Rams report, 1/10: Rams to interview Gruden (not that one)

* Head coach update.
With nothing but deafening silence continuing to come from Jeff Fisher's camp, a wrench may have come into the works just a few minutes ago when the Raiders fired head coach Hue Jackson. There's been speculation that Fisher and the Raiders would be appealing to one another if this happened.

I also read a humorous, yet plausible, suggestion on Rampagers that Fisher decided long ago to take the Miami job, and he's just letting the Rams twist in the wind as long as possible because he's still bitter about Super Bowl XXXIV.

Continuing to cover their bases, the Rams (per Tony Softli) have gotten permission from the Bengals to interview offensive coordinator Jay Gruden, Jon's younger brother.

Gruden would be a tremendous rebound for the Rams if they can't get the more-experienced Fisher, and yes, I mean Jay. Yes, Gruden has just one year NFL experience at the coordinator level, like the two defensive candidates I ragged on the last couple of weeks. But he has head coaching experience, if at unconventional levels. He won two championships in the Arena League, and led the Florida Tuskers to a 5-3 record and an appearance in the UFL's championship game in 2010. He also has a Super Bowl ring won as an offensive assistant for Jon Gruden's Bucs in Super Bowl XXXVII.

The Bengal offense ranked 18th-to-20th in the league in the main offensive categories, which isn't electrifying, but it's an awful young offense, and rookie QB Andy Dalton's 3,400 yards, 20 TDs, 13 INTs and 80.4 passer rating were not bad at all. Those numbers were as good as Joe Flacco's, Mark Sanchez's or Ryan Fitzpatrick's. And a lot better than Sam Bradford's. But Bradford plus Jay Gruden could be a promising combination. (Though, as with Josh McDaniels, difficult without a decent offensive line or an A.J. Green-like wide receiver.)

Also, Gruden's the first offensive coach the Rams will have interviewed at all. Much as I disdain Kevin Slaten, he made a decent point on TV last night that the Rams are going the wrong route with defensive-minded coaches like Fisher; they BADLY need some offensive excitement. He went off the board and said the Rams should be talking to college coaches like Chip Kelly or Mike Gundy. 
Dislike Slaten, but I like that kind of thinking here. Maybe Jay Gruden's where Slaten and I meet in the middle.

* GM update.
Mike Williams, the Rams' VP of player personnel, has also been reported as a candidate for Billy Devaney's job. With league rules that will keep most of the Rams' GM candidates from other teams from taking over here until April, Williams is effectively Billy Devaney right now anyway.

I suppose, then, that Williams will be responsible for any free-agency moves the Rams make this offseason, and he's going to be largely responsible for this year's draft, though the new GM should be in place by then under most circumstances.

I don't know about the rest of Rams Nation, but I could use a clarification of who's in charge of some of the personnel decisions the Rams will have to make in the coming months without a full-time GM in tow.


* Ex-Rams transactions.
In what may be the last of his ten million mentions in this blog, Eric Young's practice squad contract was allowed to expire by the Chargers. He may have to find another roster to jump on and off of ten million times next season. Schuylar Oordt was similarly let go by the Redskins.

Late update: the Big Dead have fired their QB coach, former Rams QB Chris Miller. Ex-Chiefs HC Todd Haley's been rumored to be returning there in some capacity for a while now.


* Workouts never stop.
The Rams held tryouts with two CFL players last week. Jovan Olafioye of the B.C. Lions, a 24-year-old, 6'6", 325 tackle, has tried out with a bunch of teams. He was a CFL All-Star in 2011. They also tried out B.C. linebacker Solomon Elimimian, whose name is physically impossible to pronounce while eating peanut butter. He is 25, 6'0", 227 and was the CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie in 2010.

The Rams' staff was all fired by the time of this workout, so I'm not sure who ran it. Steve Savard? D'Marco Farr? Jim Thomas? I bet they'd all be good at it.

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