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Rams weekly report...
« on: Sep 5th, 2002, 12:06pm » |
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I posted this on FFToday in the Teamwork thread and thought I'd sharit with you guys here as well. If you have any questions or disagreements, let me know.
RAMS
St. Louis at Denver, Sunday 3:00 Central
Really, how much does anyone have to analyze the Rams? Everybody who has Warner, Faulk, Holt, Bruce and Jeff Wilkins will undoubtedly start each of them every week. I will try to keep up on backups and injury news.
QUARTERBACK:
Kurt Warner played very sparingly during the exhibition season. He played the entire first half of the final game against Kansas City, and the Rams' first team offense looked like the Rams first team offense usually does. They moved the ball at will. However, they had trouble inside the red zone getting TDs. Part of the problem is that they play the Chiefs during the regular season and Mike Martz really kept his cards close to the vest.
Warner's thumb has been an issue since last season, but he claims that it's fine. He has gone through Training Camp without needing to wear a protective brace, but it's the kind of thing that will recur if he takes a hit on it or bangs it on a helmet.
Jamie Martin suffered a slightly seperated shoulder in the first game of the exhibition season. He has returned to practice and is back as Warner's replacement. How effective will he be if called upon, having very little playing time in the preseason remains to be seen, but here is what Mike Martz has to say about this:
“He did all of the scout team work. He is fine and back to 100 percent. There are no after effects, he is fine.”
“Jamie has played before. That is the biggest issue that you worry about is having a guy who is able to go in there and sort through the verbiage and deal with that. Jamie spent all last year assimilating all of this information. He could still function with our game plan. ”
Marc Bulger is the #3 QB and looked pretty good in the preseason most of the time. He was plagued by some inconsistency, though.
RUNNING BACKS:
Marshall Faulk had only one carry going into the final preseason game. In the last game, he played the entire first half, and the offense just ate up the yards. All that garbage that came out during the season about Faulk being angry with Martz for his playcalling during the Super Bowl proved to be false, and Faulk signed a contract extension which will enable him to finish his career in St. Louis.
Trung Canidate has solidified the #2 job behind Faulk despite the fact that he laid the ball on the grass several times in the preseason. He will keep that status until he fumbles it away. Lamar Gordon showed some flashes of great play making ability. He hits the hole harder than Canidate and showed nice hands out of the backfield, but the fact that he's stil learning the system has clearly kept him as the #3 RB. Here's Martz' take on the back up situation:
"Oh, there's no comparison right now between the two," Martz said Saturday. "Truthfully, to be honest with you, there never really has been. Trung's light years ahead of Lamar in a lot of respects - in just being able to deal with all the things that you've got to deal with at this level."
Lamar still gets a little big-eyed about what's going on out there," Martz said. "It's a little bit big for him right now. Lamar's going to be a terrific player in this league eventually. Lamar's where Trung was when he first came in."
Fullback James Hodgins is injured and wil miss considerable time. He had a huge year last year lead blocking for Faulk. Chris Hetherington takes over at fullback. He has better hands than Hodgins, but his blocking ability will be key to the Ram running game.
You could very well see tight end Ernie Conwell play some at fullback also.
WIDE RECEIVERS:
Torry Holt looks to be the Rams main weapon at WR. The torch was passed quietly last year from Bruce to Holt as Holt had more catches, yards and scores. When the first team played in the preseason, Holt was sent deep several times by Warner. Holt banged up his ribs, but shows no lingering effects.
Bruce is still a viable option at WR, obviously. There will be games this year where he will put up monster numbers. Like I said, if you have Bruce, you'll play him each week.
Ricky Proehl pulled a hamstring early in camp and didn't practice or play at all until mid week last week. Look for him to play Sunday, but his endurance may be questionable.
Terrence Wilkins returned to practice this week and according to Mike Martz, he's fine:
"He's fine," Martz said. "He went through everything."
Whether Wilkins will return punts this week is uncertain, but when he got the chance in the exhibition season, he looked capable of breaking one all the way. He has better hands than Az Hakim and the coaches love his running ability after the catch. Don't look for a dropoff in the WRs because of the loss of Hakim.
TIGHT END:
Ernie Conwell will line up any where in various formations. He will be split wide, he will be in the back field, the slot, and don't be surprised to see him at QB.  With the emergence of Brandon Manumaleuna as the second Tight End as a blocker and receiver, Conwell's role as an extra pass blocker will be lessened, which could mean he is in for a career high in receptions.
Manumaleuna will be, most likely, lined up next to right tackle John St. Clair in some passing situations. St. Clair is the glaring weak spot on the Rams' offense. If he can handle his position without needing an extra blocker to help him, the tight end position on the Rams may be a nice surprise to people who drafted Conwell.
DEFENSE:
The Rams only key loss at defense this year was London Fletcher. Losing the leading tackler on the team for three years in a row is obviously going to cause some concern. His replacement is Jamie Duncan who played for Defensive Coodinator Lovie Smith while he was coaching in Tampa Bay. Smith thinks Duncan is a better pass coverage guy than Fletcher and believes he will have just as many tackles as Fletcher.
Dre Bly has taken over as the second cornerback moving Dexter McCleon to the nickle back spot. Bly is a playmaker and could have several interceptions this year.
The Rams defense went from one of the worst in NFL history in 2000 to being the #3 defense last year under Lovie Smith. They should be as good or better this year and are a must start in defense leagues.
KICKER:
Jeff Wilkins experimented with kicking barefoot last week. Here are some comments from him about that:
"I started popping it, and it started feeling pretty good," Wilkins said. "So I (thought), 'Well, if I'm going to try it, let me try it in a preseason game, and see how it feels.' "
For the past couple of years, Wilkins thinks he has lost some power on kicks, particularly when kicking outdoors, because his spikes have scraped the ground.
"On grass, it really affects it," Wilkins said. "On (artificial) turf, it slides through, so it wasn't a big deal. So at home games, it wasn't a big deal. But this year we've got a lot of outside games."
LINKS:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/Rams
http://www.stlouisrams.com/
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