 A FEW OBSERVATIONS BY FAST EDDIE
(Sept 29) |
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Atlanta Game: It was a
wonderful weekend for the Rams, but a rough one for me. I'm still recuperating from
Sunday's excesses and may be for quite some time:( Faulk in the Atlanta game: They got him a few times in the backfield. That was mostly due to a letdown up front at times. Vermeil and Hanifan say they've never had an offensive line grade out that well. They did do a very solid job in pass protection and the guards did a superb job pulling, but Nutten and Gruttadauria still had a couple of letdowns in the running game. That is to be expected against a front seven as good as the Falcons. No-one controls Hall, Tuggle, and Crocket for an entire game. You also have to realize what sort of a back Marshall Faulk is. He also had a 47 yarder called back on a penalty. If that goes, then his average is right up there. Those are the types of plays that will boost his per carry average. He is not a guy who will consistently get 5 or 6 yards like Jamal Anderson or Terrell Davis. He is a guy who will make enough moves to get you the first down in short yardage if you give him the time up front to make the initial cut, and he is a guy who will break the long one once or twice a game. He did it twice, only one of them counted. If you want consistency and long drives, you don't keep pounding him with it, you send him in motion and you put him in the slot and you throw him the screens. That is where he's at his best and they have done a very good job of taking advantage of that part of his game. All you need to know about the Bengals... Tucker at Tackle: I dunno about this Ryan Tucker at tackle business. His problems in the past have been that he gets too high and doesn't play with leverage, then he gets out of position. He wasn't really "moved inside". Actually he played center in college and the Rams first tried to move him to guard because they felt they wanted a shorter center (he's 6'6) so the QB could find the passing lanes easier. But he struggled at guard and so they moved him back to center this year where he played very well, but Gruttadauria was even better in camp. Late in the preseason, the Rams coaches decided they were not impressed with any of their backup tackles, so they started experimenting with the other backups on the outside. Evidently Ryan caught their eye out there. So they cut Chanoine and McGee and kept a project in Willie Jones because they like his upside if they can get him in the offseason weight training program for another year and get some more weight off of him. Now Ryan's the third tackle, but I doubt the recent rumors that he's pushing Fred Miller for playing time. He's only played the position against 2nd half preseason scrubs. Tackle appears to me one of the thinest positions on the team, so I just pray Freddie or Orlando don't get hurt. Tight end: I don't believe Lewis will ever be an everydown tight end. If you look at the Rams' problems running the ball last season, you immediately see the tailback problems---after Hill went down, there was a big dropoff. What most people don't take account of, however, was Ernie's injury and the role that he had played in the rushing game. Even in Mike Martz' new scheme, which emphasizes the role of the tight end as a skilled receiver more than most (look at Stephen Alexander's two TDs for the Skins in week two), you still need that blocking presence to lead the play to the strongside---and maybe, more importantly, to seal off the backside pursuit. If you look at the way they have been using Lewis, you'll see that he's not even playing a true tight end position. He's playing more like an H-Back, running parallel to the line and slipping into the flats on passing downs. The book on Lewis coming in was that he was a very skilled receiver who couldn't block his way out of a paper bag. I have seen nothing from him throughout camp or the preseason to make me think that that criticism is inaccurate. Roland Williams has struggled at times blocking and there has been no mention of Lewis challenging for that job... presumably because he can't play in a single TE set and block straight up on run downs or even pass protect effectively. I believe Ernie will win the job back soon after he returns, Williams will continue to get his minutes, and Lewis will be relegated to a very specialized role, even more so than he is now. With the emergeance of Jeff Robinson, I'm not even sure Lewis keeps his spot on the roster. BTW Ernie did the post game show this week [week 3]. He's chomping at the bit. He can't practice until after the 6th game because he's on PUP. I expect he'll be back a few weeks after that. There is no truth to Karraker's rumors that Conwell is out for the year... at least no one's told Ernie about it! Little. I love Leonard Little. I think if he picks up where he left off, the way he did this summer, Leonard could be an impact player on the Rams defense THIS year. He excels at rushing the quarterback, plays recklessly, gets down the field and make plays in coverage, and has great speed to make plays in backside pursuit. Leonard is such an animal rushing the quarterback---if you've watched what Kearse has been doing for the Titans, that's the skill set that Leonard has. Right now Leonard is nowhere near as good as he will be. That's just my opinion, but I think Leonard will be a terror... a playmaker like the Rams have not had at the linebacker position since moving to St.Louis. That's why they stood by him through the potential PR crises... he's too good to let go of. |
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