2014 Senior Bowl: day 3 practice notes

I can’t emphasize enough how bad NFL Network’s coverage of Senior Bowl practice week was this year. They’ve made a once-good feature almost completely useless. It’s not even about the practices any more, which they’ve dropped from 90 minutes’ coverage per team to 60 since they’ve started covering events in Mobile, it’s about getting screen time for their personalities or for NFL coaches and executives 15 fans out of 16 could give a flying crap about. Day 3 of practice week is supposed to be the most important day. NFL-N even as much as advertised it as the time for NFL fortunes to be made. But instead of watching WRs battling DBs or defensive linemen clashing with offensive linemen, we got ANOTHER interview with Thomas Dimitroff’s ridiculous hairdo, and Falcons owner Arthur Blank, and since when do owners get to roam the field during Senior Bowl workouts anyway? Instead of blitz protection drills, we got commercial breaks. Instead of ANY 1-on-1 line drills for the South team, we got ANOTHER interview with Senior Bowl executive Phil Savage, who told us Fresno State QB Derek Carr was the big winner of the week as far as improving his draft stock. Really? I wouldn’t know, I barely got to see him! NFL-N might as well have not aired South practices at all, for the amount of useful action we saw. 

Savage didn’t need to reveal this week’s big loser(s) – it was us at home stuck with NFL-N’s terrible coverage. We’re going to be stuck with it, too, as long as NFL-N believes that Senior Bowl week should be a lame(r) version of “NFL AM”, minus the short-skirted babe, or that they can’t devote 90 minutes during the day to each practice because they can’t BEAR to deny us prompt airing of the 2006 Pro Bowl Skills Challenge at 3 p.m. the third practice day. Holy cats. RamView kindly requests NFL-N get its damn cameras on the key drills and either properly show them live or put together a nightly highlight show where we can see them. That could even be hosted by a short-skirted babe! They condense entire games down into useful highlight shows all the time; an all-star practice should be cake. Speaking of cake, let’s see what RamView can make out of NFL-N’s crumbs from day 3: 

* North player of the day: Notre Dame tackle Zack Martin. He had the strongest 1-on-1 sequence of any lineman all week, pancaking Michael Sam with a forearm in the back and dominating Trent Murphy the very next snap. Martin was very quick out of his stance and showed fine footwork and quickness once upright, and makes up for any perceived shortness of reach with solid technique. He also looked dominant during team blocking drills, strong, anchoring very well and tough to move. Martin also got to show off some versatility, kicking inside to left guard and locking up strong on Aaron Donald to win an epic battle. Having finally gotten to see him in action on TV a little bit, I understand the fuss about him earlier in the week. Good showing though not dominant the way Eric Fisher was last year. I do expect to see him get beaten badly once guys start ripping back inside on him. He’s almost immediately leaping backward off the snap to counter speed. 

* South player of the day: Florida State LB Christian Jones was pretty consistent in coverage in 1-on-1 and 7-on-7, where he read the QB well and cut off a primary route. That’s not much to go on, but it’s a better pick than NFL-N picking Gabe Jackson when the only footage they showed of him all day was Princeton DT Caraun Reid smoking the crap out of him 1-on-1. 

* Stock up: Aaron Donald, DT, Pittsburgh. Just killed people with his quickness all week. If you do not have quickness at guard, you are not going to block him. In 1-on-1 he embarrassed Baylor brontosaur Cyril Richardson, swatting his hands down lightning-quick and shooting by him. He followed that with a similarly easy win over Kadeem Edwards (Tennessee State). Donald put a punch on Edwards before the guard could even get out of his stance, then just whipped past his outside shoulder. And before we doom Donald with the small-but-quick DT stereotype, he also flashed some serious power. On the rematch, he bull-rushed Edwards and trucked him back into the backfield. In team blocking drills, he could be seen trucking Brandon Linder (Miami) and knocking Brandon Thomas (Clemson) off the ball, which was crazy good, because they’re both good guards. Fielding a fan question, Mike Mayock called Donald an explosive, 1-gap penetrator, best at a 3-technique, who’ll be an immediate disruptor in a 4-man front. He compared Donald to Geno Atkins, then said perfect teams for him would be Tampa, Chicago, Tennessee and… St. Louis. Mayock should probably hold his horses on making Donald a Ram until his pro day, though. At 6’0 285, he’s going to have to add some weight while maintaining that outstanding quickness. Michael Brockers is 6’5 326, Kendall Langford 6’6 295, Jermelle Cudjo 6’2 311, Matt Conrath 6’7 290… as enjoyable as it was to watch him in practice, I couldn’t use the projected Mayock Zone (late 1st/early 2nd-round) pick on Donald at his current size. 

* QB view: if the Rams draft a QB from this game, I’d just as soon have it be Jimmy Garoppolo of Eastern Illinois. Quick release, throws a nice ball and showed some flashes of good decision-making. Nobody really stepped forward. Tajh Boyd was up and down all week. He didn’t throw well on the move day 3, and I also think his arm’s too low when the ball comes out, especially compared to fellow North QBs Logan Thomas or Stephen Morris. Thomas didn’t throw well on the move either, though. Boyd had accuracy problems at times on short sideline throws and even ate the ball once during 1-on-1 passing drills rather than attempt a 3-yard out route. That was odd. Free of day 2’s windy weather, the South QBs looked a lot better. David Fales threw pretty well during the install period and might have been the best thrower based on what NFL-N showed. Derek Carr threw the nicest deep ball all day during warmups but it wasn’t caught. 

* Stock down: Michael Sam, OLB, Missouri. Day 3 was the first day Sam stuck out on TV, but for plays that didn’t go his way. In blitz drills, he couldn’t even get off the line against Wisconsin TE Jacob Pedersen and looked like he lacked any power. He also just got owned in 1-on-1 line drills. He jumped offside twice against Martin and still got pancaked, then got stoned and nearly flattened by Michigan guard/RT Michael Schofield. Mike Mayock said Sam, though working out as a stand-up pass rusher, would be more successful with his hand in the dirt. He didn’t look good at either here. I’d expect to see better from the SEC sack leader. 

* Stock up: Michael Schofield, RT/G, Michigan. No prison breaks going on against this guard on the third day. Put on one of the more dominant shows we saw from anybody. He held strong and anchored well in two reps against Ra’Shede Hageman, stoned Sam at the line and nearly pancaked him, and later pancaked James Gayle of Virginia Tech. Just buried the guy. Definitely earned some additional looks. 

* Stock up: Josh Huff, WR, Oregon. Just 5’11 203 but I like him the more I see him. Was impressed all week with his ability to defeat physical coverage. In the red zone, he beat Isaiah Lewis, no easy chore this week, on a fade route, and overcame holding by Marqueston (no relation) Huff at the goal line to make a diving catch in the back corner. Huff’s been getting held all week but has just been fighting through it and making tough catches. 

* Stock all over the place: Ra’Shede Hageman, DT, Minnesota. With the week almost over without anyone close to claiming the title of Senior Bowl break-out player, Hageman looked like he was going to grab the brass ring. He was impressive during team blocking drills. He beat a double-team and pancaked Tyler Larson (Utah State). The o-linemen tried to execute an X-block on a later rep, but Hageman got off so quickly that his blocker just whiffed at thin air. It was shaping up as a blow-up, freakish performance. But Hageman couldn’t get anywhere against the ascendant Schofield 1-on-1, then he started jumping offside, and then Larsen didn’t really have any trouble with him, shutting down the hype with good handwork and keeping Hageman on his outside hip. Reporting from the field, Daniel Jeremiah then tellingly noted that Hageman has been streaky and doesn’t show up on a lot of plays. And there he was, practicing just like he plays. He’s a tantalizing physical talent but the GM who takes him is going to have to have some gambler in him. 

* Stock down: Lorenzo Taliaferro, sadly. The star of day 2’s blitz pickup drills looked pretty limited as a receiver, dropping a wide open pass and not proving hard to blanket running a wheel route. Jerick McKinnon (Georgia Southern) had similar shortcomings, with a bad drop and inability to separate from LBs, though he did get separation on one rep with a massive two-handed shove. Bad day for Georgia Southern, as corner Lavelle Westbrooks got just embarrassed a couple of times in 1-on-1s. He whiffed trying to jam Jordan Matthews (Vanderbilt) at the line and gave up a big catch, and bit hard on an out move by Mike Davis (Texas) and got whipped inside to give up another big play. 

* Trench mouth: Mayock said Seantrel Henderson will be a starting RT “if he can clean his act up.” He said Cyril Richardson looks good one play and lost the next, and zone-blocking teams won’t want anything to do with him. So I think he’s off the Rams’ list. He struggled with speed and change of direction all week and looks MUCH too slow to me to be an effective pass protector, getting whipped by everybody in day 3 1-on-1s. And Mayock continued to talk up Dee Ford, “begging” somebody to step up and block him. He had as good a week as any pass rusher could have, which would have been nice to have witnessed on TV at any point at all. 3-4 defenses should be salivating over him for his exquisite speed off the edge. 

* Stock down: Kevin Norwood, WR, Alabama. Derek Carr threw him a perfect deep ball during a simple route tree drill and he couldn’t track it to run under it. He looked over the wrong shoulder on a skinny post. He starts running his routes with a false step at the line that slows him down and should make him easy to jam. He’s got good hands and can win jump balls, and he’ll need to, because I never saw him separate from anybody. 

* Stock down: Chris Davis, CB, Auburn. Has deep speed and quickness to break up quick slants, but he’s under 5’10” and getting beaten repeatedly for jump balls. Big guys showed little trouble going over him to get at the ball. Maybe he’ll be fine if you keep him in the slot. 

* Wake Forest WR Michael Campanaro made a couple of well-challenged catches in the red zone drill on classic slot receiver routes. Looked pretty fearless, wasn’t afraid to get physical, made a lot of quick moves. If you saw him and thought Danny Amendola, it would be hard to blame you. They’re similar-sized. Campanaro also wears #16. And, the clincher, Campanaro is frequently injured! Maybe he and Danny are related! 

* Coverage coverage: Deone Bucannon made as pretty a play as you’ll see to break up a pass to Pedersen, who had run a really good pivot route. Difficult route to defend that well. In the red zone, though, he was terrible giving up a TD, biting hard on a double move and never recovering enough to even look for the ball. Mayock voiced over one of Nevin Lawson’s reps that a big knock against him was that he holds too much. Right on cue, a blatant hold at the goal line. Utah CB Keith McGill was tabbed as a Seahawk-style “long corner” at 6’3 205 and is drawing keen interest. Mayock also called Liberty CB Walt Aikens a “long corner” at 6’0.5 200. Hey, I could have been a long corner with those dimensions. 

* SlowView’s still got the actual game recap to do; if anything useful pops up in the day 4 practice coverage or the practice week recap show, which I very much doubt, I’ll work it into there. Lots of stuff on the way, too (I hope), including the Shrine Game, Combine recaps and maybe even a free agent preview or two. 

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2014 Senior Bowl: day 2 practice notes

NFL Network’s coverage of Senior Bowl practices in 2014 continued to leave a lot to the imagination on day 2. We saw no 11-on-11 or line drills for the South team, and the DBs were only in very soft coverage for most of the passing drills shown of either team. In the infinite wisdom that we'd rather watch Mike Mayock and Charles Davis wax rhapsodic about slow and undersized linebackers for the millionth time, though, NFLN stuck to a schedule that missed most of what we at home really want to see out of either team practice. What was the point of even sending people and cameras to Mobile? Mayock could have talked up this year’s major draft bust offensive lineman from a studio just as well, couldn’t he? RamView’s left doing something even Abraham Lincoln couldn’t; bringing North and South together, for the day 2 recap: 

* South player of the day: Coastal Carolina (the Chanticleers!) RB Lorenzo Taliaferro. Since the only really good action we got to see of the South team drills was blitz pickup, Taliaferro's their star of the day for absolutely dominating at it. This is a drill where the RBs usually get whipped at the start of practice week, but Taliaferro made some of the best blitz pickups I’ve seen watching these practices, dominating Telvin Smith (Florida State) and Kenny Ladler (Vanderbilt). He has excellent technique, keeps his hands in the middle of his chest, uses his arm length like a good OT. He gave up no ground and was too powerful to bull rush this day. I’d like to see a big LB go at him, but this kid can really pick up a blitzer. 

* North player of the day: West Virginia RB Charles Sims. On running plays, he looked quick to the hole and quick upfield with a lot of wiggle. He's not afraid to take on, and run through, LBs, and he looked all right in blitz pickup drills. NFL-N reported he had 200 catches in college, and he would have had a big play on a screen pass in 11-on-11, with the whole field open in front of him. I know a team that could use an elusive and confident pass-catcher out of the backfield on 3rd down, too. 

* Louisville LB Marcus Smith did not look like one of the better players in either blitz or 1-on-1 line drills. He didn't look very explosive and really struggled to get off blocks. His spin move not only didn't work, it gave Kadeem Edwards (Tennessee State) leverage to put him on the ground on one rep. Smith rebounded in 11-on-11 by blowing up a sweep. 

* Edwards, a 6'3 315 guard, did well against Smith and Louisiana Tech DT Justin Ellis 1-on-1 but had a false start early on. He showed good handwork off the snap on Smith and reacted very well to his spin move. 

* Seantrel Henderson, perhaps confused why players from Miami would ever be on a North team, had his struggles in the North’s practices. Trent Murphy (Stanford) beat him pretty convincingly in 1-on-1 as he struggled with Murphy’s quickness. He also blew a couple of assignments in 11-on-11 situations that let defenders go unblocked into the backfield. Henderson also got bull-rushed by Will Clarke (West Virginia) to get a screen blown up, though the top-heavy Clarke had been put down earlier in 1-on-1 by Clemson’s Brandon Thomas, who’s 40 pounds lighter than Henderson and benefits noticeably from better agility. Henderson and Zack Martin did some good pass protection in 11-on-11, and Henderson got out front well to block a screen to Sims that would have been a big play, but he’s still got some flaws to address. That play was really made by guard Brandon Linder, also out of Miami, picking off La.-Lafayette LB Justin Anderson, who reacted well late to what was happening. At center, Weston Richburg (Colorado State) looked tough to move and showed pretty good feet. 

* Taliaferro wasn’t the only standout of the South’s blitz pickup drills. Antonio Andrews (Western Kentucky RB) had little trouble with Montana LB Jordan Tripp’s spin move (neither did anyone else) and beat Alabama LB Adrian Hubbard clean a couple of times, letting him get himself off-balance on one rep and putting him on the ground. Nice! Christian Jones (Florida State LB) rocked Georgia TE Arthur Lynch off balance to win one rep and destroyed him with a spin move on another. Lynch ended up trying to save face by holding Jeremiah Attaochu (Georgia Tech LB). Lynch looks far too slow afoot for the job. Jerick McKinnon (Georgia Southern RB) struggled with everything. He got run right over by a bull rush, got whipped with a club move and got driven down to a knee by various blitzers. Auburn fullback Jay Prosch got humbled and run over by a couple of people. He has the footwork and quick balance reset to do the job well, which showed when he handled spin moves (not just Tripp’s) with no problem. He’s letting rushers get much too far into him and losing the leverage battle badly. I think that’s fixable and he’ll be OK back there. 

* The North team’s 1-on-1 passing drills weren’t very revealing; the DBs were mostly in Tim Walton zones. The best looking DB was Michigan State safety Isaiah Lewis, who cut off a slant to Monday’s star Robert Herron very nicely and got away with a CRAPLOAD of holding on another rep while Charles Davis applauded, “Good coverage!” Most of the DBs did not show the anticipation and closing speed needed to close down quick routes from a deep position, with the possible exception of Pierre Desir of Lindenwood (!). 

* CB Aaron Colvin (Oklahoma) blew an ACL right at the outset of the South’s passing drills, which looked very dialed back. Alabama’s Kevin Norwood went up over Auburn instant legend Chris Davis to pull down a deep jump ball even though Davis pressed him well and stayed with him well downfield. Mike Davis (Texas) turned Keith McGill (Utah) all but inside-out on a sluggo route. Jordan Matthews (Vanderbilt) made McGill look bad with a nice after-the-catch sideline move but also had one of the few drops I saw. The NFL-N analysts later said Matthews had not practiced well so far. 

* Maybe Les Snead claims the Rams don’t need a #1 WR for 2014 is because there isn’t that much out there for him to add. Not from these rosters, at least. Of Jeremiah’s top 10 WRs, 9 of them are juniors and therefore not in this game. He described the South’s WRs as mostly big WRs, with no blazers. Jeremiah does project the Rams using pick #2 overall on Sammy Watkins, who he said was more explosive in college than former Clemson teammate DeAndre Hopkins. If you like fast guys who score TDs, Watkins is your guy. Yeah, I can think of a team that can use both of those factors. 

* Aaron Donald (Pitt) is a killer at DT with his quickness off the ball. In 11-on-11, they ran a draw to catch him overpursuing but he still nearly made the stop. Excellent combination of quickness, change of direction and recovery speed at that position, but being 6’0 285 is going to make him a hard sell. At DE, Trent Murphy’s also winning with quickness; he was textbook against Henderson on one heads-up rep, getting behind him quickly, getting back shoulder leverage, turning him and going. Both these guys are going to have to show how well they’ll stand up when a lineman gets his hands on them. Connecticut DT Shamar Stephen flashed good initial power heads-up but didn’t seem able to sustain it. 

* The South’s DTs aren’t near as inspiring as draft prospects as the North’s. Arizona State DT Will Sutton had the largest ass in Mobile, but adding over 25 pounds before his senior year cost him pop and explosiveness and he was less productive than he was as a junior. Daniel Jeremiah said he looked lethargic and heavy-legged in practice. Daniel McCullers (Tennessee) has impressive 6’7 350 size but also was not a productive senior. NFL-N also caught him in a moment where he wasn’t smart enough to not spit into the wind. I’m sorry, but that’s a red checkmark in the ol’ RamView scouting notebook. 

* QBs: Tajh Boyd and Stephen Morris made some nice sideline throws in 1-on-1s. Logan Thomas had several very nice passes dropped so far this week but was the worst QB in 11-on-11 by a lot. Threw a terrible wobbler way over the head of a receiver who was double-teamed anyway, missed another receiver by a lot under pressure and threw a long ball too late and too short. The very little of Jimmy Garoppalo (Eastern Illinois) shown during the South practice looked pretty good; he can really throw a rope through traffic. He was the offensive MVP (9-14-100, TD) of the Shrine Game and threw for over 5,000 yards last season. Has a quick, compact release and throws a nice, tight spiral. Mayock shot down David Carr’s brother Derek, also of Fresno State, saying he did nothing but throw bubble screens. That criticism held up. Carr and David Fales (San Jose State) struggled to complete passes during the install period. Windy day or not, that’s 11-on-nobody. It also looked like Carr struggled getting the play called in the huddle. Fales bounced back and threw that long bomb Norwood caught over Davis, and Mayock did say during the recap show that Carr threw a tight spiral in practice and threw well on the move. Would have been nice if WE had gotten to see that. 

 * It’s hard to get thrilled with the level of talent here when Jeremiah says the best player on the South team is a tackle he’s not even sure can be a left tackle, Morgan Moses (Virginia). Has outstanding size at 6’6 335 and quick feet, but is not a bender. Powerful and mirrors well but isn’t that close even to Zack Martin of the North team. If the Rams don't go for an offensive lineman high in the draft, it really looks like Paul Boudreau's going to have his work cut out for him next season. Again. 

* And now allow me to say this about Mayock and NFL Network’s ability to scout offensive linemen. Did any of these people even hint that Jason Smith could be a draft bust in 2009? No. In 2011, Mayock pushed Gabe Carimi hard; Carimi busted as a Bears first-round pick at tackle and couldn’t even make it at guard in Tampa, where he just got cut. Mayock gushed about Danny Watkins like he was either John Hannah or his own son. Watkins was terrible for Philadelphia, didn't even last to a third season there, and was ignored by every team when the Eagles waived him in September. Miami eventually picked him up, and even then, the only reason he made the game day roster was the Martin/Incognito mess. Mayock called Anthony Castonzo the best lineman in 2011, which Brian Baldinger ripped him for on NFL-N. Listen to Baldy in the future, maybe. Castonzo still starts for the Colts but has always looked completely overmatched. Viewers have to take anything these guys say about offensive linemen not with just a grain of salt, I’d say the whole salt lick. 

* And, per usual, the NFL-N analysts came into Mobile another year expecting about 100 players to be drafted by the end of the 2nd round. Boyd will go there if he has a good week. So will Garoppalo, AND A.J. McCarron. Dee Ford, a 6’1 240 pass rusher from Auburn who’ll be lucky to even be a 3-4 OLB at that size, is going there because he’s an explosive, up-the-field edge rusher. He was reportedly unblockable in 1-on-1. Mayock’s latest 2nd-round guard is Gabe Jackson of Mississippi State, a 6’3.5 340 mauler with good feet to mirror in pass protection. A second-round guard you shouldn’t trust in a gap blocking scheme. Sigh. 

After two days, Senior Bowl week 2014 was most notable for its lack of a breakout player at any position and NFL Network’s subpar coverage and analysts unable to break out of old ruts. Speaking of old ruts, SlowView’s still got three Senior Bowl practice sessions to watch; I’ll be lucky to have days 3 and 4 out in time for the Combine next weekend. 

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2014 Senior Bowl: day 1 practice notes

NFL Network opened 2014 Senior Bowl week with coverage of the first North team practice that was pretty light on on-field activity and pretty heavy with interviews, particularly with ridiculously-coiffed Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff. We only got to see a little bit of receivers going 1-on-1 with defensive backs and didn’t see any line drills at all. Notes on what we did get to see, from practice and the recap show: 


* Skipping out: significant prospects not playing in the Senior Bowl: Jake Matthews, Anthony Barr, A.J. McCarron. Barr was injured. I was not thrilled to find out we wouldn’t get to see Matthews. Jason Smith has made me permanently suspicious of Big 12 spread offense tackles; I’d have liked to seen Matthews in action. Mike Mayock complained the most about McCarron’s decision not to appear. With Kevin Demoff commenting at a recent Rams function that the team would be looking for a QB as high as the 2^nd or 3^rd round, maybe I should also complain. But, like I imagine most of the male gender, I’m a much bigger fan of McCarron’s girlfriend than of McCarron himself anyway.

 * North team QBs: Logan Thomas, Virginia Tech, Tajh Boyd, Clemson, and Stephen Morris, Miami. I really didn’t have these guys figured out after day 1. There were such consistent streams of bad throws at times I found myself wondering if the throws were intentionally way off, or if the receivers ran consistently awful routes. They all threw behind receivers on simple seam routes and had terrible-looking overthrows on deep comeback routes. Even with Mother Theresa-charitable doubt, Boyd stood out as awful. He added a terrible throw on an attempted corner route and threw a quick screen that missed his receiver by yards. Narrow winner was Morris, who’s said to have the best arm in the draft and hit on a nice deep ball in 1-on-1s. Thomas was heavily discussed in the recap show. On one hand, he’s the picture-perfect NFL QB: 6’6 250 with a great arm, quick release and great form. He was maddeningly inconsistent at VaTech, though, showing poor accuracy, anticipation and pocket awareness and staring down his receivers. Davis claimed Boyd to be more consistent than Thomas, which was laughable in the light of the first day’s action. 

 * The star of 1-on-1 drills at wide receiver was Wyoming’s Robert Herron, who beat everybody he went up against. He made a nice physical catch against Nevin Lawson (Utah State) on a curl route despite being interfered with twice. He also beat a couple of people deep. He faked Ahmad Dixon (Baylor) beautifully into thinking quick out and burned him downfield with a tough catch of a poorly-thrown deep corner route. Herron isn’t big at 5’9” but showed the package of everything you’d want from a slot receiver. 

* The other notable player from that limited look-in of 1-on-1’s was Wisconsin DB Dez Southward, mostly because he was off-balance a lot. It got him burned a couple of times. He couldn’t recover well from a double-move by Josh Huff (Oregon) and he struggled to win jam attempts at the line. 

* Future Ram alert! The name Seantrel Henderson could pop up a lot in my Senior Bowl recaps. He’s a 6’7 331 tackle for the Miami Hurricanes who has long arms and all the physical ability to be a big success in the pros. He dominated 2012 1^st-round pick Bjoern Werner when the Canes played Florida State two years ago. What makes Henderson a lock to be a future Ram? He only played about half his senior season and has been suspended multiple times! That kind of thing leaps you to the top of a Fisher/Snead draft board! 

* All three NFL Network analysts pushed Notre Dame tackle Zack Martin hard despite his shorter-than-ideal arms. Charles Davis even said to ignore Martin’s arm length, even though that measurement has been a pretty reliable indicator of whether or not a tackle will struggle in the pros. Mayock called him one of the best players there and said he was lockdown in the 1-on-1 drills we never got to see. Daniel Jeremiah one-upped Mayock and called Martin his #1-ranked offensive player. (I assume he meant that for players at the game.) Early on he showed he could handle speed or power, and had good hands and good form. Rock-solid and anchors effortlessly. 

* Northern Illinois safety Jimmie Ward got a steady stream of good reviews. Very athletic, explosive and fluid-hipped. Covers well in the slot, plays the run well and gets his hands on the ball a lot. There were also good comments for Washington’s Deone Bucannon, who sounds like a very solid in-the-box safety. The Rams need people who can cover ground, though, and I’d keep an eye on Ward. 

* Oh no, not another DT! Even with Michael Brockers’ success so far, there’s nothing like drafting a defensive tackle high to instill draft bust fear and dread in Rams Nation. But with unimpressive depth, and Kendall Langford a possible cap victim, there’s a case to be made for drafting a DT high in MAY, and there’s talent at the Senior Bowl to back that up. Aaron Donald of Pitt reportedly put on a show, quick and explosive, winning with his first move and eating Baylor guard Cyril Richardson’s lunch. Minnesota DT Ra’Shede Hageman, though, drew physical comparisons to Julius Peppers at 6’6 311. He’s quick upfield and, naturally at that height, good at batting down passes. 

* The NFL-N crew talked quite a bit about Richardson on day 1, which I’ll mostly gloss over. Mayock called him the top guard in the draft and a first-round talent. Davis immediately, and awesomely, brought up that recent offensive linemen drafted out of Baylor have sucked. Mayock raved over Danny Watkins a couple of years ago, and none of the draft “experts” had anything bad to say about Jason Smith in 2009. Until proven otherwise, when I see an offensive lineman’s from Baylor, I’m happy to let some other team draft him. 

* What’s next? RamView’s player of the day was Herron. Day 2 expanded coverage to the South team, though spoiler alert: it wasn’t much of a look. NFL-N had to know we at home need a much better look at these players in drills, didn’t they? What’s the point of even covering these practices otherwise? Not much to tell if the network refused to recognize what it was in Mobile to do. 

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RamView year in review: Secondary

AP

The Ram secondary was a major disappointment in 2013. They played like the worst secondary in the league at times. None of them tackle fundamentally well and they're all easy for receivers to fool with simple moves or double moves. They severely let down an outstanding front seven with inexplicable weeks where they couldn't cover the likes of Golden Tate or Steve Smith or Anquan Boldin. They don't all fail here individually, but they could have, because they failed as a unit. I gave some benefit of the doubt for their youth and for the coaching staff's dubious coverage schemes. A repeat of this level of play as a unit in 2014, though, just can't be allowed to happen.

Trumaine Johnson (68 tkl, 3 INT): C+

The Rams' steadiest corner last season. QBs had a much worse passer rating throwing at him than they did throwing at Janoris Jenkins. Lays a mile off receivers a lot, but closes well and broke up a decent number of passes. Lot of passes completed in front of him, though, too. Supported the run well and was good at covering big receivers and anticipating their moves. Will get burned by double moves and isn't a good match for speed receivers. Will be a good complementary back if the Rams get any shutdown-level play from the other side.

Janoris Jenkins (60 tkl, 1 INT): C-

As polarizing a player as the Rams have, Jenkins' level of play this season did not come up to his physical gifts or his rookie-season promise. Jenkins was much better in year 2 at defending end zone fade routes but there are still plenty of flaws in his game, starting with a swagger and ego inflated far greater than his play backs up. He talks, and tackles, like he's Deion Sanders but got beat too often for deep balls and long TDs, including an inexcusable two by Golden Tate on identical plays. Janoris' blabber seems to mostly fire up his opponent, and you're often left wondering how well he even has his own head in the game. Predominantly soft coverage doesn't carry the whole blame for Jenkins' arguable regression in 2013, because it's hard to trust him as a press corner. He gambles too much, is too easy to outmuscle on quick slants and too easy to beat off the line with a simple shoulder shimmy. Your "shutdown corner" can't get turned around by 4th- and 5th-string receivers the way Jenkins did at times, either. Jenkins needs to get stronger and less concerned with his press clippings to have the bounceback season the Rams need out of him in 2014.

T.J. McDonald (52 tkl, 1 INT in 10 starts): C

Like a rookie, got out of position a lot early in the season, then missed half the season after breaking his leg. Developed pretty quickly after returning and looks like a promising defender for next season. Very willing hitter, and by the end of the season, was supporting the run well, was a blitzing menace and was shutting down Jimmy Graham. Like the entire secondary, needs to improve his tackling form and miss fewer tackles. The whole group does nothing but shoulder-tackle.

Rodney McLeod (76 tkl, 2 INT, 2 forced fumbles): C-

Missed a lot of assignments at safety and missed too many tackles against the run. Rarely provided the right help on deep balls. Became nickelback after Finnegan's season ended and seemed much better-suited to it; McLeod was the one Ram DB who looked good playing zone. He defended short passes quite well, and is a willing hitter who tackled receivers much better than he did RBs. Saved Jenkins' bacon a couple of times with TD-saving tackles or making a big play the next play after a Jenkins misplay. Major liability in deep coverage but is all over the short stuff, and enhances his stock as very much a plus-player on special teams.

Matt Giordano (8 tkl, 1 INT returned for TD): D-minus

Spared a failing grade for his pick-six against Arizona and for forcing a fumble on special teams. As a safety, he was every bit as bad as Craig Dahl, with too many bad whiffs as a tackler. And like Dahl, he pairs that with very suspect coverage skills. Simple moves by receivers freeze him like a deer in the headlights, and you can turn him inside out pretty much by winking at him.

Brandon McGee (9 tkl): D

Big disappointment as a rookie. Cortland Finnegan's injury cleared the way for him to get valuable playing time but he contributed very little. Was so overwhelmed Fisher actually called a timeout during one game to get him off the field and put an injured McLeod back in.

Darian Stewart (34 tkl in 6 starts): F

Made a play here and there, but career-long pattern of injuries kept him off the field, and when he was on it, he was out of position constantly. His game against Tennessee may have been the worst single game by a Rams player this season. Also, in a season where the Rams outdid themselves committing penalties, Stewart actually managed to commit a penalty FROM THE BENCH in Seattle. That is beyond useless.

Cortland Finnegan (27 tkl, 1 INT in 7 games): F-minus Looked like Finnegan peaked during training camp pie fights. Was a sieve in the secondary before dropping out of the season early with injuries. Couldn't cover anyone, gave up TDs and big gains in unforgivable situations, tackled poorly, got run over in the running game, did little as a blitzer and committed stupid penalties. Completely unacceptable performance physically and mentally from a high-dollar veteran expected to provide leadership.

Looking ahead: The Rams are much too thin at corner and desperately need to add a quality safety to pair with McDonald. It's unimaginable that Finnegan will return for 2014 at his scheduled salary, which could free the Rams to make a big-splash move for someone like Jairus Byrd or Alterraun Verner. Cap reality, though, may force the Rams to pin their hopes on Finnegan playing a lot better in 2014 for a lot less. Inexperience is already such a huge problem in this secondary that drafting players to fill the gaps could almost be counterproductive. At least one good free agent move is going to be a necessity.

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RamView year in review: special teams

STLToday

Johnny Hekker (46.3 avg, 44.2 net [NFL record]): A

Sadly, Hekker was the Rams’ best player a couple of weeks, though that was possible because of his machine-like ability to launch deep, high, unreturnable punts at the sideline. He revived a lost special-teams art, set an all-time record for net punting and landed Pro Bowl honors.

Greg Zuerlein (26-28 FG, 34-34 PAT): A

The number of outright bombs Zuerlein hit last season, along with Hekker’s excellence, kind of drowned out the fine season the Rams’ placekicker had. Those numbers don’t lie, and when the Rams needed Legatron to hit a bomb, he did, beating Arizona with a 48-yarder at the gun and beating Tampa with 3 FGs, including a couple of bombs. He also neutralized opposing kick return games with consistently deep kickoffs.

Jake McQuaide: A-
People called McQuaide perfect last year, when I actually remember a number of bad snaps that Hekker handled well, but I’m not aware of many bad snaps in 2013, and he hasn’t ever snapped one so poorly as to throw off the kicker. Why not an A+, then? What’s one of my favorite plays? Long snapper makes the tackle on punt coverage. Jake’ll need more of those to lift his grade.

Daren Bates: B-

An excellent rookie free agent find, Bates might have been the Rams' best coverage teams player after Rodney McLeod. Those two combined on a fumble return TD covering a kickoff in Houston that was one of the plays of the season. Bates wasn't penalty-free by any means, but was reliably around the ball without presenting Armstrong's high penalty risk.

Chase Reynolds: C+

Very positive factor in coverage and positive factor blocking on punt returns. Good story making the team in training camp, where he should have shown enough versatility as an emergency RB to stick around this roster for a while.

Justin Veltung: C+

Good fill-in punt returner after Tavon Austin got hurt. Secure with the ball and gets upfield quickly and decisively. Presented a bit of a big-play threat.

Cody Davis: C-

Not irreplaceable, but made some key tackles in 2nd half of season and shows plenty of potential.

Quinton Pointer: D

Sorry I always seem to be picking on Quinton. Didn't make the main roster out of training camp but eventually got promoted from the practice squad. We know he can be a reliable special teams player with consistent reps.

Ray Ray The Penalty Machine Armstrong: F

If there is a Ray Ray Nation somewhere, there can be little doubt its national flag is yellow. Rookie free agent Armstrong committed an epidemic of special teams penalties, to the point it made little sense to have him out on the field. What did he do on special teams to merit the cost of a crippling penalty to put the offense in the hole almost every week? Armstrong committed THREE special teams penalties just in the last game against the Seahawks. As good an athlete and effort player as he is, Armstrong HAS to quit screwing his teammates over with his dumb penalties.

Looking ahead: Including Tavon Austin fielding punts, this should be a very stable unit from '13 to '14. If they cut down on the penalties, AHEM, RAY RAY, they can be one of the top units in the league. It's been several years, though, since the Rams broke training camp with even a clear-cut returner on kickoffs, let alone one who knows what he's doing. That could stay Bennie Cunningham's job, true, but the Rams have to do a far better job cultivating a player to return kicks in the offseason. That should be mission one for John Fassel.

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RamView year in review: refereeing

NFL officiating was criticized as much this season as it was 2012, the year of the replacement referee fiasco. Called on to protect QBs and receivers, the zebras repeatedly erred on the side of "safety" and hit defenses with costly personal fouls for perfectly clean shoulder-to-shoulder or shoulder-to-chest hits, a trend that struck at the very heart of what makes football football. They further struck the game with some of the sloppiest officiating we've seen in years, missing calls that should made easily, losing control of games and simply failing to enforce the rulebook correctly. The Cowboys might have lost out on a playoff berth because no one caught a clock error after a big play in their loss to the Eagles. The Steelers were jobbed out of the playoffs because an illegal FG block attempt wasn't called at the end of the week 17 Chiefs-Chargers game. No one ever claims NFL officials have an easy job. But every call they make (or don't) is really important, and this year they had one of the worst years they've ever had. Ranking the officials for their performance in Rams games in 2013:

USA Today

1. Bill Leavy (A, win at Houston), missed the call at the end of that Chiefs-Chargers game and was held out of the playoffs

2. Clete Blakeman (A-, win vs. Big Dead), worked divisional playoff

3. Mike Carey, not selected for postseason (B, win vs. New Orleans)

4. Tony Corrente (B, win vs. Jagwires), worked the AFC Championship

5. Gene Steratore (B, loss vs. Seattle), worked the NFC Championship

6. John Parry (B, win vs. Tampa)

7. Terry MacAulay (C-, win at Indianapolis), worked the Super Bowl and is therefore considered the NFL's best referee (C-, win at Indianapolis)

8. Peter Morelli (D, loss vs. Tennessee), called a divisional playoff

9. Walt Coleman (D, loss at San Francisco)

10. Jerome Boger (D, win vs. Chicago), called Michael Brockers for a helmet-to-helmet hit after he hit Josh McCown in the chest with his shoulder, one of the worst calls in the league all season. Worked Super Bowl XLVII but did not call a playoff game this year. 

11. Jeff Triplette, D average. Worked two Rams losses, vs. 49ers and at Seattle, and was awful in both. The Seattle game included the infamous play where Kendall Langford was ejected for accidentally hitting an official's cap. Triplette has always been one of the league's worst referees. Leave it to the Rams' luck to get him twice in one season.

12. Carl Cheffers, F for loss at Dallas where the crew was completely in the tank for the Cowboys. Dallas was completely immune from even blatant holding penalties and they let Dez Bryant simply shove Cortland Finnegan down in the end zone to catch a TD pass. Still considered good enough to work the 49ers-Panthers playoff game.

13. Scott Green, F-minus for loss at Atlanta where the crew was completely in the tank for the Falcons. Blew an offside call that turned Atlanta's opening possession from a 3-and-out to a TD drive. Green retired after the season and I would hope the Rams did not get him a gift.

14. Bill Vinovich, F-minus-minus for two awful performances, road losses at Carolina and San Francisco. Carolina got away with whatever they wanted after snaps, including Mike Mitchell taunting on the Ram sideline over a fallen and injured for the season Sam Bradford, while the Rams got all the flags and Chris Long ejected from the game for what turned out to be nothing on further review. Seven Panther fans pulled out of the stands would have called a fairer game. Another game that tipped on a blown offsides call, which should be one of the easiest calls for any official to make correctly. My impression is that the Rams complained to the league for getting stuck with the horrid Vinovich a second time, and they should have. The crew was incompetent. And still, he and Triplette both worked playoff games. They're come of the best we have, says the NFL!

The Rams did not have a game called by Walt Anderson, Ed Hochuli or Ron Winter; the first two called wild-card games.

Looking ahead: These grades may mainly tell you I think officiating sucks when the Rams lose and it's great when they win, and the league kept 3 of my top 6 referees out of the playoffs. But I think it's fair to assert that these rankings also show the Rams weren't good enough last season to overcome bad refereeing. They don't help themselves with the atrocious number of legitimate penalties they commit, though, and are not going to budge off the 7-win mark without smarter and more disciplined play. The refereeing grades are not likely to improve and it will be up to the Rams to improve their way out of this problem. That will be a lot harder with referees second-guessing every solid hit the Ram defense makes because they know Gregg Williams is on the sideline. RamView's not hopeful of improvement in this area in 2014.

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RamView year in review: LBs

AP

Alec Ogletree (118 tkl, 1.5 sacks, 6 forced fumbles, 1 INT returned for TD): B+

Though I risk jinxing him, I believe Alec will be a star in this league next season. Sure, he struggled in pass coverage early in his rookie season, and if I'm a Rams opponent next season, I'm running at him to make him prove he can stop a power running game. But Ogletree is a gifted LB the likes of which the Rams have not seen in St. Louis. By the end of 2013, he was very good in coverage and against the run and was even a dangerous blitzer. His speed lets him do some things in coverage that I find amazing for a LB, like covering slot receivers 1-on-1 or taking down Chris Johnson on a wide-open screen play from halfway across the field. Teams couldn't screen on him by the end of the season; he got out on the edge and blew those up like he was born to do it. Ogletree also excelled at creating turnovers, forcing 6 fumbles and returning a pick-six against Houston. He has mastered the art of holding up a ball-carrier to allow a teammate to come in and force a fumble. Another thing to love about Ogletree's play is his veteran-like "short memory". He'd often make up for a misplay with a big play the very next snap. He had some misplays and weird footing problems at the end of the season, true, but made up for a lot of that with elite closing speed; imagine how good he'll be when he knows what he's doing! A mentally-stronger Alec Ogletree will be poised to torment Russell Wilson and Colin Kaepernick for years to come.

James Laurinaitis (116 tkl, 3.5 sacks, 2 INT): B-

Still a solid run defender, always around the ball and makes a ton of tackles. Has gotten better and better as a pass defender every season and really contributed this year with some key INTs and pass breakups. Covering backs out of the backfield is a weakness. Not the most effective blitzer but did have 3.5 sacks. Wish it was harder to take him out of a play with a fullback than is often the case. James may never be a big-play LB, but when he's on his A game he is still a handful to deal with.

Jo-Lonn Dunbar (39 tkl in 10 starts): D+

Seemed to help the run defense once he returned from a 4-week PED suspension but was still pretty hit-or-miss. Misses too many tackles and gap assignments for a veteran and was off the field a lot with the Rams in nickel anyway. Never really sparked the defense.

Will Witherspoon (12 tkl, 1 INT in 3 starts): D-

Was there when the Rams needed him the first month, and played ok. Plays the pass better than the run and isn't great against that. Not a solid tackler.

Looking ahead: Dunbar and Witherspoon are free agents, so a move or two at the position will be needed. I doubt either will return because it'll take at least $1 million to keep them. The Rams use so much nickel that a big splash at LB won't be their best use of resources. I'd draft one in the middle rounds and also expect Ray Ray The Penalty Machine Armstrong to get a shot.

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Aeneas Williams voted into Hall of Fame

Pro Football Reference

Aeneas Williams, who played for the Rams from 2001-2004 at cornerback and safety, has been voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Williams had 55 career interceptions and played in eight Pro Bowls. This was the third time he was a finalist to get into the Hall.

Williams will be joined in Canton in 2014 by Derrick Brooks, Walter Jones, Andre Reed, Michael Strahan, Ray Guy and Claude Humphrey. Congratulations to Aeneas and all the 2014 Hall of Fame class.

The third-leading sacker of all time, Kevin Greene, was passed over again by the voting committee, as well as the sixth-leading rusher of all time, Jerome Bettis. Greene had 18.5 more career sacks than Strahan, in the same number of seasons. Bettis and Greene made the list of final ten candidates this year, which is at least an improvement for Greene, who was only top-15 last year. They were joined by Charles Haley, Marvin Harrison and Will Shields. The last five were Morten Anderson, Tim Brown, Tony Dungy, John Lynch and a scumbag who used to own the 49ers.

Harrison's omission, when he is the second-leading wide receiver of all time, is more than a little weird. The committee looks to be sticking to a policy of one modern-day player per position and decided this year was finally Reed's turn.

Eligible for the class of 2015: Kurt Warner, Orlando Pace, Isaac Bruce AND Torry Holt. The primary non-Ram who will be a first-time eligible is the late Junior Seau. The committee wouldn't need to look beyond those five for next year's class if they hadn't screwed around so long with wide receivers; Rams fans will probably have to settle for Warner and Pace in 2015. Anything less, btw, voters, and I'll be on the road to Canton with my torch and pitchfork.

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