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Spagnuolo sends a clear message
Columnist Jeff Gordon
STLTODAY.COM SPORTS COLUMNIST
09/01/2009
Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo is definitely NOT fooling around.
He swept out two more 2006 NFL Draft failures Tuesday. Hapless tight end Joe Klopfenstein was of five players cut and Tye Hill was traded to Atlanta for a draft pick.
Bam and BAM! Spagnuolo sent a clear message: Everybody has to earn their job here. Hill’s first-round draft status didn’t help him whatsoever.
He has struggled since arriving here. Injuries just made things worse. Getting healthier this summer didn’t help -– and neither did the arrival of his buddy James Butler, the starting safety acquired via free agency.
His career was summed up by Tony Gonzalez’s preseason TD caught against the Rams in Atlanta. Hill’s lack of size precluded him from making a play on the ball, but he also turned the wrong way for good measure.
Even though he struggled during the preseason, Hill’s departure was a mild surprise. Sure, Jonathan Wade has earned the starting job with a strong preseason. And ’08 preseason standout Justin King has come back nicely from injury.
Depth at cornerback can be hard to find, but Spagnuolo preferred to go with youngsters instead. Bradley Fletcher, Quincy Butler and Cordell Parks remain on the depth chart as the Rams prepare to face Kansas City in the Governor’s Cup game.
The Klopfenstein exit was less startling. The previous Rams management team believed he could develop into a pass- catching threat.
He didn’t. And since the Klop was never much of a blocker, there was no place for him in the new West Coast-style offense here.
Randy McMichael, Billy Bajema and Daniel Fells will do the job just fine. The Klop was kept around to help get the team through all those drills in training camp.
When that task was completed, it was time to move him out and focus on guys who can actually play at the NFL level. The days of propping up high draft picks are over.
That the Klop was picked 46th overall in 2006 meant nothing to Devaney and Spagnuolo. They weren’t here then.
So Hill and Klopfenstein moved on, joining earlier '06 Draft washouts Claude Wroten, Jon Alston, Dominique Byrd, Marques Hagans, Tim McGarigle and Tony Palmer.
Has this franchise ever suffered a worse draft year? All that is left from that group is defensive lineman Victor Adeyanju, who is fighting for a depth role, and guard Mark Setterstrom, who is pushing for a starting assignment.
But, hey, the ’06 draft is in the past. The Mike Martz/Jay Zygmunt Era fades deeper into the background. So does the Scott Linehan/Jim Haslett tag team. What is done is done.
This is a Billy Devaney/Steve Spagnuolo production now and the franchise is clearing out the debris from past failures.
With change will come some pain as the Rams thrust a lot of inexperienced players into important roles. Should injuries hit this team hard again, many no-name youngsters will be forced to fill gaps.
Spagnuolo can live with the collective inexperience of his supporting cast. What he can’t tolerate is non-productive veterans hanging around based on their reputation.
The Rams lost 27 games the last two years. One by one, the veterans who played a role in that dramatic downturn are departing Rams Park.
Guys like defensive tackle Adam Carriker, currently in a job battle with drifter Gary Gibson, understand that Spagnuolo will keep and play the best performers regardless of background.
Anybody who hasn’t embraced that message by now probably won’t survive the next round of cuts next week.
Columnist Jeff Gordon
STLTODAY.COM SPORTS COLUMNIST
09/01/2009
Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo is definitely NOT fooling around.
He swept out two more 2006 NFL Draft failures Tuesday. Hapless tight end Joe Klopfenstein was of five players cut and Tye Hill was traded to Atlanta for a draft pick.
Bam and BAM! Spagnuolo sent a clear message: Everybody has to earn their job here. Hill’s first-round draft status didn’t help him whatsoever.
He has struggled since arriving here. Injuries just made things worse. Getting healthier this summer didn’t help -– and neither did the arrival of his buddy James Butler, the starting safety acquired via free agency.
His career was summed up by Tony Gonzalez’s preseason TD caught against the Rams in Atlanta. Hill’s lack of size precluded him from making a play on the ball, but he also turned the wrong way for good measure.
Even though he struggled during the preseason, Hill’s departure was a mild surprise. Sure, Jonathan Wade has earned the starting job with a strong preseason. And ’08 preseason standout Justin King has come back nicely from injury.
Depth at cornerback can be hard to find, but Spagnuolo preferred to go with youngsters instead. Bradley Fletcher, Quincy Butler and Cordell Parks remain on the depth chart as the Rams prepare to face Kansas City in the Governor’s Cup game.
The Klopfenstein exit was less startling. The previous Rams management team believed he could develop into a pass- catching threat.
He didn’t. And since the Klop was never much of a blocker, there was no place for him in the new West Coast-style offense here.
Randy McMichael, Billy Bajema and Daniel Fells will do the job just fine. The Klop was kept around to help get the team through all those drills in training camp.
When that task was completed, it was time to move him out and focus on guys who can actually play at the NFL level. The days of propping up high draft picks are over.
That the Klop was picked 46th overall in 2006 meant nothing to Devaney and Spagnuolo. They weren’t here then.
So Hill and Klopfenstein moved on, joining earlier '06 Draft washouts Claude Wroten, Jon Alston, Dominique Byrd, Marques Hagans, Tim McGarigle and Tony Palmer.
Has this franchise ever suffered a worse draft year? All that is left from that group is defensive lineman Victor Adeyanju, who is fighting for a depth role, and guard Mark Setterstrom, who is pushing for a starting assignment.
But, hey, the ’06 draft is in the past. The Mike Martz/Jay Zygmunt Era fades deeper into the background. So does the Scott Linehan/Jim Haslett tag team. What is done is done.
This is a Billy Devaney/Steve Spagnuolo production now and the franchise is clearing out the debris from past failures.
With change will come some pain as the Rams thrust a lot of inexperienced players into important roles. Should injuries hit this team hard again, many no-name youngsters will be forced to fill gaps.
Spagnuolo can live with the collective inexperience of his supporting cast. What he can’t tolerate is non-productive veterans hanging around based on their reputation.
The Rams lost 27 games the last two years. One by one, the veterans who played a role in that dramatic downturn are departing Rams Park.
Guys like defensive tackle Adam Carriker, currently in a job battle with drifter Gary Gibson, understand that Spagnuolo will keep and play the best performers regardless of background.
Anybody who hasn’t embraced that message by now probably won’t survive the next round of cuts next week.
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