Bleacher Report - St Louis Rams

St. Louis Rams: What to Watch for at OTAs

Steven Gerwel — Mon, 20 May 2013 00:06:30 -0400

The St. Louis Rams are wrapping up their rookie minicamps, which means it's time for the next phase of the offseason—organized team activities (OTAs).

It will be the first time rookies such as Tavon Austin and Alec Ogletree get to suit up and play alongside the veterans. It's a vital first step in building team chemistry and integrating the newcomers into the system.

This is a sluggish time of the year for NFL football, but OTAs will give us a sneak peak at the 2013 Rams and give us an idea of what to expect when training camp arrives.

So, based on the questions surrounding the team this offseason, here are several key items to keep an eye on during OTAs.

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St. Louis Rams' New Emphasis on Speed Shows in 2013 Offseason Moves

Jamal Collier — Fri, 17 May 2013 04:03:54 -0400

Both trenches needed to be dealt with before the St. Louis Rams would be able to fully benefit from the presence of the peripheral pieces on the perimeter. It’s not because the Rams had a ton of accomplished weapons that were unfortunately going underutilized—they didn’t—but adding talent on the outside without addressing issues up front would be frustratingly futile.

Now, it’s time.

The stage was set first on the defensive side on the ball; defensive tackles Kendall Langford (free agency) and Michael Brockers (first round) were commissioned to do work on the D-line. Twin pass-rushers Chris Long and Robert Quinn were already there.

Langford was brought on just days after the Rams signed cornerback Cortland Finnegan, who would then be paired with another rookie, 2012 defensive touchdowns leader Janoris Jenkins, in the starting lineup.

The emphasis on speed has spilled into the linebacking corps as well. James Laurinaitis—and his 4.88 40-yard dash time—still anchors the defense, but the guys being installed on the outside are a bit more fleet of foot.

First up was former Georgia ‘backer Alec Ogletree. St. Louis thought enough of him to spend a first-round pick in 2013.

Ogletree had been a safety prior to living in the box for the Bulldogs.

Next came the signing of Miami’s Ray Ray Armstrong after drafting fellow defensive back Brandon McGee from the same school. Armstrong ran a 4.69 40-yard dash, and at 6’3” 216 pounds, wasn’t as big as St. Louis’ presumed starting linebackers.

That’s because he was a safety. He’s now 227 pounds and listed as a linebacker.

Safety and outside ‘backer have both been the Rams’ needs throughout the offseason. They lost both of their 2012 starting safeties, Quintin Mikell and Craig Dahl, and outside linebacker Rocky McIntosh. Only one 2013 draft pick (No. 71 overall) was spent on a safety, USC’s T.J. McDonald. So why is Armstrong lining up in the box?

Speed.

Speed and hits, like this one on the Dallas Cowboys' beast of a running back, DeMarco Murray.

Per Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Rams GM Les Snead said that Armstrong “has prototypical WIL (weakside) linebacker size and speed… With your backup linebackers, you’re trying to find people who can cover kicks.”

St. Louis’ emphasis on speed extended to the offensive side of the rock—but it, too, required things to be squared away up front, first.

The previous Rams regime knew this, adding free-agent linemen Harvey Dahl and Jason Brown in a last-ditch effort to fix the O-line before getting relieved of its duties in 2011. Brown didn’t make it through Snead’s first full month as general manager, and aside from 2010 second-rounder Rodger Saffold, no starter even matches Dahl’s tenure with the squad.

Scott Wells was picked up last offseason, Jake Long was signed during this one and, regardless of whether Rokevious Watkins or Barrett Jones secures the remaining guard spot up front, St. Louis’ starting left guard will have had very limited NFL experience.

As in fewer than two games played.

Watkins and Jones are the only two offensive linemen that Snead and Jeff Fisher have selected together. Conversely, seven of their 17 total draft picks—and three of their seven in 2013—have been spent on running backs and wide receivers.

Three were taken in 2010 and 2011. All were wide receivers, which was understandable with Steven Jackson in the fold.

Now he’s gone.

One of the Rams’ prized free-agent acquisitions, tight end Jared Cook, is as big a blur down the middle of the football field as a 6’5”, 250-pound man can be.

But he’s not Tavon Austin fast.

Austin (4.34 40-yard dash at the 2013 NFL Combine) and Stedman Bailey (4.52) were the twin missiles that combined for 37 touchdowns at West Virginia in 2012. Running back Zac Stacy (4.55 at 5’8”, 216 pounds) has similar wheels as Bailey (5’10”, 193) in a more compact frame.

With upfront protection for Sam Bradford, those sprinters will have the time to get open and do damage. Chris Givens averaged 16.6 yards on 42 grabs as a rookie, catching just 51.9 percent of the passes that Bradford chucked at him. Maybe that percentage goes up with better pocket protection.

When considering St. Louis speed merchants, the new pass-catching acquisitions will get most of the attention. They’re not the only guys who will be scooting around this fall, though—and it’s about time that the Rams tear up the turf again.

Follow Jamal on Twitter: Follow @StatManJ

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St. Louis Rams QB Breakdown: Complete Position Evaluation

Jamal Collier — Wed, 15 May 2013 01:10:26 -0400

If not for the insights of backup quarterbacks Austin Davis and Kellen Clemens, rookie St. Louis Rams wide receivers Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey might be preparing to put on different uniforms next season.

Sam Bradford isn’t the only QB that’s important.

He is the starter, though, and a franchise cornerstone as the only player at the position on whom the Rams spent a draft pick—which happened to be No. 1 overall in 2010.

Do No. 1 picks ever really have a position of obscurity from which to break out? They tend to be household names to begin with.

But Bradford hasn’t had a single offensive coordinator for two straight seasons since his sophomore and junior years at Oklahoma. He threw just 69 passes as a junior before injuring his shoulder and losing the rest of his season.

Despite the revolving door at OC for St. Louis and his nagging ankle injury in 2011, the soon-to-be fourth-year pro has shown improvement over his NFL career. His average number of yards per passing attempt has climbed from 5.95 as a rookie to 6.06 as a sophomore and 6.72 as a third-year vet.

He threw a career-high 3,702 yards and 21 touchdowns, along with a career-low 1.19 turnovers per game in 2012.

Those numbers came at the helm of an offense which has long been inundated with personnel problems at every position except running back. Now that the NFL’s active career rushing leader has gone on to greener turf, Bradford is getting a supporting cast unlike one he’s ever had before.

St. Louis has undeniably upgraded his receiving corps and offensive line in a single offseason in an effort to allow Bradford to prove that he was the correct pick at No. 1 in the 2010 NFL draft rather than a rag doll in the pocket.

He’ll be gunning for his first 4,000-yard season in 2013.

Like the New York Giants are with rookie QB Ryan Nassib, St. Louis would be ecstatic if Davis and Clemens never see the field. That means its starter is healthy.

Should one of them have to step in under center, Davis is likely to be the guy. The 23-year-old former undrafted rookie shattered collegiate records at Southern Mississippi once set by Brett Favre. However, his NFL achievements are limited to the preseason: 22-of-34 passing (64.7 percent completions) for 220 yards and an interception in four appearances.

Clemens also has Favre ties, having backed Favre up in 2008 with the New York Jets. The 29-year-old former second-round pick has more NFL game experience under his belt, but he hasn’t been productive enough to warrant consideration as a franchise passer.

His current touchdown-to-interception ratio stands at a meager 7-to-13. He threw for 546 yards in three starts for the Rams in 2011, registering two TDs and a pick.

Clemens’ career numbers with St. Louis include 49-of-94 completed passes for 585 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in five appearances (three starts).

He has the benefit of familiarity with OC Brian Schottenheimer, though—a luxury that Bradford will finally be afforded for the first time in his professional career.

Follow Jamal on Twitter: Follow @StatManJ

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6 Rams Players Primed for a Break Out Season in 2013

Tyson Langland — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:08:28 -0400

When Jeff Fisher and Les Snead took over in St. Louis, expectations immediately shot through the roof. The hiring of two well respected names throughout league circles brought about immense hope to an organization that desperately needed it.

After only one season, fans could see the light at the end of the tunnel. They saw a much better product being put on the field week in and week out. They saw more consistent play as the season went on, and most importantly they learned to trust the people who were put in charge of football decisions.

That wasn't necessarily the case in years past. Very few onlookers trusted Mike Martz, Scott Linehan and Steve Spagnuolo.

After a 7-8-1 record in 2012, expectations have been heightened yet again for the 2013 season. Here are six players the Rams are counting on to break out in 2013.

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Are the St. Louis Rams Misusing Alec Ogletree?

Gary Davenport — Mon, 13 May 2013 20:45:35 -0400

The St. Louis Rams had two picks in the first round of the 2013 NFL draft, and the team used the second of those picks to add a talented young linebacker to the fold.

However, if the team's recent minicamp is any indication, the Rams are in danger of squandering that young player's talents by jamming a square peg into a round hole.

As Nick Wagoner of the Rams' website reports, Georgia linebacker Alec Ogletree, who the Rams selected with the 30th overall pick in the draft, lined up at strong side linebacker during the Rams' recent minicamp.

Now granted, I'm not a coach (although I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night), but if the Rams intend to leave Ogletree on the strong side that's a mistake.

Alec Ogletree is a very athletic player, a speedy linebacker who is at his best when he's flying around the field.

However, there's one criticism of Ogletree that was almost universal before the draft. It's the same criticism that was leveled at Zach Brown of the Tennessee Titans a year ago.

Mike Mayock of the NFL Network seconded Tomlinson's observation in NFL.com's scouting report on Ogletree, writing that "This kid does not take on the blockers, but he's a great athlete."

Well, guess what two of the most important traits are for a 4-3 strong side linebacker?

If you said physicality and a willingness to take on blockers, then you get a cookie.

Just in case you aren't fluent in football-speak, the strong side of the formation is simply the side with more players on it. Usually that means the side that the tight end lines up on, and more often than not it's the right side.

On strong side running plays, the tight end's (or fullback's) primary responsibility is often to engage the linebacker on that side. It then falls to that linebacker to fight off that block and get to the ball-carrier.

Meanwhile, weak side linebackers do a lot more "roaming". It's the reason why many 4-3 squads put their biggest linebacker on the strong side, and their fastest on the weak side.

One needs to fight through the trash to get to the treasure, while the other needs to be able to get from point A to point B in a hurry.

Alec Ogletree is much better at the latter than the former.

That's what makes this move so puzzling.

It may be that the Rams simply don't want to flip Jo-Lonn Dunbar from the weak side to the strong side. That's somewhat understandable. After all, Dunbar had by far his best NFL season in 2012, racking up a career-high 115 tackles in his first year in St. Louis and ranking 15th among outside linebackers according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

The Rams may not want to fix something that isn't broken. It's also worth mentioning that Ogletree is about 15 pounds heavier than Dunbar, which may be part of the reasoning behind this little experiment.

However, as the old saying goes, it's not the size of the dog in the fight. It's the size of the fight in the dog.

As the clips in the above video show, Ogletree repeatedly had problems at Georgia with disengaging from blockers once they got their paws on him. That's a problem for any linebacker, but it becomes magnified on the strong side of the formation.

This isn't to say that Alec Ogletree has absolutely no shot at being a successful strong side linebacker. The 6'2", 242-pounder is a special athlete, and it's possible that with some coaching many of the kinks in his game can be worked out.

The problem is, if you put Ogletree on the strong side you're wasting many of the talents that make the converted safety a special athlete to begin with. His range and closing speed are much more valuable to a defense if he's playing in a position that allows him to take full advantage of them.

That's the weak side.

Maybe it will work out. Maybe Ogletree will improve at shedding blocks. Maybe his speed won't be squandered playing "SAM" linebacker. Maybe Ogletree will join Chad Greenway of the Minnesota Vikings and Von Miller of the Denver Broncos, as a rare 4-3 strong side linebacker who is a real difference maker on defense.

That's a lot of maybes, whereas the opposite argument only takes one.

Maybe the Rams should stop jamming that square peg into a round hole.

Read more St Louis Rams news on BleacherReport.com

Biggest Takeaways from St. Louis Rams Rookie Minicamp

Steven Gerwel — Sun, 12 May 2013 22:26:44 -0400

The glamour of the NFL draft is now far away in our rear-view mirror, and it's time for the rookies to trade in their tuxedos for a helmet and cleats—it's time to go to work.

This past week, the St. Louis Rams held their rookie minicamp not only for their draft picks, but for 53 total rookies who are trying to make a career out of NFL football (according to STLtoday.com).

Few rookies will make it to training camp, while only an elite few will find themselves on the 53-man roster.

For now, based on the reports coming out of camp, here are several observations regarding the St. Louis rookies.

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