/2017/9/10/16284112/nfl-week-1-bengals-vs-ravens-7-losers-1-winner-cincinnati-losing-effort
Cedric Ogbuehi
Cincinnati drafted Cedric Ogbuehi in the first round on the 2015 NFL Draft with the hope he would eventually replace Andrew Whitworth as the Bengals’ starting left tackle. Ogbuehi got his chance Sunday, after starting at right tackle for much of last year, and it was not pretty.
Ogbuehi continued to struggle against bull rushes, and allowed Baltimore’s aging—but still effective—Terrell Suggs to spend more time in the Bengals’ backfield than any one of Cincinnati’s three running backs.
And it was just as bad on the other side…
Jake Fisher
Jake Fisher, the other tackle taken in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft, got hit with a pair of holding calls and allowed Suggs to run through him, as well. The Bengals are going to need drastically improved offensive line play and it’s unclear how they will accomplish that.
znModeratorThe Trouble with NFL Offensive Linemen: Bad Starts and Worse Finishes
The Giants and Seahawks both have Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks, excellent defenses and playmakers on offense. And both have high expectations for this season. But neither team could figure out a way to muster a touchdown on Sunday.
Even though it’s just Week 1, it seems fair to ask: Can you really be a contender without a good offensive line?
The epidemic of poor offensive line play is something we are hearing more and more about across the NFL. Some blame the practice rules imposed by the 2011 CBA, which limit both offseason practice time and the number of padded practices in which linemen can get in full-contact reps. Others point to the rise of spread offenses in college, where linemen often aren’t asked to finish blocks or even put their hand in the dirt in a three-point stance.
“That’s a question for the offseason,” Giants coach Ben McAdoo said on Monday, less than 24 hours after his team’s 19-3 season-opening loss to the Cowboys. “We need to find a way to win a ballgame this week and find a way to get better up front in a hurry.”
He’s right—but the key question, now that the season is underway, is how much better can the Giants’ and the Seahawks’ offensive lines really get? The Giants opted to go with the same starting five as last season, despite the unit’s struggles in 2016. They had been banking on left tackle Ereck Flowers, their first-round pick in 2015, taking a big step forward in Year 3. The Seahawks, meanwhile, put stock in another year of experience for their young draft picks, and they signed free agent Luke Joeckel, the former No. 2 overall pick, after the Jaguars let him walk.
The early returns were not pretty. You may have seen that disheartening freeze frame from the Seahawks’ 17-9 loss to the Packers circulating on social media: Russell Wilson on a third-and-10, a good 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage, trying to run away from three Packers defenders. The only thing left to do for the four offensive linemen who got beat was to chase the players chasing their quarterback. Wilson got rid of the ball, completing a throw to tight end Jimmy Graham, for a loss of one yard.
It wasn’t even the worst play of the night—that would be the third-down strip sack of Wilson in the third quarter, on which the game turned for the Packers. Defensive tackle Mike Daniels, who had beaten right guard Mark Glowinski for a sack of Wilson just two plays earlier, this time beat the left guard, Joeckel, with a similar inside move and knocked the ball loose. The Packers recovered on Seattle’s 6-yard line and scored a touchdown on the next snap.
The Giants’ woes up front weren’t quite as dramatic—McAdoo praised Eli Manning for keeping two hands on the ball and not fumbling, which gives you an idea of how often he was in a pressure situation—but they are no less concerning. The Cowboys don’t have a particularly talented front, but Demarcus Lawrence and Charles Tapper looked like Von Miller or Khalil Mack against right guard John Jerry and right tackle Bobby Hart (Hart was hampered by an ankle injury). In particular, the Giants struggled with third-down stunts, a rather routine tactic used by defenses on passing downs. “We had some technical breakdowns,” McAdoo said.
In fairness, both the Giants and the Seahawks lost on the road to defending division champions. The Packers have a talented front seven, and Cowboys defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli has had a track record of getting a performance out of his unit that is greater than the sum of its parts. Also, most coaches will tell you that the defense is always ahead of the offense early in the season, and that the last piece of an offense to come together is usually its pass protection, because of the required unison between several players.
But, for two teams that have the potential to be contenders (and for several others who do not) the play of the offensive line on opening weekend was a glaring weakness. The unit has been a sore point for the Seahawks since the spring of 2015, when, after making their second trip to the Super Bowl in two seasons, they traded All-Pro center Max Unger and a first-round pick to the Saints in exchange for tight end Jimmy Graham. The Giants’ two Super Bowl titles in the past decade featured strong line play on both sides of the ball, but as the stalwarts on those teams slowly faded to retirement, the Giants have struggled to replenish the same quality of play on the offensive line.
The two theories mentioned above—the new practice rules and the rise of collegiate spread offenses—have no doubt played a role in some of the ugly NFL line play. It takes more time for players to adjust from college to pro-style offenses, and they have less practice time to do so. And that’s magnified by the fact that the NFL becomes more and more of a passing league each year. Geoff Schwartz, a seventh-round draft pick out of Oregon in 2008, played eight seasons in the NFL (including two with the Giants) and recalls needing a few months as a rookie to master his three-point stance, and then having to re-work it in the offseason with the help of veteran teammate Jordan Gross. But he was on the practice squad his first season, so he had time to adjust.
“In college, there is so much misdirection, and the tempo is so fast at times, you don’t even have to really block anybody because the defense is so tired,” Schwartz said. “What we’ve really lost in college is the idea of finishing. In the NFL, you have to finish to be an elite offensive lineman. In college, your goal is to get back to the line of scrimmage and snap the ball again. The mentality of not finishing in college hurts you when you get to the NFL.”
Nick Hardwick, who played 11 seasons as the Chargers’ center before retiring in 2014, suggests another theory for the decline in play. “I’ve talked to some nose tackles and defensive tackles around the league who say the craftiness from offensive linemen is dissipating,” he said. “Guys understand the basics of the game—hat placement, eye placement, footwork, hands—but they don’t understand the nuances that take their game to the next level. The subtleties of having a personal game plan for how to set up your opponent, so you are not countering his moves, he’s countering yours.”
What about the teams that have had success up front? The Cowboys and the Titans, for example, have invested high draft picks in players with experience playing in pro-style offenses at the college level. The Raiders, on the other hand, spent a lot of money in free agency over the last few years to build a line that is among the best in the league. These teams have not only invested the resources, but so far they seem to have used them wisely. In the 2016 draft, for example, the Titans traded up to pick tackle Jack Conklin from Michigan State at No. 8 overall. Last season, he was named first team All-Pro. A year earlier, the Giants stayed put at No. 10 to draft Flowers, who has immense physical talent but had some technique issues coming out of Miami that he’s yet to overcome.
That’s not to say Flowers, and some of the other young players on the Seattle and New York lines, won’t take steps forward this season. Take the case of Eric Fisher, the No. 1 overall pick in 2013, who struggled early on and was even demoted from his left tackle job as recently as two years ago. He bounced back and has developed into a solid left tackle who earned a four-year contract extension last summer. The Chiefs offensive line has emerged as one of the better units in the league and was key to the team’s upset win over the Patriots last Thursday.
McAdoo said they’d consider lineup changes, or tweaks to the scheme to give the offense a better chance up front. Of course, players who have been there before say there’s only so much you can do at this point in the season. If there’s just one weak spot on the line, coaches can scheme to send extra help his direction with running backs or tight ends chipping, and by having the QB get rid of the ball quickly. But both the Giants and Seahawks have shown flaws at multiple positions up front.
“At some point, they are going to run into a unit on the other side of the ball that is going to be able to pierce that front and make it an absolute nightmare for either Russell Wilson or Eli Manning,” Hardwick said. “By having a poor offensive line, you cap off the potential of your team.”
That’s the big question both teams are facing this season. With the season already underway, can they raise the level of play on their offensive line or make enough adjustments in order to make a deep playoff run? Or, will their performance up front yet again hold them back this season? It’s an important question, and one that’s becoming even more important in today’s NFL.
znModeratorGiants aren’t the only team with offensive line problems; tackling why it’s become a league issue
It is a story line the Giants wish would fade into the background, an issue dating to last season that has been a central focus of the team’s offensive struggles and one that again factored into the Giants’ miserable showing in a 19-3 loss to the Cowboys in the opener last Sunday night.
Unfortunately for Ben McAdoo, Eli Manning and the Giants’ touchdown-challenged offense, the problem is not going away. And if this season turns into one colossal disappointment, the team’s problems along the offensive line surely will be a central cause for blame.The Giants are far from alone in their struggles along the line. In fact, poor offensive line play has become a mini-crisis of sorts in a league whose practice rules are set up in such a way as to impede the development of the guys in the trenches. Choreographing the movements of five players on each and every offensive snap is one of the most challenging tasks for any team, and several factors in recent years have led to problems in getting the most out of today’s NFL blockers.
Start with the practice rules. As part of the league’s 2011 collective bargaining agreement, there are far fewer offseason practices and far greater limits on contact drills, both in and out of season. Padded practices have been greatly reduced during the season and in training camp (there are no more two-a-day practices, for instance), and one-on-one drills are not permitted throughout the offseason training period. Those limitations have greatly impacted coaches’ ability to get the most out of offensive linemen, and there has been a direct carryover into the regular season for many teams.
“They threw out the baby with the bathwater, relative to player development,” Bill Polian, the Hall of Fame former general manager of the Bills, Panthers and Colts, said of the new CBA rules. “It’s self-defeating. I know it’s bargained collectively, and I know why the owners did it, but it’s not helping player development. The owners got the monetary concessions they were looking for and these practice concessions, particularly in the offseason, were a small price to pay for that.”
But Polian is convinced the quality of line play — and thus the quality of offensive football — has been compromised because linemen simply don’t get enough repetitions to hone their skills.
“When you look around the league, you can count on the fingers of one hand the teams that have two good tackles, and you can count on both your hands the teams that don’t have any,” said Polian, an NFL analyst for ESPN.
“Offensive linemen can be developed. The good [assistant] coaches like Dante Scarnecchia [of the Patriots], [former longtime line coach] Howard Mudd, Bill Callahan [of the Redskins] do it.“Offensive line is a technique position,” he said. “If you can’t rep that enough, you’re not going to be as good. It’s just that simple. I know 99.9 percent of the people will say, ‘Who cares?’ They just want to see performance on the field. But if you want to go beyond that and see why offenses struggle, there are reasons this is happening.”
Former NFL guard Brian Baldinger suggests there’s only one way for linemen to get better: by practicing more.
“Reps, it’s everything,” he said. “The more reps you get, the more prepared you’re going to be. Look, I understand the push for player safety, I get it. But the only way to become a better right guard is to play right guard. You can’t do it by hitting bags in shorts. You can do all the walk-throughs you want and hit the sleds all you want, but until you block people, you’re not going to get better.”
Baldinger is troubled by what he saw in the Giants’ opener, especially with the play of tackles Ereck Flowers and Bobby Hart.
“I’d be concerned,” he said. “You could tell Eli was skittish the other night. He can look like that sometimes if he doesn’t feel like the [linemen] are doing their jobs. They couldn’t get the ball down the field. They’re not playing well as a group up front, and there are technique issues. Ereck is such a good athlete, he can figure out ways to stay in front of his man, but that’s not the type of technique you win with long-term. You’re going to get hurt with that.”
Baldinger suggested Manning’s lack of mobility also is a potential red flag.
“If you look at it in the context of the division, the other three quarterbacks are mobile, to one degree or another,” said Baldinger, an NFL Network analyst. “[Carson] Wentz [in Philadelphia] and Dak [Prescott in Dallas] are tremendously mobile. Kirk Cousins [in Washington] is mobile enough. That forgives a lot of sins when you can make up for a missed block. Eli obviously can’t do that, so it exacerbates the problem.”
Another factor in offensive line play: Most linemen coming into the league aren’t used to the more conventional pro-style game after playing in the spread offense in college, and often in high school.
“There are guys that play their entire college career and never get into a three-point stance,” Baldinger said. “So you come to the NFL, and it’s tough. For the most part with spread offenses, guys are in two-point stances [bent at the knees and not putting a hand on the ground] and they’ve never had to fire out. So you don’t have any idea about short-yardage situations, goal line, how to block those.”znModeratorDoes NFL have offensive line problem?
By Bucky Brooks
“Where are the good offensive linemen?”
When a veteran scout asked me that question at a college game a couple weeks ago, I didn’t give it much thought at the time. I simply thought it was a crusty, old scout complaining about a position group that is undervalued in the public sector but viewed in high regard on the scouting trail. While quarterbacks, pass catchers and running backs dominate the conversation in fantasy football drafts, general managers and scouts around the league still cite offensive tackle — particularly left tackle — as one of the core positions of a championship-caliber squad in real football.
In a league governed by quarterback play, team builders believe protecting the passer is tantamount to success.
“It never changes,” an AFC team’s college scouting director told me. “Everything is built around the quarterback and the passing game. On offense, you’re always trying to find a QB1 — and when you get him, it’s all about keeping him protected and upright in the pocket. … With defenses loading up on pass rushers at defensive end and defensive tackle, you have to keep the edges protected and find a way to stop the leakage on the inside.
“In a perfect world, you would have a pair of offensive tackles that can hold their own in pass protection and find a way to piecemeal the interior. … It’s hard to find five great offensive linemen, but if you can get the right guys in the right spots, you can win a lot of games.”
To that last point, it is easy to see why the Cowboys, Steelers and Raiders field explosive offenses, given that all currently boast sensational lines. Each unit features elite athletes on the edges and nasty, nimble competitors on the inside. Although those teams used different methods to build their respective fronts, the common denominator is the overall athleticism, toughness and physicality that jumps off the screen when you watch them play.
The Cowboys and Steelers possess homegrown units built through astute drafting in successive years. Dallas spent three first-round picks in four years on LT Tyron Smith, C Travis Frederick and RG Zack Martin — and then added RT La’el Collins as an undrafted free agent after a unique and unfortunate circumstances torpedoed the likely first-rounder’s stock. Meanwhile, in one three-year span, the Steelers used a pair of first-round picks on interior blockers (C Maurkice Pouncey and RG David DeCastro) and added RT Marcus Gilbert with a second-round selection. LG Ramon Foster came aboard after going undrafted, while LT Alejandro Villanueva joined Pittsburgh as an unheralded free-agent signee.
On the other hand, the Raiders signed four of their five starting offensive linemen in free agency: LT Donald Penn, LG Kelechi Osemele, C Rodney Hudson and RT Marshall Newhouse. RG Gabe Jackson, Oakland’s third-round pick in a 2014 haul that also included Khalil Mack and Derek Carr, is the one homegrown stud. The Raiders’ front line is the perfect example of a pro department assembling a solid cast of blockers with complementary skills through alternative means.
That’s why I don’t necessarily agree the sentiment that there is a dire lack of quality offensive linemen available. Coaches and scouts with a clear understanding of what they want to play at the position are able to identify proper fits in the draft and free agency. Whether it’s the agile edge blockers with a combination of size, length and body control or the rugged interior blockers with a nasty disposition, the best evaluators are still finding their guys. And that starts with a good plan.
I worked as a scout in Seattle under former Redskins GM Scot McCloughan when he was the Seahawks’ director of college scouting in the early 2000s. I remember him giving me specific instructions when scouting each position. McCloughan told me that offensive tackles needed to have exceptional size, arm length, quickness and flexibility to match the premier pass rushers in the game. He advised me to look for offensive guards with outstanding strength and power. He wanted interior blockers to be able to move defenders off the ball in the running game while also showing the balance and body control to anchor against hard-charging pass rushers. With centers, it was all about their football intelligence and consistency. McCloughan believed they could overcome athletic limitations with their awareness and overall understanding of blocking concepts.
But it’s more than identifying the right kind of guys at each spot — it’s also finding a way to develop them in challenging times. The collective bargaining agreement signed in 2011 severely reduced the amount of practice time teams can have with their players. Also, full-contact practices are quite limited. With other restrictions spelled out in the agreement to limit team drills and one-on-one periods in the offseason program, the NFL doesn’t offer as many opportunities to fully cultivate a young player’s skills as it used to.
“You don’t have enough time to develop guys on the field,” a veteran offensive line coach who’s worked at all levels of the game told me. “Playing on the offensive line requires a lot of reps and you simply don’t have enough opportunities to teach them through live contact. Plus, the padded-practice limitations during the regular season make it harder to prepare young players to get ready for the pro game.”
This is something Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians pointed to at the 2016 Annual League Meeting when asked to address the declining of offensive lines around the league.
“Yeah, because they don’t get to practice,” Arians told reporters. “Offensive linemen and defensive linemen can’t get better in shorts. And they’re prohibited from going one-on-one. That’s all they do for a living. So of course they’re going to get worse, because we can’t practice. And then only one practice a day in training camp, only one practice a day during the week up until, what, about Week 14? So, it’s extremely hard to get young offensive linemen better. Because they don’t ever get to practice football. They’re not getting any better practicing soccer.
“Since we’ve made the rule changes (in 2011), the quality of the football is going way down.”
In addition to this gripe among NFL coaches and scouts, there has also been plenty of finger-pointing at the college game for failing to supply the NFL with plug-and-play O-linemen. Pro evaluators point to the spread offense as one of the detrimental factors.
“You rarely see offensive linemen in three-point stances,” an NFC scout said to me. “They are always in a two-point stance (in the spread) and they spend most of the game position blocking pass rushers on quick throws. You rarely see them fire off the ball in the run game or execute some of the tasks we will ask them to do at the NFL level.
“It makes the evaluation harder because you’re projecting so much when grading offensive linemen.”
After hearing so much complaining from NFL folks about the quality of line play at lower levels, I reached out to a college coach — who also has experience coaching at the high school level, as well as a brief stint in the CFL — to get his gauge on why it’s been so difficult for NFL coaches to find and develop offensive linemen.
“We have the same challenges as pro coaches,” the college assistant coach told me. “We don’t have a lot of time with the kids and you’re trying to teach them technique and scheme on the run. If they’re talented and have to play early in their careers, we’re trying to get them up to speed on the concepts before we can get the details of footwork and hand placement.
“Granted, we don’t carry as many protections as pro teams, but it’s still tough for a high school kid with limited experience or exposure to grasp high-level concepts. We try to rep it as much as possible, but it’s hard to get them ready for the NFL when I’m struggling to get them ready to play college ball.”
I think that is an important point to remember: College coaches shouldn’t be expected to get their players ready for the next level. The college game is vastly different than the NFL, and pro coaches need to consult their old high school/college coaching manuals to see how they can build functional offensive linemen and effective units.
“They should steal a page from our book and have extra periods for the developmental guys,” the college assistant said. “We have scout team scrimmages and extra individual periods for our young guys to help them hone their skills. If they can add 15 minutes of individualized time for their bottom-of-the-roster players or practice-squad guys, they will see their O-Line improve quickly.”
Another way to improve O-line play is to recruit better athletes to play up front. This is something that the Seattle Seahawks have attempted to do under Tom Cable in recent years with the team converting defensive linemen to blockers. The veteran coach successfully nurtured J.R. Sweezy into a top-notch offensive guard after the ex-N.C. State standout entered the league as a lightly regarded defensive tackle prospect taken in the seventh round. With the veteran assistant also having enjoyed success at the collegiate level with conversions (see: Jeremy Newberry and Tarik Glenn during Cable’s time at Cal), I can’t knock the Seahawks for attempting to flip guys from other positions to the offensive line. Sure, the daring moves elicit eye rolls and snickers from traditionalists, but the prospect of turning an undrafted free agent into a quality starter is a potential game changer for teams with great teachers at the position.
OK, yes: The Seahawks’ offensive line has struggled to keep Russell Wilson upright in the pocket the past few seasons. (Losing Sweezy to a lucrative free-agent deal with the Buccaneers didn’t help.) But that’s missing the larger point here. I believe the conversion model is one that should be considered by others — but with a twist. Instead of focusing on defensive linemen moving over to offense, teams should identify oversized tight ends with the potential to transition to offensive tackle. Tight ends are superior athletes and they’re familiar with the responsibilities in the running game. Not to mention, they have been exposed to blocking edge rushers in one-on-one matchups, which gives them a chance to master the skills in time. Considering how many college teams execute this conversion with recruits and young players, I would steal a page from their playbook to upgrade one of the league’s marquee positions.
“If I had to do a conversion, I would rather move a tight end to offensive tackle because it isn’t foreign to him,” the college assistant told me. “You have to bulk them up, clean up their technique and flip their mentality from being a pass catcher to blocker, but you could uncover a few good players if they are willing to fully buy in.”
In fact, there are already some notable success stories on this front. Jason Peters, Alejandro Villanueva, Garry Gilliam and Nate Solder all successfully transitioned from tight end to offensive tackle as pros or during the later stages in college, so the blueprint is there.
In this pass-happy league, it’s high time for teams to consider every option to build a sustainable fortress around the quarterback.
September 16, 2017 at 10:38 pm in reply to: Goff week 1 & after…have other Rams qbs thrown passes like the TD to Kupp? #74418znModeratorJared Goff’s growth
By Bucky Brooks
JARED GOFF’S GROWTH: Never underestimate the power of coaching
If you at all question how much coaching matters in the NFL, particularly when it comes to quarterbacks, take a look at the passer rating leaders from Week 1 to see how top-flight play caller can help a QB play at an elite level:
1) Alex Smith, Kansas City Chiefs: 148.6
2) Sam Bradford, Minnesota Vikings: 143.0
3) Jared Goff, Los Angeles Rams: 117.9Smith, Bradford and Goff lead the NFL in passing efficiency largely due to the careful planning and scripting of a call sheet. Granted, one week doesn’t make a season. But when I watched the All-22 Coaches Film of each of their performances, I was blown away with the clever scheming and sequencing used by their respective play callers to accentuate each of their strengths, while also making life easier for them in the pocket.
Whether it was Andy Reid embracing spread offense principles and concepts — including the option shovel pass, zone read and fly sweep — to help Smith find his groove or Pat Shurmur utilizing a wide array of quick-rhythm concepts designed to get the ball out of Bradford’s hands, these guys put their signal callers in positions to succeed. In addition, they repeated their quarterbacks’ favorite concepts from various formations to distract the defense while executing the same play over and over. While some would suggest that this is Coaching 101 stuff, we’ve already seen enough subpar quarterback play this season to know all coaches aren’t created equal.
To that point, I believe Los Angeles Rams newbie Sean McVay is off to a fantastic start in his head-coaching career. The 31-year old offensive wizard suddenly has Goff looking like the efficient field general many envisioned when he came off the board as the No. 1 overall pick in 2016. In a 46-9 blowout of the Colts last Sunday, Goff completed 21 of his 29 passes for 306 yards and a touchdown (with zero picks). Now, I know he shredded an Indianapolis defense that didn’t offer much resistance, but notching a 300-yard game with a 72.4 percent completion rate is quite an accomplishment for a passer who looked bewildered as a rookie.
With Goff’s fine regular-season debut looking like a continuation of his encouraging preseason, I believe we can start to buy into his potential as a QB1 under McVay. Studying the coaches tape from each of his preseason games and the regular-season opener, I identified a few things the Rams’ play caller is doing to help the second-year pro find his groove. First, the Rams are operating at a much quicker tempo than a season ago. The team will hurry to the line after successful plays or jump into no-huddle mode in the middle of series to push the pace against a beleaguered defense. The rapid-fire tempo not only limits the defensive coordinator’s call sheet due to communication concerns (fewer blitzes and pre-snap disguises), but it also allows Goff to stand at the line and survey the defense with McVay offering suggestions in his ear (the communication device doesn’t shut off until the 15-second mark on the play clock). The added advice likely helps Goff identify vulnerable areas in coverage, which leads to more big plays in the passing game.
In addition to the upping the tempo, McVay has incorporated some of the concepts that were staples of the “Bear Raid” offense Goff ran at Cal under Sonny Dykes. Some of the staple routes in that scheme mirror the basic pass patterns in the West Coast Offense, so Goff is back in familiar territory directing the Rams’ new-look offense. McVay has also incorporated a number of quick-rhythm play-action passes that lure defenders to the line of scrimmage, leaving huge windows for Goff to target Bang-8s (a version of the skinny post) and deep crossing routes. With those routes complementing a diverse quick-game package that features hitches, sticks and quick outs, the young quarterback has been dealing from the pocket.
The Rams’ implementation of a role-specific game plan for perimeter personnel has also helped Goff find his way. McVay has essentially recreated his Redskins offense in Los Angeles, with Sammy Watkins acting as the deep-ball threat (DeSean Jackson), Robert Woods serving as the reliable possession receiver (Pierre Garcon), Cooper Kupp featured as the chain mover in the slot (Jamison Crowder) and Tyler Higbee/Gerald Everett playing the matchup nightmare role at “Y” (Jordan Reed). That doesn’t even include the gadgetry that the team will eventually use with Tavon Austin stepping onto the field as a designated playmaker from any position.
If you think McVay’s offensive brilliance is a bit overblown, look at the impact his departure has already had on Kirk Cousins and the Redskins’ offense. With McVay as his offensive coordinator from 2014 through ’16, the Pro Bowl quarterback posted a 67.3 percent completion rate, a 64:32 touchdown-to-interception ratio and a 97.3 passer rating while averaging 8.0 yards per attempt. Without McVay this season, Cousins looked bad in the preseason and Week 1. Granted, he’s trying to get used to a new receiver corps, but don’t underestimate the McVay factor here.
znModeratorWill it get better for Rams RB Todd Gurley?
Alden Gonzalez
http://www.espn.com/blog/los-angeles-rams/post/_/id/35354/will-it-get-better-for-rams-rb-todd-gurley
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Everything about the Los Angeles Rams’ offense looked better Sunday, in their first game under Sean McVay. Except the running game. Except Todd Gurley, who picked up only 40 rushing yards on 19 carries. Normally, amid an electrifying blowout victory to open a season, something like that wouldn’t really matter all that much.
But 2016 happened.
Gurley was one of the NFL’s least productive runners in his second season, which came on the heels of being named the 2015 Offensive Rookie of the Year. And those hopeful of a Gurley turnaround didn’t get that against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1, triggering concerns about whether his head-scratching struggles will drag into 2017. The Rams seem to believe defenses are still gearing up to stop Gurley and daring second-year quarterback Jared Goff to beat them through the air.
If Goff continues to perform like he did Sunday — 21-of-29 for 306 yards and zero turnovers — they think more running lanes will open up for Gurley.
“I think definitely they’re going to try to challenge us and make us show that we can do it through the air,” offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur said as the Rams prepared to host the Washington Redskins in Week 2. “But to their credit, they had some big stop guys inside. It’s never an excuse, but any time you have a couple plays called back, it’s always going to kind of set you back in that area.”
With less than four minutes left in the first quarter, Gurley sprinted up the right side and picked up 14 yards. But the play was called back on a hold by right tackle Rob Havenstein, who wasn’t even involved in the play. Early in the fourth quarter, Gurley reversed his field, found an opening down the left sideline and picked up 12 yards, but tight end Tyler Higbee was called for a hold. If those penalties don’t take place, Gurley rushes for 66 yards on 21 carries, which looks a little bit better.
Still, not great.
What you need to know in the NFL
“We’ve just got to be more physical, whether me, just everybody,” Gurley said. “We’ve just all got to do our job and just go out there and execute. At the end of the day, I’ve got to win my one-on-ones, receivers got to win their one-on-ones, linemen got to win their one-on-ones, tight ends got to win their one-on-ones.”
Gurley averaged only 0.84 yards before first contact, ranked 37th among 41 running backs in Week 1. It’s a sign defenses were getting to him quickly. But ESPN Stats & Information says Gurley faced eight or more defenders in the box on only two of his carries, and that 12 others throughout the league — including Gurley’s backup, Malcolm Brown — faced more in their season openers. The offensive line also appeared to have a good day, at least with regard to pass-blocking.
On film, though, it didn’t seem as though the holes were there. Not for long, at least.
“It’s hard to run in there,” Rams left guard Rodger Saffold said, adding that the Colts were operating mostly out of eight-man boxes. “And plus, it’s still Week 1. We still have to get a feel for everything. It’s a new team, a new line, a new organization. So we have to all kind of get into the groove of things.”
Gurley gained only 885 rushing yards last season, the fewest ever for someone with at least 275 carries. But he made up for it somewhat through the air, while catching 43 passes for 327 yards. He did that Sunday, too, with five grabs — a lot of them screens — for 56 yards. He likes doing that.
“It’s always better when you can avoid one or two guys instead of 11 guys,” Gurley said, laughing. “It definitely doesn’t get much better than that.”
znModeratorRams vs. Washington: Who has the edge?
Rich Hammond
link: http://www.ocregister.com/2017/09/15/rams-vs-washington-who-has-the-edge/
RAMS (1-0) vs. WASHINGTON (0-1)
When: Sunday, 1:25 p.m.
Where: the Coliseum
Line: Rams by 2.5
TV/radio: Ch. 11; 710-AM, 100.3-FM, 1330-AM (Spanish)RAMS OFFENSE vs. WASHINGTON DEFENSE
Good news: the Rams gained 373 yards last week against Indianapolis, fifth-most among all NFL teams. Bad news: the Rams had an average of 1.9 yards per rushing attempt, worst in the league last week. That’s not sustainable. Last week, Washington allowed Philadelphia quarterback Carson Wentz to pass for 307 yards and two touchdowns, so it’s entirely possible that Rams quarterback Jared Goff will have another big game, but expect Washington to make some adjustments to its pass rush and remember that the Washington coaching staff is very familiar with Sean McVay’s offense. Washington also will have to tighten up on third down, as the Eagles converted 8 of 14 attempts last week. EDGE: WASHINGTONWASHINGTON OFFENSE vs. RAMS DEFENSE
The Rams’ defense, which contributed 16 points last week and allowed a league-low 10 first downs to the Colts, now gets to plug Aaron Donald into the middle of the line. That sounds like horrible news for Washington, but the Washington offense should be far better than that of Indianapolis, which lacked its starting quarterback and center. Washington features talented quarterback Kirk Cousins and a handful of solid receiving options, but Washington wasn’t very balanced against Philadelphia, getting called 44 pass plays and only 17 run plays. The Rams dealt with a couple minor injuries in their secondary this week, but the addition of a fresh and motivated Donald should be a major boost. EDGE: RAMSSPECIAL TEAMS
Rams punter Johnny Hekker somehow managed to improve. Hekker, brilliant last season, didn’t get a lot of work against the Colts last week, but he put all five of hits punts inside the Indianapolis 20-yard line, and the Rams’ coverage unit didn’t allow a single return yard. Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein did fine also, as he hit field goals from 50, 35 and 44 yards. Zuerlein hasn’t missed since the start of the preseason. Washington kicker Dustin Hopkins is reliable. He made his only attempt last week (from 33 yards), and in three seasons, Hopkins is 55 of 60 from inside 50 yards. Washington did not break any long kickoff or punt returns last week, and punter Tress Way averaged 40.5 yards per attempt. EDGE: RAMSCOACHING
Is this two sides of the same coin? Rams coach Sean McVay and Washington coach Jay Gruden worked together for four seasons, first in the now-defunct United Football League and then in Washington. They’re close, and know each other’s coaching philosophies inside and out. Gruden has reclaimed play-calling duties, and Washington defensive coordinator Greg Manusky worked under Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips in San Diego. The difference is, Gruden has a major edge over McVay in terms of experience, and likely will make adjustments to counter the familiarity factor. EDGE: WASHINGTONINTANGIBLES
The major question is how do the Rams feel about themselves after last week’s blowout over the Colts? They should feel good, but not too good. The Colts were awful, and Washington will be a tougher, and much more realistic challenge. It’s also a big week for McVay, against his former team. Some Rams players said McVay was “normal” this week, but others said they could tell he was extra pumped up to be facing Washington. Will McVay overthink this game, and second-guess some of his own decisions as a play-caller? He did a good job last week and needs to stay as normal as possible. EDGE: WASHINGTONMATCHUP TO WATCH
Rams guard Jamon Brown vs. Washington linebacker Mason Foster: The Rams did a lot well on offense last week, but the right side of their offensive line remains a problem, particularly in run blocking. Brown, Washington’s leading tackler last season, had a team-high eight solo tackles last week, and could be a disruptive force against the Rams’ running game, which never got going last week. Rams running back Todd Gurley said he and the line needs to be more physical, and that certainly will be tested against Washington’s 3-4 front and Brown, who helped suppress Philadelphia’s run game last week (58 yards).PREDICTION: WASHINGTON 21, RAMS 14
Fact is, the Rams aren’t as good as they showed last week, and Washington isn’t as bad as its 30-17 loss to Philadelphia showed. It’s entirely possible that the Rams might duplicate what the Eagles did last week, and have a good day throwing the ball and shut down Washington’s run game, but it’s not going to be easy. Gruden knows McVay’s tendencies and, on defense, the Rams could get exploited by Washington’s tight ends. The Rams’ clearest path to victory is to force more turnovers, and Washington had four fumbles last week, but expect a bounce-back effort from the Washington offense this week.znModeratorRedskins set to pressure Rams’ Goff after effort vs Eagles
http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/article173404981.html
When D.J. Swearinger looks at Jared Goff so far in 2017 compared to a year ago, he sees a more comfortable quarterback.
Last week, the Eagles’ Carson Wentz looked plenty comfortable under pressure from Swearinger and the Washington Redskins, who know they now have to ratchet things up against the 2016 first overall pick and the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.
“We’ve got to disguise, we’ve got to get pressure on him,” said Swearinger, who had one of seven Arizona Cardinals sacks of Goff last season. “If we disguise and get pressure on him and make him uncomfortable, he’ll throw us the ball.”
Getting pressure wasn’t the problem in Week 1 . Sustaining it and making a difference was.
Washington’s more aggressive defense under new coordinator Greg Manusky hit Wentz nine times but had just two sacks to show for its efforts as the 2016 second overall pick scrambled away from or wriggled out of a handful more. When coach Jay Gruden identified the cause of Philadelphia going 8 of 14 on third down, he pointed squarely to the pass rush not getting the job done.
“You can’t give the quarterback time to throw and set his feet that easily like we did,” Gruden said. “It’s easy for pro quarterbacks to pick you apart and find an open receiver if they have time.”
Hit just four times and sacked once in a blowout of Indianapolis, Goff picked apart the Colts for 306 yards and a touchdown on 21 of 29 passing. Manusky notes that Goff’s scrambling ability stood out, and his players understand they’ll face similar challenges against the 6-foot-4, 223-pound blue chip prospect as they did in the opener.
“We just need to keep him in the pocket and rush as one,” defensive lineman Stacy McGee said. “You’ve got to keep them in the pocket and just rush as one because everybody’s talented so anybody can really scramble if you don’t keep the pocket contained.”
Allowing an opponent to convert on 57 percent of third downs is a mark against an entire defense, but the pass-rushers were quick to shoulder the blame. Cornerbacks Josh Norman, Bashaud Breeland and Kendall Fuller were left to cover receivers longer than they should’ve had to, given the amount of rushers.
“The DBs can’t cover for eight seconds,” linebacker Zach Brown said. “That’s really on us. When we don’t get him down, we feel bad because they complete a pass. That’s on us more than the secondary.”
One of the reasons defenders were excited in camp about the switch from former defensive coordinator Joe Barry to Manusky is the propensity for more blitzes. He said the objective against the Eagles was to stop the run — and could happen Sunday against the Rams’ Todd Gurley — and force the pass.
But not every player did his job correctly, so the message this week has been finishing plays and getting Goff to the ground rather than just making him flee the pocket.
“We’ve got to do it together: From a pass rush and from coverage on the back end, I think both have got to tie in hand-in-hand,” Manusky said Thursday. “The guys have got to cover on the back end if we’re playing a zone coverage. The guys up front with the four-man rush have to get after the quarterback.”
With linebacker Junior Galette healthy after missing back-to-back seasons with torn Achilles tendons and players like Ryan Kerrigan and Preston Smith rushing, the Redskins have the tools to be a strong pressure defense. Brown thinks small tweaks can turn the unit from good to a great, and Norman pointed to execution as the biggest area of need.
“When we have the quarterback wrapped up, we’ve got to bring him down. When we have our hands on the ball, we’ve got to bring that down as well,” Norman said. “You put all that work into getting to that point of attack, and then you’re there, just finish the play. That’s the easy part.”
NOTE: WR Josh Doctson was limited in practice for a second consecutive day with hamstring tightness.
znModeratorGame Preview: Rams to Take On Washington in Week 2
Kristen Lago
Week 2 of the NFL season has arrived with Rams set to take on the Redskins on Sunday afternoon at the Coliseum. The contest carries a certain level of familiarity for both the players and coaching staff, pitting head coach Sean McVay against his former team and defensive coordinator Wade Phillips against his son Wes, Washington’s tight ends coach.
While Los Angeles is coming off of a dominant showing in last week’s 46-9 win over Indianapolis, McVay recognizes the importance of continuing that momentum moving forward.
“I think it’s a step in the right direction,” McVay said of Week 1. “We know it’s one win and now, the true measure of performance is consistency.”
The Rams looked much improved against the Colts, racking up 373 total yards plus two defensive touchdowns and a safety — scoring more than half of the 89 points they produced in seven home games last season. If Los Angeles’ Week 1 performance is any indication, the team should come out strong on Sunday. But it will be up against a strong Washington program coached by McVay’s former boss, Jay Gruden.
“We’ve got 15 more to go, but we’ve got one this week that’s very important,” McVay said. “We said to enjoy it on [Monday] and now when we come back, let’s close that game up and let’s be ready for a great Washington team that I know coach Gruden’s going to have ready to go. They have great players on offense, defense, special teams and it’s going to be a great challenge for us.”
McVay was Washington’s offensive coordinator for three seasons prior to joining the Rams, and also served as the team’s tight ends coach and as an offensive assistant, beginning in 2010. His impact on the team was obvious. Last year, Washington’s offense became the first unit in franchise history to average more than 400 yards per game and recorded a record 6,545 yards.
This weekend will mark the first time Gruden and McVay will face off on opposite sidelines since that time. And while each coach is familiar with the other schematically, McVay said the game plan for Sunday’s contest is meant to keep Washington on its toes.
“Jay was a big part of shaping kind of the philosophy that we have and that I have as a play caller, so he’s got a great feel for what we want to be able to do offensively and how we operate,” McVay said. “You always want to kind of have an awareness and an insight on, ‘What have you done?’ That’s where that self-scout is a very important part of what we do as you go throughout the course of the regular season.”
“So, I think it goes hand-in-hand,” he continued. “But Jay’s been such a great mentor to me that he certainly has a good feel for how we want to operate offensively, but you want to try to do a good job, put our guys in good situations on Sunday and hopefully let them execute.”
Defensively, the Rams will be tasked with containing quarterback Kirk Cousins and a series of other dynamic playmakers, including tight ends Jordan Reed and Vernon Davis, along with wide receiver Terrelle Pryor.
But, the defense will benefit from the return of defensive tackle Aaron Donald. Donald reported to the team last weekend after staying away while the club and his representation negotiated a contract extension.
“Obviously, it’s good to have Aaron Donald back,” Phillips said. “It’s a good game to get him back. … I think it just kind of energized our team and our players that he’s back playing football. He is a great player, but the mental part of it I think helped everybody.”
Donald should add a strong presence to the Rams’ defensive line alongside nose tackle Michael Brockers and defensive end Ethan Westbrooks. The front seven as a whole will look to replicate the disruptiveness it showcased in Week 1 by forcing Cousins out of the pocket and effectively shutting down the run game.
“You know he’s going to make the plays,” Brockers said of Donald. “He’s a special talent that nobody can actually prepare for. So there are going to be some special plays made by him on the field that you can count on.”
Expect cornerback Trumaine Johnson, who was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week, to match up with Pryor while outside linebacker Alec Ogletree should match up well with either Davis or Reed. Each noted the importance of being aggressive early on and executing their coverages effectively.
“He’s a good receiver, strong and physical, tall and fast,” Johnson said of Pryor. “That’s one a lot of guys sleep on. He’s an athlete, converted quarterback to a receiver, but he’s still good. I’m not taking away from any of the other receivers too, but he’s the main one we want to focus on.”
“We definitely have to be able to get our hands on them and try to disrupt their route and disrupt the timing,” Ogletree said. “It starts with getting pressure on the quarterback for one, and if we’re able to do that, I think we will come out pretty well.”
Additionally, with cornerback Kayvon Webster listed as questionable for Sunday’s game, Nickell Robey-Coleman Nickell may start opposite Johnson on the outside.
“I’m excited, I can’t wait,” he said. “Can’t wait to be out there taking some reps with the first team. This is an opportunity for me to step up, make some big plays. Can’t wait to see what happens on Sunday.”
On offense, quarterback Jared Goff had the best game of his NFL career in last week’s win. He completed 21 of 29 passes for 306 yards and a touchdown. He was also able to distribute the ball effectively to a number of receivers. This week, however, Goff will be up against one of the strongest pass rushers in the league in Washington outside linebacker Ryan Kerrigan along with a tough Redskins’ defense as a whole.
“I think they’re super athletic,” Goff said. “I think they’ve got really good players, really good talent over there across the board, from the front seven all the way through the secondary. They’ve got a lot of good players and are extremely athletic and long and can make plays all over the field.”
On Sunday, the focus will be on presenting Washington with a balanced offense, emphasizing a run game that was a bit of a struggle for the Rams against the Colts.
“We’ve just got to be more physical — whether me, just everybody,” running back Todd Gurley said. “We’ve just all got to do our job and just go out there and execute. At the end of the day, I’ve got to win my one-on-ones, receivers got to win their one-on-ones, linemen got to win their one-on-ones, tight ends got to win their one-on-ones. So we looked at it, we’ll get it together, and just come back next week and improve on what we did last week.”
Overall, Week 2 should provide an exciting matchup between former colleagues and will test the Rams ability to replicate the positives they displayed in Week 1. The game will kick off at 1:25 p.m. PT.
September 15, 2017 at 9:50 pm in reply to: Trumaine Johnson wins NFC defensive player of the week #74395znModeratorJohnson on Rams’ Defense: ‘It’s Only the Beginning’
Los Angeles Rams cornerback Trumaine Johnson joins “NFL Total Access” to talk about the Rams’ Week 1 victory.
znModeratorznModeratorMost Americans Oppose White Supremacists, But Many Share Their Views
A new poll asked Americans about racism after the violence in Charlottesville.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/reuters-poll-white-supremacist-views_us_59bc155fe4b02da0e141b3c8
A new poll in the wake of the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, finds that while Americans widely say they oppose racism and white nationalism, many still appear to hold far-right, white supremacist views.
The Ipsos poll, for Thomson Reuters and the University of Virginia Center for Politics, was conducted online from Aug. 21 to Sept. 5 ― in the weeks following the deadly white supremacist rally on the University of Virginia campus. It sampled around 5,360 American adults, asking questions about race that respondents could agree or disagree with to varying degrees.
“While there is relatively little national endorsement of neo-Nazis and white supremacists,” according to the release describing the poll’s findings, “there are troubling levels of support for certain racially-charged ideas and attitudes frequently expressed by extremist groups.”
While the vast majority of Americans polled expressed support for racial equality when asked in so many words ― 70 percent strongly agreed that “all races are equal,” and 89 percent agreed that all races should be treated equally ― people’s responses got murkier when it came to expressing their viewpoints on particular issues related to race and extremism.
Thirty-one percent of Americans polled strongly or somewhat agreed that ‘America must protect and preserve its White European heritage.’
For instance, while only 8 percent of respondents said they supported white nationalism as a group or movement, a far larger percentage said they supported viewpoints widely held by white supremacist groups: 31 percent of Americans polled strongly or somewhat agreed that “America must protect and preserve its White European heritage,” and 39 percent agreed that “white people are currently under attack in this country.”
“The poll results do show both an American public that overwhelmingly rejects racist affiliations and movements but at the same time is more tolerant of racially insensitive positions,” Kyle Kondik, communications director at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, told HuffPost.
“The results may be what you might expect from a country that is arguably defined by racial conflict,” he added. “And one that can vote for an African-American for president who ran on unity less than a decade ago, and then turn around and vote for a vehemently anti-immigrant candidate who exploited white grievances just last year.”
The poll addressed several hot-button issues surrounding racial justice in America ― and in many cases, the majority of respondents seemed to agree with more conservative viewpoints.
When it comes to the debate about removing Confederate monuments, for instance, most Americans polled (57 percent) said they think the statues should remain in public spaces, and less than one-third (26 percent) said they think they should be removed.
Touching on recent heated debates surrounding free speech versus hate speech, the poll found a majority of Americans (59 percent) agreed with the statement that “‘political correctness’ threatens our liberty as Americans to speak our minds,” a view often touted by conservative leaders ― including President Donald Trump.
Even support for interracial marriage ― 50 years after the landmark Supreme Court decision Loving v. Virginia ― isn’t as widespread as one might think: Around 1 in 6 Americans, or 16 percent, strongly or somewhat agreed that “marriage should only be allowed between people of the same race,” while 65 percent of Americans disagreed.
As NAACP Legal Defense Fund staffer Janai Nelson told HuffPost last month: “Calling out extremists, white supremacists, neo-Nazis is an important but very low bar for where we should be as a society at this stage in our democracy.”
“What we should be [having] is a much more nuanced and deepened understanding of how those ‘isms’ manifest in policy, in systems, in a cloak of oppression that still lives with us,” Nelson said.
znModeratorJared Goff, NFL disruptor? Rams QB may be the blueprint for transition from spread
Tony Franklin happened to be in the Los Angeles area, on a recruiting trip, so he attended the first Los Angeles Rams practice Jared Goff had under new Coach Sean McVay. Franklin was Goff’s offensive coordinator at Cal, and he held two steadfast beliefs: His former pupil could thrive in the NFL if the league didn’t let him down, and the league had plenty of coaches capable of letting him down.
Franklin, now the offensive coordinator at Middle Tennessee State, felt relief as he watched McVay work. The practice moved at a rapid tempo. McVay focused less on a predetermined system than on actions Goff performed well. The prior season had been different, Franklin believed, and set up Goff for failure. Franklin left the practice convinced Goff would excel under his new coach.
“The big thing in the NFL is getting lucky with getting a coach that actually knows what they’re doing,” Franklin said. “He got fortunate they hired McVay.”
The Rams selected Goff with the first overall pick in hopes he could lift their franchise, both in a new city and a league bereft of quality quarterbacks. The future of the NFL may depend on the ability of evaluators and coaches to translate the skills of passers who, like Goff, played their whole lives in spread offenses, the dominant system in college and every level beneath the NFL. The league so far has flailed with mixed success in turning prolific spread passers into capable NFL quarterbacks. Goff will be another data point, and perhaps the best illustration yet of the role coaching plays.
In his rookie season under Coach Jeff Fisher, Goff averaged a paltry 5.3 yards per attempt, completed 55 percent of his passes and threw seven interceptions against five touchdowns. The Rams lost all seven of his starts, and many around the league doubted any chance at future success despite the fact he was just 22 years old.
Goff has played only one game under McVay, against a dreadful Colts team that may be the worst in the NFL. But the difference was drastic. Goff completed 21 of 29 passes for 306 yards and a touchdown without throwing an interception, finishing the week as the league’s third-highest rated quarterback.
“I think you see him get more and more comfortable, just like anyone else would,” McVay said. “It just might be a different philosophical approach. It’s really been about over the last handful of months, figuring out what he’s comfortable with and what fits our players.”
In recent years, NFL coaches and executives have lamented the difficulty in evaluating and training spread quarterbacks. The league has borrowed concepts from the spread, but two primary features — spacing of players and quarterback runs — can be smothered by fast, sophisticated NFL defenses.
Still, the success of the spread in college ensures it is not going away any time soon. NFL teams, then, do not need to find better quarterbacks. They need to find coaches who have creativity and a feel for what the next generation of quarterbacks can do well.
“When you look around the league and you see people, they constantly make excuses,” Franklin said. “It gets really old. ‘He played in this; he played in that.’ I think 99 percent of the time, they have no idea what they’re talking about, no clue. They talk about our offense and say, ‘He never went through a read progression.’ That’s all we do. That’s all Jared did from the time he got” to Cal.
Goff, having transitioned from the spread to running an NFL team, chafes at the idea that spread quarterbacks have to learn a completely different game. Learning how to take a snap from under center, for example, was a painless process. Dak Prescottcame from Mississippi State, where plays demanded he decipher only half the field, and led the Cowboys to 13 victories as a rookie.
“It can be a bit overblown,” Goff said. “The main thing that teams should understand is, if you approach it the right way, you can teach anyone anything. A lot of times, people don’t think of it that way. They try to fit something that doesn’t work. By no means was that the case with me, but you see it happen all the time.”
Redskins backup quarterback Colt McCoy, who played in the spread and has spent eight years in the NFL, was asked how NFL teams can better acclimate spread quarterbacks.
“Good coaches,” McCoy replied, shrugging.
Franklin pointed to the case of New England quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who played in the Baylor offensive system under Dino Babers at Eastern Illinois, “truly as far away from an NFL offense as it could be,” Franklin said.
“The guys that don’t do it are the guys that are going to die as dinosaurs,” Franklin said. Patriots Coach Bill Belichick “just goes and learns; that’s why he goes on to win every year. All these other guys just kind of switch jobs and continue to lose every year.”
[Remember when the future appeared so bright for Andrew Luck and the Colts?]
Last year under Fisher, Franklin said, Goff played in “a true, old-school, NFL-style offense. Everything is slow. There is no rhythm changes. Everything is about not losing a game rather than winning a game. Incredibly conservative.”
In Week 1, Franklin saw McVay use tempo to prevent the Colts from substituting and allow Goff to call plays at the line, based on what the defense showed. McVay employed play-action passes that simplified Goff’s decisions. He encouraged Goff to throw deep. Most of all, he designed an attack meant to emphasize Goff’s strengths rather than stifle his weaknesses.
“It seems to be there’s this group of people that sell the NFL where they want to think this brand they have is so much better, and the only people who can play in it are the most incredibly gifted, intelligent people, and the game is so complicated that unless you’re a genius, you can’t understand it,” Franklin said. “That’s the exact opposite of what I believe a teacher does.
“A teacher takes something that could be incredibly complex, and they try to make it simple to the brain of the student. That’s what we did. Jared and I have talked. The concepts they run are somewhat similar. They may call it something different. They may have a way of verbalizing it differently. It doesn’t mean one is better than another. They’re just a different way of saying the same thing.”
McVay, a charismatic and creative 31-year-old, may use Goff as an example of how to integrate spread quarterbacks into the NFL. But teams still will need to sift through what is applicable, and what is not, when drafting quarterbacks playing in systems designed to work against slower defenses, on fields with hashmarks that, crucially, make the wide side of the field more spacious.
“These offenses they run in college are so different than what’s actually ran in the NFL,” Redskins left tackle Trent Williamssaid. “You really can’t expect players who never even took a snap under center, who never took a seven-step drop, who never had to throw a ball into a tight window, never had a three- or four-read progression on a pass play, it’s hard for them to expect them to come in and do that at an elite level. I know it’s extremely hard on teams picking quarterbacks.”
NFL teams, though, have no choice but to adjust. They must improve at untangling which skills will translate. The Cowboys selected Prescott in the fourth round last year, in part, because offensive coordinator Scott Linehan was impressed with his aptitude and leadership when he coached him in Senior Bowl practice.
“What’s important as far as working that transition to the NFL is doing a great job with the evaluation of the person, to see how those skills would translate,” McVay said. “How do they process information? Are they able to make quick, good decision with the football?”
The speed of NFL defenders will prevent some spread concepts, such as offensive linemen spaced out further apart, from ever immigrating to the NFL.
——————-
“You give Aaron Donald a three-foot split and see how long he makes your day,” Williams said.
It also mitigates how much teams can subject their quarterback to contact.
“These college offenses that expose the quarterback to hits, when they step up a level, the pro game can’t change to the college game, because quarterbacks would get killed,” one NFL executive said. “Then that becomes a business decision as well.”
The NFL cannot fully mimic how college offenses operate, but they borrow enough concepts to maximize a spread quarterback’s talent. Goff has many more weeks to prove his 2017 debut wasn’t a fluke, but he and McVay may be providing the latest template for how to turn a college quarterback into an NFL success.
“They know what they’re doing,” Franklin said. “They know how to do it. They know how to play to his strengths. I think he’s going to be a really good football player, because he’s got a really good coaching staff.”
znModeratorAnd now for the “shock jock” perspective….
==
from: https://sports.yahoo.com/wee-2-fantasy-busts-concerns-gurley-set-ramp-121406603.html
Todd Gurley, LAR, RB
Matchup: vs. WasHollywood is known for its gory horror films. “It” and its demonic clown, Pennywise, is the latest fright fest to jolt moviegoers. Sadly, Gurley, another Tinsel Town bone-chiller, is sure to leave fantasy audiences shivering. The once revered back picked up where he left off, undermining his own worldly talents with excessive three-yard plods. Against a pack of quarter horses, Indy, he cranked out a top-10 Week 1 effort, but upon closer inspection his performance left much to be desired. He netted a very familiar 2.1 yards per carry, totaled the third-worst YAC per attempt of the week and evaded a measly two tackles on 19 attempts. And that was with Sean McVay placing him in situations to succeed. Pitiful. Excuse makers will scream “But the stacked boxes!!!,” however the RB saw eight or more defenders crowd the line only 10.5 percent of the time. At some point, the finger has to point at the rusher. His receiving contributions were a positive development, but his increased tentativeness and eroding vision only amplify concern. The Rams’ offensive line also remains pathetic, which is problematic against a solid Washington front. Its defenders, Zach Brown and Jonathan Allen, gobbled up Eagles RBs last Sunday holding them to 2.6 yards per carry. Gurley, who’s rushed for 878 yards on his last 280 carries (3.1 ypc), extends his streak of futility.
znModeratorfrom: https://sports.yahoo.com/wee-2-fantasy-busts-concerns-gurley-set-ramp-121406603.html
Kirk Cousins, Was, QB
The zombified state of Washington’s offense witnessed during the Preseason foot-dragged its way into Week 1. Placed under heavy duress (42.5 percent of the time) behind what should be a fairly rigid offensive line, Cousins crumbled against the Eagles’ pressure. If not for his opportunistic running (30 yards), which helped alleviate a pair of fumbles lost, Cousins’ 240-1-1 line would’ve finished well outside the position’s top-20. He was largely bewildered, inaccurate and ineffective. Better days are on the horizon, but a road tussle with the Rams implies pine time for fantasy purposes. L.A. completely dismantled Scott Tolzein and the My Little Ponies in Week 1. Corners Trumaine Johnson and Nickell Robey-Coleman turned Colts receivers into Kibbles ‘n Bits. In total they yielded just three receptions for 23 yards and conceded an 18.7 passer rating. With Aaron Donald unlikely to return this week, the Rams pass rush isn’t as frightening. Still, if Washington’s hogs return to the slaughterhouse, Cousins is sure to be cooked. For those that heed the warning, Carson Palmer (at Ind), Sam Bradford (at Pit) and Philip Rivers (vs. Mia) are recommended alternatives.
September 15, 2017 at 5:21 pm in reply to: Rams expect Aaron Donald to make season debut Sunday #74379znModeratorMcVay: Aaron Donald will Start vs. Washington
Myles Simmons
While there may have been some speculation early in the week on the subject, head coach Sean McVay made it official on Friday: defensive tackle Aaron Donald will start in Sunday’s game against Washington.
“He was doing everything he could while not being here to make sure that when this opportunity presented itself, he would be ready to go, and help his teammates out, and try to be a positive thing that helps us win football games,” McVay said. “And that’s certainly what he’s done this week. Looking forward to seeing him get out there and compete with his teammates on Sunday.”
Donald reported to the Rams on Saturday and passed his physical. The defensive tackle said earlier in the week that he felt like he was in good shape, but acknowledged the difference between training and practicing with pads.
“I worked out a lot,” Donald said on Wednesday. “I’m in great shape, but [there’s] a difference from running around and then having to be the football field. So, just going day-by-day here and just seeing how I feel as the week goes on.”
Since then, McVay said Donald has gone through the week and looked like his old self. That’s likely what gave McVay the comfort level to announce Donald as a starter on Friday.
“I think in terms of what I’ve always thought about Aaron, just watching him from afar in the little bit of exposure I’ve had from him, he came in in good shape. He looks good, looks fresh, looks like the Aaron Donald that you guys are accustomed to seeing. And that’s kind of what I expected, because you know he’s a guy that’s going to take great care of himself when he’s away. He’s working hard.”
How much Donald plays, however, hasn’t been worked out quite yet.
“As far as how we approach that game, that’s something that we’ll figure out in the next 48 hours. But he’s going to go unless something changes [between now and] then,” McVay said. “The snap count and how many plays he plays is yet to be determined.”
Earlier this week, McVay said general manager Les Snead and his staff had looked at players in similar situations and the amount of snaps the individuals had played in a first game back.
“[Snead’s] got a handful of guys that do a great job with the analytics where guys that have been on the holdout, that have come back, what are the amount of snaps that they’ve played? So, these are certainly things that we don’t take lightly,” McVay said on Wednesday. “We want to be very smart with Aaron in how we progress him back in, while being aware that each player has his own individual circumstance that dictates that response, whatever we decide to do.”
Sunday’s matchup against Washington kicks off at 1:25 p.m. PT at the Coliseum.
znModeratorIf McVay and Kromer can just get some decent run blocking out of this offense, we’ll see more 100 yard games.
Howdy. Long time no see and good to see you. Join us in a game day chat this week if you can.
And in honor of your return, have some pie.
znModeratorWell one reason it’s hard to tell about this guy is because he’s a Russia Today type.
znModeratorWashington by ten or so.
I think Goff will be up and down a lot this season. Probly throw a couple of bad INTs in this game. That’ll be the difference.
I’ll be curious to see if the Rams D can stop the run, btw.
w
vYou know what they say.
It’s always darkest at the wv post.
September 15, 2017 at 11:19 am in reply to: Goff week 1 & after…have other Rams qbs thrown passes like the TD to Kupp? #74367znModeratorCan Sean McVay do for Jared Goff what he did for Kirk Cousins?
Alden Gonzalez
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Jared Goff and Kirk Cousins met in Houston, in the days leading up to Super Bowl LI, three weeks after the Los Angeles Rams hired a 31-year-old offensive coordinator named Sean McVay to be their new coach. They chatted for only about five minutes, and Cousins, Goff said, had “nothing but good things to say” about McVay.
Cousins’ admiration runs deep. Shortly after McVay got the job, and thus became the youngest head coach in modern NFL history, Cousins gifted him a signed jersey with the inscription, “I owe you my career.” Cousins was a fourth-round pick who spent his first three years sitting behind Robert Griffin III, but he was finally named the Washington Redskins’ starting quarterback by 2015 — the same year McVay was given play-calling duties as the offensive coordinator.
With McVay in his ear, Cousins elevated himself among the game’s best, most efficient quarterbacks, throwing for 9,083 yards and completing 68.3 percent of his passes over these past two seasons.
Question is: Can McVay do the same for Goff?
Goff and Cousins face off in Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum at 1:25 p.m. PT on Sunday, with McVay coaching his Rams against an assemblage of familiar faces. Cousins will tell you McVay had “as big a role in my development as anybody,” but McVay won’t take so much credit. McVay was coaching tight ends when Cousins was drafted out of Michigan State in 2012, and Cousins spent his first two years growing in the NFL without him.
“I think it kind of just ended up where we crossed over at a really important time in both of our careers,” McVay said. “We were able to to develop a rapport and share a bond because of the human being, and then also because of some of the things you go through, both good and bad.”
Cousins was 27 years old with three years of NFL experience — albeit only nine NFL starts — when he became the Redskins’ full-time starter in 2015. Goff, however, is merely a 22-year-old second-year quarterback. But Goff also had the talent to be selected No. 1 overall, while Cousins saw 101 others get drafted before him. Maybe, in some way, it all evens out.
“They are both very good quarterbacks,” McVay said. “I really think extremely highly of Jared. As I continue to know him, the more that you like him. What you also appreciate is that we’re getting a feel for each other. We’ve played one game that counts together, and I think as we get experience together, we’ll only get more and more comfortable.”
Goff had a brutal rookie season, with the NFL’s lowest Total QBR among those with at least 200 passing attempts. But this past Sunday, in his first game under McVay, he went 21-of-29 for 306 yards, with a touchdown pass and zero interceptions despite an ineffective running game. Redskins coach Jay Gruden, who remains a close friend, knows exactly what to expect from McVay’s offense on Sunday — but that can only take him so far.
“They’re going to give us a lot of different formations, a lot of change-of-tempos offensively, quick counts, speed breaks, no huddle, a lot of different formations, a lot of stacks, and they’ve got a good running game with Todd Gurley, and he changes it up with good play-action passes,” Gruden said. “I can tell [the Redskins players] what he likes, but stopping it is another issue because you stop certain things, but then they hit you with the running game, or they hit you with the play-pass, or hit you with the bunch-stack deal and the quick game, and it’s a great changeup.”
McVay, who worked for the Redskins from 2010 to 2016, admitted this week that it would probably be “weird to separate the emotional aspect” from this game. The Rams’ video crew set up cameras in the room where McVay and general manager Les Snead learned their 2017 schedule, and McVay’s jaw dropped when he realized he would be hosting his former team in Week 2. “Can’t get beat by big brother,” Snead told him then.
“I know he’s excited,” Gurley said. “He’s just been excited, he’s been pumped up, wired all week. We know how much this means to him.”
McVay has tried his best to downplay it.
“Just knowing a lot of the people that were in that organization, and how much they meant to me, that’s where it has extra meaning,” McVay said. “But in terms of wanting to win this more than the others, it’s our same exact approach every single week.”
McVay’s success will ultimately come down to his quarterback and how well he works with him. It’s why McVay will tell you that “the most important thing is making sure that we think about the quarterback first and foremost. What he likes is really what we like as a coaching staff, and that’s what we’re continuing to figure out and navigate through as the season progresses with Jared.”
They still need a lot more time together, but the hope is that Goff develops similarly to Cousins. Cousins called McVay a “quick thinker” with a “sharp mind,” but one who is also “highly organized” and a “great communicator.” It may sound like standard compliments, but it truly is a rare package.
Asked how Goff can benefit from McVay, Cousins said: “Well, I think Sean has experience working with another young quarterback in myself. He knows what it’s like to try to teach his system to somebody who’s new to the league and new to starting, so this is not the first time around for Sean along those lines. And Jared has all the talent in the world, you know, with the arm talent. And that certainly gives them a great chance, because that doesn’t limit what Sean can do from a play-calling standpoint.”
znModeratorSpeed_Kills (who lives in DC) wrote:
First let me be clear the Skins are no juggernaut. They don’t nor should they strike fear in anyone
But they have some pieces.
The can be a physical team and after seeing that with a pocket Goff can hurt you, they will come after him. IMO they will not load the box to stop Gurley. So Gurley needs to take advantage of his opportunities.
The right side of the Rams oline is a concern and the Skins will attack that. Bank it! Can Hav and Brown hold up? Yes they will struggle at times but can they recover and do they get better as the game goes on. Watch this because this will tell us a lot
Goff – We will see how well he can read defenses. I think that McV will try and protect him as much as possible and not throw too much on him. I do believe that Phillips has been throwing everything but the kitchen sink at this dude in practice so he will be prepared. How he executes might be different story.
The Skins are not a confident bunch right now. That locker room is going to turn on Gruden if they lose this game. The Rams defense needs to really jump on them because they are not very confident bunch right now. I worry about the Skins run game against our smallish front… it will be a good thing for the Rams to get a lead and make the Skins one dimensional.
according to many in the media the players feel like the coach that was responsible for the offensive success is gone
Think Rams positioning Martz to be head coach when Vermeil departed. Now Gruden has credentials and pedigree of his own but they loved McV….Gruden not so much. At least that’s the scuttlebutt. They have been talking about it all week on the airwaves. It will be interesting to see if the Rams can push them over the edg
Its a huge game for the Skins
I would love to see Watkins, Kupp, Everret, Woods, Austin, Gurley – show out – If they can get an early lead and get in the Skins fragile head they could be on to something. Need a couple a good plays from TA and maybe a return for a TD and I’m good.
Fingers are crossed and hoping the Rams are ready to get down in the mud and that Goff can face a little adversity and then bounce back… because he will get punched come Sunday. It will be interesting to see how the Rams cover the strength of that offense the TEs. I’m not sure that is a strength of our defense at all.
znModeratorI don’t know. But we are moving into High Concern area.
I don’t think these videos are evidence of a problem with Gurley.
To be fair. I am not sure anyone really knows yet.
Here’s the other view. In this podcast: http://theramshuddle.com/topic/gonzalez-joins-bill-barnwell-to-discuss-the-rams-podcast/ Gonzalez, the Rams ESPN guy (LA’s David Wagoner if you will), says that regardless what the numbers say in terms of how many are in the box etc., if you watch the game tape it’s pretty clear that defenses are still geared toward taking Gurley away. In spite of that, Gonzalez says that at practice you clearly see TG is a very talented back.
So this is a mystery right now. Who knows yet. I have my doubts about Gurley as a back but I don’t have any final coffin nails yet.
..
znModeratorPractice Report: Getting the Run Game Going and Building on Momentum
Kristen Lago
The Rams held a padded practice at Cal Lutheran on Thursday. Head coach Sean McVay characterized the afternoon as a “good, physical practice on both sides of the ball,” leading up to the the team’s Week 2 matchup against Washington. On Friday, the team will return to the field for a final non-padded session.
DEFENSE BUILDING ON MOMENTUM
Under coordinator Wade Phillips, the Rams’ defense got off to a strong start in the team’s dominant 46-9 win over the Colts. But this weekend Los Angeles will face a new challenge in the Redskins. Washington’s offense features several dynamic playmakers including quarterback Kirk Cousins, tight ends Vernon Davis and Jordan Reed, and wide receiver Terrelle Pryor.
On Sunday, the Rams should benefit from the addition of defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who returned to practice for the first time this week.
“It’s good to have Aaron back,” Phillips said. “It’s a good game to get him back, they’ve got a really good offensive line and the quarterback threw for 5,000 yards last year. They’ve got a really good offense, so it will be a challenge for our defense.”
And though Donald has only participated in two practices this season, he has already made an impression on field.
“Aaron is Aaron, still dominant in practice,” running back Todd Gurley said. “Still doing what he does best — dominating. … He’s an incredible player, so his quickness, his speed, you can’t coach or teach that.”
CARRIER DISCUSSES FACING WASHINGTON
Sunday’s game also carries a certain level of familiarity for both the players and coaching staff. Not only will Los Angeles be facing off against McVay’s former team led by head coach Jay Gruden, the defense will also be tasked with taking on a strong tight ends group coached by Phillips’ son, Wes.
“We’re looking forward to this ball game. I mean, we did some good things, but we’re playing a really sound offensive team with a great tight ends coach,” Phillips said with a laugh. “So I’m worried about that.”
Plus, Sunday marks the first time tight end Derek Carrier — who was traded to the Rams from the Redskins earlier this month — will compete against his former coach and teammates.
“At the end of the day, it’s football and it’s a business,” Carrier said. “I just happen to be playing for a different team now. Granted, a bunch of my buddies are still in Washington, but at the end of the day it’s a game and I need to go out there and prepare myself.”Carrier was brought on as the No. 3 tight end after Temarrick Hemingway suffered a broken fibula during the team’s preseason game against the Chargers. Since then, he has quickly adjusted to McVay’s offense here in Los Angeles and said there has been a lot of crossover in terms of the playbook.
“The core concepts of the offense are fairly similar,” Carrier said. “There’s some verbiage that’s been changed, but it’s just like in any new situation you want to be in the playbook as often as you can for as long as you can, and make sure you know everything moving forward in case your number is called.”
And even though there has been a lot of attention surrounding the matchup between McVay and Gruden, Carrier says McVay has approached Sunday’s contest as he would any other.
“I think Sean’s done an excellent job of keeping the game in focus,” he said. “It’s another game, it’s no different. We just want to prepare ourselves the best that we can to go out there and get ourselves a good shot to win.”
GETTING THE RUN GAME GOING
Quarterback Jared Goff recorded the best game of his NFL career in Sunday’s season opener against the Colts, completing 21 of 29 passes for 306 yards and one touchdown. He also showcased impressive confidence in the pocket and was able to successfully distribute the ball to a variety of receivers including Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods, and Cooper Kupp.
And while the Rams’ passing game was effective against the Colts, Los Angeles struggled a bit in the run game. Gurley rushed for just 40 yards on 19 attempts, averaging 2.1 yards per carry. However, there were definite positives to Gurley’s Week 1 performance — he found the end zone for a touchdown and caught five passes for 56 yards.
“It’s always better when you can avoid one or two guys instead of 11 guys,” Gurley said of being used as a receiver. “So it definitely doesn’t get better than that.”
This week against Washington, Los Angeles will look to present a balanced pass/run offense with an emphasis on putting Gurley in the position to succeed.
“We’ve got to do a good job — it starts with me, I’ve got to a better job of giving us cleaner looks in the run game to be able to run with and then we’ve got to be able to execute with those looks,” McVay said Wednesday. “It takes all 11 players. It’s not all on Todd, but we’re going to work hard at that, it’s a big point of emphasis for us and we certainly have to do a better job of giving a special player like him some better looks and it starts with me.”
“We just have to be more physical, whether that’s me or everybody. We just have to do our jobs, go out there and execute,” Gurley said. “At the end of the day I have to win my one-on-ones, the receivers have to win their one-on-ones, the linemen have to win their one-on-ones, tight ends have to win their one-on-ones. So we looked at it, we’ll get it together and come back next week and improve on what we did last week.”
INJURY REPORT
Cornerback Kayvon Webster was sidelined from this afternoon’s practice as he continues to nurse a shoulder injury. Veteran left tackle Andrew Whitworth and outside linebacker Connor Barwinreturned to the field in full today after resting on Wednesday, while safety Maurice Alexander was also a full participant.
“So today we had Mo, Connor, and Whitworth were back full participation,” McVay said. “Kayvon was out today with a shoulder, he’s day to day. We’ll reevaluate him tomorrow and have a better idea if he’s questionable for the game.”
Should Webster not be able to play on Sunday, cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman is expected to get the start.
“If Kayvon is not able to go, Nickell will be ready to step up,” McVay said. “A lot of confidence in Nickell — he’s done a lot of really good things throughout the course of camp and he’s had a good week so far.”
September 14, 2017 at 11:57 pm in reply to: Rams expect Aaron Donald to make season debut Sunday #74344znModeratorPhillips Ready to Implement Donald in Defense
Myles Simmons
Aaron Donald is back on the practice field this week and defensive coordinator Wade Phillips said on Thursday he can tell the unit has already gotten an emotional lift from the defensive tackle’s presence.
“I think the first thing Aaron brings is just him being back, everybody is excited about it,” Phillips said on Thursday. “Now, how much he can play and what a big difference it’ll make in the first ball game, I don’t know that. But, I think it just kind of energized our team and our players that he’s back playing football. He is a great player, but the mental part of it I think helped everybody.”
That falls in line with what defensive tackle Michael Brockers and outside linebacker Robert Quinn said after Wednesday’s session, where both reported Donald looked like his usual self at practice.
Phillips said it’s likely Donald will be on a type of “pitch count,” limiting his number of snaps in order to keep him fresh and healthy. Through two practices, however, Phillips noted he hasn’t detected many signs of fatigue from Donald on the practice field.
“It’s a number of plays and we’ll see how he is,” He looked to be in good shape. You know, football shape and shape are two different things because you’re carrying a lot more weight with pads on and so forth. But, he doesn’t seem to be bothered too much by the reps we’re giving him in practice. It’s not wearing him out, so we’ll make sure in the ball game that we watch him.”
Head coach Sean McVay echoed the same sentiment on Thursday afternoon.
“Aaron was good,” he said. “Being able to put the pads on, moving around — we had a good, physical practice today on both sides of the football and ’99’ looked good again today.”
Running back Todd Gurley joked Donald should be in good shape after reporting to the team last Saturday.
“He better have fresh legs,” Gurley said with a laugh. “He’s an incredible player. His quickness, his speed – you can’t coach or teach that. He’s just a dominate player and that’s just how he’s always been since he’s been in this league.”
Though Donald did not participate in much of the Rams’ offseason program and was not present for training camp, Phillips said he’s not concerned with the defensive tackle’s mastery of the new 3-4 scheme. And with a player of Donald’s caliber, Phillips joked there’s not much you need to tell him anyway.
“When he goes in there, we tell him, ‘Go.’ It’s not real complicated for him,” Phillips said with a chuckle. “No seriously, he knows the defense pretty well already. There’s a few things that he had to clean up, but a lot of his play is one-on-one, beat the guy in front of you.”
znModerator.@Rams fans you decide on this 3-14 draw if there is more than 2 yards to be made? 11/18 Gurly runs went for 2 yards or less. pic.twitter.com/5yKGBjL0qs
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) September 13, 2017
znModeratorDeadpool wrote:
I never advocated drafting Gurley @ 10. I still to this day said it made more sense to go after David Johnson in round 2 or 3.
Gurley doesn’t have near the power he displayed in college after his injury. He was a size/speed back.
You take out his massive homeruns in his rookie year and his ypc were pedestrian at best. And those HRs were from giant holes.
IN THE SEC. Gurley was never special with his vision. He was a special size/speed combo guy. Post injury, I’m not sure Gurley is special anything. And I so badly want him to be the man.
znModeratorGame Plan: Jared Goff, L.A. Rams Progressing Under Sean McVay With Redskins Looming
After strong start in Week 1, the Rams get ready for a Week 2 challenge that will look very familiar to their young head coach
ALBERT BREER
https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/09/14/los-angeles-rams-sean-mcvay-jared-goff-mmqb
Thursday September 14th, 2017
Sean McVay’s work as offensive coordinator in D.C. was done, and he was headed to Los Angeles to become the youngest head coach in NFL history. But before he left, Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins stopped by to give him something.
It was a jersey Cousins had signed, with a message inscribed inside the ‘8.’
“It was cool, man,” McVay said late Wednesday night. “It’s as special as anything I’ve ever gotten from a player. It says, ‘I owe you my career.’ Which … Certainly, I can say the same thing to him. There’s a mutual respect there, and an appreciation for the relationship we had, and I think it was unique that both of us got the chances we got.
“You get a chance as a coordinator to start calling plays and then he gets the shot to start full-time. That coincided those two years, and I think there was a special bond created with one another because of that.”
Eight months later, McVay is trying to recreate that in southern California. So far, so good, based on what we saw in the opener. Jared Goff finished his first game under the Rams’ 31-year-old coach with 306 yards, a touchdown and no picks on 21-of-29 passing in a 46-9 rout of the Colts.
And yet this weekend, with Cousins and the 0-1 Redskins coming to the Coliseum, and all the memories rushing back, McVay gets a reminder of how far he and Goff have to go.
“It’s the fact that we just haven’t worked together long enough,” McVay said. “We’re trying to figure it out ourselves as we get comfortable with one another. That’s the biggest thing.”
In this week’s Game Plan, we’ll check in with Deshaun Watson; the Ravens new and improved defense; the Cardinals’ strategy with David Johnson down; the Bucs’ difficult logistics; Cam Newton’s progress; Jaylon Smith; and we’ll explain why Calais Cambell thinks the Jaguars’ season-opening rout could be just the beginning.
But we’ll start in L.A., and with something that finally should give football fans a reason to show up and be excited.
After an uneven rookie year, Goff looked every bit the part of the first pick in the draft in his sophomore debut. And the biggest difference, with all due respect to Andrew Whitworth and Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods, is the people teaching him.
McVay, of course, will get the credit and the blame as a head coach does. But he insists that coordinator Matt LeFleur and quarterbacks coach Greg Olsen have been just as big a part of getting Goff right. First, it was about fixing the pieces around him. So in came Whitworth, Watkins, Woods and rookie Gerald Everett. From there, the focus turned to getting Goff to operate with confidence.
“Everything we do has the quarterback in mind first, because I think that’s the most difficult position, so you want to make it as easy as possible for those guys,” McVay said. “The things that we’ll accentuate with Jared vs. Kirk, while there’s a similar approach, there are some different things that they each feel comfortable with that we might call. Because ultimately it’s about them feeling good about it, not me.
“I mean, I’ve got a handful of plays that I like but I don’t every want to run plays that our players aren’t comfortable going and executing. It’s an ongoing thing as I get to know [Jared]. Working with Kirk a little bit longer, you knew what he liked and we were able to grow in a system together.”
To begin with, though, McVay and the coaches tried to lay a foundation that any quarterback would like. He wanted a run/pass balance, and the Rams ran it (33 times) more than they threw it (31) against Indy. McVay wanted to stay out of long yardage, and Los Angeles faced just eight third downs with more than 5 yards to gain all afternoon.
From there, the staff wanted to use that balance to generate play-action opportunities and let Goff throw on rhythm. Three big plays illustrate how that worked:
• Early in the second quarter, the Rams faked an end around to Tavon Austin, and as soon as Goff’s right foot planted, the ball was on its way out to Cooper Kupp for an easy 24-yard gain.
• On the first play of the Rams’ next possession Goff sold a play-fake to Todd Gurley, turned and, working off five-step-drop timing, found Sammy Watkins on an in-cut for 24 yards through a dead spot in the Colts’ zone.
• On the Rams’ third offensive snap of the third quarter, Goff set up off jet-sweep action to Austin, and threaded a high-cross to Robert Woods between three defenders for 27 yards.
Each play was what the Rams qualify as “explosives” (20-yards plus). Each helped build Goff’s comfort level within a new offense, which is similar to how it was done for Cousins in Washington.
“The first thing you’ll notice, you want plays that start out looking the same that are different—your run actions, whether it’s play-action, or some of your movements, where you’re bootlegging him,” McVay said. “Those are the things he’s really done a good job with, especially when you take into account the stuff in the preseason where early-down plays, you’re running play-actions and movements.
“He’s good at it, he’s gotten really comfortable with it. And that’s where there’s a good chance to open up some things down the field.”
This week, the challenge changes, of course, with an opponent that knows McVay and his scheme exceedingly well, because it’s their scheme, too. And so, as the coach is quick to point out, they’ll have to keep what he calls “the progression going.”
But the fact is, Goff’s in a much better spot than he was even a few months ago. McVay’s proud of Goff for completing 70 percent of his passes last week, and even prouder that he stayed out of the turnover column. On the other hand, Cousins’ presence on Sunday will serve as a reminder on how far they have to go.
“Hopefully, you’re an extension of one another where they can anticipate what’s going on because you’re so in tune with the game plan,” said McVay. “That evolves over time. With my relationship with Kirk and really Colt McCoy over the last couple years, they had a really good feel for what we were trying to get done offensively as a coaching staff and that allowed them to anticipate the play calls coming in.
“Things take time. (Goff) is in a really good place, it’s not one or the other. It’s the fact that we just haven’t worked together long enough. We’re trying to figure it out.”
As for that Cousins jersey, it found a home in McVay’s upstairs theater room at his house just Southeast of the facility. “I’ve got a couple nice things up there,” he said, “but it’s probably the most special thing.”
In case you were wondering, yes, there’s room up there for more.
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