Getting Smokered... part III...Where there..

***AugustaRamFan*** · -08-31-2005

is smoke there is fire... and this time it turned Jeff Smoker into toast.....This will be the last portion of the Smoker Trilogy. I do not know whether to feel sorry for Smoker or not.

Still, questions abound!

Did whatever he smoked kill enough brian cells so as to make the Ram's playbook impossible to understand/comprehend?

Did he get buried in the Martz Dog House so deep he could not get out? It is a shame all the tools and physical talent and he can't make the grade. And - he gets beat out by a small school rookie.

I noticed that before Kick Off on Monday night that Smoker, took his helmet off and placed it on some type of cabinet - based on his demeanor, it looked as if he was not going to play - and he didn't.

Fitz will be the # 3 guy... I would say that he has done good enough job to earn the spot. I do worry about his arm strength. He really looked like he was having to throw hard (laboring) to get any zip on the ball, but that could be a camp thing - no telling how many passes the guy has thrown in the last 3 weeks.

Plus - I do think that although Martin has ZERO arm strength that he will be a decent #2.

So... Bulger, Martin, and Fitzy it will be.... Pray that the ORTs can fend off the soon to come hoard of bull rushes.

**HUbison** · -08-31-2005

Fitz will be the # 3 guy... I would say that he has done good enough job to earn the spot. I do worry about his arm strength. He really looked like he was having to throw hard (laboring) to get any zip on the ball, but that could be a camp thing - no telling how many passes the guy has thrown in the last 3 weeks.

Of course, if we could roll the clock back 3 years, we could easily change the name Fitz to Bulger. This is the perfect system for this kid, and he already appears to be a favorite of Martz. I see Fitzpatrick leading this team in a handful of years.

***Shadesofgrey*** · -08-31-2005

Fitz looked comfortable out there vs. the Lions. He doesn't have great arm strength, but neither did Joe Montana.

***jkramsfan*** · -08-31-2005

Fitz Is A Great Story But I Dont Know If I Am Ready To Say He Will Be Leading This Team In 3 Years, I Believe He Makes This Team Because Smoker Did Not Earn His Spot,not Because Hes The Next Joe Montana.

**HUbison** · -08-31-2005

Originally Posted by jkramsfan

Fitz Is A Great Story But I Dont Know If I Am Ready To Say He Will Be Leading This Team In 3 Years, I Believe He Makes This Team Because Smoker Did Not Earn His Spot,not Because Hes The Next Joe Montana.

I don't want him leading it in 3 years either...Bulger will only be 31. However, who's to say where Bulger will be in say 5 years at the age of 33. With the number of hits he takes, he could be out of football by then. God forbid, but if that is the case with it be 10 years from now or 10 weeks from now, the similarities between Bulger and Fitzpatrick are so that I feel pretty comfortable with Fitz going forward. He's not ready today, but if given a couple of seasons to develop (like Bulger) we could see similar results.

***moklerman*** · -08-31-2005

Rams: Smoker on the bubble

by Fanball Staff - Fanball.com
Wednesday, August 31, 2005

News
It appears that rookie quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick will be the Rams' No. 3 quarterback this season, which means Jeff Smoker could be out of a job. "He just continues to kind of stun you, really," Rams' head coach Mike Martz told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of Fitzpatrick. "He's a good player. Has he made this roster? Yeah, he's made this roster, absolutely. He made it about three weeks ago, in my mind." The Rams selected Fitzpatrick in the seventh round of the 2005 draft.

If this is true, how much of a chance did Smoker really have?

**Nick** · -08-31-2005

Honestly, after the San Diego game, I figured it was a foregone conclusion.

***Tony Soprano*** · -08-31-2005

If we don't get our ORT protections straightened out, Bulger might not make it through October.

Bulger takes a lot of hits and we're seemingly always looking for answers along that O-line.

.

***moklerman*** · -09-01-2005

Honestly, after the San Diego game, I figured it was a foregone conclusion.

If Fitz had made the roster 3 weeks ago then Smoker was on the way out before San Diego. He didn't even play in the Chicago game did he? I don't know how much a guy's chance at making the roster is based on game situations but it sure looks like Smoker was fighting a losing battle. The whole jersey number thing looks a lot more like writing on the wall now.