OFFSEASON NOTES FROM JIM FADLER
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I thought that things started going south for the team last year when they made the final camp cuts....losing Robinson and Zgonina really hurt the depth and play of the defensive line imho. They seemed to be sacrificed due to the uncertainty and unsettled nature of the running back position. Zgonina was missed in the middle and on special teams. Robinson was starting and holding his own on the Bears by the end of the year, he was also very impressive in training camp as a pass rusher and yet was still cut.
Corey Sears is a gap shooter and relies on his speed... He has more body mass and strength than Farr and I liked his motor a lot during preseason last year.
As to the talk about the middle of the defense and the linebacking corp......you can make the type of defensive line the Rams have work if you have a linebacking corps that can chase, run down the play and anchor to side to side. IMho that's why Eric Hill turned out to not be the answer last year in that he could not get outside the guards to make a play. As long as the play was right at him he was much better than Robert Jones but injuries had sapped him of his range. Todd Collins will not make as many tackles as Roman Phifer but if his strength allows him to ride out the plays better than Phifer the Rams have a plus.
II. [On the Faulk negotiations]
I am led to believe that Faulk has not agreed to the contract but that the deal remains in striking distance. Of the Rams two offers to Faulk one is real money and the second longer contract is funny money and back loaded...The shorter off has more money in salaries than the Faulk camp would like and less in the bonus--that boils down the current dispute as I understand it. The Rams way has always been to put more money into the yearly contracts rather than the bonus in order to reduce the potential cap hits when/if a player cannot produce any longer. The Faulk camp would like a bonus of $10 million....
III. [On the rumor that Marshall Faulk will " extend his contract holdout deep into training camp." ]
Bernie got this from Howard Balzer, who speculated on the air on KFNS that the reason Faulk had not signed his contract was to avoid Two a Days.
Neither reporter ever talked to Marshall Faulk or his agent.
It was not until Frank Cusamano and Jeff Gordon got him on the phone last week that anyone ever asked Marshall how and what he felt about the issue.
Lazy journalism.
IV. [ On the idea that Faulk only plays well in a contract year]
I assume [fans] got this from Joel Buchsbaum because he says this so much.
In the strictest sense of the word the last two years were not contract years, although last year was a salary drive for all intents and purposes. His rookie year was pretty fair and so was 1995 and none were salary drives.
V. [Assorted notes]
There is some uncertainty amongst the defensive coaches about the linebacking alignment....Bunting I believe prefers that they stick with the right/left alignment and not flip-flop to the strong side....I think that is absolute nonsense.
McCollum is a one year plug in for Spikes and the Rams intend on grooming Spikes to start next year...given any kind of development on his part and Spikes could start before the year is over.
I am led to think that Warner is now safe as the #2 man given that Hostetler is now out of the picture....he was the only guy that interested Vermeil.
Heading into camp Bruce is completely well and care free....lets keep our horns crossed.
I picked up a very neat Rams "toy" while on vacation...its a boxed set of Rams checkers...miniature Rams helmets that play against 49er helmets...a set can be ordered for a reasonable amount from Gifts by The Bay....113A North Beach Blvd. Bay St. Louis, Mississippi 39529 or 228-466-6337. They had all the teams for sale...ask for Carole Bianco.