Rams Fans United - Los Angeles Rams Fan Discussion Forum

I just rewatched some of the playoffs and Super Bowl this past weekend.

Now I know that Van was nicked up throughout the last part of the season and in the Super Bowl he had his wife/child to think about, but we are going to need him to really make another major step forward in the 22/23 season.

I think we have OBJ but that wont be until the middle of the season at best. We should have Woods back, but we will have to see how long it take him to be Bobby Trees. Meanwhile we have VJ, this is what I would like to see...

1. Hit the weight room, add more muscle to his frame.
2A. Play more with an edge, get more physical in all facets.
2B. Attack the ball in the air, dont wait on balls, go get it.

I also Ben Sko can hit the juggs machine and work on his hands, he really needs help in this area.

Jefferson is a nice WR3 option. Better than Reynolds was. But if OBJ is signed long term its gonna be hard for him to get reps. Kupp, Woods and OBJ would be the top 3 when OBJ returns from the injury. But they really need to keep Jefferson like they did Reynolds. He makes a nice insurance policy when one of the top 3 goes down.

actionjack wrote:Meanwhile we have VJ, this is what I would like to see...

1. Hit the weight room, add more muscle to his frame.
2A. Play more with an edge, get more physical in all facets.
2B. Attack the ball in the air, dont wait on balls, go get it.

I was a bit disappointed with Van this post-season, maybe unfairly. In the Niner game, on the near INT by Tartt, I thought he should have looked for the ball earlier and moved to the middle for a jump ball. Also in the SB, on the long INT in the end zone, instead of attacking the ball, he let the safety catch it. So yeah, I agree especially with your 2b.

Also I’m hoping to see more of Jacob Harris next year, who showed some ability to attack the ball and win on contested catches, at least in college. Hope he learns a lot of WR techniques from Kupp and Woods this off season.

snackdaddy wrote:Jefferson is a nice WR3 option. Better than Reynolds was. But if OBJ is signed long term its gonna be hard for him to get reps. Kupp, Woods and OBJ would be the top 3 when OBJ returns from the injury. But they really need to keep Jefferson like they did Reynolds. He makes a nice insurance policy when one of the top 3 goes down.

I think when you have 3 WR's that have all torn knees you must have insurance.

CRamsFly wrote:I was a bit disappointed with Van this post-season, maybe unfairly. In the Niner game, on the near INT by Tartt, I thought he should have looked for the ball earlier and moved to the middle for a jump ball. Also in the SB, on the long INT in the end zone, instead of attacking the ball, he let the safety catch it. So yeah, I agree especially with your 2b.

Also I’m hoping to see more of Jacob Harris next year, who showed some ability to attack the ball and win on contested catches, at least in college. Hope he learns a lot of WR techniques from Krupp and Woods this off season.

I agree he tends to just sit and wait on the ball, I mean that ball that Tartt dropped was in the air forever, have to start playing DB as a WR at some point.

I also thought Harris flashed some, but also dropped too many. He has the physical tools, hopefully the knee injury doesnt prevent him from working on his craft and taking a step forward.

Jefferson, as the #3 WR in our offense had 50 receptions and 6 TDs. He might have been the #2 for about 2 or 3 weeks after Woods went down and prior to OBJ emerging/learning the playbook. That's really good production for a #3 with a good TE and RBs who can catch the ball. VJ will be fine but I agree, he needs to be more aggressive with the ball in the air.

But take a look at what we could possibly have next year.
Kupp, Woods, VJ, Higbee, OBJ (mid season), Harris, Tutu**, Blanton, Hopkins and Skowronek. Add to that Akers, Hendo and Funk, if they don't have a new guy for the backfield via the draft or UDFA.

Even if some don't pan out**, we'll still have quite an arsenal for Stafford and McVay.

How long did we wait for Reynolds to step it up? Guess what, after 3 years you know what you got.

Same thing with Van. He's just doesn't fight for the ball. Doesn't have enough of an edge for my taste. He's an ok #3, and a better #4 but thats about it.

max wrote:Guess what, after 3 years you know what you got.

So we'll know after next year?

He's very talented with very good hands. BUT, he doesn't get after the ball when he needs to. He also doesn't "lay out" for balls that might be slightly overthrown. Seems like it's more about his mindset, than his ability. I want him to play "hungrier".

There was video of live coaching telling VJ to go get the ball, attack the ball. Im alittle suprised thats necessary at this stage. I remember Josh having the same issue and thought that may be part of the reason we moved on. So that needs to get cleaned up. Outside of that, what a tremendous year he had. As the 3 and with so many other offensive weapons, sqeaking out a 50/6 stat line really shows that we have a bonified weapon in reserve ready to step up at a moments notice.

Regardless of the Kupp/Woods/Higbee/Beckham prescense, its reasonable to expect McVay to have package designed for Jefferson that can be used at any time. He has definately earned his place at the grown ups table. Even though we fans have our need to rank and label the players, once you make it to the grown ups table they eat as equals and know anyones number can be called at any time. That WR room is rare in that regard, with brotherhood, communication, and support unlike anything we’ve even seen, and thats including the Bruce/Holt/Hakim era. Its clearly one of the reasons Beckham has fit in so nicely, and I believe he’s comforted here being part of the team rather than live through the expectations that his career had previously been defined by.

In the coming season I expect Harris to thrive and Benny Sko to maybe take a step backwards, even though is hard to regress from his current status. You have to appreciate the confidence level of the play calling though, with the Rams showing pretty obvious confidence in both by feeding them in a next man up, dont hit the pause button sorta way.

The Bengals are rated as the No1 wide raciever grouping and I think the Rams are number 3 behind them and the Vikings. But with our depth outside the 3 main targets, I think the Rams have the true No1 group in the league.

On a side note- shout out to DeSean Jackson. You fuckin clown.