Update: Saunders Signs Deal with Rams to be OC
 

[url=http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/rams/story/4EE408E1D713AF8B862573DE0075699E?OpenDocument]STLtoday - Sports - Rams[/url]

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

Good Riddance Al Saunders and your 700 page playbook.

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

I heard that he took his 700 play book and left it there by accident. After the team tried to remove the book they decided it would be easier to hire Saunders.

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

Happy fo AL, maybe he's where he will be appreciated and can implement his offense without interuption, and scaled back. The Rams are on our 08 schedule if I'm not mistaken, it should prove to be interesting.

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

Im sure he will do well with the Rams...that is a good match.
Imagine if Williams is with the Jags too.....wow, they should both perform well

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

Saunders is a way overrated anyhow.

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

[quote=Longtimefan;414500]Happy fo AL, maybe he's where he will be appreciated and can implement his offense without interuption, and scaled back. The Rams are on our 08 schedule if I'm not mistaken, it should prove to be interesting.[/quote]
So we can kick his butt when he comes back or we go there. I heard it takes two years to learn his system.

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

well if saunders signs with the rams, todd collins should be soon to follow...good thing, we don't need a QB controversy right now

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

[QUOTE=dcweldon;414522]well if saunders signs with the rams, todd collins should be soon to follow...good thing, we don't need a QB controversy right now[/QUOTE]

We are definately not going to have a quarterback controversy.
We have 1 real QB.
The controversy is whether he pick up another system quickly or not

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

[QUOTE=dcweldon;414522]well if saunders signs with the rams, todd collins should be soon to follow...good thing, we don't need a QB controversy right now[/QUOTE]

Hey if Collins goes there, then does that mean The Gus Bus returns to FedEx?

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

Eeeeeeeeehhh......

We better sign like 4 lineman if Frerotte is the backup.

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

I'm sure Saunders will do very well in St. Louis. The thing about Saunders is I don't feel like I ever really got know him, not the way I feel like I know a lot of the other coaches. I think this situation was just a bad match from the start. Still, his past record speaks for itself and I'm sure he'll be successful in his next stint.

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

[quote=SmootSmack;414529]Hey if Collins goes there, then does that mean The Gus Bus returns to FedEx?[/quote]

I'm sure collins will go there. I'm not sure but i think Al has worked in St. lois before. If so i wonder how many guys are still there familiar with his bible of a playbook.

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

[QUOTE=JankySpanky80;414537]I'm sure collins will go there. I'm not sure but i think Al has worked in St. lois before. If so i wonder how many guys are still there familiar with his bible of a playbook.[/QUOTE]

Well he was the receivers coach there so I think Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce (if he's coming back) would be pretty familiar with it.

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

Maybe his playbook only works in Missouri? However I think this is a good move for Saunders though I can't help but wonder how Scott Linehan fits into all this. To me it feels like all hes doing is putting together practice routines.

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

WOW BIG LOSS!!! I am going to miss that big ass playbook and that predictable offense!!!

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

Bye bye Al. Don't let the door hit you in the ass one the way out.

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

[QUOTE=IggyG;414518]Saunders is a way overrated anyhow.[/QUOTE]

No not really. Saunders never had a quarterback with experiance in his system like Trent Green in Kansas City that led his successful offensive attack. We finally saw that at the end of the year with Todd Collins, (not saying he's amazing, but that he could manage games because he KNEW the system) however, even though Snyder says "he learned patience", its complete bull**** as seen from the past weeks.

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

Just heard live on comcast Al's deal is all but done and will wrap up tonight or in the am it will be announced hes the new OC for the Rams. I wish him the very best. He was there when they where very successful last time.

[url=http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/rams/story/4EE408E1D713AF8B862573DE0075699E?OpenDocument]STLtoday - Sports - Rams[/url]

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

People can bash Saunders all they want but he never got to run the offense the way he wanted. Not with conservative Joe lurking over his shoulder. Everyone saw how well it works once Collins got in there. With Al and most likely Colllins gone who is our back-up? Brunell? Sigh.......

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

If he was really "lurking over his shoulder" wouldn't he have continued to do the same then when Collins stepped in for Campbell?

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

[quote=IggyG;414494]Good Riddance Al Saunders and your 700 page playbook.[/quote]I TOTALLY disagree with all the ridicule of Saunders and his playbook. It worked in KC with completely MEDIOCRE receivers (Tony Gonzalez aside). We saw the real Al Saunders offense when Todd Collins butchered opposing defenses the last four games of the regular season. Mark these words - Al's offense has worked everywhere else, and he will kick ass in St Louis.

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

[QUOTE=skinsfan69;414709]People can bash Saunders all they want but he never got to run the offense the way he wanted. Not with conservative Joe lurking over his shoulder. Everyone saw how well it works once Collins got in there. With Al and most likely Colllins gone who is our back-up? Brunell? Sigh.......[/QUOTE]

Yeah, it did seem as though Gibbs had Saunders on a pretty tight leash. I would have liked to have seen Al with complete control to do whatever he wanted. Oh well. Not my decision to make.

I maintain that with Zorn there will be an overhaul with the 2nd and 3rd string QBs. Probably a 'West Coast' vet and a a late round draft pick to develop. Brunell should have started packing his bags as soon as Gibbs did.

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

[QUOTE=SouperMeister;414714]I TOTALLY disagree with all the ridicule of Saunders and his playbook. It worked in KC with completely MEDIOCRE receivers (Tony Gonzalez aside). We saw the real Al Saunders offense when Todd Collins butchered opposing defenses the last four games of the regular season. Mark these words - Al's offense has worked everywhere else, and he will kick ass in St Louis.[/QUOTE]

I'm with you on that. Hell, he STILL had mediocre receivers in Washington -- and yes, that includes Santana Moss -- only this time, he didn't have the time to groom a QB who could run it effectively.

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

[QUOTE=IggyG;414494]Good Riddance Al Saunders and your 700 page playbook.[/QUOTE]

Why all the hate for Saunders? I think it is sort of funny that so many people are quick to condemn people who leave this organization.

I have a funny feeling Saunders is going to have their offense in the top-10 in '08 with the tools he has there.

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

I love how there's all this nasty, venomous talk about Saunders now that he's been run out of town, but yet, when Collins stepped in and we started winning, everyone was talking about how we'd finally turned the corner on the "700 page playbook".

As if it's better to have a playbook that's small enough to fit on a wristband or something.

Seriously, here's a guy who did the best he could to get this offense going, never made nasty comments to the media, threw players under the bus, etc... just an all around professional, and guys are saying crap like "don't let the door hit ya"... it's so lame.

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

I wanted to keep AL for continuity purposes. The offense hasn't been that bad in the last season and was great during the last 4 games. I hope he does well in STL if that is where he ends up. I just pray that our offense does not return to the lathargic state it was in the past 3 of 4 years.

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

[quote=dgack;414735]
As if it's better to have a playbook that's small enough to fit on a wristband or something.

.[/quote]

Hey we could always run the Wing-T

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

[quote=SmootSmack;414713]If he was really "lurking over his shoulder" wouldn't he have continued to do the same then when Collins stepped in for Campbell?[/quote]

You don't honestly believe that Al got to do things his way do you? He was an outsider from day one.

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

[quote=Beemnseven;414715]Yeah, it did seem as though Gibbs had Saunders on a pretty tight leash. I would have liked to have seen Al with complete control to do whatever he wanted. Oh well. Not my decision to make.

[B]I maintain that with Zorn there will be an overhaul with the 2nd and 3rd string QBs. Probably a 'West Coast' vet and a a late round draft pick to develop. Brunell should have started packing his bags as soon as Gibbs did[/B].[/quote]

Collins is definitely done here and so is Brunell. I think it's retirement time for ol' MB.

We'll definitely pick up a veteran QB with WC offense experience to be the #2.

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

Now the Rams can wait over two years before their offense can gell and understand what plays to run and how to score tds.

Think about it, who in the NFL has three f'ing years to wait? Gibbs worst move in my veiw was giving the offense to AL. He stopped calling plays and there went a piece of the Hall of Fame with it.....

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

[QUOTE=QBall;415216]Now the Rams can wait over two years before their offense can gell and understand what plays to run and how to score tds.

Think about it, who in the NFL has three f'ing years to wait? Gibbs worst move in my veiw was giving the offense to AL. He stopped calling plays and there went a piece of the Hall of Fame with it.....[/QUOTE]

I feel like I'm starting to become a Saunders apologist and I don't even think that much of him, but in my opinion, all this criticism is sort of ridiculous.

When he had his guy in there at QB I think we saw the potential of the offense to move up and down the field at will.

Would you idiots please be reasonable.

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

[QUOTE=Drift Reality;415218]I feel like I'm starting to become a Saunders apologist and I don't even think that much of him, but in my opinion, all this criticism is sort of ridiculous.

When he had his guy in there at QB I think we saw the potential of the offense to move up and down the field at will.

Would you idiots please be reasonable.[/QUOTE]

Idiots?? Wow nice one!

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

Saunders being more comfortable with his guy Collins was able to open up the playbook at the end of the year and fully expose the Skins to what his offense can really do. I think it was a decision by both Gibbs and Saunders to scale back what Campbell was exposed to in gameplay, and ultimately that is why Saunders was let go. He did not fully trust Campbell's ability to let him run the plays that Collins did. Either that, or Campbell isn't as good as we're hoping he is.

Saunders has proven successful in the league. He won a Super Bowl as assistant head coach to [Dick Vermeil] in St. Louis, and had one of the best offenses in Kansas City. He'll find success again, perhaps as early as St. Louis this coming year.

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

Of course the offense was scaled back for JC, after all we're talking about a first year starter trying to get on track with a pretty deep playbook. I think it was Dick Vermeil that commented it was the right thing to do.

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

I'm not arguing that it wasn't the right thing to do, but in the comments of Cerrato and Snyder being disappointed in the offense, it comes down to Saunders not opening up the playbook earlier to allow Campbell more exposure, especially after doing so with Collins.

It's a definite Catch-22 on his part, and ultimately cost him his job with the Redskins.

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

Even w/a scaled back playbook, JC put up some big #s in some games. The tampa & dallas games come to mind. It wasn't the playbook that made us lose those games, JC was just going through some growing pains.

IMO, if you add a year of maturity to JC & another year of learning AS' offense, combined w/a healthy O line, 08 could've been a great breakout year. Also, not a knock on Gibbs, but some people work better if they have more control, & w/Gibbs gone, Al might've been free to run the O more his way. I wish we were getting the chance to see that. It really disappointed me to read that GW wanted to keep Al (according to JLC). that might've been the final straw w/the danny & vinny, who obviously didn't want to keep him.

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

[quote=BDBohnzie;415249]I'm not arguing that it wasn't the right thing to do, but in the comments of Cerrato and Snyder being disappointed in the offense, it comes down to Saunders not opening up the playbook earlier to allow Campbell more exposure, especially after doing so with Collins.

It's a definite Catch-22 on his part, and ultimately cost him his job with the Redskins.[/quote]

Seems you're assuming that not opening up the playbook cost him his job. There could've been any no. of reasons they wanted to replace him. JLC said that when asked in camp how the players were adjusting to the system, Al responded that the problem wasn't the players.

Who knows exactly why they wanted to replace AS, but I think we have to at least be fair to him & realize that this O wasn't entirely his, it was a hybrid Gibbs/Saunders O & him not opening up the playbook might've been on direct orders from his boss, who in his second stint here was very (too) cautious.

Add to that, Saunders was teaching a young qb & the right side of the line was 2nd/3rd string quality most of the year, which was evident vs. the hawks.

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

[QUOTE=freddyg12;415255]Seems you're assuming that not opening up the playbook cost him his job. There could've been any no. of reasons they wanted to replace him. JLC said that when asked in camp how the players were adjusting to the system, Al responded that the problem wasn't the players.

Who knows exactly why they wanted to replace AS, but I think we have to at least be fair to him & realize that this O wasn't entirely his, it was a hybrid Gibbs/Saunders O & him not opening up the playbook might've been on direct orders from his boss, who in his second stint here was very (too) cautious.

Add to that, Saunders was teaching a young qb & the right side of the line was 2nd/3rd string quality most of the year, which was evident vs. the hawks.[/QUOTE]
It could very well be that Saunders was hamstrung by Gibbs. If that's the case (hindsight is always 20/20), perhaps Saunders should have stuck up more for Campbell (who supposedly wasn't the problem) before opening the offense up when Collins took over.

Snyder and Cerrato obviously see something we all don't see...take that as you will...I would have liked to see Saunders stick around for the long haul and watch Campbell run his offense to perfection. However, we won't and I wish Saunders luck in landing the Rams job and trying to turn that carnival sideshow of an offense back around.

Re: Saunders Close to Deal with Rams
 

With Bulger, Jackson & Holt and knowledge/experience in the system I think the Rams offense will be everything we hoped Saunders would have made it in DC.

Freedom to develop and call the gameplan (which he didn't have here) will make a tremendous difference with the Rams..