Thursday, March 18, 2010

So what if we get Bradford? What then?

Slowly, degree by degree, I am growing used to the notion that the Rams will select Sam Bradford. I don't like the plan. I think it involves to many predictable, known points of failure to be considered a rational or reliably plan. Nevertheless, whether I like it or not, I am starting to believe Devaney will go this way.

Suppose the die is cast and we will selected Sam Bradford #1 in the draft? What then?
  1. We better sign Bobby Williams of the Bengals. What is the hold up here? His negotiations with the Bengals are in a stalemate position. Let's swoop in and get him.
  2. Our 2nd round pick has to be Maurkice Pouncy of Florida. We will need interior linemen. Given Williams, Pouncy and Brown, we should be good through the mid range of our offensive line.
  3. Our 3rd round pick better be Dexter McCluster. Sam needs weapons and Donnie is not enough.
  4. We should consider resigning Torry Holt. I am not sure why we released him in the first place. Let's ask him back. Sam needs weapons.
Finally, we need to change our offensive philosophy. Just because Sam is the top ranked QB in the draft does not indicate that he is a perfect fit for the Faux West Coast we are currently running. We need to dump the West Coast and move on to greener pastures. I want to see us run the K-Gun offense that the Bills used to run. Let's run with the Zebra shotgun at a quicktime pace. This will maximize Sam's comfort level, and give us a legit threat of a passing game.

For those who do not yet know it, I do not believe in the run-first philosophy we have practiced. 1-15 disasters emerge from the run-first philosophy these days. The good teams who can pass will always outscore you in the final two minutes if you practice the smash-mouth running style. As Joe Montana often said [needling the Rams] you can't come from behind in the final two minutes by running the ball. As St. Lombardi said, a study of NFL history will show that most meaningful games are won in the last two minutes of the first half and of the second half. That is a big admission by a running guy. The law of the playoffs is now clear: You throw it or you go home.

We need to spread it out. We need to run out of the shotgun. Steven Jackson needs to take his position as the offset back. We need to run our offense at a quick-time pace. We need to rip defenses in the seams of the zone, as Sean Payton does in New Orleans. We need to do the old double post forcing a deep safety to pick his poison. We need to attack, attack, attack the way we did in 1999.

This strategy is not likely to produce a winning record in 2010, but it can get us 5 or 6 more victories than last season. A careful study of the statistics will teach us all that doubling the Rams point total from 10.9 to 21.8 is sufficient to produce an 8-8 season, possibly even 9-7 in our division. Doubling our point total has to be the absolute goal and objective of the 2010 season.