What does Jeff Fisher have on Los Angeles Rams' brass that he refuses to play first overall pick Jared Goff, but will not be fired once the Rams again miss the playoffs?
So what’s this I hear about Rams GM Les Snead giving Fisher a contract extension at the end of the season?!
Since taking over the helm of the Rams in 2012, Fisher has finished no better than 7-9, or better than third in the NFC West. In fact, Fisher hasn’t had a winning season since 2008, when he led the Tennessee Titans to the AFC South title with a 13-3 record. The Titans were subsequently dumped in their first playoff game to the Baltimore Ravens. To take it a step further, the only season where a Fisher-coached team won a playoff game was the Titans magical run to the Super Bowl in 1999.
The Rams are one of four teams with double-digit years since their last playoff appearance. That came in 2005, and only Cleveland, Oakland, and Buffalo are longer.
You would figure with the best front-seven in the NFL, anchored by perenial All-Pros Aaron Donald and Robert Quinn, and the most dynamic young offensive player in the game today--running back Todd Gurley II--the Rams would be poised to turn the corner they have been lurking around for the past few seasons.
Yet, they remain 3-4 going into their bye week, having lost three straight. In all three games, the Rams were either tied, or within a field goal of being tied going into the half. In typical Jeff Fisher fashion, no adjustments were made, and Los Angeles was outscored 34-20 in the second half of their ongoing slide.
When teams struggle, the bye week is usually a time to shake things up. Maybe switching quarterbacks, firing a coordinator or two, or changing an offensive or defensive scheme may salvage a dismal beginning. In the case of the Rams' first year back in Los Angeles since 1994, you would think they would want to dust off Goff (pardon the rhyme). Case Keenam has started all seven games thus far, and has thrown 10 interceptions, second only to the New York Jets' Ryan Fitzpatrick (11). His 77.5 quarterback rating is good enough for fifth-worst among starting quarterbacks this year. Every major statistic for Keenam ranks in the bottom-half of the league’s starters.
Fisher has been steadfast in his stance not to play Goff, until he feels the rookie is ready. Some reports even have him as defiant that he will not play Goff, regardless of what Ram management requests. I understand Fisher is the coach, and it is his decision to play the guys who he feels gives his team the best chance to win. A General Manager should never meddle with the game day proceedings. They have every right to work with the personnel, as long as it is not between the whistles.
The most recent example we had like this was the Johnny Manziel fiasco in Cleveland. Fast-forward 18 months, and Manziel, head coach Mike Pettine, nor GM Ray Farmer are still with the organization, and likely will not find employment with another team for the foreseeable future...if ever.
To say the Rams’ draft picks under Snead’s watch have been controversial at times is an understatement. Snead was the trigger-man for the infamous trade just before the 2012 draft that allowed the Washington Redskins to draft Robert Griffin III second overall. The Rams parlayed the three first-round picks into DE Michael Brockers (2012), WR Tavon Austin (2013 via a trade with Buffalo), and OT Greg Robinson (2014). All three are cornerstones of the Rams starting lineup. Snead then traded the Rams first-round picks this and next year (along with a few other high-round selections) to take Goff back in April. For the record, the team made the right decision in cutting DE Michael Sam out of training camp in 2014. Sam, the first openly-gay player ever to be drafted in the NFL, was too small to be a DE, and not fast enough to be a linebacker. Sam would have been rummaging for scraps in an already stacked defensive core, even if he had made it through training camp.
While Carson Wentz is the best story in the NFL this season, it makes you wonder what exactly Fisher is thinking by not playing a guy management felt confident enough in to make the cornerstone of their future for the next decade. For the Rams’ first season back in Los Angeles, many fans are turning out for the novelty, and the off-chance they can see the kid from Cal (Berkeley) do something other than hold a clipboard. However, a vast majority are there for the raw talent Gurley possesses. “TGII” may be the last running back you see drafted in the upper-half of the first round for years to come...another Snead gamble that so far has paid off.
Between Wentz, Cody Kessler in Cleveland, and Dak Prescott in Dallas, rookie quarterbacks have flourished thus far this season. Don’t let Cleveland’s winless record fool you...Kessler is doing everything he can, but the Browns do not have enough talent or experience to win at this stage of the game. What do the Rams have to lose at this point? They are three games out of first in the NFC West, and while being just a game out of the Wild Card, would have to leapfrog much more talented teams like the Buccaneers, Cardinals and Lions. Notice that all three of those teams have established quarterbacks?
To think Fisher may have the Rams going in the right direction…
“That’s 7 and 9 bullshit!”
-JC24