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We all know draft day isn't over in the NFL just because Mr. Irrelevant has been picked. The closing of that phase of the draft simply kicks off a new phase, as front offices scramble to get their pick of the college players who weren't drafted. Sure, most of those guys don't make teams, but on the other hand, there's always that LB prospect from John Carroll or that QB from Northern Iowa who just might have a chance to make it big.Draft day usually is over for RamView when Mr. Irrelevant's name is called. Frankly, by then, I'm exhausted. I wouldn't have the time or energy to profile the Rams' rookie free agents the way I do the drafted rookies.But I've got time now, so what better time to start? Let's try to find out more about the lesser-celebrated players who'll be trying to win spots in training camp later this month, starting with:
Kirston Pittman, 6'3" 250
DE, LSURankings: Pro Football Weekly: #34 defensive end. Rated as a free agent who should be in an NFL training camp.NFLDraftScout.com: #32 defensive end, #370 player overall; free agent grade.Biography/Honors: 2003: Sporting News Freshmen All-SEC team; College Football News honorable mention All-American.2007: Led LSU with 8 sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss. 68 total tackles.2008: 2.5 sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss, 35 total tackles.Major: General studies.Injuries: Missed two straight seasons prior to his junior year with foot injuries: 2005 for left ankle surgery, 2006 for a torn right Achilles. NCAA granted him a sixth season of eligibility. Limited AGAIN by injuries his senior season.Pro Day Stats: (not invited to NFL Combine)* Most benches at LSU's Pro Day with 28, 8 more than #3 overall pick Tyson Jackson.* Ran 4.68 40 with 1.61 and 2.72 second splits. (James Laurinaitis ran 4.88)* 30-inch vertical leap (JL: 33)* 7.64 seconds in 3-cone drill (JL: 6.93, fastest at Combine)* 4.45 20-yard shuttle (JL: 4.24)Positives: Smart player with good motor, high character and great work ethic. Has reputation as one of the hardest-working players in the country. Uses leverage and momentum well to get off blocks and push taller blockers into backfield. Maintains gap and containment. Fights off initial blocks and keeps coming after QB. Technically sound with good balance. Best skill is pass rushing. Sets up his blocker well with inside/outside moves. Big performance at LSU Pro Day moved him up into the later rounds of the draft. Projects as a 3rd-4th DE who'll get at most 25% of snaps and contribute on special teams. Teams like his ability to drop into coverage. Sack leader of 2007 LSU defensive line which also had future NFL top-5 picks in Tyson Jackson and Glenn Dorsey.Negatives: INJURIES. Just average strength and speed. Not very explosive. Not quick enough to chase fast runners down from behind. Not fluid in the hips. Won't be able to bull rush in the pros and will have difficulty freeing himself from a blocker who gets his hands on him.Fun Facts: Kirston trained with three-time Olympic gold medal winner Gail Devers this spring, which a) is cool, and b) showed at his impressive pro day. His cousin David is a DB now with the Texans. His brother Thomas was a DE with the Broncos and Browns. He is not related to Rams RB Antonio. If he's hoping not to be a bench rider, though, he's from the wrong hometown: Reserve, Louisiana.RamView: There's no question Kirston Pittman is a Steve Spagnuolo "four pillars" type of player. And Spagnuolo obviously wants as many guys as he can get who can get after the QB, which Pittman's shown he can do when he's healthy. Sadly, he's just never healthy, a trend that reared its ugly head again during Rams OTAs when he missed time due to a heel injury. His workout, college production and character certainly made him worth a try in free agency, but he's just GOTTA find get better injury luck if he's going to make it in the NFL into September. Injured thumbs up, but odds are really against him.Sources: 2009 Pro Football Weekly Draft Preview, NFL.com, CBSSports.com, LSUsports.net, LSU Daily Reveille, Wikipedia, SportingNews.comphoto from nbcsports.com
Thoughts from an offseason weekend:
* Billy Mays, too? Some weeks it just doesn't pay to be famous...
* A big change was made to Rams gameday radio broadcasts in the offseason, with D'Marco Farr being promoted to the booth full-time and Jim Hanifan moving to the pregame and postgame shows. I don't think it's a terrible move, but I'm not a fan of it, either. Hanifan was rapidly pulling even with Mike Shannon in St. Louis as a "homer" announcer whose flaws you happily put up with as a listener because of his great love for the game and because he wears his heart on his sleeve and lives and dies with the team. Hanifan's wonderfully gruff, unafraid to criticize anybody and an expert analyst of offensive line play. Rams radio listeners are going to miss that during games. There's little doubt the broadcast will sound better with Farr in the analyst's chair. He's got a smooth voice, a pretty good sense of humor, and he can break down d-line play pretty close to as well as Hanifan broke down o-line play. With a defensive head coach on the sideline for the first time in years, the move to Farr is timely. My biggest problem with Farr is that he won't criticize anybody. If you've listened to him on his daily radio show, you wonder how the 2008 Rams ever lost a game, let alone 14. He doesn't have a bad word for anybody. Not Marc Bulger, not Alex Barron, not Orlando Pace coming off one of the worst outings of his career last preseason, and certainly not Jim Haslett, whom Farr championed as much as anybody. Rams games on radio will be easier on the ears with Farr in the booth, but they'll be corporate, bland broadcasts unless Farr gets on people for messing up...
* Call me a wuss, but watching the Cardinals beat the Twins in 97-degree heat for 3 and a half hours Saturday sure makes me glad I get to watch football games in a domed stadium. Twins starter Kevin Slowey sure looked like he missed the air conditioning back home in Minnesota. Especially when Albert Pujols was at the plate...
* A writer to one of stltoday's recent Rams chats had an excellent question: Why the heck aren't the Rams starting Jason Smith at left tackle right away? It's what the Browns did with Joe Thomas and what the Dolphins did with Jake Long, and by all accounts, both are working out pretty great! Why put J-Smooth at right tackle for a year and then make him learn left tackle all over again next year, when Alex Barron assumedly leaves? Is Barron really going to be that great at left tackle for one season that it's worth stunting Smith's development? I can't do justice to Bill Coats' answer, because I am old and don't remember it even though I read it last night. He did not rule out Smith becoming the LT this year, though.
It's just another reason to wonder what the Rams think they're gaining with Barron at left tackle. Do they really believe there's enough unrealized potential in #70 to be worth keeping the #2 pick in the draft behind him? If he's supposed to be veteran protection for Marc Bulger's blind side, well, how well did he protect Bulger's "good" side? Is Barron going to false-start less as a LT than as a RT? The timing's wrong if they're hoping to showcase him for other teams. 2009's his contract year. Even if he finally does have a good season, the Rams will have little chance to trade him unless it's in midseason to a team that has suffered an early, critical o-line injury. The chances are much higher that any good Barron does this year benefits him via whatever team's dumb enough to overpay him in free agency after the season.
All assuming he even plays well. Meanwhile, you've got your top draft pick playing in the wrong position.
* The way the USA let Luis Fabiano run around unmarked in blowing a 2-0 halftime lead to Brazil in the Confederations Cup final Sunday is a lot like an NFL team blowing a 21-0 halftime lead to the Patriots because they decided not to cover Randy Moss in the second half. C'mon, defense! Grrr...
* One of these days I'll have to explain how I turned into a big fan of soccer, a sport I used to mock mercilessly. If I can figure it out myself, that is. I've come to enjoy the international flavor of the game, and though I'll still doze off during games, as with golf, the precision of the game played at its highest level is awe-inspiring, as is the passion of soccer fans. And the diving is a little less prevalent and cartoonish than it used to be...
* Dentyne Arctic Blast may be the worst gum I have ever tasted. You'll like it, if you love gnawing on Halls cough drops...
* I'll try to make sure there's enough to gnaw on here as the week goes along...
photos respectively from espn.com, stltoday.com, soccernet.espn.com
When Scott Linehan took over as Rams head coach in 2006, Greg Olson was the offensive coordinator, but effectively in name only. Linehan was the offensive genius, so he did all the play-calling. That lasted until week 10, a particularly-poorly-called game, even for Linehan, which saw the Rams get shut out in Carolina to lose their fourth straight game and fall to 4-6. It was decided that Linehan's genius was being taxed too much and play-calling went to Olson.
And Olson did a heck of a job. The Rams went 4-2 with him calling plays, won their last three and averaged 27 points a game. He closed with a flourish with a 37-31 win over Washington and a 41-21 win at Minnesota.
So, you let Olson have the reins for the 2007 season, right? Not exactly; per beat reporter Jim Thomas, Linehan became much more involved again in the offensive game plan and play-calling, even with Olson remaining the titular offensive coordinator. A lot of people would call what Linehan did "meddling". And so Linehan meddled the Rams' way to an 0-4 start that season, with the Rams scoring just 36 points in those four games. Linehan took over play-calling for the rest of the season, managing to pull the Rams' points per game up to a big 16.25. The Rams ended 2007 a THEN-franchise worst 3-13.
While Linehan and Jim Haslett sunk the Rams to even deeper depths in 2008, Olson jumped the rapidly-sinking ship (got pushed, actually) at the end of 2007 and landed on his feet in Tampa Bay, where he seems to be doing a heck of a job as the quarterbacks coach. The Bucs are coming off one of the best passing offense seasons in their history:
* 3,788 yards: 2nd in team history.
* 63.2% completion percentage: 3rd in team history.
* 83.8 team passer rating: 4th in team history.
The Bucs offense set a team record for total yards last year (5,456), which was the second-highest scoring season in team history, with 362 points. These numbers aren't headline-worthy as the rest of the league goes, but they're unheard-of for the long-offensively-starved Buccaneers.
Good thing Linehan got rid of Olson, huh. Olson was the coach of the two the Rams should have kept!
We'll see for sure as this year's rookie QB class develops. Olson's working with Josh Freeman, and thinks he could be the opening week starter, in Tampa. Linehan and former Ram offensive assistant Jeff Horton will be in charge of bringing Matthew Stafford along in Detroit.
I know who I'd put my money on, and against.
Photo from the St.Petersburg Times "Bucs Beat" blog at blogs.tampabay.com
With the very recent deaths of Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon, it's not exactly topical to be talking about Frank Gansz, the former Rams special teams coach who passed away a couple of months ago. But he's one of the important figures of the St. Louis Rams' brief history, and I've had a note ever since he passed to mention him here. I just regret it took two months.
Gansz was the best (unfortunately the only even-good one so far) special teams coach the Rams have had here. Many coaches seem to have problems getting their point across to players. This was no problem for Frank, who charged around practices barking out orders over a bullhorn. This intensity in a part of the game that revolves a lot around intensity served him well here and at Kansas City, whose special teams of the late 80s were incredible, and where Gansz won the NFL's Special Teams Coach of the Year award in 1989.
He repeated that feat here in 1999, and it's easy to see why. The '99 Rams led the league in kickoff returns, with Tony Horne averaging nearly 30 yards an attempt. The Rams were fifth in the league covering punts. That's fifth-best, not fifth-worst (or worse) like we've gotten used to around here. Special teams scored three TDs in 1999. We remember Az Hakim breaking that early October game in Cincinnati open with a punt return TD. We certainly remember Horne's kick return TD right after halftime of the 1999 divisional playoff against Minnesota. It changed the tone of the game and got the Rams' feet firmly on the road to Super Bowl XXXIV.
Super Bowl XXXIV would have been impossible without Frank Gansz's special teams, and not just because of those showy return TDs. Anybody remember that Jeff Wilkins set a record that year for most extra points without a miss? And special teams were critical in the game itself. Wilkins hit all 3 FGs he got his foot on (Mike Horan muffed the hold on a 4th attempt) for all the Rams' first-half scoring. He'd score 11 points in a game the Rams won by 7. Meanwhile, Tennessee hit only 1 of 3 FG attempts. Anybody remember Todd Lyght blocking a field goal in the third quarter of that game? Preserved a shutout at the time.
Then there was the holding penalty Leonard Little drew on the kickoff after Isaac Bruce's historic TD put the Rams ahead 23-16. Instead of having to drive 78 yards for a TD, a difficult-enough task on its own, the Titans had to drive 88. They got 87 of those yards, and besides Mike Jones, Rams Nation might want to thank the Rams' special teams for putting the Titans in a ten-yard hole at the outset of the drive.
Dick Vermeil has said that the Rams wouldn't have won the Super Bowl without Frank Gansz, who he's also called the greatest special teams coach ever. He is certainly right on the first count and may very well be right on the second. A belated final farewell to an outstanding coach and one of the Rams' less-sung heroes.
photo from stltoday.com
Against the AFC, the Rams' streaks never figure to be very long numerically, but they sure can be chronologically, as we'll see here. There's a lot of bad trends here as well, but maybe it's good they're playing the AFC South this year.
AFC East:
The Rams have lost seven of their last eight regular season games against AFC East opponents.
Patriots - three straight losses, including Super Bowl XXXVI. Last win: 24-17 at New England, 11/18/01.
Dolphins - two straight losses. Last win: 42-10 here, 9/30/01.
Bills - two straight losses. Last win: a Tony Banks-led 34-33 come-from-behind victory in Buffalo in 1998. (Sept 20)
Jets - one-game losing streak. Last win: 32-29 here in OT, 1/2/05.
AFC North:
The Rams were 0-4 vs. the AFC North in 2007; 4-0 in 2003. So they have a one-game losing streak against the Steelers, Ravens, Bengals and Browns.
AFC South:
Colts: one-game losing streak. Last win: 42-17 win here, 12/30/01.
Titans: two-game winning streak dating back to Super Bowl XXXIV. Last loss: 24-21 there, 10/31/1999.
Texans: the Rams won the only meeting between the teams so far, 33-27 in Houston in OT, 11/27/05. (Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for over 300 yards).
Jagwires: two-game winning streak, both meetings between the franchises since Jacksonville entered the league. Dates back to a 17-14 Rams win here on 10/20/96. This year, though, will mark the Rams' first regular season trip to Jacksonville.
AFC West:
Chargers: one-game losing streak. Last win: 28-24 here, 11/10/02, a Marc Bulger miracle comeback game.
Broncos: one-game winning streak. Last win: 18-10 here, 9/1/06. Scott Linehan's first game as head coach. Everything seemed so good back then.
Raiders: two-game winning streak. Last loss: 35-17 at Oakland, 9/28/97.
Then there's the cross-state rival Chiefs, whose streak over the Rams is nearly as vexing as the Rams' current woes against the Seahawks and Big Dead. The St. Louis Rams, or as Jim Thomas would annoyingly put it, "St. Louis" Rams, have yet to beat Kansas City. The franchise's last win over the Chiefs was a 16-0 win at Arrowhead 9/18/1994 as the Los Angeles Rams. (Jim Thomas never says "Los Angeles" Rams.) Even the Greatest Show Rams couldn't top the Chiefs, going down there in flames 54-34 in 2000. The Chiefs' average win over the Rams since the move to St. Louis is 41-20.
And though the Chiefs have fielded some good teams the last 15 years, only one year the two teams met, 1997, were they significantly better than the Rams:
1997: Chiefs (finished 13-3) 28, Rams (5-11) 20.
2000: Chiefs (7-9) 54, Rams (10-6) 34.
2002: Chiefs (8-8) 49, Rams (7-9) 10.
2006: Chiefs (9-7) 31, Rams (8-8) 17.
You're never going to convince me the Rams shouldn't have been able to beat the Chiefs by now, let alone that they should get blown out the way they have been. I see this partly as the Chiefs being not just a classically physical team those years, but a classically turnover-ratio-oriented team, and also a team that can "get up" for a particular opponent.
And that's three things the Rams have generally lacked in recent years. Physical play, a positive turnover ratio (though 2006 went well) and a coach who can motivate. Steve Spagnuolo appears to have those items on his coaching checklist, and would be well-advised to keep them there.
And be able to checkmark them off a time or two this season.
The Rams' streaks against the rest of the NFC aren't that much better than their futility within the division:
NFC East:
Giants: four straight losses. Last win: 15-14 at St. Louis, 10/14/01.
Eggles: two straight losses. Last win: 20-7 at StL, 12/27/04, and Philly rested most of their starters that game.
Redskins: two game winning streak, including one of last year's two wins. Last loss was 24-9 at StL, 12/4/05.
Cowboys: one game winning streak, last year's other win, 34-14 in StL. Last loss was 35-7 at Dallas, 9/30/07. You know, the one where Tony Romo ran for a first down on 3rd-and-6 after recovering a bad snap thirty yards behind the line.
NFC North:
Vikings: one game winning streak, 41-21 win at Minnesota, 12/31/06. Last loss was 27-13 there, 12/11/05.
Packers: one game losing streak. Last win: 23-20 at Green Bay, 10/8/06.
Bears: two straight losses. Last win: 23-12 at Chicago, 11/16/03.
Lions: one game winning streak, 41-34 win here, 10/1/06. Last loss: 30-20 at Detroit, 12/28/03.
NFC South:
Falcons - one-game losing streak, last season's last game. Last win: 28-16 here, 12/2/07.
Buccaneers - one-game losing streak. Last win: 28-21 here, 10/18/04. The Bucs are 4-1 against the Rams since the Rams beat them in the 2000 NFC Championship Game.
Panthers - four straight losses, including the 2003 Divisional Playoff here. Last win: 48-14 here, 11/1/01. (Both Faulk and Canidate ran for over 100 yards.)
Saints - two game winning streak. Last loss: 28-25 overtime loss in StL, 9/26/04.
The Rams haven't been a team that beats you black and blue, which shows up here. They haven't beaten the Giants or Panthers in eight years, or the Bears in six. And the Bucs only once in basically a decade. Sure, that's partly schedule quirks, but those are all classically physical teams. Steve Spagnuolo's right, and Billy Devaney's right, to try to put together a roster capable of dealing with physical play and returning it in kind. That's what it's going to take to get the Rams back on the right track.
As you might suspect of a team that's gone 5-27 the last two years, the Rams aren't on the good end of very many streaks in the NFL right now. In fact, they don't have a winning streak longer than two games against any other team. They're on a losing streak against 21 of the 31 other NFL teams.
Nothing's more appalling, though, than their current trends against their NFC West rivals. Scott Linehan (and Jim Haslett) went 3-15 against the rest of the division: 2-4 in 2006, 1-5 in 2007 and 0-6 in 2008. They've lost two straight to the Whiners, both meetings last year. (Last win: 13-9 at San Francisco, 11/18/07). Their recent futility against the hated Big Dead is enough to frequently wake RamView up in the middle of the night. They've lost FIVE straight to worthless Bill Bidwill's team. Arizona, oddly, has scored exactly 34 points in four of those wins and the average score of those five games is 37-19, Big Dead. Not only that, the Rams' last win over Arizona was pure luck, 16-14 on 9/24/06, the game where Kurt Warner fumbled the snap away with the Big Dead in imminent game-winning FG position. (and Jim Hanifan got a cramp.)
And that's not even the Rams' worst losing streak. Their worst streak, beginning to rival the old SOSAR 17-game losing streak to the Whiners, is their EIGHT-game losing streak to the Seahawks. They haven't beaten the Seahawks since going 3-0 against them in 2004-5, including the wild card playoff win in Seattle (27-20, 1/5/05). How bad has this streak gotten? The Seahawks went 4-12 last year and the Rams STILL couldn't beat them either time!
And the ways the Rams have lost to Seattle over that stretch are galling. Seattle's beaten them more than once with their top receivers missing. The first game in 2008, they arguably had their top SEVEN receivers out. (And the Rams still couldn't cover anybody.) Josh Brown beat them twice in 2006 with buzzer-beater FGs. Gus Frerotte fumbled at the goal line in the Dome in November 2007 to keep the streak alive. Of all the streaks in the football world, Seattle's against the Rams has to be the least-deserved, but it rages on.
That's a lot of negative momentum to reverse, but it's where Steve Spagnuolo's going to have to make pretty quick inroads against to get this team turned around. Even with the Cardinals coming off a Super Bowl run, the Rams' NFC West opponents are all highly beatable teams.
Time to start making that stand up on the field.
