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St. Louis Rams fans were relieved when offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and his lackluster playcalling left the team to pursue a coaching opportunity with the Georgia Bulldogs. So fans can douse the flames from their torches and put away the sharpened pitchforks right? That’s yet to be determined. The Rams replaced Schotty with an internal hire of former quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti. It’s not the most exciting hire, but there weren’t a lot of options. Here’s what we can expect in Cignetti’s new offense:
Background: Cignetti has slowly climbed the ladder while coaching on the professional level. He made his first notable strides into the NFL coaching the New Orleans Saints’ quarterbacks such as Jeff Blake and Aaron Brooks from 2000-2001. Both quarterbacks found success under Cignetti’s leadership, including Brooks earning a Pro Bowl roster spot as an alternate in 2001.
Cignetti bounced around from college football to the pros several times before joining the Rams as their quarterbacks coach in 2012. If you really think about it, he has had some great success with the Rams with limited talent. The past two seasons he has worked with Sam Bradford, Kellen Clemens, Shaun Hill and Austin Davis, all of which have found moderate success while with the Rams. New addition Nick Foles should feel pretty comfortable especially with the addition of replacement quarterback coach Chris Weinke.
Offensive scheme: Fans should prepare for a heavy ground game, despite Cignetti having a quarterback coaching background. He mentioned during his press conference interview that he wants to “simplify” the offense. An interesting thought considering the Rams attempted to run a ground-and-pound offense last season. This is good news for Zac Stacy and Tre Mason, since both are expected to receive most of the carries. It’s also possible that he will try and find more useful roles for players like Tavon Austin on the ground.
It’s safe to say that the Rams’ offense will revert back to its “run first, pass later” mentality. It is conceivable that Cignetti might change his approach should Foles have a more consistent grip on the offense. A more “simplified” offense may not be such a bad idea for a young offense. Mastering fundamentals is essential for any team. Sprinkling in more complex plays is just as important to keep things interesting. The danger of running a “simplified” playbook is that it could excite defenders with its predictability. Cignetti will need mix up the play calling a bit.
Overall, Schottenheimer’s offense could have been worse. Schotty’s biggest downfall is he just became too predictable. Often times, defenses just looked at film and viewed the Rams’ offensive tendencies and adjusted accordingly. Cignetti would be doing the offense a huge favor if he switches up the plays. Offenses don’t need big complex playbooks like that of former offensive genius, Mike Martz. A simple scheme can still make a huge impact by conducting unpredictable drives. In other words, if Cignetti can avoid “run-run-pass” drives, that will already be an improvement from Schottenheimer.
Prediction: It’s difficult to foresee Cignetti’s impact, because it’s his first time as an offensive coordinator in the NFL, but don’t expect a dramatic change from Schottenheimer’s offense. The offense could still perform well under last season’s playbook and it showed flashes of success, but it will depend on how much Cignetti varies his playcalling.
Don’t be too surprised if Cignetti makes a better offensive coordinator than Schotty given his track record with quarterbacks. Providing him with a player like Foles should also shake things up a bit as well. We will learn much more as the Rams head into OTAs.
Source: ESPN.com, Stlouisrams.com
You can follow Johnny Gomez on Twitter @Johnny5not6. Be sure to follow Rams Talk on Twitter @TalkRams.
2015, Aaron Brooks, Austin Davis, Brian Schottenheimer, Chris Weinke, featured, Frank Cignetti, Jeff Blake, Kellen Clemens, Nick Foles, Pro Bowl, Sam Bradford, Shaun Hill, St. Louis Rams, Tavon Austin, Tre Mason, Zac Stacy
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St. Louis Rams fans were relieved when offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and his lackluster playcalling left the team to pursue a coaching opportunity with the Georgia Bulldogs. So fans can douse the flames from their torches and put away the sharpened pitchforks right? That’s yet to be determined. The Rams replaced Schotty with an internal hire of former quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti. It’s not the most exciting hire, but there weren’t a lot of options. Here’s what we can expect in Cignetti’s new offense:
Background: Cignetti has slowly climbed the ladder while coaching on the professional level. He made his first notable strides into the NFL coaching the New Orleans Saints’ quarterbacks such as Jeff Blake and Aaron Brooks from 2000-2001. Both quarterbacks found success under Cignetti’s leadership, including Brooks earning a Pro Bowl roster spot as an alternate in 2001.
Cignetti bounced around from college football to the pros several times before joining the Rams as their quarterbacks coach in 2012. If you really think about it, he has had some great success with the Rams with limited talent. The past two seasons he has worked with Sam Bradford, Kellen Clemens, Shaun Hill and Austin Davis, all of which have found moderate success while with the Rams. New addition Nick Foles should feel pretty comfortable especially with the addition of replacement quarterback coach Chris Weinke.
Offensive scheme: Fans should prepare for a heavy ground game, despite Cignetti having a quarterback coaching background. He mentioned during his press conference interview that he wants to “simplify” the offense. An interesting thought considering the Rams attempted to run a ground-and-pound offense last season. This is good news for Zac Stacy and Tre Mason, since both are expected to receive most of the carries. It’s also possible that he will try and find more useful roles for players like Tavon Austin on the ground.
It’s safe to say that the Rams’ offense will revert back to its “run first, pass later” mentality. It is conceivable that Cignetti might change his approach should Foles have a more consistent grip on the offense. A more “simplified” offense may not be such a bad idea for a young offense. Mastering fundamentals is essential for any team. Sprinkling in more complex plays is just as important to keep things interesting. The danger of running a “simplified” playbook is that it could excite defenders with its predictability. Cignetti will need mix up the play calling a bit.
Overall, Schottenheimer’s offense could have been worse. Schotty’s biggest downfall is he just became too predictable. Often times, defenses just looked at film and viewed the Rams’ offensive tendencies and adjusted accordingly. Cignetti would be doing the offense a huge favor if he switches up the plays. Offenses don’t need big complex playbooks like that of former offensive genius, Mike Martz. A simple scheme can still make a huge impact by conducting unpredictable drives. In other words, if Cignetti can avoid “run-run-pass” drives, that will already be an improvement from Schottenheimer.
Prediction: It’s difficult to foresee Cignetti’s impact, because it’s his first time as an offensive coordinator in the NFL, but don’t expect a dramatic change from Schottenheimer’s offense. The offense could still perform well under last season’s playbook and it showed flashes of success, but it will depend on how much Cignetti varies his playcalling.
Don’t be too surprised if Cignetti makes a better offensive coordinator than Schotty given his track record with quarterbacks. Providing him with a player like Foles should also shake things up a bit as well. We will learn much more as the Rams head into OTAs.
Source: ESPN.com, Stlouisrams.com
You can follow Johnny Gomez on Twitter @Johnny5not6. Be sure to follow Rams Talk on Twitter @TalkRams.
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