UPDATE: Pat Shurmur hired by Browns

rams may sign josh mcDaniels

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by Kalen49ers:

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by Kalen49ers:

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by VA49er:
Well obviously this will weaken the Rams. Everyone knows that quarterbacks absolutely fail every time they have to get a new OC. Actually I'm very interested to see Bradford's progress. I'm willing to bet that he continues to improve no matter what OC they bring in. The sadist in me would actually like to watch Bradford get better every year through 6 different coordinators just so the Alex Smith excuses can go away.

The way Shurmur handled Bradford is textbook Walsh/Reid handling of a QB. Don't ask them to do too much before they are ready. That is what Shurmur did with Sam. In the beginning the playbook was tiny. The reads were simple 1-2 situations. The adjustments were almost all handled through the center or Jackson. About all Bradford had to do was handle the ball. Fortunately, for the Rams, teams under-estimated them and they got some early victories. Shurmur added pieces during the season as Sam could handle them but he never did get to any complex or complicated patterns.

As time went along, other teams were more aggressive in their scouting and they began to take away the easy pieces and Bradford began to struggle like all rookies. Take away the one game against the 49ers and his QB rating over the final 5 games was 53! Not very good. He appeared to regress significantly at the end of the season.

I cite this only to show how difficult it is for a young player with even the best of coaching to come into the league and have only limited success. Ram fans became very upset with Shurmur toward the end because the offense stayed very conservative. The truth was, just as with Mike McCarthy and Alex Smith in his rookie year, Sam Bradford was not capable of handling any more offense than what Shurmur had given him.

The comparison of Bradford and Smith is very telling in that it should give us some insight into the challenge facing Harbaugh if he is forced to start the season with a rookie.

Bradford is way better than Alex Smith ever will be.

We don't know that yet. What we do know is that Sam definitely hit the rookie wall and when he did, his rating in a huge slide. Shurmur was stuck with the limited ability of Bradford and had to keep the book simple, and the Rams began to lose.

The big question now is; will Bradford be able to get up to speed once the new season begins? OR will he be the same guy that racked up a dismal 63 rating over the final 1/3? What is clear is that he was not an effective QB in the final 1/3 of the season.

The comparison with Smith is only that it shows the problem of starting a rookie.

Take a look at Alex Smiths rookie season. Sam Bradford was far more impressive this year. Don't just look at numbers, Bradford makes other players better. The only receiver I can think of that the Rams have is Amendola. Danny Freakin Amendola, he sounds like a character in a bad 80's sitcom.

Also Bradford looked better his rookie year than Alex Smith did his, what? 6th year?

You under-estimate the Ram receivers, but it appears the reason you do that is to throw mud at Alex Smith.

Amendola is a very good receiver - quick, agile, VERY good route runner. Brandon Gibson looks like he will be a very good one as well. Sam would have had no one to throw to if the receivers were not running good routes, with precision and on time. Shurmur spent a great deal of time making sure that was the case.

I know the phrase "throw the receiver open" gets put out often, and it is often used in a very incorrect way. What it refers to is when the QB has the confidence in the receiver that when he throws the ball to a specific point on the field, there will be a receiver there to catch it. Amendola is very good at that and it gave Bradford confidence. Other Ram receivers were getting better but were not yet there at the end of the season to take the pressure off Amendola so the Rams lost. Bradford couldn't just throw it up there and pray. It doesn't work that way. Shurmur was forced to keep the game plans within Bradford's ability to execute, but the package was just too small to carry the games.

As to your comparison to Alex Smith this year - you are just wrong. The 49ers STILL do not have a receiver as reliable as Danny Amendola. All the 49ers have is some guys with unrealized potential. Harbaugh's job only begins with finding and training a QB. His job in putting together a group of receivers that are disciplined and run good patterns will be just as tough as the QB job - something that many people overlook.

Yeah cause Vernon Davis sucks, he's only going to his 2nd pro-bowl. Crabtree and Morgan are also good options. It's always excuses with Alex Smith, its everyone else's fault, yet for Bradford you have to look for reasons just to knock the guy.

If you asked every NFL fan, i would bet at least 90% would take Bradford over Alex Smith.

Originally posted by Kalen49ers:

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by Kalen49ers:

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by Kalen49ers:

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by VA49er:
Well obviously this will weaken the Rams. Everyone knows that quarterbacks absolutely fail every time they have to get a new OC. Actually I'm very interested to see Bradford's progress. I'm willing to bet that he continues to improve no matter what OC they bring in. The sadist in me would actually like to watch Bradford get better every year through 6 different coordinators just so the Alex Smith excuses can go away.

The way Shurmur handled Bradford is textbook Walsh/Reid handling of a QB. Don't ask them to do too much before they are ready. That is what Shurmur did with Sam. In the beginning the playbook was tiny. The reads were simple 1-2 situations. The adjustments were almost all handled through the center or Jackson. About all Bradford had to do was handle the ball. Fortunately, for the Rams, teams under-estimated them and they got some early victories. Shurmur added pieces during the season as Sam could handle them but he never did get to any complex or complicated patterns.

As time went along, other teams were more aggressive in their scouting and they began to take away the easy pieces and Bradford began to struggle like all rookies. Take away the one game against the 49ers and his QB rating over the final 5 games was 53! Not very good. He appeared to regress significantly at the end of the season.

I cite this only to show how difficult it is for a young player with even the best of coaching to come into the league and have only limited success. Ram fans became very upset with Shurmur toward the end because the offense stayed very conservative. The truth was, just as with Mike McCarthy and Alex Smith in his rookie year, Sam Bradford was not capable of handling any more offense than what Shurmur had given him.

The comparison of Bradford and Smith is very telling in that it should give us some insight into the challenge facing Harbaugh if he is forced to start the season with a rookie.

Bradford is way better than Alex Smith ever will be.

We don't know that yet. What we do know is that Sam definitely hit the rookie wall and when he did, his rating in a huge slide. Shurmur was stuck with the limited ability of Bradford and had to keep the book simple, and the Rams began to lose.

The big question now is; will Bradford be able to get up to speed once the new season begins? OR will he be the same guy that racked up a dismal 63 rating over the final 1/3? What is clear is that he was not an effective QB in the final 1/3 of the season.

The comparison with Smith is only that it shows the problem of starting a rookie.

Take a look at Alex Smiths rookie season. Sam Bradford was far more impressive this year. Don't just look at numbers, Bradford makes other players better. The only receiver I can think of that the Rams have is Amendola. Danny Freakin Amendola, he sounds like a character in a bad 80's sitcom.

Also Bradford looked better his rookie year than Alex Smith did his, what? 6th year?

You under-estimate the Ram receivers, but it appears the reason you do that is to throw mud at Alex Smith.

Amendola is a very good receiver - quick, agile, VERY good route runner. Brandon Gibson looks like he will be a very good one as well. Sam would have had no one to throw to if the receivers were not running good routes, with precision and on time. Shurmur spent a great deal of time making sure that was the case.

I know the phrase "throw the receiver open" gets put out often, and it is often used in a very incorrect way. What it refers to is when the QB has the confidence in the receiver that when he throws the ball to a specific point on the field, there will be a receiver there to catch it. Amendola is very good at that and it gave Bradford confidence. Other Ram receivers were getting better but were not yet there at the end of the season to take the pressure off Amendola so the Rams lost. Bradford couldn't just throw it up there and pray. It doesn't work that way. Shurmur was forced to keep the game plans within Bradford's ability to execute, but the package was just too small to carry the games.

As to your comparison to Alex Smith this year - you are just wrong. The 49ers STILL do not have a receiver as reliable as Danny Amendola. All the 49ers have is some guys with unrealized potential. Harbaugh's job only begins with finding and training a QB. His job in putting together a group of receivers that are disciplined and run good patterns will be just as tough as the QB job - something that many people overlook.

Yeah cause Vernon Davis sucks, he's only going to his 2nd pro-bowl. Crabtree and Morgan are also good options. It's always excuses with Alex Smith, its everyone else's fault, yet for Bradford you have to look for reasons just to knock the guy.

If you asked every NFL fan, i would bet at least 90% would take Bradford over Alex Smith.

Why do you insist on turning this into another Alex Smith thread?

I have merely been pointing out how important Pat Shurmur was to the development of a rookie QB AND ALSO to the Ram receivers. Shurmur helped both to achieve far more than expected. He proved, once again, how critical a good OC (and QB coach) is to the development of both. As to proof of my contention, Mike Holmgren, a VERY good offensive mind, hired him to lead another young QB in Cleveland. Sam Bradford did not do that on his own. If Holmgren had thought Shurmur was less than the key factor in Sam's success, he would not have hired him.

I'll say it again: I believe Jim Harbaugh will have his hands full finding a QB that can run the team this season and coaching him up to be a competent player. It won't be easy.

Quote:
mortreport Chris Mortensen

Filed to ESPN: Rams' talks breaking down w McDaniels; Rams seek permission to talk to Falcons' Bill Musgrave & Vikings' Darrell Bevell

Quote:

mortreport Chris Mortensen

The Rams this morning were denied permission by the Jaguars to speak with OC Dirk Koetter

Am I the only one who feels like Mangini shouldn't have been fired?

I thought he had a good thing starting up.

Originally posted by statman:
Am I the only one who feels like Mangini shouldn't have been fired?

I thought he had a good thing starting up.

he did but the losses to Buffalo, Cincy and the embarrassing loss to Pitt were what forced Holmgren to fire him. I mean Holmgren, much like when a new coach wants his own QB, wanted his own HC. He did give Mangini a second year so he could have a shot. He looked promising after beating NE, NO and pushing the Jets to OT (where a Stuckey fumble lost them the game), the team looked awful in the last 5 games of the year.

He certainly did change the culture in Cleveland into a team that was much more competitive than what he took over in the wake of the romeo crennell/Phil savage regime in 2009 and brought much needed discipline. he also coached up from practice squad types and found some real gems in TE Evan Moore, OLB Marcus Benard and to a lesser extent DE Brian Schaffering.

Dick Jauron is the new DC in Cleveland.

Originally posted by Kalen49ers:
Dick Jauron is the new DC in Cleveland.

championship

Originally posted by Kalen49ers:

Originally posted by LifelongNiner:

Originally posted by global_nomad:

Originally posted by 9erfanAUS:

Originally posted by SonocoNinerFan:
http://www.rotoworld.com/content/clubhouse_news.aspx?sport=NFL&majteam=CLE

Per Mort and Peter King, he had an impressive interview with Holmgren who once employed his Uncle as DC . . . I hope this happens because it will likely be a set-back for Sam the Ram's sophomore season.

Alex Smith/Jason Campbell 2.0? They've got a defensive minded HC to boot.

-9fA

unfortunately Bradford has more accuracy than Smith or Campbell and has shown it. Wasn't his first NFL game one where he passed for over 300 yards? Enough said.

He may be better, but Bradford did not look so well as the season went on. Add on he will be expected to do more in his second season. If he loses his offensive coordinator now and they don't get a good replacement, Bradford will be in trouble. Not Alex Smith trouble, but trouble nonetheless.

Sam Bradfords last 5 games: 1TD and 6INT's. In those games his QB ratings were as follows: 66.3, 53.0, 40.9, 107.0 (against us) and 52.4.

That stat is sooo GD infuriating. I really hope that Donatel and Fangio are able to put a stop to this s**t.

Quote:
AdamSchefter Adam Schefter

Former Univ. of Miami OC Mark Whipple has agreed to become Browns QB coach. With Whipple and Pat Shurmer, Browns not likely to hire an OC