The Louis Rams set for scrimmage

Begin: “It is good for the young guys that haven’t been there; the draft class, and we have players that have not played there before," Fisher said. "So it’s good to find out where your locker is and how you come in and off the field and where we warm up and do those kinds of things instead of have it be a first time experience for them next weekend.” The St. Louis Rams will get a change of scenery today when they host their annual Fan Fest, which features something closer to a real football game than anything they do in a normal practice. The scrimmage is set for 1:30 p.m. ET at the Edward Jones Dome and is open to the public. The Rams have other activities available for fans in the hours before the practice begins. Saturday's practice won't be played at full speed with starters against starters but it will at least give the many young players on the team a chance to make an impression. It will also be the first time the Rams wear full pads they've worn shoulder pads in two practice this week in this training camp. Rams coach Jeff Fisher explained the setup for the scrimmage Friday evening. It's almost certain the Rams' top offense and top defense won't go live with any drills, though "thud" tempo in which tacklers make contact with their shoulder pads is usually a common part of that portion of the practice. But with some bumps and bruises piling up in practice this week, the Rams won't take any chances of suffering further injury. “From a football standpoint, it’s another practice," Fisher said. "We’re going to do some live work. We’re in full pads. We’ll finish with, I don’t want to say rookies, but there will be some other younger players in a live tackling scrimmage. But for the most part, we’re continuing with our installation. We’re doing a lot of drills, the two minute, one on ones, all kinds of different drills out there. Those who haven’t been able to come to the training camp get to see what we do at training camp, we just happen to be moving indoors.” Although the Rams are just a week into this training camp, a change of setting can be a welcome sight for a team that has spent most of its waking hours around one another for the past seven days. The opportunity to hit with a little authority and practice actual tackling is also welcome, especially for younger players who are trying to make their way. The scrimmage also provides an opportunity for those young players to go through a normal game day at the Edward Jones Dome. Note: The Edward Jones Dome was constructed largely to lure an NFL team back to St. Louis, and to serve as a convention center. The Dome provides multiple stadium configurations that can seat up to 70,000 people. It is a multi-purpose stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, and home of the St. Louis Rams of the NFL.

St. Louis Rams Gilbert arrives with plenty to prove

St. Louis Rams Under normal circumstances, Garrett Gilbert's offseason methods for learning the St. Louis Rams' offense would have put him in hot water with parents Gale and Kim Gilbert. With no whiteboard to use, Gilbert spent each night with some dry erase markers going through the X's and O's on the windows of his parents' Austin, Texas, home. St. Louis Rams But Gilbert didn't get grounded or have his allowance taken away for making a mess. That's because he had a partner in crime, his father Gale, who played 10 seasons in the NFL with Seattle, St. Louis Rams Buffalo and San Diego. Despite a modest protest from Kim Gilbert, she was outnumbered by her football-loving son and husband. "My mom wasn’t too pleased," Garrett Gilbert said. "loves going through that stuff, so it was fun to go through it and teach him a little about what we’re trying to do." Of course, the ultimate purpose of the nightly playbook exercises was meant for the younger Gilbert to learn the Rams' offense as he embarks on his rookie season in the NFL. A sixth-round choice out of Southern Methodist, Gilbert is the first quarterback the Rams have selected in the three drafts guided by coach Jeff Fisher and general manager Les Snead. Expectations for Gilbert are minimal with Sam Bradford in place as the starter and veteran Shaun Hill set as the primary backup. But the Rams wouldn't mind having Gilbert take hold of a potential third roster spot for a quarterback and become the type of developmental prospect worth keeping around so he can one day become a serviceable backup. To get there, Gilbert, like all rookies, especially quarterbacks, has a lot of learning to do. And before he can do much of anything, he must learn all he can about coordinator Brian Schottenheimer's offense. It's a tall order for any player but especially Gilbert. After playing in seven offenses in eight seasons, Gilbert has learned enough different language and terminology that he could create and sell a quarterback version of Rosetta-Stone. Of those many offenses, the one he ran for the Mustangs was perhaps the most different from the one he's now learning. SMU was a spread team with Gilbert spending most of his time taking snaps out of the shotgun and throwing it all over the field. It was a system he knew well and the results were impressive. He finished his senior season with 3,528 passing yards and 21 touchdowns with six more scores on the ground in 10 games. That's a far cry from the run heavy, West Coast-driven offense Gilbert is now tasked with understanding in St. Louis. "It’s definitely a transition," Gilbert said. "I think any time you are playing quarterback at this level there’s going to be a transition from the collegiate level regardless of where you played college football. You get rare exceptions like Andrew Luck or Peyton Manning where they come in and they’re immediately successful, but there’s definitely a transition period and learning curve. It’s really a lot of fun for me to challenge myself." As Gilbert is quick to point out, learning a new offense at this point isn't so much about knowing where receivers are going to go as understanding the protections and adjustments to be made at the line of scrimmage. That's why Gilbert didn't have as much "down time" as the rest of his rookie teammates. So he and his father spent each night going through a different install with the younger Gilbert making notes on each day so when that installation comes up during camp, he can ask the appropriate questions of Schottenheimer and quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti. He also called Bradford to ask questions and get clarification when needed. Upon arrival for Tuesday and Wednesday's rookies-only practice sessions, Gilbert said he felt much more comfortable getting in and out of the huddle and handling things at the line of scrimmage. St. Louis Rams It's a basic function for a quarterback but at least it's a start. St. Louis Rams There's still a long way to go in this training camp and preseason and if the Rams are to keep a third quarterback, Gilbert will have to fend off Austin Davis for the job. St. Louis Rams With Bradford recovering from knee surgery, there might even be additional repetitions available for Gilbert in camp and preseason games. St. Louis Rams Without the pedigree or draft status of a first-round pick, Gilbert is well aware that nothing is promised. St. Louis Rams "I’m out here to compete, learn and just become the best player I can every single day," Gilbert said, St. Louis Rams.

WR Brian Quick

St. Louis Rams As the St. Louis Rams prepare to enter their third training camp under coach Jeff Fisher, much will hinge on the ability of the team's many young players to turn potential into production. St. Louis Rams In this final week before camp officially begins, St. Louis Rams we take a look at some players who must take the next step either to preserve their jobs, St. Louis Rams help the team reach its first winning record since 2003 or, St. Louis Rams to the team's preference, both. The Rams spent the first pick of the second round in the 2012 NFL draft on the raw but talented wideout from Appalachian State. St. Louis Rams Quick has tantalized on the practice field with his combination of size and speed but has been unable to consistently turn that into production. St. Louis Rams In two seasons, Quick has appeared in 31 games with 29 catches for 458 yards and four touchdowns. Rams quarterbacks have targeted Quick 61 times in those games. To his credit, the 6-foot-3, 218-pound receiver has become a solid blocker in the run game but that has probably been his greatest contribution thus far. There was little doubt that Quick would take some time to develop upon arriving in St. Louis. He was far from a polished product when he got to St. Louis after playing at a small school with little experience running the NFL route tree or playing in a pro-style offense. But the Rams spent a valuable pick on Quick with other, more accomplished receivers on the board and did so despite the need for more production at the position. St. Louis Rams They did it based largely on an impressive private workout in the pre-draft process. They've been patient with Quick, St. Louis Rams hoping that he would break out further into his career much like Tampa Bay's Vincent Jackson, who profiled similar to Quick when he came into the league. It's now Quick's third season and the time for talking about his development is about over. St. Louis Rams The Rams need production from their receiver group, regardless of who it is. St. Louis Rams Given his draft position and potential, Quick making the leap forward would be a welcome sight. Quick is one of about six receivers on the roster who figure to make the 53-man roster, St. Louis Rams but this training camp should offer a fairly open competition for how those wideouts fit on the depth chart. St. Louis Rams Chris Givens and Tavon Austin seem poised for large roles in the offense but there is still plenty of room for Quick to step in and stake his claim to an expanded role. St. Louis Rams It's folly to expect Quick's step forward to result in a 1,000-yard, St. Louis Rams 10-touchdown season or something close to that but if he could exceed his combined career numbers in the 2014 season and still provide solid run blocking on the edge, he'd at least become a valuable contributor with solid footing for the future. St. Louis Rams If Quick is unable to do much more than he has in his first two seasons, it's fair to wonder where he fits long term, St. Louis Rams.

Bradford

St. Louis Rams Sunday’s game at home against the Seattle Seahawks really might be a key one for QB Sam Bradford and his St. Louis Rams.St. Louis Rams Bradford is now in his third year as a quarterback, and this will be his 30th career start. He still has nearly as many interceptions (24) as touchdowns (28), St. Louis Rams and is still averaging just 6.2 yards per pass attempt, and the bottom line is that he doesn’t have this team anywhere near winning games. The time is now that he has to get back to winning ways, St. Louis Ramsor the Rams are seriously going to have to consider going a different direction with their starting quarterback. Last week’s test against the Chicago Bears was a stiff one. Bradford though, was atrocious,St. Louis Rams completing just 18-of-35 passing for 152 yards with two picks and no scores. It was the 17th time in the last 18 games in which Bradford has thrown for either one TD or no scores. The former Oklahoma Sooner started his career by throwing for 17 TDs against nine INTs in his first 11 games. In the last 18, he has 11 TDs and 13 INTs.

Needless to say, that just isn’t going to cut it, especially in the NFC West where, for the last two years, winning games hasn’t been the most difficult task. And now the Seahawks are coming to town, St. Louis Rams a team that Bradford has especially struggled with. He has averaged just 204.5 passing YPG against the Seahawks in his career, and he has just three scores and four interceptions in four games. The Rams are just 1-3 SU and ATS in those games. Dating back to the 2005 season, Seattle owns a 13-1 SU record and an 11-3 ATS edge over the Rams.St. Louis Rams To open up this week, the Seahawks are -2 ½ for NFL picks at the Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis Rams.

Rams Pick Number Thirteen

St. Louis Rams this years draft is very important to the future of the St. Louis Rams. I looked at the number two pick and what the Rams should do. In today’s post I will look at a few of the options the Rams have with the thirteenth pick and what I think would be the best option. St. Louis Rams I think that the direction the Rams go with the thirteenth pick this year will completely depend on what they do with the second pick. With the second pick in the draft I had the Rams helping out their offense a little bit by picking the offensive tackle from Auburn Greg Robinson. Another offensive option I looked at was Clemson University star receiver Sammy Watkins Jr. If the Rams decide to go with either of these options to help out the offense than they will most certainly look to add to their defense with this thirteenth pick. Let’s take a look at some of the defensive players that the Rams will be looking at to take here. Most of the Rams struggles on defense last year came from their secondary. The ideal pick at number thirteen would be a cornerback or safety. Let’s start out with the cornerback that could be available with this pick at number thirteen. The cornerback I am referring to is Justin Gilbert out of Oklahoma State. The Rams have a very good cornerback in Janoris Jenkins, but he still needs work and is improving year by year. The Rams recently released their former other starting cornerback in Cortland Finnegan and are left with Trumaine Johnson to start. Now don’t get me wrong I think Johnson is a good cornerback, but as a nickel guy not as the other starter. In the offseason the Rams attempted to help this problem by signing former Florida State star cornerback Greg Reid, but his off the field issues have already resulted in an arrest and needs to turn things around. Gilbert could be just the guy the Rams could use to help out their other corners. Gilbert has been touted as the best corner in the draft, but the only problem is he will probably be gone before the thirteenth pick. Another position that could be targeted here is the safety position. In last years draft the Rams addressed this position by drafting USC strong safety T.J. McDonald, who had a pretty solid season with the Rams in 2013. The problem is that he is just a strong safety and the Rams free safeties struggled and gave up plenty of big plays. Luckily for the Rams there are two very good options at safety in this draft. The two best options are Louisville’s Calvin Pryor and Alabama’s Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix. Both of these guys would be great options for the Rams secondary and would help tremendously. With this in mind what exactly is the difference between Pryor and Clinton-Dix? When I watched them both the difference I noticed is that Pryor was more of a hard hitting run stopping type safety wheras Clinton-Dix was more of a ball hawk safety with more range. In my opinion either safety would be a good fit, but I would lean more towards Clinton-Dix to help the Rams stop getting beat by the deep ball. The only way I could see the Rams going with an offensive player at the thirteenth pick is if Jadaveon Clowney is available at number two and is drafted by the Rams. If this is the case, St. Louis Rams I believe the Rams would help out their offense with Texas A &M receiver Mike Evans. Evans would help the Rams out in the redzone being a 6’5 tall receiver. St. Louis Rams Evans is a guy the Rams need in the redzone as they don’t have any big receivers to throw up to in the redzone. I am certainly not saying if the Rams take Clowney that they would definitely take an offensive player. St. Louis Rams In my opinion two defensive guys like Clowney and Clinton-Dix could put the Rams defense over the top and make them one of the best in the NFL. St. Louis Rams Stay tuned this week as I take a look at what the Rams have done so far this offseason and what else they can do to improve, St. Louis Rams.