Mardy Gilyard

I notice there seems to be a lot of resentment toward Gilyard around here. I agree that it's unlikely he'll be around once the season starts but I think much of the criticism directed at him is somewhat unwarranted.
Yes, he appears to be a slow learner. Different players have different learning curves. I also don't know why so many people are saying he doesn't want to work hard at making the team. That's pure speculation. He has proven to be a determined person, willing to work hard in the past.
Remember that he missed minicamp because the University of Cincinnati hadn't held graduation yet. He had a pulled hamstring that kept him out of a game or two and he had a nagging wrist injury that required surgery after the season.
I think that given time he would have been an effective weapon for Bradford and I expect that he will eventually be productive for an NFL team somewhere. Things have not gone well for him in St. Louis but he's a good person and I hope he finds success wherever he ends up.

During last season Spags singled Mardy out as a player who needed to spend more time trying to learn the offense. Mardy himself owned up to the criticism, saying it was time for him to grow up and that he needed to spend more time with the playbook (I'm paraphrasing). And at least on 2 separate occasions that I remember he had to be told where to line up. And yes he had a late start that was not under his control, but DA and Clayton weren't even on the team until the season had started and yet still both seemed to have a better grasp of the offense than Mardy. Not to mention the dozen other receivers we seem to have brought in mid-season the past few years who seem to have picked up the playbook a lot faster than him.

He probably is getting too much criticism, and as somebody who has criticized him on these boards more than once I readily admit I'm probably part of the problem. But Mardy has done little to help himself in this regard.

I hope I'm wrong and he stays on the team and lights it up next season, I'd be happy to be wrong about him. But if he does bust out, it's going to look a lot like it was at least in part due to lack of effort on his part, which is why I think you are seeing a lot of the resentment.

The NFL is a tough business that takes desire and a strong work ethic to survive. Unfortunately, Gilyard has shown niether. He had numerous chances to progress on the field in a variety of areas, but never took advantage. IMO, he's been a disappointment, as has been his absence from any of the player organized workouts.

Maybe he could emerge as a weapon for Bradford down the road. The thing is that if he doesn't show enough in the short-term, he may not ever get the chance to prove it. I agree that the main source of criticism so far has been the perception that he wasn't putting in the work. With a good camp, he could shake that image, but even if he wins back the fans, he still has to prove he can hang in the pros.

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Originally Posted by harrydog

I also don't know why so many people are saying he doesn't want to work hard at making the team. That's pure speculation.

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Well, that may be so; but he could have done a lot to mitigate that speculation by showing up at the player-organized training sessions. Which, unless I'm mistaken, he didn't.

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Originally Posted by HUbison

Well, that may be so; but he could have done a lot to mitigate that speculation by showing up at the player-organized training sessions. Which, unless I'm mistaken, he didn't.

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To be fair though, he was absent due to a death of someone close to him. Can't really fault him for that.

I'm not really sure of everything regarding his situation. But the dude lived in his car for a time at college so he continue playing football, if I recall correctly. Stuff like that makes me question the "desire" excuse. Perhaps injury and just an inability to learn the offense is to blame.

I heard that Gilyard already demanded to be traded to another team. I'm not sure of the exact source of that information, but it was supposely brought up on one of the local radio channels in St.Louis.

I have been a little busy lately and have not been able to follow things as closely as I would like. I did however do a little research and Marty did NOT request to be traded after all. Here's the story for those who missed it.

Rick Venturi of 101 ESPN St. Louis passed along a rumor Friday that receiver Mardy Gilyard had asked the Rams to trade him.
The rumor isn’t true.
Gilyard’s agent, Andy Simms, tweeted Saturday that Mardy “never requested a trade.” Venturi’s 101 ESPN colleague, Tony Softli, also reported late Saturday that Venturi’s story was bogus, citing league and Rams sources.
Per Softli, Gilyard’s offseason wrist surgery prevents him from lifting weights and catching passes, perhaps explaining the second-year wide receiver’s absence from player-organized workouts.
So the story is false. Either way, we don’t see a good chance of Gilyard playing for the Rams this season.

I admit he probably isn't the brightest guy....he lost his scholarship due to poor grades and that would explain why he's had so much trouble learning the playbook. But he also worked three jobs while taking classes so that he could stay in school to play football, so I think he has the desire and work ethic to go with his talent.
Given enough time he'd most likely learn the playbook but I doubt he'll get that chance with the Rams given the fact that they now have so many receivers competing for limited spots on the roster.
On the other hand I read a Nolan Cromwell quote from last year (around Christmas) stating that they made him learn all of the receiver positions at the very start which is difficult for any rookie but that he was now progressing really well. Cromwell said it was hard for him to get playing time because the guys ahead of him were playing well and injuries at other positions required players to be active for depth. So maybe he'll be given another opportunity to make the team.

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Originally Posted by harrydog

I notice there seems to be a lot of resentment toward Gilyard around here. I agree that it's unlikely he'll be around once the season starts but I think much of the criticism directed at him is somewhat unwarranted.
Yes, he appears to be a slow learner. Different players have different learning curves.

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Understandable, but doesnt it seem almost ridiculous that Clayton learned our playbook in one week. Gilyard presumably had it since he was drafted and yet showed no handle of the offense.

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I also don't know why so many people are saying he doesn't want to work hard at making the team. That's pure speculation. He has proven to be a determined person, willing to work hard in the past.

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When in the past? Living in your car is not proof that you are dedicated to football, it proves that you arent dedicated to your schoolwork enough to maintain your scholarship.

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Remember that he missed minicamp because the University of Cincinnati hadn't held graduation yet. He had a pulled hamstring that kept him out of a game or two and he had a nagging wrist injury that required surgery after the season.

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So all that time sitting at homer not practicing/playing, with a playbook in his house, and he still could not learn our simple west coast offense?

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I think that given time he would have been an effective weapon for Bradford and I expect that he will eventually be productive for an NFL team somewhere. Things have not gone well for him in St. Louis but he's a good person and I hope he finds success wherever he ends up.

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Sure he sounds like a great guy, nobody has called him a bad person who is a cancer in the locker room. He carries himself like a professional but the fact remains he has showed us next to nothing on the field.

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Originally Posted by harrydog

Cromwell said it was hard for him to get playing time because the guys ahead of him were playing well and injuries at other positions required players to be active for depth. So maybe he'll be given another opportunity to make the team.

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Really? REALLY, Cromwell? Avery was out. Clayton was out. Okay, I can see how he wasn't going to knock off Amendola. Who else? Whose spectacular play was keeping from Gilyard from even being a gameday active? Laurent Robinson, he of the 1,000 yards receiving in 4 years...combined? Danario Alexander as he rehabilitated a knee that required touch-up surgery in the middle of the season? Brandon Gibson? The pecking order near the top was difficult to tell with the all the injuries, but Gilyard's spot in the order was pretty clear. On a team widely considered to be near the bottom of the league in overall receiver talent, Gilyard would rank 7th in the pecking order with everyone healthy (not including the new rookies).

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Originally Posted by 01d 0rd3r

When in the past? Living in your car is not proof that you are dedicated to football, it proves that you arent dedicated to your schoolwork enough to maintain your scholarship.

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This is the other niggling issue. Yes, the kid showed heart to come back from that, and we all kind of assumed that it was a valuable life lesson. I think they said he had to work three jobs to get together the money to go back. Having come this far, you just don't want to see him squander the opportunity. The consensus seems to be that he wasn't learning as fast as others, but was it because of a capacity issue? A learning disability? Or was he not working hard enough to get up to speed? We don't really know.

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Originally Posted by mikhal5569

Per Softli, Gilyard's offseason wrist surgery prevents him from lifting weights and catching passes, perhaps explaining the second-year wide receivers absence from player-organized workouts.

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Perhaps, but I would think a guy struggling to make a roster spot would jump at the chance to work with teammates on a new offense, especially with his history of always being behind the curve. He didn't necessarily have to catch passes, but could have attended meetings, worked on routes, and interacted with Bradford. There have been several organized workouts, and other than attending a friends funeral, he has no excuses for being MIA IMO.

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Originally Posted by Goldenfleece

Really? REALLY, Cromwell? Avery was out. Clayton was out. Okay, I can see how he wasn't going to knock off Amendola. Who else? Whose spectacular play was keeping from Gilyard from even being a gameday active? Laurent Robinson, he of the 1,000 yards receiving in 4 years...combined? Danario Alexander as he rehabilitated a knee that required touch-up surgery in the middle of the season? Brandon Gibson? The pecking order near the top was difficult to tell with the all the injuries, but Gilyard's spot in the order was pretty clear. On a team widely considered to be near the bottom of the league in overall receiver talent, Gilyard would rank 7th in the pecking order with everyone healthy (not including the new rookies).

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Good points. If there was ever an opportunity to make a statement for playing time, it was last year when the receiver corps was in shambles. If he had trouble in 2010, what's going to happen in 2011 with double the competition??

As long as Mardy is a Ram, he'll have my support. the circumstances surrounding his "so-show" at voluntary workouts are unknown to me except for bits and pieces - many of which are likely based on speculation. With the drafting of Kendricks, Austin, and Salas, Mardy will have an uphill battle trying to make the 2011 roster any way you slice it, particularly given that there are no OTAs or minicamps with which to familiarize himself with McDaniels's offense. There is a strong possibility training camps will be lost as well. If, as it has been implied now and then in various articles, Mardy struggles learning a complex playbook, the current players vs owners stalemate will make it even more difficult for him as he will have no access to Ram position coaches.

If Mardy ends up making the final roster, more power to him .. Right now, if I was required to bet on it, I'd bet against him making the team. Maybe I'd lose that bet .. Hopefully we'll find out before 2012 .....

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Originally Posted by Goldenfleece

Really? REALLY, Cromwell? Avery was out. Clayton was out. Okay, I can see how he wasn't going to knock off Amendola. Who else? Whose spectacular play was keeping from Gilyard from even being a gameday active? Laurent Robinson, he of the 1,000 yards receiving in 4 years...combined? Danario Alexander as he rehabilitated a knee that required touch-up surgery in the middle of the season? Brandon Gibson? The pecking order near the top was difficult to tell with the all the injuries, but Gilyard's spot in the order was pretty clear. On a team widely considered to be near the bottom of the league in overall receiver talent, Gilyard would rank 7th in the pecking order with everyone healthy (not including the new rookies).

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Yes, really. Cromwell. I distinctly remember reading his quote regarding Gilyard.

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Originally Posted by Goldenfleece

This is the other niggling issue. Yes, the kid showed heart to come back from that, and we all kind of assumed that it was a valuable life lesson. I think they said he had to work three jobs to get together the money to go back. Having come this far, you just don't want to see him squander the opportunity. The consensus seems to be that he wasn't learning as fast as others, but was it because of a capacity issue? A learning disability? Or was he not working hard enough to get up to speed? We don't really know.

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Exactly. We really don't know.

I'd definitely bet on him not making the team. The odds are not in his favor at all. But, I tend to think that he'll eventually find a fit with a team somewhere.