Thought I'd better get the blog back in gear before the arrival of the NFL Combine on Wednesday.
Besides hiring Al Saunders as offensive coordinator, the Rams' biggest move this offseason was the decision to bring Billy Devaney aboard, apparently in the role of authentic personnel chief, a position the Rams' front office has officially, and sorely, lacked for some time. Devaney was previously Atlanta's assistant GM - no, that's not a big feather in the old cap, but his years working with NFL legend Bobby Beathard in Washington and San Diego make up for that. (Although Beathard DID draft Ryan Leaf.)
Not to damn Mr. Devaney with faint praise, but the fact that anyone besides Scott Linehan and/or Jay Zygmunt is making the calls now, on draft day and beyond, by itself is a major step forward for the Rams. Much as Linehan admitted his limits with the good Saunders hire, Zygmunt has admitted his with a good hire. Score it a B+.
(If you're wondering what happened to Tony Softli, I imagine he's wondering the same thing.)
At secondary coach, Linehan promoted the former assistant coach, Ron Milus, into the lead role. Milus is another FOSL, Linehan crony via the U-of-Washington, but has a good record as a secondary coach, especially where interceptions are concerned. It's probably no coincidence that OJ Atogwe picked off so many passes last year. The Ram secondaries this decade have not been good at ball-hawking, with the brief exception of Aeneas Williams; Milus may well represent a positive change in aggression. Grade: C
At tight ends coach, Judd Garrett is on a year's leave from the team and assistant coach Jim Chaney was moved to the position. The intent seems to be to have Garrett come back. Linehan certainly didn't recruit for a bona fide NFL TE coach; Chaney's never done it. Then again, the Rams throw so little to the TEs, it's probably enough for Chaney to work on blocking with Joe Klopfenstein. It's a positive that the team has given Garrett the time he needs to work out his family issues, but it's a coaching step down at a position that's already bad. Grade: D+
Finally, at QB coach, Terry Shea will replace Doug Nussmeier, who moves on to Fresno State as offensive coordinator. That's arguably a step up for Nussmeier, who I'm guessing got lucky to have that nice offer available when Saunders stepped in and the writing on the wall said that he'd be out of there pronto in favor of Saunders' guy. Which would be Shea, who coached QBs under Saunders at Kansas City. We'll have to ignore the more unsavory lines of Shea's resume, which include last year at - UGH - Miami, and a 2004 season as Chicago's OC in which the Bears finished 32nd in the NFL in points and yards (Granted, their QB situation was a hellish mess).
I'll credit Shea for having unsuitable material in Miami and Chicago, though, and have faith that he can turn Marc Bulger around after having made Trent Green a Pro Bowl QB. Grade: B-
That's still working out pretty much to a solid C for the Rams' offseason moves. Then again, they probably should get a full letter grade on the curve because of how poor the previous situation was, especially at OC and in the front office. Let's give them a B overall.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Monday, February 4, 2008
Grading the coaching changes
OK, enough of the Super Bowl; everybody's 0-0 now, tied for first, which makes the Rams competitive for the first time in quite a while.
Scott Linehan, to his credit, hasn't sat on his hands this offseason and has made several changes to the coaching staff. At least one of the moves he's made looks very promising. A couple of others just look like extensions of the FOSL job security plan. Some of the moves are or could become a mixture of both.
Over the next few entries, I run down the coaching staff changes made so far, and grade each one. So far Linehan's averaging a solid C, though to abuse the report card idiom, at least he got the A in an important course like math or English, and the other grades are in lesser classes like art class or marching band.
Scott Linehan, to his credit, hasn't sat on his hands this offseason and has made several changes to the coaching staff. At least one of the moves he's made looks very promising. A couple of others just look like extensions of the FOSL job security plan. Some of the moves are or could become a mixture of both.
Over the next few entries, I run down the coaching staff changes made so far, and grade each one. So far Linehan's averaging a solid C, though to abuse the report card idiom, at least he got the A in an important course like math or English, and the other grades are in lesser classes like art class or marching band.
Offensive line: Paul Boudreau out, Steve Croney, er, Loney, in
This easily the most hypocritical move by the Rams this offseason. Linehan got the benefit of the
doubt from John Shaw because there were so many offensive line injuries in 2007, but Boudreau, a fine offensive line coach who had a bunch of scrubs dominating the trenches at the end of 2006, did not get the same benefit of the doubt from Linehan. So Boudreau's out, replaced by a FOSL, Loney the Crony. Croney ran a top-of-the-league offensive line at Minnesota while Linehan ran their offense, so there's something to recommend him. Then again, he made nothing happen at Arizona last year, and in an informal role as Rams consultant last year, opened up a Larry Marmie-style "talent" pipeline of Big Dead castaways, and the Rams' injured players were replaced by the likes of Milford Brown, Brandon Gorin and Nick Leckey, as opposed to players who could actually block at the professional level. The great concern with Croney heading into 2008 is that the Big Dead rejects will hang around instead of being replaced by young prospects or others who, well, can actually block at the professional level. Short of repeating his performance at Minnesota, Croney isn't an improvement over who the Rams had, and if the Ram offensive line personnel situation isn't significantly reworked, he's a step down.
Grade: D+ There was really no reason to replace Boudreau; good luck to him in Atlanta.
doubt from John Shaw because there were so many offensive line injuries in 2007, but Boudreau, a fine offensive line coach who had a bunch of scrubs dominating the trenches at the end of 2006, did not get the same benefit of the doubt from Linehan. So Boudreau's out, replaced by a FOSL, Loney the Crony. Croney ran a top-of-the-league offensive line at Minnesota while Linehan ran their offense, so there's something to recommend him. Then again, he made nothing happen at Arizona last year, and in an informal role as Rams consultant last year, opened up a Larry Marmie-style "talent" pipeline of Big Dead castaways, and the Rams' injured players were replaced by the likes of Milford Brown, Brandon Gorin and Nick Leckey, as opposed to players who could actually block at the professional level. The great concern with Croney heading into 2008 is that the Big Dead rejects will hang around instead of being replaced by young prospects or others who, well, can actually block at the professional level. Short of repeating his performance at Minnesota, Croney isn't an improvement over who the Rams had, and if the Ram offensive line personnel situation isn't significantly reworked, he's a step down.
Grade: D+ There was really no reason to replace Boudreau; good luck to him in Atlanta.
Running backs: Wayne Moses out, Art Vandelay, er, Valero in
I'd hardly have pointed at Wayne Moses as a reason the Rams failed badly in 2007, but he took the bullet so Linehan could put in another crony. Valero's hiring was questionable at the outset, not only for its cronyness, but because Valero wasn't hired to an actual position. With only the o-line and OC posts open, it looked like a pretty stupid move. Knowing now that Valero will be the RBs coach (and assistant head coach, or whatever the hell that's worth), the move looks better. Valero worked with Cadillac Williams, Mike Alstott and Michael Pittman at Tampa; I can see how he could improve Steven Jackson as a runner and a receiver, especially if he can get him to attack the line more quickly. I think the key player to watch to see if Valero's doing any good, though, is Brian Leonard. There were a lot of Mike Alstott comparisons when Leonard was drafted; let's see if Valero can make good on those. Fundamentally, the Ram RBs aren't good blockers. Valero's task is to make a blocker out of Leonard and get better blitz protection out of this unit. If Valero can get that done and make Jackson a less picky runner, he'll represent an improvement.
Grade: C+
Grade: C+
Defensive backs: Willy Robinson out
The Ram defense improved last year, making it a surprise that Linehan fired any of the defensive coaches. And with OJ Atogwe emerging as one of the game's best young safeties, there's certainly a case to say that Robinson knows what he's doing. And Robinson's unit fared pretty well when you factor in Fakhir Brown's suspension, Tye Hill's injuries and the necessity to start Lenny Walls. Then again, this secondary always looked a couple of steps late in zone coverage. Brown is irritatingly bad at finding the ball. Ron Bartell has been slow to develop. Jonathan Wade doesn't have a clue how to tackle. And all of these guys are helpless against larger receivers like Larry Fitzgerald and Braylon Edwards. So there's a case against Robinson, too.
And I'll make a prediction who Linehan is going to hire. He's currently the DBs coach at Kansas State
and his name is Greg Burns. He's got some good lines on his resume. For instance, I never have a problem with hiring a Tampa defensive coach. Or a USC coach. Burns coached Troy Polamalu and Darnell Bing at USC. He ought to be able to make good things happen with what figures to be a very young Ram secondary.
Now to drop the other shoe, but it's the main reason he'll be hired here: Burns was secondary coach on the same staff as Linehan on that legendary Louisville team that went 1-1 at the Liberty Bowl, and he ALMOST coached at Idaho the same time Linehan did, missing him by just two years. I'm sure Scott won't hold that against him.
Louisville + Idaho on the same resume? Welcome aboard, coach Burns.
Grade: C (A++ for me if I called it)
And I'll make a prediction who Linehan is going to hire. He's currently the DBs coach at Kansas State
and his name is Greg Burns. He's got some good lines on his resume. For instance, I never have a problem with hiring a Tampa defensive coach. Or a USC coach. Burns coached Troy Polamalu and Darnell Bing at USC. He ought to be able to make good things happen with what figures to be a very young Ram secondary.
Now to drop the other shoe, but it's the main reason he'll be hired here: Burns was secondary coach on the same staff as Linehan on that legendary Louisville team that went 1-1 at the Liberty Bowl, and he ALMOST coached at Idaho the same time Linehan did, missing him by just two years. I'm sure Scott won't hold that against him.
Louisville + Idaho on the same resume? Welcome aboard, coach Burns.
Grade: C (A++ for me if I called it)
Offensive coordinator: Greg Olson out, Al Saunders in
Turns out Greg Olson, who's already moved on to Tampa as QB coach, got a bum rap. Though it was said that Linehan took over play-calling in 2007 after the Dallas game, it's becoming more widely known that Linehan basically called the plays all season. So except for those final four games in 2006, Olson, the offensive coordinator, never called plays, making one wonder what the hell he was around here for. Perhaps not coincidentally, those four games in 2006 were practically the only time in the Linehan Era the Ram offense actually looked like it knew what it was doing. Linehan apparently didn't trust Olson enough to let him run on his own with the gameplan. The end of 2006 says he should have, but Olson took a bullet for the underperforming head coach instead.
The silver lining, of course, is that Linehan made a MAJOR upgrade to the coaching staff by bringing in Al Saunders from Washington. Saunders was atop my short list to take over for Linehan as HEAD coach, so you know I'm on board. Instead of the questionable Dennis Erickson offensive system, the Rams will return to what they do best; the Don Coryell offensive system. Saunders' credentials are impressive. He was wide receivers coach here for the Super Bowl championship, and as Dick Vermeil's OC at Kansas City, put the Chiefs' offense at the top of the league over a 5-year span. Saunders will surely put a spark back in the steps of Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce. His term in Kansas City shows he knows the power running game; he could turn Steven Jackson into a monster. He also knows how to use the tight end, something Linehan's never figured out despite keeping 10 or 12 on the roster. And if Saunders can make a decent deep threat out of Marc Boerigter, there may even be hope for Drew Bennett. Though I'm not counting on it.
The hiring of Al Saunders is a coup for Scott Linehan and a positive sign that he's willing to make the sea change the Rams need for 2008. Linehan is smartly (for once) putting the offense completely in the OC's hands and stepping out of the way. Linehan jokes that he'd just like to add one play a week to the gameplan. Honestly, I wouldn't trust him with any play more complicated than the end-of-game kneeldown. Maybe next season, the Rams will get to use that play a little more often (and with the lead, at that, remembering the fiasco in Baltimore).
Saunders gives Linehan his best chance to pull his butt out of the fire in 2008. His acquisition alone makes this a good offseason so far at Rams Park.
Grade: A
The silver lining, of course, is that Linehan made a MAJOR upgrade to the coaching staff by bringing in Al Saunders from Washington. Saunders was atop my short list to take over for Linehan as HEAD coach, so you know I'm on board. Instead of the questionable Dennis Erickson offensive system, the Rams will return to what they do best; the Don Coryell offensive system. Saunders' credentials are impressive. He was wide receivers coach here for the Super Bowl championship, and as Dick Vermeil's OC at Kansas City, put the Chiefs' offense at the top of the league over a 5-year span. Saunders will surely put a spark back in the steps of Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce. His term in Kansas City shows he knows the power running game; he could turn Steven Jackson into a monster. He also knows how to use the tight end, something Linehan's never figured out despite keeping 10 or 12 on the roster. And if Saunders can make a decent deep threat out of Marc Boerigter, there may even be hope for Drew Bennett. Though I'm not counting on it.
The hiring of Al Saunders is a coup for Scott Linehan and a positive sign that he's willing to make the sea change the Rams need for 2008. Linehan is smartly (for once) putting the offense completely in the OC's hands and stepping out of the way. Linehan jokes that he'd just like to add one play a week to the gameplan. Honestly, I wouldn't trust him with any play more complicated than the end-of-game kneeldown. Maybe next season, the Rams will get to use that play a little more often (and with the lead, at that, remembering the fiasco in Baltimore).
Saunders gives Linehan his best chance to pull his butt out of the fire in 2008. His acquisition alone makes this a good offseason so far at Rams Park.
Grade: A
The 2001 Rams are off the hook!
Congratulations and thank yous from all of Rams Nation to the New York Giants, whose 17-14 victory over the evil Patriot empire in Super Bowl XLII is being widely hailed as the greatest upset in Super Bowl history. Pointspread-wise, that honor really belongs to the SBIII Jets, and the Patriots were slightly smaller favorites yesterday than the SBXXXVI Rams, but it looks like those Rams are off the hook for biggest upset and/or choke in Super Bowl history. With the recent revelations that the Patriots didn't just cheat during that game - they cheated by filming the Rams' walkthrough the night before - karma ran over the Patriots last night like Osi Umenyiora running over Matt Light. That wasn't just karma last night, it was truckma.
Assorted Super Bowl XLII notes & observations:
* I voted Eli Manning MVP; back-to-back Manning MVPs was just too powerful a story to resist. Plus, there's Eli's two 4th-quarter TD passes and the insane escape from several Patriots on the miracle deep pass to David Tyree. But a big reason Eli wins MVP is because it's impossible to pick one Giants defensive lineman to vote for. They were all outstanding and were 2/3 of the reason the Giants won the game. My MVP top 5:
1 - Eli
2 - Osi Umenyiora, who seemed to whip Matt Light on every play and was constantly in Brady's face
3 - Justin Tuck, 6 tackles, 2 sacks, also in the Pats backfield all night
4 - Wes Welker, 11 catches, would have been MVP had the Pats held on
5 - Corey Webster, who's probably the overlooked star of the game. Brady is so good at finding the open receiver, you know the number of times he got sacked or hit or threw the ball away was because the Giants were covering everybody. The d-line was more valuable, because they gave Brady so little time, but the Giant secondary (coached by ex-Ram DC Peter Giunta?!? what's next, the Seahawks win it all next year with the Larry Marmie-coached secondary?) deserves its due.
* The Giants won in 08 in much the way the Patriots won in 02. No, they didn't cheat; they hit their opponent in the mouth, and what we learned about the 07 Patriots is that they're very much the finesse team, very much the antithesis of what they were at the start of their run. Giants DC Steve Spagnuolo had a brilliant game plan and can pretty much name his price to HC somewhere (except if I were him, I'd avoid Daniel Snyder like the plague right now). The Patriot offensive line, so heralded these last few seasons, was completely dominated by the Giants' quickness and by Spagnuolo's willingness to mix in the blitz. I railed at the Jagwires and Chargers for not doing more to put heat on Brady this postseason. Spagnuolo wasn't cowardly, and it paid off in a Lombardi. The Pats couldn't handle the Giants' speed and couldn't establish a thing on the ground, even though they had the two starting linemen back they were missing when they beat the Giants in week 17.
* Did the Patriots choke? Hell yeah, they choked! Take the Giants' red-hot play this postseason out of the equation, and you've got a two-TD favorite who lost to the #5 seed from the decidedly weaker conference, a team they just beat a month ago, on the road, minus two offensive line starters, to boot! (If it weren't for those offensive line injuries in December, maybe I would have had a brain in my head and picked the Giants to win after pointing out all of the Super Bowl XXXVI parallels a few posts ago.) The Patriots surely choked, especially their offensive line, and their whole defense, really. Sure, they gave up only 17 points, and in the 4th quarter, they were pressuring Eli like nobody's business, but really, the Giants walked up and down the field last night. The Pats led 7-3 at halftime, but you really felt like the Giants were winning. Their o-line did its fair share of pushing the Pats around. The Patriots you saw last night are a team that needs to get a lot more physical. Funny how they beat up the SBXXXVI Rams to start their run and ended it by becoming the SBXXXVI Rams, getting beaten up by their opponent and lacking the physical game to answer.
* The Patriots also got flat out-coached. Spagnuolo coached the Pats' OC wunderkind under the table. It was fun to watch Brady losing his composure and yelling at his teammates. Belicheat shouldn't leave any postgame analysis unscathed. On 4th-and-13, OF COURSE you should be trying the field goal when it's a 49-yarder, certainly in your PK's range, AND YOU'RE INDOORS. If Gostkowski misses, the field position change, which Troy Aikman idiotically tried to play up, is a whole 7 yards compared to not making the first down, which is what happened. I think the Giants made up the 7 yards the next play. TMQ better be ripping Belicheat for that stupid, GAME-LOSING decision early in the game. And why were the Patriots flinging deep the final two plays? On 3rd-and-20 with 20 seconds left, I thought they would have been FAR better served working for a quick first down and then try to get into long FG range. Highly weird that from their 20, with :35 left and all three time outs, that they had to resort to crazy deep throws the last two plays.
* More good news: the team that loses the Super Bowl always sucks the next year. The Rams went 7-9 after SBXXXVI; don't think I'm not pining for the Pats to do the same. Belichick has a large coaching challenge for next season, which is not to go through the whole season in shock from the Super Bowl like the 02 Rams did. A challenge Mike Martz didn't meet.
* The Rams play BOTH Super Bowl teams next year, btw. Thank God for that cushy last-place schedule, huh?
* TV notes: thought Joe Buck was great, thought Fox should have shown us a LOT more of what was going on in downfield coverage, which they also ignored in XXXVI, Jordin Sparks has enormous hips, favorite commercial: Coke's runaway parade balloons, funniest: Bud Light cavemen, worst by far: jumper-cable nipple guy. Glad we got away from groin-humor-dominant commercial crops; now let's start relying a lot less on grossout spots (That means you, puking E-Trade baby). And thanks to the advertising geniuses of the world, after last night I can no longer tell one energy drink from another.
* Biggest disappointment: the Victoria's Secret commercial; the Patriots cheerleaders were wearing less than the model in the commercial was! On a related note, let's hear it for the Patriots cheerleaders.
* Made the night for me when Curt Menefee declared XLII the biggest upset in NFL championship history. He got that ball rolling, and hopefully it'll leave XXXVI in the dust.
Assorted Super Bowl XLII notes & observations:
* I voted Eli Manning MVP; back-to-back Manning MVPs was just too powerful a story to resist. Plus, there's Eli's two 4th-quarter TD passes and the insane escape from several Patriots on the miracle deep pass to David Tyree. But a big reason Eli wins MVP is because it's impossible to pick one Giants defensive lineman to vote for. They were all outstanding and were 2/3 of the reason the Giants won the game. My MVP top 5:
1 - Eli
2 - Osi Umenyiora, who seemed to whip Matt Light on every play and was constantly in Brady's face
3 - Justin Tuck, 6 tackles, 2 sacks, also in the Pats backfield all night
4 - Wes Welker, 11 catches, would have been MVP had the Pats held on
5 - Corey Webster, who's probably the overlooked star of the game. Brady is so good at finding the open receiver, you know the number of times he got sacked or hit or threw the ball away was because the Giants were covering everybody. The d-line was more valuable, because they gave Brady so little time, but the Giant secondary (coached by ex-Ram DC Peter Giunta?!? what's next, the Seahawks win it all next year with the Larry Marmie-coached secondary?) deserves its due.
* The Giants won in 08 in much the way the Patriots won in 02. No, they didn't cheat; they hit their opponent in the mouth, and what we learned about the 07 Patriots is that they're very much the finesse team, very much the antithesis of what they were at the start of their run. Giants DC Steve Spagnuolo had a brilliant game plan and can pretty much name his price to HC somewhere (except if I were him, I'd avoid Daniel Snyder like the plague right now). The Patriot offensive line, so heralded these last few seasons, was completely dominated by the Giants' quickness and by Spagnuolo's willingness to mix in the blitz. I railed at the Jagwires and Chargers for not doing more to put heat on Brady this postseason. Spagnuolo wasn't cowardly, and it paid off in a Lombardi. The Pats couldn't handle the Giants' speed and couldn't establish a thing on the ground, even though they had the two starting linemen back they were missing when they beat the Giants in week 17.
* Did the Patriots choke? Hell yeah, they choked! Take the Giants' red-hot play this postseason out of the equation, and you've got a two-TD favorite who lost to the #5 seed from the decidedly weaker conference, a team they just beat a month ago, on the road, minus two offensive line starters, to boot! (If it weren't for those offensive line injuries in December, maybe I would have had a brain in my head and picked the Giants to win after pointing out all of the Super Bowl XXXVI parallels a few posts ago.) The Patriots surely choked, especially their offensive line, and their whole defense, really. Sure, they gave up only 17 points, and in the 4th quarter, they were pressuring Eli like nobody's business, but really, the Giants walked up and down the field last night. The Pats led 7-3 at halftime, but you really felt like the Giants were winning. Their o-line did its fair share of pushing the Pats around. The Patriots you saw last night are a team that needs to get a lot more physical. Funny how they beat up the SBXXXVI Rams to start their run and ended it by becoming the SBXXXVI Rams, getting beaten up by their opponent and lacking the physical game to answer.
* The Patriots also got flat out-coached. Spagnuolo coached the Pats' OC wunderkind under the table. It was fun to watch Brady losing his composure and yelling at his teammates. Belicheat shouldn't leave any postgame analysis unscathed. On 4th-and-13, OF COURSE you should be trying the field goal when it's a 49-yarder, certainly in your PK's range, AND YOU'RE INDOORS. If Gostkowski misses, the field position change, which Troy Aikman idiotically tried to play up, is a whole 7 yards compared to not making the first down, which is what happened. I think the Giants made up the 7 yards the next play. TMQ better be ripping Belicheat for that stupid, GAME-LOSING decision early in the game. And why were the Patriots flinging deep the final two plays? On 3rd-and-20 with 20 seconds left, I thought they would have been FAR better served working for a quick first down and then try to get into long FG range. Highly weird that from their 20, with :35 left and all three time outs, that they had to resort to crazy deep throws the last two plays.
* More good news: the team that loses the Super Bowl always sucks the next year. The Rams went 7-9 after SBXXXVI; don't think I'm not pining for the Pats to do the same. Belichick has a large coaching challenge for next season, which is not to go through the whole season in shock from the Super Bowl like the 02 Rams did. A challenge Mike Martz didn't meet.
* The Rams play BOTH Super Bowl teams next year, btw. Thank God for that cushy last-place schedule, huh?
* TV notes: thought Joe Buck was great, thought Fox should have shown us a LOT more of what was going on in downfield coverage, which they also ignored in XXXVI, Jordin Sparks has enormous hips, favorite commercial: Coke's runaway parade balloons, funniest: Bud Light cavemen, worst by far: jumper-cable nipple guy. Glad we got away from groin-humor-dominant commercial crops; now let's start relying a lot less on grossout spots (That means you, puking E-Trade baby). And thanks to the advertising geniuses of the world, after last night I can no longer tell one energy drink from another.
* Biggest disappointment: the Victoria's Secret commercial; the Patriots cheerleaders were wearing less than the model in the commercial was! On a related note, let's hear it for the Patriots cheerleaders.
* Made the night for me when Curt Menefee declared XLII the biggest upset in NFL championship history. He got that ball rolling, and hopefully it'll leave XXXVI in the dust.
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