Before his concussion, he was only averaging 3.86 receptions per game. Without the concussion, he was still on pace for only 61 receptions which was going to be his least amount of receptions …other than his rookie season where he only played 10 games.
Rather than offering my opinion on the concept, I guess could just share Rams GM Les Snead’s thoughts.
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The absence of Brandin Cooks was certainly felt on offense for the Rams last season, struggling to create big plays in the passing game. Jared Goff often threw short and intermediate passes, rarely threatening the deep part of the field.
As a result, the Rams were forced to sustain long drives in order to put points on the board, which was difficult to do consistently for 18 games. Adding a true deep threat to the receiving corps is a priority this offseason, but it’s not just about speed.
Rams GM Les Snead told reporters Wednesday that a big-bodied rebounder can also add a vertical element, opening the door for the Rams to add a jump-ball receiver who can play above the rim, so to speak. Snead said the Rams have “definitely discussed” adding a vertical presence to the offense, whether in the draft or free agency.
“I would say this, deep threat can be many things, right? It’s not just speed and throwing the ball deep. There’s an element. If there’s a vertical presence, whether the guy might not be as fast, but he’s tall and big and he can go get a rebound and you can throw the ball up,” Snead said. “When there’s an element of a vertical presence and they come in all shapes and sizes, it definitely loosens the defense. There has to be the defensive coordinator, the defensive staff will want to protect. You want to protect explosions.”
Defenses felt comfortable loading the box against the Rams and forcing Goff to beat them last season. There were times when the Rams made teams pay for that, but far too often, the offense simply struggled to move the ball consistently.
Safeties came down into the box, cornerbacks pressed the Rams’ wideouts at the line and there wasn’t much help needed over the top. If the Rams add an explosive playmaker – which they’ve been eyeing a bunch in the pre-draft process – defenses will have to respect that element of the offense.
“The analytics say, the more explosions, explosive plays you have, the better chance you have to win – along with turnovers,” Snead added. “So, what that actually does, even though a Sammy Watkins back in ’17, Brandin in ’18, let’s just say Brandin had a lot more yards than Sammy did and I know in ’17 and ’18, but it’s not necessarily just the yards that those players are actually catching, it’s what they’re doing to the enemy and then that does loosen up some things underneath. But again, that can come up. The New England Patriots maybe made that happen with a freak tight end. So, when you say that, it doesn’t have to just be a speed receiver, but I think we’re all saying the same thing. There’s an element of presence vertically that the defense now has to ensure against and that usually means less compact, more space and more allies to throw to the shorter, intermediate stuff.”
This article was posted March 11th, so we now know that the Rams did indeed add 2 WRs.
Even though Snead stated they didn’t “have to be just be a speed receiver”… that is exactly what they added.
He plays faster than 4.52 and he signed with TEN as their deep threat option. Besides 4.52 isn’t that slow.
McVay repeatedly defended Reynolds as their deep threat option claiming he was getting open deep and they just weren’t getting the ball to him.
Problem was that he was their only deep threat option. You need more than one guy who can stretch the field.
Personally from what I saw McVay was choosing to dink and dunk more than he was choosing to go deep.
Here’s an article quoting Josh Reynolds and why he thought the deep game wasn’t working as well as it should in the Rams.
He blamed three things.
- They didn’t get a lot of reps doing deep ball drills.
- He ran a ton of hitch routes.
- Play action wasn’t working like it should.
Take a read. I think it sheds some light on the situation.
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Yeah, play-action works a lot better with someone like Gurley in your backfield.
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That’s what I saw too, a lot of WR screens to Woods and Kupp. I think the WR’s were getting open downfield, it’s just Goff didn’t have time behind that O-line…but maybe it was all because they don’t have Cooks anymore, idk.