Competing

[London59]

I thought this pre season would be a blast with so many wide open spots to be taken by young players who give it their all and seize the opportunity.

Instead it seems to be mostly players chasing plays and being timid on defense vs a balls out leave nothing in the tank and have no regrets effort.

I saw only 2 young players in Tomlinson and Davis who appeared ready and laser focused to do their jobs. Everyone else seemed outhustled or maybe even worse, out athleted. Maybe most just really are not NFL roster worthy.

But I recall Bill Bates carving out an NFL career despite being smaller and slower than other linebackers. He refused to be blocked on special teams and eventually earned time as a linebacker.

Unlike Bates, the Rams can’t even apparently find gunners who can be within 15 yds of the return man because they can’t get off blocks! I saw #41 put on the ground on one punt. That just can’t happen.

I fear the Rams may lack not only talent, but effort and tenacity. Not a good combination. I hope I’m wrong and I keep telling myself it is just pre season and hopefully come game day we see a different effort.

 

[BC Ramfan]

I thought this pre season would be a blast with so many wide open spots to be taken by young players who give it their all and seize the opportunity.

Instead it seems to be mostly players chasing plays and being timid on defense vs a balls out leave nothing in the tank and have no regrets effort.

I saw only 2 young players in Tomlinson and Davis who appeared ready and laser focused to do their jobs. Everyone else seemed outhustled or maybe even worse, out athleted. Maybe most just really are not NFL roster worthy.

But I recall Bill Bates carving out an NFL career despite being smaller and slower than other linebackers. He refused to be blocked on special teams and eventually earned time as a linebacker.

Unlike Bates, the Rams can’t even apparently find gunners who can be within 15 yds of the return man because they can’t get off blocks! I saw #41 put on the ground on one punt. That just can’t happen.

I fear the Rams may lack not only talent, but effort and tenacity. Not a good combination. I hope I’m wrong and I keep telling myself it is just pre season and hopefully come game day we see a different effort.

Looked to me like it was physical (size, speed) inferiority.
What you can expect with Day 3 guys and UDFAs.
There were certainly some guys out there trying IMO.

BC

 

[RamBall]

Its preseason and McVay does not game plan preseason. They go out and run just basic vanilla stuff on both sides with players that are on the cusp of being starters and guys trying to make the 53. There was quite a bit of good and a lot of ugly. Most of the ugly will be cleaned up with the roster cut and game planning. Probably not a Super Bowl team, but better than the teams we watched for most of the last 30 something yrs.

 

[Malibu]

Got to agree only the punter, Allen, Tomlinson and Avila looked good yesterday. STa were terrible, run D terrible, pass d terrible, and OL combos look barely average. Not a winning recipe.

 

[rdlkgliders]

Let's see what the 53 looks like, in addition to those mentioned Brown showed signs of life, VanV looked mostly good, Bruss was better before he went out, Rochelle was pretty solid, and JJ looked good. Hummel had some really good plays others flashed as well.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

I thought this pre season would be a blast with so many wide open spots to be taken by young players who give it their all and seize the opportunity.

Instead it seems to be mostly players chasing plays and being timid on defense vs a balls out leave nothing in the tank and have no regrets effort.

I saw only 2 young players in Tomlinson and Davis who appeared ready and laser focused to do their jobs. Everyone else seemed outhustled or maybe even worse, out athleted. Maybe most just really are not NFL roster worthy.

But I recall Bill Bates carving out an NFL career despite being smaller and slower than other linebackers. He refused to be blocked on special teams and eventually earned time as a linebacker.

Unlike Bates, the Rams can’t even apparently find gunners who can be within 15 yds of the return man because they can’t get off blocks! I saw #41 put on the ground on one punt. That just can’t happen.

I fear the Rams may lack not only talent, but effort and tenacity. Not a good combination. I hope I’m wrong and I keep telling myself it is just pre season and hopefully come game day we see a different effort.

Seahawks, 49ers, Bengals, Colts, Eagles is a brutal first five games for this young defense and STs. I doubt we see much improvement over the first five weeks.

 

[majrleaged]

I have no doubt the effort is there. Talent is the problem. There are players I see out there that look like they will help the team, but they are playing alongside players that won't. In fact I would say to high a percentage of the players out there aren't good enough.

So the preseason tells me the Rams are not deep and if we loose our core players we will be playing for a top 5 draft pick.

 

[muggmeister]

Got to agree only the punter, Allen, Tomlinson and Avila looked good yesterday. STa were terrible, run D terrible, pass d terrible, and OL combos look barely average. Not a winning recipe.

I tried to pay attention to Avila and although he mostly held his own I also saw him whiff on a few occasions which kind of alarmed me. This was not exactly the front four were gonna see from the 49ers so I hope he continues to get reps and eliminates these lapses.

 

[AvengerRam]

(All we need is just a little…)

 

[tomas]

Why do Snead and the scouting department draft 280 pounds DTs? We look like a college football team size-wise. I think the Rams will pluck at least two practice squad Defensive Tackles when the cuts happen-- Hopefully, 325--330 lbs Defensive tackles.

 

[bubbaramfan]

Special Teams are gonna be a problem.

 

[Angry Ram]

Fans of all 32 teams are putting way too much stock in these games. Especially since the 2020 season.

 

[Jacobarch]

It's preseason

 

[Psycho_X]

This the first Rams preseason game people have watched under McVay? We generally lose most of our preseason games because he doesn't care about them. It's basic game plans being called by assistant coaches with mostly players who won't make the team. It's just never going to look good as a product on the field.

 

[WestCoastRam]

This the first Rams preseason game people have watched under McVay? We generally lose most of our preseason games because he doesn't care about them. It's basic game plans being called by assistant coaches with mostly players who won't make the team. It's just never going to look good as a product on the field.

I think the difference is we're playing far more starters than we ever have in preseason under him and we're seeing some really bad things from the Dline.

I think you can easily throw out everything from the 2nd half of these games but our run defense and pass rush look really iff. That being said, it's getting a vet DT in here that concerns me more than a pass rusher at the moment.

 

[fanotodd]

Seahawks, 49ers, Bengals, Colts, Eagles is a brutal first five games for this young defense and STs. I doubt we see much improvement over the first five weeks.

This, IMO, is the greatest challenge and biggest impediment to having a great season.

Examine just the first 2 games vs division rivals who made the playoffs last year.
0-2 is a big hole to dig out of while we wait for things to get smoother and some players to start stepping up. The season becomes, more than likely, all about experience.

1-1 means the Rams are going into the season competitive and just might make a go of it.

2-0 means the NFC west is wide open and the Rams are in the driver’s seat.

…and that’s all BEFORE we get to the bengals, colts, and eagles.
Tough opening schedule, but I’m gonna hold out hope we can steal the opener vs the seahawks.

 

[CGI_Ram]

This, IMO, is the greatest challenge and biggest impediment to having a great season.

Examine just the first 2 games vs division rivals who made the playoffs last year.
0-2 is a big hole to dig out of while we wait for things to get smoother and some players to start stepping up. The season becomes, more than likely, all about experience.

1-1 means the Rams are going into the season competitive and just might make a go of it.

2-0 means the NFC west is wide open and the Rams are in the driver’s seat.

…and that’s all BEFORE we get to the bengals, colts, and eagles.
Tough opening schedule, but I’m gonna hold out hope we can steal the opener vs the seahawks.

I think that’s where my head is at. At least when thinking about the first couple of games and goals.

The NFL is whack these days. Teams get on streaks. I won’t count us out at 0-2 or even 0-3. Look at Detroit last year. I just want to see some good football and see how it adds up in the end.

Schedule looks tough, thats for sure.

 

[Memento]

I want Tyler Johnson over Robinson. I'm sorry, I just feel like he's a better all-around receiver.

 

[LARAMSinFeb.]

Schedule looks tough, thats for sure.

Toughest in the NFL considering logistics, plus we get 4 teams after their byes.

 

[fanotodd]

I have no doubt the effort is there. Talent is the problem. There are players I see out there that look like they will help the team, but they are playing alongside players that won't. In fact I would say to high a percentage of the players out there aren't good enough.

So the preseason tells me the Rams are not deep and if we loose our core players we will be playing for a top 5 draft pick.

Agree, but what were people expecting when the Rams jettisoned proven players for rookies and opening up starting jobs to 2nd year players with little or practically no game experience? Depth is a luxury for any team. A decent starting lineup is this year’s first priority.

It is entirely reasonable to expect some guys who get significant PT THIS year will be upgraded next. For example, SOMEBODY has to play Edge. If their play isn’t satisfactory, the Rams might spend their 1rst rounder on someone next draft, pushing a couple players down the depth charts and onto the bench. A couple would be cut.

This season might turn out disastrous, but there will be opportunity for many players who probably wouldn’t have even made the team in 2021.