Rams News

St. Louis Rams
Team Report posted August 11, 1998
by tsn correspondent JIM THOMAS - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Suddenly, there are plenty of bodies in the backfield. Jerald Moore and Robert Holcombe have returned to practice, and a new running back is in the fold in former Minnesota Viking James Stewart.

Stewart, 26, was a fifth-round draft choice by the Vikings in 1995 from the University of Miami (Fla.). He gained 144 yards on 31 carries in four games as an NFL rookie, but hasn't played in a regular-season game since. At 6-2, 246 pounds, the Rams plan to try Stewart at fullback, where they currently have only Derrick Harris and Raymond Priester.

Meanwhile, Moore returned to practice Monday afternoon after missing the Denver preseason opener and much of practice for the last week and a half with a badly bruised shoulder. Coach Dick Vermeil has been critical of Moore while he was sidelined, suggesting that Moore should be on the field.

"I know I need to practice," Moore said. "But we've got a long season to go. I don't think it would've been too smart on my part to keep banging and banging." Holcombe, the team's second-round draft pick from the University of llinois, had been out with a strained hamstring since July 30. Moore and Holcombe had been co-favorites for the starting running back job until their injuries.

Now, there's another back in the mix in newcomer Greg Hill. "That's the nature of the game," Holcombe said. "They bring people in who they think can help the football team. We all have to compete.". . . .

To make room for Stewart on the roster, the Rams have released defensive end Glenn Young Jr., a rookie free agent from Vanderbilt. . . .

Despite only 99 yards passing and 193 yards of total offense against Denver, Vermeil is not hitting the panic button on offense. He'd like to see Tony Banks hit some big plays, and he'd like to see the Rams do better on third-down conversions -- they were three for 10 against Denver.

But he went into the team's preseason opener wanting to work on the run -- even if Denver was employing an eight-man front to stuff the run. "I didn't want to get into a situation where you throw 60 or 70 percent of the time, because we want to try to run he football," Vermeil said. The Rams didn't have the ball that much Saturday, with only 45 offensive plays to Denver's 72. But they still managed 94 yards on the ground, averging 4.9 yards a carry.

To his credit, Vermeil didn't abandon the run even the Rams were stuff early -- gaining only seven yards on their first five carries of the game.

POSITIONAL ANALYSIS

Offensive Line: Fred Miller has only about one week under his belt at his new position, left guard, but so far it's been a surprisingly smooth transition. At 6-7, 315 pounds, Miller doesn't look like the guard type. But the Rams don't really require a lot of pulling from their guards and Miller seems agile and athletic enough to handle the transition from right tackle. He certainly has the aggressive mindset that line coach Jim Hanifan prefers. In Miller and left tackle Orlando Pace (6-7, 320) the Rams now have a physically imposing set of blockers on the left side.

Quarterbacks: Tony Banks wasn't terrible against Denver, but he certainly could have been better. He misfired on two potential long gainers to tight end Ernie Conwell -- one of which might have gone for a touchdown. He threw too early to Isaac Bruce on an "out" route, and he threw an interception right into the chest of a Broncos defender late in the second quarter, when he should have scrambled for the first down. Banks completed seven of 13 passes for 45 yards. Preseason or not, Banks has to start connecting on some of those big plays if the team is get over the hump.

Running Backs: Hill is in the house. Hill was signed on Tuesday to help the Rams' injury-depleted running back corps, and made his presence felt Saturday at the Trans World Dome with 56 yards rushing on seven carries. Hill's 31-yard gain on a nifty cutback run in the second quarter was longer than any Rams run last season -- preseason or regular-season. He also scored on a 3-yard run for the Rams only touchdown of the game, and had an 18-yard run called back on a holding penalty. Granted, much of Hill's damage came when Denver was filtering in its reserves, but he should be a factor this year because of his speed and experience.

Receivers: There were no clear cut winners or losers coming out of the Denver game because the Rams spread the ball around so much. No less than 12 Rams players caught at least one of the 16 passes completed, and no one caught more than two passes. Among the young receivers, fourth-round draft pick Az-Zahir Hakim had a 20-yarder and Tony Horne caught a 12-yarder. Among the veterans, Ricky Proehl (two for 12) played much more than Eddie Kennison, although Kennison started. It looks like the starting job will not be handed to Kennison. Tight end Tyji Armstrong (2 for 21) did a nice job blocking and catching.

Defensive Line: First-round draft pick Grant Wistrom was around the ball much of the evening, but finished with only one tackle against Denver -- although he did force a fumble. Wistrom, the defensive end from the University of Nebraska, played on the Rams' starting "nickel" rush unit, and on the team's second-string base defense. So he got a lot of snaps Saturday. He had a couple of quarterback hurries. Overall, the team's pass rush was lagging, with no sacks on 37 Denver pass plays. Vermeil was disappointed that the Rams' tackles didn't get more of an inside push.

Linebackers: Muadianvita Kazadi didn't play a down from scrimmage last season as a rookie. But he found himself starting at outside linebacker Saturday due to Roman Phifer's calf injury. He made some plays, finishing with six stops, but also made some mistakes. Foremost of which came on tight end Dwayne Carswell's 26-yard touchdown pass from Bubby Brister. Kazadi lined up wrong on the play and failed to jam Carswell at the line of scrimmage. Lorenzo Styles started in place of Eric Hill, who's still getting back up to form after recovering from a strained back, and acquitted himself well with four solo tackles. Among the newcomers, middle linebacker Daryl Bush was around the ball, but also overran some plays at times.

Defensive Backs: Denver did much of its damage in a 304-yard passing performance against the Rams safeties. Even without Shannon Sharpe suiting up for the Broncos at tight end, Carswell and Byron Chamberlain combined for 124 yards on eight catches, with Carswell scoring on that TD pass from Brister as well. Strong safety Billy Jenkins was sucked in by a play-action fake on the Carswell TD. Jenkins, a second-year player, started in place of Toby Wright at strong safety, and showed his coverage skills still need work. Gerald McBurrows, who had only five days on the practice field since returning from the chicken pox, started at free safety for the first time in the NFL. The Rams rested Keith Lyle as a precaution because of a tight hamstring.

Special Teams: The kickers performed well against Denver, with Jeff Wilkins booting field goals of 26 and 48 yards, and punter Rick Tuten averaging 47 yards on four kicks, with a 36.5 net. The Rams coverage units performed well enough early in the game, but made special teams coach Frank Gansz' blood boil when they yielded a 28-yard punt return in the third quarter. Rookie free agent Tony Horne did most of the kickoff return work with David Thompson sidelined by a thigh injury, and did OK. He returned four kicks for 74 yards, for an 18.5 average.

INJURY ANALYSIS

With just over a week to go in training camp, the Rams thus far have escaped any major injury. A lot of the bumps and bruises that piled up during the Champaign, Ill., practice sessions with Indianapolis have healed -- or healed enough to get the players back on the field.

Only five players sat our Monday's workouts at Western Illinois University: linebacker Charlie Clemons (groin); linebacker Leonard Little (leg); linebacker Roman Phifer (calf); defensive lineman Bryan Robinson (knee); and running back David Thompson (thigh). Robinson aggravated a previous injury during the preseason opener against Denver. Clemons' and Little's injuries also came out of the Broncos game. Phifer and Thompson sat out the Broncos game due to their injuries. As a precaution, the Rams held free safety Keith Lyle out of the Denver game with a tight hamstring, but he was back out on the field on Monday.

FEARLESS FORECAST

The toughest position to make cuts will be tight end, where Tyji Armstrong, Mitch Jacoby, Aaron Laing, and fourth-round draft pick Roland Williams are all tightly bunched in a battle for two backup spots behind Ernie Conwell.

RUDY REPORT

London Fletcher racked up school records for most tackles in a game (29) and most tackles in a season (202). He was named national linebacker of the year in his division. Trouble is, he played at tiny John Carroll college, an NCAA Division III school in Cleveland. So it was easy to get overlooked at draft time. Particularly, since he stands only 5 feet 10 inches.

The Rams signed Fletcher as a rookie free agent. One of their deepest positions is linebacker, where they have Eric Hill, Lorenzo Styles, and Daryl Bush. But Fletcher has a chance to stick, in part because of his special teams skill. Despite his small stature, Fletcher is a load at 245 pounds, and runs the 40 in the 4.5-second range.

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