10 Rams observations

Here are 10 Rams observations, after having watched a few of their games this season.

1) Austin Davis is not your run of the mill 3rd string quarterback. He can play. What stands out about Davis is his mobility and his quick release. Here's a shot he took down the field to wide receiver Brian Quick. Note the release and the accuracy.

And here's a play I loved from Davis. He gets no backside protection on a rollout and delivers a perfect throw to the sideline on the dead sprint. This is high degree of difficulty.

Davis will make some "inexperience mistakes," like his pick six to Bruce Carter Week 3 against the Cowboys, but the talent is there.

2) Zac Stacy is a bowling ball type, at 5'9, 224, who can move piles. However, he also has underrated elusiveness for a player with his body type. Stacy is a legitimately good runner, not just a guy you know because of fantasy football.

3) I do like the matchups the Eagles have on the outside, for a change. The Rams' starting receivers are 6'3 Brian Quick and 6'2 Kenny Britt. While Cary Williams and Bradley Fletcher have struggled at times this season, they are much better equipped to handle bigger receivers who don't have blazing speed.

4) The Rams' best player on defense is RDE Robert Quinn, who was second in the NFL last season with 19 sacks. He has none so far in 2014. Offensively, the Eagles have strength on strength with Jason Peters manning the LT spot. It should be Peters vs Quinn all game, as the Rams rarely move him around.

Quinn has a tremendous burst off the snap, and has become an elite pass rusher. However, I can't help but wonder if he has some Jason Babin in him, in that he's looking for stats. Below is a poor job by Quinn on a run play against Dallas. The Cowboys are running right, but DeMarco Murray cuts it back to his left. Quinn is left unblocked because the Cowboys were running away from him, so he should be all over this cutback by Murray back to his side. However, he's looking for Tony Romo playing out his fake on a rollout to his side, and is way out of position as Murray runs by and picks up a big gain.

5) The Eagles may have caught a big break by missing LDE Chris Long. As we know, this will be Lane Johnson's first week back from suspension. Facing guys like William Hayes and Eugene Sims will perhaps enable Johnson to knock off some rust more easily than if he had to face Long all day.

6) The Rams' first round pick this year was Pittsburgh DT Aaron Donald, who had an incredible college career. Let's just list Donald's accomplishments last season in bullet point form:

• Winner of the Bednarik Award (best defensive player).

• Winner of the Lombardi Award (best lineman or linebacker).

• Winner of the Outland Trophy (best interior lineman).

• Winner of the Bronco Nagurski Trophy (best defensive player)

• Unanimous All-American.

• ACC Defensive Player of the Year.

Donald's biggest negative is something that he can't control, which is his size, at 6'1, 285. But his production in college was tremendous. In his last 3 seasons, Donald had 26.5 sacks from his DT spot, including 10 sacks as a senior, which led all NCAA DTs. He also led the nation with 26.5 tackles for loss in 2013, and added 4 forced fumbles.

Then he was basically unblockable at the Senior Bowl week of practices.

And then he tore up the combine. Here is how Donald's combine numbers compare with other DTs who competed at the Combine since 1999 (via mockdraftable.com):

If there's a guy I would worry about the Eagles not being able to block with their banged up interior OL, it would be Donald.

7) Rams CB Janoris Jenkins is a playmaker. He had four TDs as a rookie in 2012 (three pick sixes and a fumble return), and he took one to the house against the Cowboys.

Double moves on Janoris, Chip.

8) When you look at a snapshot of the Rams statistically so far this season, the obvious thing that stands out is this:

Not only are the Rams 30th in overall rush D, they're 30th in yards per carry, and they've given six rushes of 20+ yards, which is the most in the NFL, despite the Rams having only played three games.

Could this be the week the Eagles rushing attack gets back on track?

9) Think Cody Parkey has a huge leg? The Rams employ "Legatron," AKA Greg Zuerlein, who has perhaps the strongest leg in the league. In Legatron's rookie season, he connected on field goal attempts of 58, 48, and 60 to beat the Seahawks. The Rams have themselves a long distance weapon, and a guy who had a very good touchback percentage of 66.4% in 2013, and 67.1% in 2012.

10) Being on the road, the Rams won't have the help of "Ram Rules":

Also, there's this, which is pretty much the best thing ever:

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