![]() |
![]() |
|
|
Tyji Armstrong-He did not play in 1997. His lifetime totals are 47 catches for 3 TD's in 5 years. He is out of Mississippi and played for both Tampa Bay and the Cowboys. I went back through all the Lindy's annuals since he entered the league and found some permutation of this statement-"solid blocker who needs to polish his receiving skills. The odds are certainly against him; the Rams already have Jacoby and Laing to fill that sort of role on the squad. In addition Laing is a solid Hback if you need that role and Jacoby is one of the better special teamers. Isaac Bruce-I could froth at the mouth and make a lot of obvious statements about Ike, but most Rams fans are as aware as I am of his excellence. But there are three things about him worth noting right now. Number one is that Tony Banks was a far different QB last year when he had someone to throw at. Number two is that one of the very biggest reasons Bruce is able to get off the line and make some of the spectacular catches is due to his superior arm strength. In the football of the 90's upper body and arm strength in a WR are becoming as important as cutting ability. Michael Irvin is not especially fast or that much quicker than other WR's-but he is certainly one of the strongest and has used that to his advantage for years. Bruce never gets his hands pulled down by a CB when he catches the ball. The method of stripping the ball on a catch by yanking down on an arm simply does not work on him. Number three is that he is one of the very best at decoying a CB I have ever seen. He puts his hands very very late to catch the ball and does not warn a defender that the ball is coming. During last years Chiefs game I was lucky enough to be right in front of him on two long passes. Each time he did not put his hands up to make the catch until the ball was roughly parallel to his helmet. The first time he got an interference call on Mark McMillain and the second time was a completion. He was in Memphis for part of the offseason finishing up his degree. But he has been at Ramspark almost daily since the end of the semester. He and Vermeil seem to have settled their differences from last year. He is playing basketball daily after the weight room to build up his legs and flexibility…. no hamstrings in 98-say it with me. Ernie Conwell-After watching some 1997 video tape I had made I think his thumb injury from 1996 is the cause of his drops in 1997. He basically had an exposed bone and there was some fear of gangrene in 1996. He almost always drops a lofted pass or lob pass over his head or over his right shoulder. When he has to run under a pass he really struggles, but when it is on a line or a bullet he has no problem holding onto it. I watched him pretty closely and he seems have trouble closing up his hands and cradling the ball when it is thrown like that…. it does not fall out as much as it bounces out. He has the lowest center of gravity on the team, I think it is lower than even Jerald Moore-and this accounts for some of his marvelous rambles last year. He is a very good pass blocker. They kept him in far too much to be good for the offense. When Banks was QB they generally kept him in to block and sent out 2-3 WR and Amp Lee. When Rypien was in at QB they used him more in patterns and I found that curious all year given Rypien's slow feet. I think a lot of that was related to the need to give Banks confidence in the pocket and Rypien's quicker release. The Rams are planning to use him more extensively in the passing game this year (at least that is the announced plan). When Vermeil was at Philadelphia he used Keith Krepfle or another TE for approximately 20-25% of the total pass completions each year. That would project out to 55-63 catches a year for Conwell based on the rate the Rams threw last year. Malcolm Floyd-AKA Malcolm Seaborn, AKA not expected to make the final cut. He used to be a fairly good punt returner. He is coming off an Achilles injury. Inasmuch as his game was more quickness than straight-ahead speed it will be hard for him to survive. The Rams have improved the depth and quality at wideout more than any other position…. whereas they were desperate for him or anyone else to show any ability at all early last year. Az-Zahir Hakim-I expect him to dislodge Kennison as the punt returner. I am also hoping that will help Eddie concentrate on a comeback as a WR. He is extremely explosive both in straight-ahead speed and in coming out of a cut. He is able to do double moves and has major league receiving skills. His durability at his size has always been a concern (5:10 and 180 pounds). He is tough and would go over the middle in college, but he did get banged up. After Bruce came back from his hamstring injury last year the Rams came out with a 5 WR set in early downs during some games. They would bring in Amp Lee to go along with Bruce, Kennison, Small and usually Keith Crawford. They almost always did this on second down and it caused some defenses to scramble. I am looking forward to how a defense will counter Hakim in the slot this year. Mitch Jacoby-Very few of the new players had any impact on special teams last year. After the first few disasters they put in Roman Phifer, Todd Lyght and even Keith Lyle on some of the kick return teams to stabilize the situation. Jacoby was one of the few rookies that could make plays on special teams last year. He is a good blocker and with some work and development on receiving skills he could move ahead of Aaron Laing this year. Eddie Kennison-It is so hard to tell if it was the sore shoulder, the lack of conditioning, the ego trip he went on after winning the fastest man contest, a lack of upper body strength or just a jinx-but you would not give very much for the way he played last year. His punt returning was about half the average of 1996 and about half the excitement. He had a couple of notorious skips out of bounds last year rather than take on contact. The Oakland game was a watershed of sorts for the Rams last year. It was plainly a game that they should have won. They were horribly out coached and refused to run the ball against one of the worst run defenses in the league. Tony Banks felt imaginary heat all day and had one of his worst games ever. Eddie Kennison spent all day letting old Lionel Washington and older Albert Lewis pound him at the line and keep him from ever getting into his pattern. I was able to see some isolation footage of the game, it wasn't pretty. After that game Rhome continued to flounder and never commit to any running game until Jerald Moore emerged at the end of the year. Banks played better the rest of the way and seemed to start to trust his line more the rest of the year…. of course one could argue the wisdom of that particular outlook. Kennison never was a factor the rest of the way as a WR. He is working with the Rams people on weights and trying to both repair his shoulder and build himself up to the point that he can take a jam better without crumbling. He did do some work with Kersee but mostly on running technique. Aaron Laing-A very popular Ram with his teammates and in the community who may have a lot of trouble making the team. His natural position in pro football seems to be Hback and the Rams are moving away from that mode of attack. He is very slow, almost short fat Jesse James wobble slow (only a small exaggeration). He does have better hands than either Conwell or Jacoby but is seldom open. He is a very good run blocker and can seal off at the point of attack particularly when he is in motion. Ricky Proehl-A professional wide receiver who will be a great addition to the team. Torrance Small really never got a chance to show what he could do as a Ram. Far too often he was outside instead of in the slot where he belongs. When he did play he continued to drop a lot of balls and that tag has now followed him since his days in New Orleans…but in the slot he can be a physical presence that smaller nickel backs cannot contend with…of course Indy does not plan to use him that way. Proehl is consistent, not flashy but has very good hands and runs very precise routes. He is not as big and strong as Small but he could more easily move outside and still be effective whereas Torrance could not match up to top cornerbacks. He reminds me in many ways of a taller Pat Tilley an ex-Cardinal WR of the 70's. This will be his 9th year. The Rams are 4 deep at wideout going into training camp with a number of prospects behind them. JT Thomas-I doubt he has ever seen a pile on a kickoff return that he could not run into. He seems to have absolutely no instincts to run with the football. He really let the team down when he got into that silly slap fight against San Francisco. He is very fast and has no other receiving skills. I am surprised he was asked back. Roland Williams-A very intriguing draft choice that showed better receiving skills than advertised in mini camp. He was fast and got deep occasionally in workouts. He is 6:5 and 266 pounds. He can sky for high passes and could play a big role in goal line situations with that skill. His rap in college was that he could not run and catch but had to turn into the QB and as a result the perception was that he was slow. He needs work on his blocking techniques. In the one snippet I saw he plays very high and ended up on his face a couple of times…. the theory is always that the man with the lower pads wins the battle. He needs to understand this. Donnell Baker-I have always liked him through two camps. He spent time on the Panthers and the Rams practice squads last year. He ran some really good slants a year ago in preseason and looked good running after the catch. He is on the smaller side and it looks too tough for him to make this squad. Tony Horne-He won out over Goodson. The thought being that this is already a crowded position and both of them were not going to camp. He goes about 5:10 and is under 190 pounds. He is quick, but not really fast-but he is exceptional at running and has a lot of moves. He will always miss the first shot at him and he has tremendous change of direction. He has good hands, but not great hands and in the film I saw he caught with his body. Those kind of catches will go flying out in the pros. He did do a good job on kick returns. Russell Shaw-He must have played on the same team as Matt Reem. The only thing I have been able to find out about him is that he played at Michigan and was clocked at a faster time than Goodson and Horne in mini camp. Donald Sellers-He spent the entire year on the practice squad. He was a college option QB of great athletic ability and no receiver experience. He has more than a 50-50 chance of making the team this year. He has some size (around 6:2 and 190) and a lot of ability if he learned anything last year. He had some good moments last year in the preseason. Jim ![]() |