Quote:
Originally Posted by RamWraith
Leonard has bulked up a little to handle more of the lead blocking duties this season, but his real value, and the reason he was graded as second-round pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, was his versatility.
The Rams need to find more ways of utilizing that versatility even if it means lining him up as a wide receiver on occasion.
|
Ok, Leonard is alright catching the ball coming out of the backfield occasionally but lining him up as a wide receiver? I'd say that's going too far, I don't see that as something that suits his skills very well. I'd rather put our best players on the field than struggle to fit a square peg through a round hole just to utilize some of that sweet 'versatility'. While versatility in general is good as it can make your team more unpredictable if you don't have a single area that you excel at you'll often end up as a jack of all trades, master of none. That type of player is ok as a backup because he can cover more positions but it's not a player that you alter your playbook to get on the field.
Leonard against a typical NFL linebacker in pass coverage is not a clear cut super matchup for us that we want to exploit all day as I see it, it's probably fairly even. Now
Steven Jackson, Randy McMichael or one of our receivers against a LB that's a clear advantage that we can use.
It's a bad idea. We asked Leonard to gain weight this season and work on his blocking so in my opinion let's try to develop him as a blocking fullback and see how it goes. I'm not ecstatic about him as a blocker either, but let's give him a shot and not get too creative with his assignments yet.