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Rams43

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JimYoungblood53

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Rams43
Got a question for ya, 53.

What is your take on Morris taking so long to insert Hoecht at OLB?
Because he's slow. he had good hands on his pass rushes, but when you watch him he's
only going to be so-so. Better question is why he couldn't rush when he was a DL? There
you don't need. I like his game, but we will see him be no more than average, At 290-300
or whatever he is, he won't keep it up. Rams thought Lewis and Hollins were better prob because
they are far better athletes and at the time Hoecht was playing down lineman and making no
contribution.

Or Durant at CB?
he played early then got hurt. Now he's healthy and playing again

Or Morris’ over reliance on Rapp?
No one else. Fuller hurt. Yeast a rookie. Burgess not good and cut.

Or Rochell never seeing the field at CB?
Don't know. He was not good last year. Maybe he's not good this year
but hard to know because he have not seen him play.

Serious questions and I’m genuinely curious.

I appreciate the reply, 53, and I’m gonna try to have a civil discussion with you on these questions.

About Hoecht. McVay stated in a presser that they knew Hoecht could be at least a stopgap at OLB 2 weeks earlier than he was inserted. Assuming that McVay isn’t BS’ing us, why would Morris keep trotting out Hollins and Lewis for so long? They were getting terrible results. I agree that Hoecht does not have prototype OLB size, but he DOES get results far beyond anyone’s expectations there. The delay makes Morris’ personnel decision making look bad.

As 53 stated, Hoecht is not sustainable as an every down 34 OLB. And sooner than later, OCs are gonna scheme RBs out his way to put him into coverage, where is is toast. No chance. Zero. Can he rush the passer some, yes. But, like 53, why cant he rush the passer with his hand in the dirt as a 34 DE? Here's another thing, the more reps he gets, the more film there is on him, the easier it will be for OTs to know whats coming and stonewall him. He does not have a large pass rush arsenal.

About Durant. He played early in the season and played well. Yeah, he got hurt, but why wasn’t he back on field after recovering? Why keep trotting the slower and mistake prone Kendrick out game after game to allow mediocre QB’s to pick on him? Again, a poor reflection on Morris’ personnel decision making. Damn good question. I'm guessing he just wasn't up to speed with what Morris was doing, maybe he was shaking off the rust? There is very little practice in season anymore. But I'll do something I hate doing, answer your question with a question: Do you honestly think Morris is purposely trying to play inferior players and possibly lose games or hurt his chances to be a HC again, just to play "his guys"? Maybe you say yes. THats fine. To me that sounds beyond crazy.

About Rapp. Yeast is not perfect but he sure seems better able to defend passes than Rapp who seems caught out of position too often (driving Ramsey crazy). With the addition of Wagner, Rapp is now a man without a true position that he’s good at. This is the 2nd year that Morris keeps stubbornly trotting him out there. Lesson not learned. I will start with saying I am not a Rapp fan, and I hope he is gone after this year (and he is, the Rams drafted like 15 safeties a year ago to replace Scott and Rapp and Burgess) but there is a ton that goes into being a S that you just don't see, First, the game is faster than college, 2nd, the QBs are better and can manipulate you with their eyes, lastly, you have to communicate and be on the same page as the rest of your secondary mates. Rapp has the edge on all these things over a rookie. Are there exceptions? Sure. Could Yeast be an exception? Maybe, but the Rams were trying to crawl back into the playoff race. Not sure I could make that call. Now that the season is over, yes, play the young guys. THey get beat, so be it. As long as you don't destroy their confidence.

About Rochell. He’s got better speed and analytics than Long or Hill and yet he is never allowed to sniff the field. What has Morris got to lose at this point? I fear that Rochell is just not one of Morris’ ‘guys’. Even you stated above that we don’t know about Rochell because we haven’t seen him play. This is a Morris created Catch-22. Can’t fairly judge Rochell until he gets snaps, but Morris won’t give him snaps even though Long is clearly struggling and almost certainly not in Rams plans in ‘23. So you have been to practice to know Rochell deserves snaps over Long or Hill? I haven't so I'll just trust the coaching staff is making (what they feel from watching practice and tape) the right call. QBs and CBs are all about confidence, Morris trots out Rochell and he gets destroyed over and over again, then it will take forever to rebuild his confidence. Now is that the reason? Maybe, maybe not. But thats just it, no one knows but the coaching staff. No you, not me, not 53, and certainly not Ramsdude.

One of my problems with Morris is his suspect personnel decisions.

Hoecht, Durant, and possibly Rochell are but 3 examples of forcing potential contributors to ride the pine while Morris’ ‘guys’ started game after game. Square pegs in round holes. IOW. Makes sense, I constantly buy inferior corn and soybean seed from friends, over other guys' seed thats better because I don't care about making money or being the best farmer I can be. No, just no.

These issues are completely aside from Morris’ controversial D schemes, as you and I have mowed that lawn many times. Not Morris' scheme.

Thoughts?