[Elvis]

http://www.latimes.com/sports/nfl/la-sp ... story.html

The good news for the Los Angeles Rams offense: It has a lot of room for improvement

by Gary Klein



The Rams' return to Los Angeles has stirred a celebratory atmosphere. Fans cheered during a raucous news conference at the Forum and rushed to make deposits for season tickets.

Will they be as enthusiastic once the team starts playing?

Not if the losing continues.

"We're close," owner Stan Kroenke said. "We've got some things to do."

In St. Louis, the Rams won the Super Bowl after the 1999 season, but they have made only five playoff appearances in 21 years, the last in 2004. The Rams have not had a winning record since 2003, and they are coming off a 7-9 season.

Coach Jeff Fisher returns to Southern California, where he grew up and played at USC, and is in the final year of a five-year contract.

The Rams have time to make roster moves before they begin play at the Coliseum, their expected home for the next three seasons before moving into a new Inglewood stadium in 2019. Free agency begins in March, the draft is in April — the Rams have the 15th overall pick — and there is also the option to adjust the roster via trades.

They also are searching for an offensive coordinator. The Rams fired Frank Cignetti in December and promoted assistant head coach and tight ends coach Rob Boras on an interim basis.

Here is a look at the offense, which ranked last in the NFL this season in passing and total offense, as it stands now:

The Rams have been plagued for years by inconsistent play and injuries at the most high-profile position. Six players have started games in the last three seasons.

Last March, the Rams traded the often-injured Sam Bradford, a former No. 1 overall pick, to the Philadelphia Eagles for Nick Foles. Fisher benched Foles after nine games.

Your potential starting quarterback going into the 2016 season: Case Keenum, who will become a restricted free agent on Feb. 9, meaning if he accepts an offer sheet from another team the Rams would have five days to match it and retain his services. If they lose him, the Rams could be granted one or more compensatory draft picks.

Keenum was a record-breaking passer in college at Houston, but he went undrafted in 2012. He signed with the Houston Texans, was on the practice squad and started eight games in 2013, losing all of them.

The Rams claimed him off waivers before the 2014 season and put him on the practice squad, but the Texans re-signed him and he played in two games. The Rams traded for Keenum before last season, sending the Texans a seventh-round pick in this year's draft.

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Last season, Keenum passed for 828 yards and four touchdowns, with one interception. He was 3-2 as the starter.

The Rams lost to the Baltimore Ravens, 16-13, in his first start. Foles returned for two games and Keenum started the final four, going 3-1.

"Case is a blocked field goal and incomplete pass away from being 5-0 as a starter," Fisher said.

General Manager Les Snead said that Keenum, at one time during the final stretch of the season, "was playing like a top-10 QB. I'm not saying he is a top-10 QB, but he has the mind and the competitiveness to excel."

Still, the Rams will continue to seek ways to upgrade at every position, including quarterback.

"We're looking," Fisher said, "we're always looking."

Said Snead: "You're always searching."

Foles, entering his fifth pro season, will try to reclaim the starting job after passing for 2,052 yards and seven touchdowns, with 10 interceptions.

Former Oregon State quarterback Sean Mannion, a third-round pick last year, is third on the depth chart.

Running back

The Rams had the 10th pick in the 2015 draft, and they used it on a running back coming off major knee surgery.

It was the right move.

Todd Gurley sat out the Rams' first two games and rushed for only nine yards in six carries in his debut. The former Georgia star went on to rush for 1,106 yards — third in the NFL — and 10 touchdowns.

The 6-foot-1, 227-pound Gurley became the first rookie to rush for 125 yards or more in his first four starts. He was the third rookie in Rams history to eclipse 1,000 yards rushing, joining Eric Dickerson and Jerome Bettis.

Tre Mason, who helped lead Auburn to the Bowl Championship Series title game against Florida State during the 2013 season, is second on the depth chart behind Gurley. Mason rushed for 207 yards and a touchdown and also caught 18 passes this season.

Benny Cunningham rushed for 140 yards and caught 26 passes.

Receivers

Tavon Austin and Kenny Britt were the starters for a team that had a league-worst 11 touchdown passes.

Austin caught a team-best 52 passes, five for touchdowns. He also was the second-leading rusher with 434 yards and four touchdowns, and he returned a punt for a touchdown. Britt had 36 catches, three for touchdowns, and averaged 18.9 yards per reception.

Bradley Marquez and veteran Wes Welker, who was signed in November, each caught 13 passes. Brian Quick and Stedman Bailey, who is recovering from injuries suffered in a November shooting incident in Miami, are among other receivers.

"We've got to add consistency to that position," Snead said, noting that receivers had multiple drops in the Rams' season-ending loss against San Francisco. "I think everybody who dressed at receiver in the game dropped one ball."

Tight ends Jared Cook and Lance Kendricks had 39 and 25 receptions, respectively, Kendricks converting two into touchdowns.

Cory Harkey, who played at UCLA, caught five passes and was a valuable blocker from the line of scrimmage and from the backfield.

Offensive line

Greg Robinson, the second overall pick in the 2014 draft, is the starting left tackle for a line that helped the Rams rank seventh in rushing. Robinson and center Tim Barnes started every game for a unit that reduced the number of sacks from 47 in 2014 to 18, though the Rams ran the fewest plays in the NFL.

After making Gurley their first draft pick, the Rams focused on offensive linemen. They selected tackle Rob Havenstein in the second round, Jamon Brown in the third, Andrew Donnal in the fourth and Cody Wichmann in the sixth.

All got experience alongside veterans such as Rodger Saffold and Garrett Reynolds.

"A lot of guys got a chance to play, which should make the competition for our starting five better," Snead said. "They're young but we're confident that we've got some good solid players that are going to keep developing."

Special teams

After two strong seasons, kicker Greg Zuerlein struggled in 2015. He made 20 of 30 field-goal attempts, though he converted one from 61 yards. He made 26 of 28 attempts in 2013 and 24 of 30 in 2014.

Cunningham averaged 28.6 yards per kickoff return. Austin averaged 7.9 yards per punt return and scored a touchdown.

[OldSchool]

Lots of room for improvement but the question remains, does our head coach realize his ideal offense won't lead us to the playoffs? A lot of people seem to think Fisher doesn't care about offense. I disagree I think he cares. I just think his idea of an offense won't work as we've seen the last few years. And despite the on field results he thinks it can. He just thinks he doesn't have the right players and the right OC to lead his message.

[Elvis]

Does this mean Gary Klein is going to be the beat reporter?

[Ramfan46]

I think the offense will be in a much better position to start well just with the offensive line getting some experience in 2015. An ugrade at Center and QB would do wonders for this offense IMO. I'm cool with Keenum starting the season until the drafted rookie gets up to speed. I'm looking at a QB and C in 2 of the first 4 picks and I wouldn't mind if they were the first 2. I think this is the year to draft a good young Center prospect. Resign Barnes to mentor and be the eventual backup.

[aeneas1]

I think the offense will be in a much better position to start well just with the offensive line getting some experience in 2015. An ugrade at Center and QB would do wonders for this offense IMO. I'm cool with Keenum starting the season until the drafted rookie gets up to speed. I'm looking at a QB and C in 2 of the first 4 picks and I wouldn't mind if they were the first 2. I think this is the year to draft a good young Center prospect. Resign Barnes to mentor and be the eventual backup.

the cleveland browns fielded arguably the best offensive line in 2015 yet their offense finished 29th in offensive scoring, the cowboys once again fielded a top offensive oline yet their offense finished 30th in offensive scoring... the seahawks, patriots and cards all fielded olines that ranked 20th or worse in pass pro yet those teams finished ranked 1st, 4th and 5th in qb rating, 2nd, 7th and 1st in pass yards per attempt, 1st, 7th and 3rd in td per pass attempt %, and 6th, 2nd and 3rd in offensive scoring... centers? pro football focus rated 8 of 12 centers that started for this year's postseason teams as below average or worse, including 6 (half) which were rated as backup or worse... moreover 10 of the 12 postseason centers were drafted in round 4 or later, while 5 of the 12 had 1 year or less nfl experience headed into the 2015 season...

point is, a lot is made of "it all starts with the oline", but i have yet to see many examples of top tier olines making up for scrub skill position players, top tier olines propelling scrub qbs to elite status... however top tier skill position players, especially qbs, can make scrub olines look great, it happens every season... does anyone believe gurley would stink behind a "bad" oline? rams fans were screaming that the oline stunk to high heaven before gurley laced up his cleats, then all of sudden rams fans were giddy that the oline was finally "gelling" as gurley galloped to rookie of the year and offensive rookie year. honors... could it be that gurley is simply a heckuva lot better than mason and cunningham? could it be that gurley, a skill position stud, made an ok oline look good while the other less talented backs made it look like crap?

anyway, i'm all for improving every offensive position, including the oline, but until the rams field talent at qb, and more talent at wr and te, it doesn't really matter how good the oline is imo...

[Stranger]

the seahawks, patriots and cards all fielded olines that ranked 20th or worse in pass pro yet those teams finished ranked 1st, 4th and 5th in qb rating, 2nd, 7th and 1st in pass yards per attempt, 1st, 7th and 3rd in td per pass attempt %, and 6th, 2nd and 3rd in offensive scoring... centers?

This is one of those wakeup stats that slaps you across the face and makes you rethink everything that you thought was not only true, but unquestionable. So, it doesn't all "start in the trenches"?

What's even more bizarre for me is that everytime I watch Brady (it's not often, and always painful), it's like he has all day to scan the field and find his open guy. It's amazing to me that he played behind a 20th-plus ranked O-line. I mean, i realize Russell buys time with his legs, but it certainly seems like Brady and Palmer have the time necessary to find open receivers. How is it I am deceiving myself?

[aeneas1]

the seahawks, patriots and cards all fielded olines that ranked 20th or worse in pass pro yet those teams finished ranked 1st, 4th and 5th in qb rating, 2nd, 7th and 1st in pass yards per attempt, 1st, 7th and 3rd in td per pass attempt %, and 6th, 2nd and 3rd in offensive scoring... centers?

This is one of those wakeup stats that slaps you across the face and makes you rethink everything that you thought was not only true, but unquestionable. So, it doesn't all "start in the trenches"?

What's even more bizarre for me is that everytime I watch Brady (it's not often, and always painful), it's like he has all day to scan the field and find his open guy. It's amazing to me that he played behind a 20th-plus ranked O-line. I mean, i realize Russell buys time with his legs, but it certainly seems like Brady and Palmer have the time necessary to find open receivers. How is it I am deceiving myself?

9 different olinemen started at least 6 games for the pats this season, 9, which is incredible... equally incredible, this was largely intentional, the pats' rotating of offensive linemen, not only from game to game, but throughout the game, there was a lot written about it early in the year...

belichick was heralded as even more of a genius given, using this system, the pats' offense rolled to an average of 39.7 offensive points through first 3 outings, and 34.3 through their first 8... but as the season wore on brady started to get hit more, and those who always seem offended when an innovative (cheating?) coach has the temerity to thumb his nose up at entrenched approaches, pounced.. of course, back at the ranch, the 2015 pats rolled to second most offensive points scored while brady booked the 4th best qb rating, td % and pass yardage of his 16 year career, and is now one game away from starting his friggin' 8th super bowl...

anyway, not only did 9 different olinemen start 6 games or more for the pats, but 3 were rookies, 7 of the 9 were drafted in the 4th round or later, and 7 of the 9 had less than 1 season's worth of nfl starts under their belt headed into the 2015 season ... here's a look at their 2015 oline, including snaps played, starts, start experience prior to 2015, draft round, and pff evaluations for overall play and pass pro play... according to pff the pats oline absolutely sucked in pass pro, a pretty much overall too, yet their offensive passing machine keeps rollin'...

[max]

Anyone who believes it's not all about the QB is delusional.

If Fisher puts an offensive product on the field consistent with the one he's given us over the past 4 years, I hope they run him out of LA.

I don't think Fisher is that stupid. I can't believe he can watch what's going on in the NFL and believe he won't embarrass himself if he doesn't fix the QB situation and get more creative on offense.

[snackdaddy]

the seahawks, patriots and cards all fielded olines that ranked 20th or worse in pass pro yet those teams finished ranked 1st, 4th and 5th in qb rating, 2nd, 7th and 1st in pass yards per attempt, 1st, 7th and 3rd in td per pass attempt %, and 6th, 2nd and 3rd in offensive scoring... centers?

This is one of those wakeup stats that slaps you across the face and makes you rethink everything that you thought was not only true, but unquestionable. So, it doesn't all "start in the trenches"?

What's even more bizarre for me is that everytime I watch Brady (it's not often, and always painful), it's like he has all day to scan the field and find his open guy. It's amazing to me that he played behind a 20th-plus ranked O-line. I mean, i realize Russell buys time with his legs, but it certainly seems like Brady and Palmer have the time necessary to find open receivers. How is it I am deceiving myself?

I equate a confidence quarterback to a confident batter in baseball. If a batter goes up to the plate thinking he's going to hit the ball every time, he'll have a much better chance. Sure, he doesn't always get a hit. But the guy who goes up there without confidence, the pitcher senses that and it gives him confidence.

Guys like Brady can get sacked on first down but they have the confidence they can still pick up the first down in two pass plays. They can throw a pick and they'll come out next series and keep attacking. They have the confidence they'll make plays. Do our quarterbacks have that confidence?

[dieterbrock]

What's even more bizarre for me is that everytime I watch Brady (it's not often, and always painful), it's like he has all day to scan the field and find his open guy. It's amazing to me that he played behind a 20th-plus ranked O-line.

Its because he reads the defense pre snap and knows pretty much where's going with the ball. Calmly goes thru his progressions. If you put a clock on it, he's not getting any more time than our QB, its that he's not taking his eyes off downfield. When a QB takes a 3-5 step drop and immediately looks at his oline breakdown, hes not seeing the field

Its all about the QB, and the play design

I dont know if the talent isnt there WR wise until we see the QB taking shots to WR that arent seperating, Tight End? We have guys open that cant catch or have the ball thrown 10 feet over there head