Another important issue that the lockout creates is that it prevents Bradford and the Rams’ young offense from learning Josh McDaniels’ new and seemingly complicated playbook. One can argue that Bradford had no problem learning an offensive scheme in his first season, but he also had a full training camp and preseason to figure it out. Despite the fact that Bradford is a very smart and instinctive quarterback, he still needs to have the time to learn the offense properly in order to execute it perfectly, like Tom Brady did under McDaniels. It also does not help that McDaniels’ system is pass heavy, which means that Bradford may have to learn twice the passing plays than he had to under Shurmur’s offensive scheme. Even with player only workouts, if Bradford cannot have the preseason to experience this new playbook in a game-speed situation, his development will be significantly slowed down.

Having a full training camp and preseason is also important because the players need to understand the right timing of plays, and to fully understand what their job is on the field. Without experiencing preseason games, it is hard to get eleven players on the field to be on the same page, and to make sure that every man knows their job. If we have no preseason, you may see a lot of players going offside, simply running the wrong routes, or not performing their task perfectly.

However, with the labour talks seemingly coming to an end this week, we will hopefully see a full training camp and preseason, therefore making our lives easier by not having to worry about these issues. I just hope that a vote can be agreed on this week so that the development of our young Rams team can continue to grow, leading to a possible playoff berth this season.

Vince Cianciolo
Ramblin Fan

Robert Quinn is a quick and physical defensive end, who dominated in college. He is able to effectively get to the quarterback for sacks and hurried throws. Quinn had great numbers in college, but suffered a suspension in 2010 for lying to investigators about receiving travel accomodations and jewelery. However, this tough defensive end is a perfect fit for the Spagnuolo defensive system, and will have the luxury of working behind James Hall, which will be important for his development. Quinn will probably only be asked to rush the quarterback at first, but once he gains more experience, Quinn should also be effective when dropping back into coverage. Quinn is also very good against the run game, which means he is a very versatile player that teams will have to create gameplans for to stop. Quinn is a very important player for the Rams because his ability to get to the quarterback will take some pressure off of the secondary, and make the defense better overall, causing more three and outs, and turnovers.

College Stats:
2008 (Freshman): 34 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles
2009 (Sophomore): 52 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, 6 forced fumbles

Awards:ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year (2008)
Second Team All-American (2009)
First Team All-ACC (2009)

2006-2007: 3529 Yards, 24 Touchdowns, 12 Interceptions, 61.8 Pass Percentage.
2007-2008: 4806 Yards, 50 TD, 8 Interceptions, 68.9 Pass Percentage.

It is evident through these stats that although Brady had Randy Moss in the 2007 season, that Brady’s stats boosted heavily under McDaniels’ system, and it is also important to know that the Patriots are not a team that will go out of its way to pick up explosive receivers for Brady to throw to…other than Moss, who was double covered most of the time anyway. However, you can argue that Brady is one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game, but, when he was injured and Cassel – who had never started a game in the NFL prior to the injury – had to fill the spot, the offence still succeeded. Under McDaniels, Cassels’ stats are:

2008-2009: 3802 Yards, 21 Touchdowns, 12 Interceptions, 62.1 Percentage

It is also important to know that when McDaniels was the head coach of the Denver Broncos, although his time with the team was unsuccessful and short-lived, Kyle Orton flourished as one of the top quarterbacks in the league, with his stats boosting heavily once working under McDaniels.

The point I am trying to make is that Bradford, even without many explosive receivers, will flourish under McDaniels’ pass heavy system. If Mcdaniels can take Cassel, a quarterback who had never taken a single snap in the NFL prior to Brady’s injury and turn him into a star, you can just imagine of what the heavily talented Bradford can do under McDaniels’ offensive scheme. Especially with the weapons the Rams drafted in the 2011 draft (Lance Kendricks, Austin Pettis, Greg Salas), I believe that we will see a St. Louis Rams offense similar to that of the 2007 New England Patriots. One could also argue that Bradford will have to learn an entirely new offensive language and playbook, but he didn’t seem to have much trouble learning Shurmur’s scheme in his first year of the league. Therefore, I will go with a bold statement and say that Bradford will throw for over 4000 yards in the 2011-2012 season (assuming we have the full season), and you can call me crazy, but I have a lot of confidence in that claim just by seeing how well Cassel did in his 2008-2009 season.

Vince Cianciolo
Ramblin Fan