November 13, 2011; Cleveland, OH, USA; St. Louis Rams middle linebacker James Laurinaitis (55) drags Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt McCoy (12) out of bounds in the fourth quarter at Cleveland Browns Stadium. St. Louis won 13-12. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE

It is an utter travesty and clear evidence in the failure of the voting system that James Laurinaitis has been deprived of a Pro Bowl appearance. There are a number of reasons that may have contributed to this disrespect, whether is be the lack of media coverage that the Rams receive, the lack of talent around him that has consistently ranked the Rams defense in the lower tier of the league, or the presence of Patrick Willis in the same conference hogging all the publicity. Whatever the reasoning may be, Laurinaitis has received little attention on the national stage for his production and efficiency. But how can you truly gauge efficiency? Tackles, sacks, and pass deflection can hold a light to the true picture of efficiency, but in order to see the whole picture you need a much more detailed evaluation.

Pro Football Focus recently compiled a massive three-year database of statistics, analyzing individual players on anything from the amount of pressures a running back has given up to the average number of yards per route ran by a particular wide receiver. Included in that, of course, is some extremely useful information on tackling; specifically, total tackles, missed tackles totals, and tackle efficiency for all linebackers over the past 3 years.

In terms of overall tackles, Laurinaitis ranks 5th among all linebackers, and, more importantly, 1st in the NFC West. Laurinaitis has amassed 346 total tackles, a combination of 299 solo tackles and 47 assisted tackles. Other notable names within the Top 10 are London Fletcher with 389 tackles (1st), Patrick Willis with 343 (6th), and Ray Lewis with 309 (9th).

On the other side of the coin, PFF also reveals the linebackers most likely to have their tackles broken off, where they listed the players with the most missed tackles over the past three years. Included in the list are OLB Lance Briggs with 38 missed tackles (1st), who made the Pro Bowl roster as a starter in 2009, and MLB London Fletcher with 32 missed tackles (6th), who made the Pro Bowl in both 2010 and 2011. Granted, the more attempted you have at tackles, the  greater your chances of missing, but a Pro Bowl caliber player should not be on this list. Other notable payers on this list, possibly of interest to the Rams, are current OLB Rocky McIntosh (T-8) and ex-Ram MLB Will Witherspoon (T-10).

Now for the real analysis, the real judgement of efficiency. Raw numbers are a poor indicator of actual performance, since all statistics have to be taken within a greater, more encompassing context. For context, you need a variety of numerical values formulated to give a more accurate assessment of the desired variable. PFF combines the key elements of  ”tackling” to create their formula. Their equation for efficiency is pretty straightforward:

In more basic terms, it is the number of times a player attempted to tackle an opposing runner over the number of times they failed to bring the carrier down.  This puts “tackling” in context, since attempts will be counterbalanced through the weight put on missing tackles. The players at the high end of this list are those who maximize every opportunity to tackle a ball carrier, and very rarely make a mistake. Of the Top 10 players listed in total tackles, only three of those players are in Top 10 in tackling efficiency (TE), which goes to show that raw numbers do not tell the whole picture. Those three include: Patrick Willis with a 25.5 TE (2nd), Jerod Mayo with a 20.0 TE (8th), and…  James Laurinaitis with a 22.6 TE (6th).

Not only does Laurinaitis put up the numbers through raw totals, but he supports those numbers with efficiency in tackling, something that the Rams linebacking core has not had in the recent future. How a Pro Bowl spot has eluded Laurinaitis to this point is beyond comprehension, but at the end of the day, regardless of his lack of hardware, the St. Louis Rams have one of the greatest linebackers in the NFL as their defensive signal caller. Lets hope we can get him that contract soon and keep him in the Blue and Gold for a long, long time.

July 29, 2012; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams assistant head coach Dave McGinnis looks on during training camp at ContinuityX Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-US PRESSWIRE

We’ve heard plenty from head coach Jeff Fisher over the last few weeks, so let’s take a look at what a couple of the other coaches had to say on Wednesday. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and assistant head coach Dave McGinnis met with the media to discuss their early opinions and views on what they have seen so far in Rams camp.

Schottenheimer

(On what he wants to get out of the offense in the first preseason game)
“We’re looking forward just to seeing the schemes that we’re going to run, how it fits with our players. We want to see the guys actually go hit somebody else, but we’re looking for execution. It’s going to be good to hit somebody else. We’re about almost 75 percent of the way through the installation. Obviously, we won’t use it all, show it all, but we want to see these guys play together. There will be different combinations of people and hopefully we’ll have some success.”

(On if he has a No. 1 wide receiver)
“It really doesn’t matter. I think we have a couple guys that we’re going to put in spots to make plays. Somebody asked me about that. I’ve been other places where you have a so-called No. 1 receiver and it’s easy to double that guy. We’re looking for a bunch of weapons. They’re hard to find when you put them in different spots all over the field. That way, we can take advantage of matchups. But we’re very, very pleased with where we are. A lot of the young guys are coming along. I think you see a guy like Brian Quick picking it up now. For him, third, fourth time he’s starting to get it. Chris Givens is showing up and then of course the veterans, they’re still a little bit ahead because they have a little bit more of the system than the ‘rooks’ do.”

(On the percentage of carries that RB Steven Jackson will get)
“I don’t think it has anything to do with Steven’s age at all. I think what we want to do is we want to try to get a number of people involved. Obviously, Steven is the bell cow, we know that. I think if you look at (Head Coach) Jeff’s (Fisher) history and our history with New York what we were able to do is you have a bell cow, a feature back that he’s the main guy, but you spell him some.  What that allows you to do is obviously you have backs that change the pace of the plays and run different plays. But what you see is you see that featured bell cow back get stronger. Thomas Jones in his first year I think he had 1400 yards. Leon Washington had about 500. Then we brought LT (LaDainian Tomlinson) in two years ago to help Shonn Green. Having multiple backs is really important. I know Jeff had a couple guys put up big numbers a couple of years ago. We’re excited that we have a full stable of backs.”

McGinnis

(On how the defense looks approaching the first preseason game)
“We’re really looking forward to this. I mean, this is stepping up into the next phase and stage of what we need to get. This football team is ready to play somebody else. We need to test ourselves against somebody else. I think that what we’ve done, the way that (Head Coach) Jeff (Fisher) has brought this football team along, the phase that we’re in, getting ready to play somebody else, it’s coming exactly at the right time. We feel like we’re making progress, but again your progress is measured incrementally and we need to measure it against somebody else.”

(On if he thinks the defensive line has a chance to be special)
“Here’s the thing, I think that our defensive line is working towards that. They’ve got a wonderful coach in Mike Waufle. I’ve been around this league a long time. I know good from not good – he’s good. The guys that he’s got to work with, they’ve bought whole heart and soul into what he’s about and so they’ve got an opportunity to work to be good. But again, as I said, I grew up in a catholic school being taught by the nuns and we learned not to canonize any saints very early, I promise you.”

(On competition at the outside linebacker position)
“Absolutely, and that’s going to be a very fluid situation. I think as we progress throughout this preseason you’re going to see different combinations there. Again, (MLB) James (Laurinaitis) clearly is the cornerstone that we are building around there, but we need to get the various combinations in because during the season, I mean you’ve got to be able, especially at the linebacker spot in this defense, they’ve got to be able to play all three spots. Now James is our ‘mike’ backer, but the other guys have to be able to fill in, play very well, and we need to give them a chance to learn those positions, too. So we’ll be using some different combinations as we go.”

(On if he envisions CB Janoris Jenkins being out there in Week 1 against Detroit)
“Absolutely. Janoris Jenkins continues to impress out here, but Janoris Jenkins loves football and he works at it. (Secondary coach) Chuck Cecil and (assistant secondary coach) Brandon Fisher are doing a tremendous job with him, getting him up to speed on what we’re doing, but he’s a very, very willing pupil and I’ve got no problems with Janoris Jenkins being on the field, believe me.”