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A.J. Feeley will start ahead of No. 1 pick Sam Bradford in the St. Louis Rams’ second preseason game, although Bradford may get a few more plays. Bradford’s role in Saturday night’s game at Cleveland will probably be similar to the opener, when he went 6 for 13 for 57 yards and was sacked four times in a 28-7 loss to the Vikings.
Mardy Gilyard, the rookie wide receiver from the University of Cincinnati, is ready to make his NFL debut this Saturday against the Cleveland Browns in the state where he played his college ball.
“It’s a big deal to me you know,” said Gilyard about making his debut in the same state where he got his football playing chance. “That’s a big rivalry, the two cities [meaning Cleveland and Cincy]. Being in Cincinnati for so long, you tend to (love) Cincinnati.”
Gilyard’s NFL debut was supposed to be the Ram’s Week One game versus the Minnesota Vikings last week, but that was sidelined due to a wrist injury he received during the first part of training camp.
Hampered by the injury early in camp, Ram’s head coach Steve Spagnuolo was impressed by the second half effort at camp from Gilyard. He was making leaping catches all over the field at practice on Wednesday and hauled in a long pass from fellow rookie quarterback Sam Bradford halfway through their two-hour practice.
Gilyard is now wearing a softer protective cast on his wrist and is getting used to catching the football with it on.
“I’m catching pretty good with it right now,” he said.
Gilyard, whom I met last season at the 2010 Under Armor Senior Bowl, is not one to make excuses for his play due to this cast or injury.
“I want to be one of those rookies that the vets can trust out there when I walk out there with the ones (starting unit),” Gilyard said. “Whoever is under center can know that we can unleash the whole thing with this guy out here.”
“It’s not easy for a wide receiver to play with a cast on,” Spagnuolo said. “He’s been catching the football during punts, kickoff returns.
“It’s good to see.”
Gilyard has had quite the adventure to get to this point in his football career, and his stories are well-documented.
He’s sold cutleries door to door, held down three jobs at once to pay his own tuition when he lost his scholarship to the football team at Cincinnati, and at times was forced to sleep in his car, never looked back on it as a bad experience.
Just adds character as he would say himself.
The Rams have a gem in Mardy Gilyard, in my eyes, as I have seen him play at the University of Cincinnati and up close and personal at the Senior Bowl last season.
He may not be the most standout player in a practice or a scrimmage, but you can bet when it comes to game time, you will know Mardy Gilyard is on the field.
This guy is a big-time gamer.
Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com
The Rams enter the second year of head coach Steve Spagnuolo’s tenure with the team coming off a 1-15 season and a horrendous three-year stretch with a record of 6-42. It goes without saying that the Rams have their work cut out for them in 2010.
The team has struggled on both sides of the ball in recent years, with the defense unable to stop the run in astonishing fashion. They have also struggled to make big plays or generate turnovers.
The Rams used Marc Bulger (eight starts), Kyle Boller (four), and Keith Null (four) at quarterback last year, but the team will turn to Sam Bradford this year after using the first overall pick in the draft on the Oklahoma signal-caller. A.J. Feeley may open the season as the team’s starter, but Bradford will take over early in the season.
On offense, Steven Jackson is the centerpiece for the Rams. Despite regularly facing eight- and nine-man fronts and playing several games with back issues, he amassed 1,424 yards on the ground and 314 receiving yards.
The Rams lack proven playmakers at wide receiver, but the roster includes some intriguing young players. Donnie Avery enters his third season, and the Rams hope he can use his speed to make plays more consistently while avoiding the injury issues that have set him back.
Laurent Robinson looked like a potential No. 1 receiver before getting injured in the third game of last season. Brandon Gibson has potential as a possession receiver, while Danny Amendola had a solid rookie season as the team’s slot receiver. Amendola will have to fight off rookie fourth-round pick Mardy Gilyard for playing time.
The situation at tight end isn’t as promising, with veteran Daniel Fells and blocking specialist Billy Bajema joined by the pair of rookies, Michael Hoomanawanui (fifth round) and Fendi Onobun (sixth round). Onobun is a raw talent with little experience but excellent athletic ability.
The Rams used the first overall pick in the draft to get Bradford, and the expectation is that he will start early in the season, if not on opening day. While Bradford figures to get extensive playing time in his rookie season, there are loads of question marks at wide receiver and tight end.
Although there are some talented young receivers on the roster, none appear ready to assume a lead role. It’s also worth noting that the Rams will likely use a rookie and a second year player at the starting offensive tackle positions.
Bradford is clearly a talented player with a strong and accurate arm. However, his 2010 fantasy prospects are extremely dim given the Rams lack of playmakers on offense. He’s a great dynasty league prospect—otherwise, there’s not much good to say about him fantasy-wise. He’s likely not worth drafting in re-draft leagues.
Jackson is coming off another solid yet injury-plagued season. A back injury kept him out of one game and forced him to miss several weeks worth of practices. Despite the injury, Jackson racked up some impressive numbers (1,424 rushing yards, 314 receiving) considering the Rams anemic offense was without starting quarterback Marc Bulger for much of the year.
Opposing defenses used nine men in the box against Jackson on a regular basis, even on 3rd-and-long. His mere four touchdowns marred an otherwise solid season. One of the league’s most talented backs, Jackson figures to match his 2009 production if he remains healthy in 2010.
However, he had to undergo back surgery in April, which is a worrisome sign given his injury history. Nonetheless, he should be in consideration as the fifth running back off the board in most fantasy formats.
Avery has been a bit of an enigma for the Rams since being the first wide receiver taken in the 2008 draft. He is a burner with exceptional speed, but his route-running needs improvement and he isn’t adept at catching passes over the middle.
As he enters his third year, the odds are against him having a breakout campaign in 2010. At this point, his role appears to be that of a complimentary receiver whose main tasks will include running deep patterns and end-arounds.
While Avery has upside and his production should improve, he is a marginal fantasy starter in all but the deepest leagues.
After acquiring Robinson from the Falcons for a swap of their fifth and sixth picks prior to last year’s draft, the Rams thought they had a steal on their hands early in the 2009 season. After two games, Robinson had emerged as the team’s top wide receiver with 141 yards and a touchdown.
However, a leg fracture during Week Three ended his 2009 season. Robinson has enough size and speed to be effective running any pattern and should win the starting job opposite Donnie Avery.
With rookie Sam Bradford likely starting at quarterback in a Rams offense that lacks talent, Robinson’s potential is limited. However, he could surprise and will likely be drafted lower than Donnie Avery—and he may have just as much upside.
Gibson came over in a mid-season trade with the Eagles and was thrust into a significant role immediately. At 6’0” and 210 pounds, he is a decent prospect as a possession receiver but seemed to lack deep speed as a rookie.
Despite being targeted mostly on short and intermediate routes, he caught just 49 percent of his targets. However, a good portion of that ineffectiveness can be chalked up to the Rams poor quarterback play in 2009.
Gibson has some potential, especially in PPR leagues, provided he can supplant Donnie Avery or Laurent Robinson in the starting lineup.
The Rams felt they got a steal when Gilyard was available at the first pick in the forth round of the draft. Although he doesn’t possess blazing speed, Gilyard is a shifty receiver who displayed good playmaking ability in college.
Reports indicated the Rams were very impressed with his progress during OTAs, and he figures to supplant Danny Amendola as the team’s slot receiver, perhaps by opening day.
He will work as a returner as well since he may not have the requisite size to play outside in the Rams West Coast offense. However, the Rams have plenty of question marks at receiver, so Gilyard could earn a significant role as a rookie.
Burton has been injury-prone since entering the league two years ago. A knee injury suffered during Week 10 derailed his 2009 season, and he will be fighting for playing time, as well as his roster spot, this preseason.
He is a decent prospect with enough size and speed to succeed, but he has failed to show much during his limited playing time. Though the Rams depth chart at wide receiver is unsettled, don’t expect Burton to earn a starting position, and certainly don’t waste a draft pick on him in your fantasy league.
The talentless Rams didn’t bother to offer him a tender, but they re-signed him when the Patriots showed some interest. Luckily for Fells, the Rams had so many needs that they didn’t draft any tight ends until the fifth and sixth rounds in 2010.
If his own team doesn’t like Fells, why should you? There’s no reason to take him in your fantasy draft.
Dave Stringer is a staff writer at FFToday.com, home of the popular Cheatsheet Compiler & Draft Buddy custom cheatsheet and draft tracking software.
Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com
Here in Washington D.C. as well in many subpar NFL cities around America this offseason, there was a lot of talk of rebuilding.
Some teams chose to go that route (St. Louis Rams and Carolina Panthers) and some (Washington Redskins) chose not to.
The problem with the modern NFL is that rebuilding is very, very hard.
It’s a “win now” league, where fans, general managers, and owners want to see results, and want to see them quickly.
This doesn’t allow for proper maturation of a team or new head coach.
For example when Joe Gibbs was first hired in 1981 by Jack Kent Cooke and GM Bobby Beathard, he started 0-5.
Gibbs thought he was going to be fired, and legend has it that Cooke was very close to doing so, but Cooke stayed the course. In Gibbs’ first tour of the NFL, the result was four NFC Championships, three Super Bowl victories, and not a single season below .500.
In this day and age, a coach starting out that bad might not have a second shot. He might not even make it through his first year.
Fans, owners, and general mangers’ patience aside, with the current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) teams can’t hide away players on the practice squad like they once could.
The 53-man roster didn’t really mean much. You could just throw a guy on the practice squad. Coach Gibbs was famous for that.
For those of you who have a team photo of the Super Bowl XXII Champion Redskins you’ll notice Mark Rypien. However no one knew who the hell he was before 1990 because Gibbs kept him squirreled away on the practice squad until he felt he was ready.
These days if a coach has a talent like Rypien, you can’t hide him away. He’s either taking up a roster spot or he’s gone.
The CBA also allows for greater freedom in free agency than in the early 90′s and before.
At one point when you drafted a player there was a good chance he was going to be on your roster for his whole career. Darrell Green’s 20 seasons with the Redskins will never be repeated.
Players (for good or for bad) have a ton of freedom now when their contract is up. And as we’ve seen with players like Albert Haynesworth, regardless of anything else, if you have a huge final season on your contract someone will pay you.
Free agency along with the salary cap creates a couple of problems when it comes to building a team of the future.
The first one is if you sign a fourth or fifth round pick to a two or three-year deal and he blows up and becomes your top receiver, when his short contract is up you might not be able to afford to resign him.
One could always say that the team could have signed him to a longer deal, which is true, but a late round pick normally won’t generate a long contract simply because a team doesn’t really know what they’re getting.
Even if you cut that player for not producing, if you signed them for a seven-year deal you are still going to take some sort of cap hit which will affect your other signings.
Also if you have them signed for six or seven years, if they blow up what stops them from holding out for more money?
The New York Jets probably have the best cover corner in the league in Darrelle Revis, but what good does he do the team sitting at home wanting more money?
Not much, so the Jets will eventually buckle and pay him close to what he wants, and then will have to cut from their spending next year. So if they don’t win it all this year what do they do?
They might stay the course or might find out they need another piece and then have to spend more money, which they might not have because of all the extra money they had to shell out to Revis.
Last but certainly not least is the major issue that hinders modern NFL teams from truly rebuilding, and that is first round draft picks’ contracts.
These kids come into the league with zero experience in the NFL but usually demand (especially quarterbacks) the highest salaries.
The NFL is pretty much the only working environment where the new guy makes more then the guy who has been there and produced for the longest time.
Matthew Stafford and Sam Bradford were drafted No. 1 in 2009 and 2010 and hold a lot of hope for their franchises, but their huge contracts and signing bonuses really hinder their teams’ chances.
When you have the No. 1 pick , you know you are going to have to spend a ton of money to sign that player. So your options in the offseason wind up like this:
Do I draft this quarterback and spend $50 million on him, or do I take that $50 million and get several offensive linemen and other cogs that will make this team better?
It’s a catch-22.
Every team wants a franchise quarterback, and most Super Bowl winning teams have them, but at the same time a great quarterback can’t win too many games from his back.
Drafting a quarterback is also the ultimate crapshoot in the draft. For every Troy Aikman and Peyton Manning there are several David Carrs, Joey Harringtons, Ryan Leafs, JaMarcus Russells and Akili Smiths out there.
So, is it possible to actually build a team in the modern NFL?
Yes it is, but it is more difficult then ever. For the past decade there have been several teams that have sustained winning traditions.
For example the Eagles, Colts, Patriots, and Chargers have had constant success for the past decade. The results have been four total Super Bowl wins (three by the Pats, and one by the Colts) and seven Super Bowl appearances.
Their success has been to get their players to buy into their system, and patient owners and GMs.
However these teams seem to be the exception not the rule. Most teams now seem to be flashes in the pan. We are now seeing more teams that just kind of pop and win for a season or two and then fall back into a playoff drought. Some examples are the Bears, Seahawks, Cardinals, Panthers, Bengals, Falcons, and Jaguars.
Then you just have teams that go back to the drawing board every couple of years like the Redskins, Browns, Bills, and Lions.
So rebuilding in the NFL is possible, but with the way the atmosphere is in the league these days, why bother? If you feel you can get the right number of veterans and rookies to make a run (Jets) then why invest the time and money in a young team that might not pan out thanks to free agency.
Either way fans would rather see teams in this modern NFL win one Super Bowl now and have a playoff drought for several years than a couple-year drought for many consecutive postseasons and Super Bowl success down the road.
Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com
Here’s an updated look at my top 30 fantasy QB rankings:
2. Drew Brees
4. Tom Brady
5. Tony Romo
6. Matt Schaub
8. Brett Favre
9. Jay Cutler
10. Kevin Kolb
11. Donovan McNabb
12. Joe Flacco
13. Eli Manning
14. Carson Palmer
15. Matt Ryan
17. Alex Smith
18. Matthew Stafford
19. Chad Henne
20. Vince Young
21. Matt Leinart
22. David Garrard
23. Mark Sanchez
24. Kyle Orton
25. Matt Cassel
26. Jason Campbell
27. Matt Moore
28. Josh Freeman
29. Sam Bradford
30. Matt Hasselbeck
Notable changes
Carson Palmer moved up a few spots thanks to the addition of Terrell Owens.
Alex Smith slid a few spots. It’s not that I don’t like him, but I just like Palmer, Matt Ryan, and Big Ben a little bit more.
Matt Hasselbeck slid into No. 30, as my faith that he’ll play a full season is just about gone.
Also check out:
- 2010 Top 50 Fantasy RB Rankings
- 2010 Top 60 Fantasy WR Rankings
- 2010 Top 25 Fantasy TE Rankings
- 2010 Top 25 Fantasy IDP Rankings
- 2010 Top 25 Team Defense Rankings
- 2010 Top 15 Fantasy K Rankings
Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com
