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  • #1

    Something to (kind of) be Optimistic about

    Chris Long and James Laurnitis

    If you translate James's Numbers. He is going to have a better year than Jerod Mayos rookie year last year (he was the rookie of the year).


    Chris Long had almost the exact same rookie season as Mario Williams. And even though he does not have any sacks this year, tackles wise if he keeps it up he will have a better second year than Mario. And again not sacks wise just tackles.

    Just trying to keep my head up. I want to make sure that those two positions are filled for more than just a few years by these to players.

    Now we just need one more OL, DL, LB, CB, playmaking Safety, and a couple of WR.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Something to (kind of) be Optimistic about

    watching the game , this was the biggest positive that I saw.

    Chris Long looked good and the defense looked OK again.

    Besides Bartell getting beat right after SPags gave him a tounge lashing, you have to be happy in the direction the defense is going .

    Fells has the Cooley type feel where he can block and catchin from the H/TE type spot.

    I was a Bulger fan telling all my friends(non-ram) fans how good he was and how he should have been starting over trent green anyday.

    Today, I have offically given up on Bulger and actually like Boller as a better option in the game.

    Boller has a stronger arm to get the ball down the field when defenders are flying in his face.

    Sometimes I think it is our OL, but not that much.

    So, is it Teabow, Bradford, or McCoy, lol ?

    Will will be picking 5 or 6 again. KC, Clev, and Oak make us look good but too bad they are all in the afc and we don't play any of them.

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: Something to (kind of) be Optimistic about

      I have high hopes for Long and Laurinitaus. they both are physically ready, they just need to learn the NFL and gain some experiance. I think in three years they will be our two best defensive players.............. hopefully.

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: Something to (kind of) be Optimistic about

        I think Laurinaitis has a good shot at being defensive rookie of the year. He's been a great player so far and he's only going to improve.

        Chris Long is a little different. He is around the ball, and that's a great thing. But like the REST OF THE LINE, we need pressure on the QB out of them.

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: Something to (kind of) be Optimistic about

          And at least Cogs didn't get any personal fouls for the 2nd straight game...

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: Something to (kind of) be Optimistic about

            I think there's plenty to be optimistic about.And the play of Lau & Long are just a part of it.

            The run D continues to improve. Grant's 99 yd total was padded by 25 yds on 5 carries on the last drive of the game,ie garbage time. When the game was a contest, The Rams held him to 74yds on 21 carries, the longest was 17 yds. That's two games in a row that we have contained good runners. Whether that constitutes a trend or not remains to be seen but, especially since the LBs were often dropped into coverage, I really liked the DL's stoutness there.

            The Rams have gone from allowing 15 of 30 3rd down conversions in the first two games to 2/9 in this game. That will pay off in the long run if they can maintain it.

            The Rams ARE becoming a smashmouth team. GB knew The Rams would run SJ, especially after losing the starting QB and #1 WR early on, but we continued to grind out yards. That totally changed some important stats in the game such as time of possession and starting field position; we had a 5 min deficit vs The Hags and a 10 min deficit vs The Skins. With a week to prepare, I think Shurmur can do a better job of prepping the QB and using Boller's strengths to get those critical 3rd & shorts we missed in the second half.

            Amendola got a serious workout & showed he can contribute significantly on STs at the least. Coverage on STs was excellent. Eliminate the mistakes & this unit will become a recognized strength in all facets for the first time in years.

            Goldberg's early gaffes may have serious repercussions for our short term prospects but otherwise I thought the OL, esp inside, was impressive against their first 3/4 opponent and a massive DL. Bell,Brown, and Cogs are becoming a solid unit as we all hoped they would be from the start.

            Overall, the mental toughness displayed by holding GB to 3 FGs early on was really encouraging. No way would that have happened last year. And even the huge plays made on Fletcher and Bartell can't obscure for me how well the DBs did against a really talented group of WRs. With Rodgers buying all kinds of time with his legs, The Rams held up well without their field general, J Butler. Both Little's sacks were far more of the coverage variety,imo.

            Burton and Fells are starting to flash the ability that had us all excited about their potential last year. I think Avery's struggles are more a failure of Shurmur's. The only good thing about Robinson's injury is that DA may now get a chance to actually be used in a manner that will showcase his strengths,rather than exaggerate his weaknesses.

            Injuries may slow down the rate of improvement even more but ,after watching this game twice- once live and again on Rewind , I think we can hope for our first victory very soon.

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            • r8rh8rmike
              Long Looks To Make The Leap
              by r8rh8rmike
              Long Looks to Make the Leap
              Wednesday, August 19, 2009


              By Nick Wagoner
              Senior Writer

              The expectations that go with being the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft are too numerous to count. When you’re Howie Long’s kid and you’re the No. 2 pick, you can forget about trying to satisfy everyone.

              With the bar placed higher than any reasonable person could jump, Rams defensive end Chris Long simply wanted to get accustomed to the nuances of the NFL game in his rookie season.

              Now that he has, he’s hoping to attack 2009 with the knowledge and understanding that can help him at least start down the path to meeting some of those lofty prospects.

              “It’s a great leap and it’s positive because it feels like football again,” Long said. “The first year, it’s definitely football, but the game just involves a lot more thinking than you’d like it to and a lot less reacting. Now it’s just kind of react and have fun playing again.”

              Ask any coach in the NFL about the transition from college to the NFL and they will tell you there is a long adjustment period that has to be made. The old adage says the closer to the line of scrimmage you are, the harder the adjustment.

              Still, Long finished his rookie year with four sacks and led the Rams in quarterback pressures with 16. By his own admission, though, Long has much bigger plans for his second season now that he’s been in the league for a year and nobody expects more from him than him.

              “I just want to get there more,” Long said. “I think we all want to get there more. Pressures are good but as a defensive front, we have to be dominant. I think we have the pass rushers and the ability to be dominant.”

              This year, the expectations and pressure do remain for Long but much of that has been transferred to this year’s No. 2 overall pick, offensive tackle Jason Smith.

              Fortunately for Smith, he has someone in Long around who has been through a year of expectation and he is able to seek out Long’s advice whenever he has a question.

              Long says he simply tells Smith to be himself and has great faith that Smith will become a great player because of his work ethic and attitude.

              “We all feel that pressure and being the No. 2 pick sure it’s good to see Jason have to go through it now instead of me but that’s the cycle of it,” Long said. “I am sure he will cope with it fine and like I told him ‘you will survive, it will be all right.’”

              While Long is admittedly more comfortable in his second training camp, he’s also going through the adjustment of learning a new defense.

              Of course, the prospect of playing defensive line in a Steve Spagnuolo defense comes with its share of, here’s that word again, expectation.

              Considering the way defensive linemen have performed for Spagnuolo in the past and the...
              -08-20-2009, 11:30 AM
            • Azul e Oro
              Long's ascent no laughing matter
              by Azul e Oro
              Wagoner/Rams site



              Through nine games in the 2010 NFL season, the Rams sit tied for first in the NFL in sacks with 28.

              Considering the pedigree of coach Steve Spagnuolo and his reputation for generating pass rush as a coordinator in New York, that stat in itself might not be too surprising. As the resident expert on the subject, Spagnuolo offers a pretty reasonable explanation for his team’s success bringing down the quarterback.

              “To me sacks always come back to 80 percent want (to),” Spagnuolo said. “You can draw up all different kinds of things and so that comes back to the players. We have some guys that can find their way to the quarterback and get it done.”

              Of course, desire and effort are a big part of rushing the passer but if you ask the assembled, diverse collection of players providing most of that pressure, you’ll find there’s another extremely important ingredient to successfully creating havoc for opposing quarterbacks.

              “We have a lot of different personalities,” end C.J. Ah You said. “You’ve got to have fun and we have a great group of core guys and some young guys. Everyone is cracking jokes and just trying to keep it fun. When you have fun, you play a lot better.”

              It’s no coincidence that the player who is perhaps having the most success of the Rams’ pass rushers is also the one who keeps the jokes coming on a regular basis.
              Now in his third season in the league, defensive end Chris Long is fulfilling the monumental expectations that go with being the son of a Hall of Famer and the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft.
              On the field, Long has developed into a devastating, relentless pass rusher who spends nearly as much time in an opposing backfield as the quarterback. He’s posted 5.5 sacks, including at least one in each of the past four games. He also leads the Rams in quarterback hits (14) and pressures (13).

              “It’s been fun to watch him develop,” veteran defensive end and noted Long mentor James Hall said. “I would say since the first game against Arizona he did some things that I noticed that I am impressed with. It’s just fun to see him develop week in and week out. It’s fun watching him just developing his own style of rushing the passer and having success.”

              Off the field, it’s Long who has taken it upon himself to keep his teammates loose with well executed jokes and pranks in the right situations.
              Long’s propensity for keeping the mood light is limited to when he deems the situation to be appropriate. But he also does not discriminate in his targets.
              Veteran tackle Fred Robbins has been on the receiving end of a number of those jokes as has Ah You, who is Long’s roommate on the road.

              During the Oklahoma-Missouri football game on Oct. 23, Long attacked OU alum Ah You via Twitter saying on the social networking site that “my roommate CJ...
              -11-19-2010, 11:18 PM
            • DieHardRamsFan1381
              make or break season for chris long
              by DieHardRamsFan1381
              dont get me worng i love chris long but he hasnt really put up a decent season yet. i mean at the end of last season i saw glimpes of how good he can be. but what is holding him back is it the supporting cast around him, the defencive scheme, or what. i mean in college he was a beast. i know the nfl is alot fast gameplay then college. but only 9 sacks in his first 2 seasons. mario williams first 2 seasons he had 18.5 sacks and played for a horrible team,jared allen had 20 in his first to seasons, and dwight freeney 24 sack in 2 seasons. i know chris hasnt had alot of other great players around him but his overall skill he should have know problem to have a 10 sack season. why is leonard little putting up better numbers then long. i mean since 2008 little hasnt played a full season yet puts up more sacks. why is he not an elite defencive end yet
              -07-15-2010, 10:06 PM
            • rNemesis
              HOW CLOSE IS THIS TEAM TO COMPETING?(VERY LONG)Please provide feedback
              by rNemesis
              First of all let me just say that these last few years have been VERY frustrating and embarassing for me as a RAM FAN and I'm sure you guys are just as disappointed. I have watched my team go from the greatest show on turf to, as a washington post columnist said after the redskins loss, " the most miserable mass on grass". MY main question here is , " How far are the rams from being a decent competitive rock solid team? Its a long way to go; it doesnt happen overnight but it shouldnt take FOREVER either.


              But I am not gonna sit here and talk about that all night. We know what has happened. We know what we've become. 13 straight losses dating back to last season. 3-13 in 2007 and 2-14 in 2008. 5 wins in the last 30 or so games? ( not sure exactly the stats) That is horrible.

              Let's go back year by year as to how we finished record wise.
              In the 1990's we were bad. But so were other teams which are now good today. But if you look at our 90's record to others, you will see that we were bad most of those years. Other teams had bad years too during the 90's but it was only really the lions, bengals, cardinals and saints. That should show you how bad of a team the Rams are. We never finished over 7 wins from 1990 up until 1999, which was our superbowl year. Which now tells me that the Rams have been bad, are now bad, and I hope we dont continue to be bad. But lately one has to believe that that is the penalty for our actions.

              2000- 10-6 DECENT
              2001- 14-2 ( excellent; we beat the pats that season but lost in the SB to the same :|)
              2002- 7-9 Not bad
              2003- 12-4 excellent
              2004- 8-8 not bad; competitive
              2005- I think we were 7-9 or 6-10 cant remember
              2006- 8-8
              2007- 3-13 horrible
              2008- 2-14 lousy

              I am not surprised at how we have fallen so badly. What I cant seem to understand is how fast we have fallen as such. How come we havent been able to stop the bleeding and bounce back like other teams have seemed to?

              So tell me guys. How far off is this team from competing? Well, I look at the league and I have noticed that most of the other teams have playmakers in a lot of key positions. Why is that? Because they do a great job of DRAFTING PLAYERS THAT FIT INTO THEIR SCHEME WELL. We on the other hand have not done that lately. We have drafted players that have done well IN THEIR SCHEME and so it didnt matter to the previous regime ( Jay ZYgmunt ) if they fit or not the point was they wanted them so much that they drafted them regardless of their college scheme and success. In the era since Martz left, we have drafted the likes of busts ( or so they appear to be) like Tye Hill, Adam Carriker, Claude Wroten, Fakhir Brown, etc. The list goes on and on.

              THIS HAS REALLY HURT THIS ORGANIZATION SO MUCH THAT IT IS REARING ITS UGLY HEAD NOW. Bad drafting has put us in such a talentless hole that...
              -09-29-2009, 07:43 PM
            • 01d 0rd3r
              Mvd
              by 01d 0rd3r
              Our defense is obviously much improved this year. So the question the comes to mind is who is our most valuable Defender? This one isnt just for the players, Coaches come up with the schemes and game plans so I will include them too. So who do we think is the biggest reason for our defensive success.
              Flajoe
              1.25%
              1
              Spags
              13.75%
              11
              Laurenitus
              50.00%
              40
              Hall
              6.25%
              5
              Atogwe
              3.75%
              3
              Long
              13.75%
              11
              Robbins
              8.75%
              7
              Bartell
              1.25%
              1
              Fletcher
              1.25%
              1
              -10-31-2010, 07:50 PM
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