Random Notes: II
By Jake Cohn (Varg6)
First and foremost, congratulations to
Marc Bulger,
Torry Holt, and
Steven Jackson on making the pro-bowl. All of you guys truly deserve it, and although
Leonard Little is just a backup or whatever they call him for the pro-bowl, who cares, we’re the guys that get to keep him when it counts! A few mentions about Tom Brady. Are you kidding me? How did he not get into the pro-bowl? Look at what Philip Rivers has to work with, and look at what Tom Brady has to work with. I know you guys have probably read this before, but I just think its total ridiculousness.
Playoffs for the 2006 Rams? Ha, don’t make me laugh. Our season was over when Seattle beat us at home, that game set the tone for our entire team in regard to work ethic and preparation(s) for the next week’s opponent. Yes, we had a difficult stretch to work with, but honestly I just had a bad feeling about us the rest of the year, and low and behold, I am right…We just blew it. I also feel it is beyond pathetic at the fact that our NFC West is a joke, and also the fact that we had so many opportunities to capitalize on crowning ourselves once again, and we just keep screwing up. I know we have a new coach and all, but when you start off 4-1, you should start believing in yourself even after losing a very tough home game. I just think we gave up this season.
Enter
Scott Linehan…Is he going to instill a mindset of never giving up? I hope so, and we better hope it gets into the players’ brains as fast as possible. Before we all know it, Linehan is going to have a lot of explaining in the next few years if we don’t buckle down. I think one of the biggest reasons as to why we’re not up there with the elites is simply because of our drafts. They’re absolutely pitiful and Mike Martz, don’t get me wrong, is a genius when it comes to offenses…He is the complete opposite when it comes to drafting players.
But, I have faith in Linehan. I think this recent draft has been one of our best in recent time (1st round pick at the moment at least…) and I really think bringing in Tony Softli (Ex-Panthers college scout) as vice president/college scout or whatever his true title is…was excellent on the FO’s part. I think, again Linehan is going to have to be aggressive in the draft this year…by aggressive I mean if we need to trade up in the first round to get the stud player we have to have, go get him. Address all of our issues via draft and free-agency. This year is definitely a good year in both the draft and free-agency, we can become one hell of a turn around team if Linehan can get everything under control, which I think he can.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I do think (realistically) we can get everything rolling in 2-3 years, but I do have faith in Linehan and the guys upstairs to make better decisions in the off-season, and to get a good training camp program going to make all 3 phases of the football team better. I do think Linehan can do it, and I wouldn’t be too surprised if he did do it next year, but realistically I want be optimistic but until the off-season comes around and I see some good players come in and the positions that need to be addressed, I’m going to stick with being a pessimistic guy (as usual
) and be realistic and say this problem called the Rams isn’t going to be fixed for at least 2-3 years.
Linear Mode
