Jeff Fisher

There's a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the St. Louis Rams right now. There is an unsettled situation at quarterback and the very real possibility the team's days in the Gateway City are numbered.

Yet one thing at least appears certain: head coach Jeff Fisher isn't going anywhere.

And so long as that is the case, neither is a Rams team loaded with young talent.

That young talent was on display in Thursday's 31-23 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Rookie running back Todd Gurley became the third player in the NFL to top 1,000 yards on the season, picking up 79 total yards and a touchdown.

As Andrew Siciliano of the NFL Network tweeted, that feat is all the more impressive given that Gurley got a late start:

Todd Gurley’s 1,000 yards is even more impressive when you consider he didn’t start for the Rams until Week 4.

— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) December 18, 2015

Wide receiver Tavon Austin continued his breakout third season, piling up 73 total yards and scoring touchdowns on both a 17-yard pass and a 21-yard run.

And in doing so, Austin entered some truly rarefied air:

Tavon Austin is 1st player with 4+ rush TDs, 5+ rec TDs & PR-TD in a single season since Gale Sayers in 1965 pic.twitter.com/luRgN00C2u

— Randall Liu (@RLiuCBS) December 18, 2015

Then there's defensive tackle Aaron Donald, one of last year's first-round picks:

4th and 1.

Doug Martin meets Aaron Donald.

Uh oh. #TBvsSTL https://t.co/stLyRTIasv

— NFL (@NFL) December 18, 2015

Ouch.

Leading into Thursday's matchup, Tampa offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter had some heady praise for Donald while speaking with Chris Wesseling of NFL.com:

Extremely. Extremely (disruptive). Our scouting department scouts teams a couple of weeks in advance, and they told me that he was on the same level as J.J. Watt. And I thought to myself, "Wow! That's hard to believe."

When it came my time to watch the tape, I said, "Oh, wow! He's on the same level as J.J. Watt!" I mean, this guy's having a fantastic year, definitely a game-wrecker for this game.

And according to Pro Football Focus, that praise of Donald isn't just hyperbole:

Aaron Donald (+64.7) has a higher overall grade than J.J. Watt (+63.9), something nobody has been able to do since Watt's rookie season

— PFF (@PFF) December 8, 2015

And mind you, this is without even mentioning 25-year-old defensive end Robert Quinn, who was placed on injured reserve last week—he had 19 sacks in 2013—or speedy third-year linebacker Alec Ogletree, who broke his leg earlier this season.

Between the Robert Griffin trade and years of losing, there hasn't been a team in the NFL with more high draft picks over the past half-decade than the Rams. Granted, not every pick or personnel decision has panned out (hey, at least they got a second-rounder with Nick Foles, right?), but the Rams have assembled a nice stockpile of young impact players on both sides of the ball.

So what's the problem? Why can't the Rams get over the hump? Why will the team finish 2015 with a non-winning record for a staggering 12th straight season?

Some will point to a quest for a franchise quarterback that's been going on since the Rams switched from Kurt Warner to Marc Bulger back in 2003.

But the root of the Rams' problem lies higher up the food chain.

Jeff Fisher just isn't a very good head coach.

Mind you, he isn't a terrible head coach. He's an experienced head coach, with this being his 21st season prowling an NFL sideline. He's been to a Super Bowl. Six times, teams he's coached have won double-digit games.

Of course, we just hit on part of the problem. Jeff Fisher teams have won 10 or more games only six times in 21 years. Meanwhile, nine seasons with Fisher at the helm have ended with his team winning seven or eight games.

The Rams appear headed for No. 10 in 2015.

All of three head coaches in NFL history have lost more games than Fisher. All three have more playoff and Super Bowl appearances. Many more.

Coach	Seasons	Wins	Losses	PA	SB
Dan Reeves	23	190	165	9	4
Tom Landry	29	250	162	18	5
Don Shula	33	328	156	19	6
Jeff Fisher	21	168	155	6	1

In fact, as ESPN's Kevin Seifert tweeted, it's been a good long while since a Fisher-coached team didn't watch the playoffs on TV:

#Rams want Jeff Fisher back in 2016, per @AdamSchefter. Last Fisher team in playoffs: 2008. Last Fisher team to win in playoffs: 2003.

— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) December 17, 2015

Ten days ago, Bleacher Report's NFL national lead writer Mike Tanier offered up some helpful advice for the Rams.

"Fire Jeff Fisher," Tanier wrote. "But wait until the end of the season. The only person we want to see coaching a team less than Fisher right now is Gregg Williams."

Don Banks of Sports Illustrated echoed the sentiment, after the division-leading Cardinals pasted the Rams in Week 13:

Rams coach Jeff Fisher told the media he’s run out of answers after his team’s latest egg-laying, a 27–3 home loss to the Cardinals. I think that probably went without saying. The real question is whether Fisher has run out of time, after four entirely mediocre seasons in St. Louis? And if not, why not?

The Rams are in complete free-fall, having lost five in a row after starting the season 4–3. St. Louis has been outscored 58–10 the past two weeks, and now even rookie running back Todd Gurley isn’t much to watch, gaining 41 yards on just nine carries against Arizona. The lowlight for the Rams on Sunday was watching cornerback Janoris Jenkins get absolutely wiped out in the first quarter on a hit by his own teammate, T.J. McDonald.

California, here we come.

But since then the Rams have won two in a row (over bad teams) and news has come down that Fisher's job is safe.

And according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, the reason has nothing to do with football:

Jeff Fisher's job is safe in St. Louis, despite the 5-8 Rams closing in on their fourth straight losing season under Fisher. Rams owner Stan Kroenke is likely stuck in St. Louis for another year, and he is focused on a possible move to Los Angeles and is not in the business of paying ‎people $6 million plus to leave for a product he isn't all that engaged in right now, anyway.

Profit opportunities are scant for the lame-duck Rams in St. Louis and Fisher remains very much aligned with team president Kevin Demoff and there was never any movement to making a coaching move even as dire as it is there. Kroenke's best-case scenario now is to have any moves to Los Angeles pushed back until 2017. It's hard to imagine his Inglewood stadium projects get 24 votes by mid-January, and that will lead to the status quo for the most part.

The Rams have an owner in Kroenke who already has more money than God. And yet all indications are he's more interested in putting his team in his stadium on his land in Los Angeles and making even more money than in taking full advantage of the young talent on his team and making a change at head coach.

There won't be any up-and-comers like Cincinnati offensive coordinator Hue Jackson, or former head coaches looking for a second chance like New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

Nope. There will be more of the same. The occasional win. Highlight plays from young stars who will see the prime of their careers wasted on mediocre teams.

Because the Rams are a lame-duck franchise. Because the owner doesn't give two hoots about winning.

And because mediocrity is what Jeff Fisher does best.

Gary Davenport is an NFL analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and the Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter, @IDPSharks.

St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher has one year remaining on a five-year, $35 million deal, per Spotrac.com, but his future has been the subject of speculation as his team closes out the 2015-16 season.

Continue for updates.

---

Fisher Reportedly Will Lead Rams Next Year

Sunday, Jan. 3

ESPN's Chris Mortensen (via Rotoworld) reported Fisher's job is safe ahead of the Rams' regular-season finale. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported on Dec. 17 that “all indications are” the coach is “safe for the 2016 season.”   

Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports pointed to another layer impacting Fisher’s status: “Rams owner Stan Kroenke is likely stuck in St. Louis for another year, and he is focused on a possible move to Los Angeles and is not in the business of paying ‎people $6 million plus to leave for a product he isn't all that engaged in right now, anyway.”

---

Fisher Struggling to Turn Around Rams

Fisher took over the Rams before the 2012 campaign and finished with a losing record in each of his first three seasons.

He became the Houston Oilers’ coach in 1994 and has been a head coach in the NFL every year since except for 2011 (Oilers/Tennessee Titans from 1994-2010 and Rams from 2012-2015). He reached the playoffs six times during that span, including the 1999 season, when his Titans lost a heartbreaker in the Super Bowl to the St. Louis Rams. 

However, Fisher only counts two winning seasons since 2004 and zero since 2008 on his recent resume. 

Part of the problem for Fisher and the Rams this season was the disappointing effort from quarterback Nick Foles. The Rams traded with the Philadelphia Eagles for the signal-caller during the offseason, but he threw 10 interceptions compared to seven touchdowns in 11 games. It is difficult to win in the NFL when your quarterback drastically underperforms.

St. Louis does have some promising pieces to build on, including rookie running back Todd Gurley and a strong defensive line featuring Aaron Donald and Chris Long. Perhaps having Fisher along for at least another season will help the Rams develop into a playoff contender with continuity.

St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher said Monday "there's a chance" Stedman Bailey won't be able to play football again but did express some optimism about the wide receiver's future.

ESPN.com's Nick Wagoner logged what Fisher had to say about Bailey at Monday's press conference: "Are you asking is there a potential that he doesn't return to play? Yes, there is that potential. We don't know. It's just going to take some time. From a health standpoint, there's a chance that he doesn't play. However, based on what he's done over the last 10 days, he may surprise everybody."

Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Fisher said the NFL had lifted Bailey's four-game suspension and that the 2013 third-round draft pick will be placed on the non-football injury list.

Bailey suffered two gunshots to the head on Nov. 24. The 25-year-old said in a Twitter post Dec. 4 that his recovery was "nothing short of a miracle."

Two weeks before the life-threatening incident, Bailey had been suspended for the second time in as many seasons. He was issued a ban of four games in 2014 for a performance-enhancing substances violation.

Bailey has 59 receptions for 843 yards and two touchdowns in 38 games over three seasons with the Rams.

The St. Louis Rams are done. They've lost four straight games after a 4-3 start, all but ensuring they'll finish out of the playoffs for the 10th consecutive season. 

They've been coached in the last four of those seasons by Jeff Fisher, who should not be given a fifth chance to right a ship that may be en route to a revival in Los Angeles. 

Fisher's Rams hit rock bottom Sunday with an noncompetitive, embarrassing 31-7 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. It was their second 24-point loss in three weeks, and it marked the fourth time this year in which they were defeated by at least two touchdowns.

	Record	Scoring offense	Scoring defense
First 7 games	4-3	19.3	17.9
Last 4 games	0-4	12.8	26.3

For a team with as much talent as St. Louis has on both sides of the ball—and particularly in the defensive front seven—that can't happen. 

Chris Long, Aaron Donald, Robert Quinn, Janoris Jenkins, William Hayes. Todd Gurley, Tavon Austin, Kenny Britt, Nick Foles. At various points in the last four years: Jake Long, Scott Wells, Rodger Saffold, Michael Brockers, Alec Ogletree, James Laurinaitis, Sam Bradford, Jarek Cook, Joe Barksdale, Cortland Finnegan, Steven Jackson, Danny Amendola. 

The Rams have never lacked high-quality football players, and yet they're now 24-34-1 during Fisher's three-and-a-half seasons as head coach. 

	Winning %	Finish
2012	7-8-1 (.469)	3rd
2013	7-9 (.438)	4th
2014	6-10 (.375)	4th
2015	4-7 (.364)*	3rd*
Total	24-34-1 (.407)	N/A

We've reached that classic juncture when people begin to question a long-struggling team's work ethic. That's never good, and it's worse when the long-struggling team's longtime head coach loses his cool and begins to crack. 

"Anyone implies that it's an effort issue, they can kiss my ass," a testy Fisher said Sunday, per ESPN.com's Nick Wagoner. "There's no effort problems on this team. That's what happens when teams lose four in a row is people say it's effort. Come to practice, watch this team play, and ask any other opponent or opposing coach. It's not an effort issue right now."

Instead, Fisher pinned his team's struggles on "execution" (or a lack thereof), which sounds a lot like a wise man falling on his sword. 

This is a lose-lose situation for Fisher. Either your guys aren't playing hard for you, or you're not doing a good enough job preparing them. 

Further, "it's Fisher who picked the players who don't execute on a weekly basis," as Wagoner points out:

It's Fisher who hired the staff that coaches the players who don't execute. It's Fisher who puts together the game plans that have yielded a 24-34-1 record since he took over. It's Fisher who has overseen a team that has posted a record that has gotten progressively worse each season of his tenure and might bottom out this year unless there are wins left on the schedule that aren't apparent to the naked eye.

The thing about Fisher is he's been overrated most of his career, riding a hot five-year stretch with the Tennessee Titans for the majority of his 21 years as a head coach. During that hot streak, he and the very talented Titans—built almost entirely by general manager Floyd Reese—won at least 11 games four times in five years. 

Those were the days of Steve McNair, Eddie George, Jevon Kearse, Frank Wycheck, Samari Rolle, Derrick Mason, Keith Bulluck and Albert Haynesworth. Similar to this batch of Rams teams except with a quarterback. 

Outside of that five-year window, Fisher has finished with a winning record just twice in 15 years. He's been to the playoffs just twice in the last decade, he hasn't won a postseason game since 2003, and his only Super Bowl appearance (a loss) came in the previous millennium. 

	Seasons	Record	Playoffs	Winning seasons
1999-2003 with Titans	5	56-24	5-4	4
Everything else	16	110-130	0-2	2

So why should anyone expect Fisher to suddenly turn it around right now? 

It's true, Fisher hasn't been blessed with even a semblance of consistency at the quarterback position. He's not responsible for Bradford, who was chosen as a potential savior by the previous regime. But he has blood on his hands from the offseason trade for Foles, who is the second-lowest rated qualified passer in the NFL and has already been benched. 

Time to cut bait. 

"I've lost four in a row, so no," Fisher said Sunday. "That's not acceptable, but we're going to keep working at it."

Barring a miraculous turnaround between now and Jan. 3, somebody else should be working at it come 2016. 

Brad Gagnon has covered the NFL for Bleacher Report since 2012.

Follow @Brad_Gagnon

Responding to criticism from Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer and NBC analyst and former safety Rodney Harrison, St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher fired back at those who questioned Rams cornerback Lamarcus Joyner's hit on Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater during Minnesota's 21-18 win Sunday.

USA Today's Tom Pelissero provided Fisher's full response to Harrison:

Gonna guess Jeff Fisher didn't know these numbers off the top of his head. pic.twitter.com/dUZtCf78cE

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 10, 2015

"I wasn't surprised because it happened to me in 2006," Harrison said during NBC's Football Night in America (via Mike Foss of For the Win). "Bobby Wade, wide receiver, came and chopped my knees, tore my knee up. I'm laying on the ground looking at Jeff Fisher, and he is smiling and laughing, so this is typical of a Jeff Fisher team."

Harrison clarified his stance further on KJR Radio on Tuesday, per Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio:

The bottom line is this, all I did was I spoke on an experience that I had. Bobby [Wade] came and hit me on my knee, I looked up to the sideline and those guys were laughing and joking. You don't laugh and joke at anybody's injuries because it can happen to any football player at any point in time. That's what I saw and I just spoke about it. He took things personally and made it what it was and then he started naming all these personal fouls and penalties and stuff like that. Basically saying, 'Look at the source.' Well, look at the source: A two-time Super Bowl Champion, a guy that played in four Super Bowls, a guy that had a heck of a career, a guy that loves the game. And did I play on the edge? Yes, I did play on the edge. But if you're calling me dirty and you assume that I am a dirty player. . . . Well, if I am a dirty player then guess what, I should know what a dirty hit is. That's why I called it what it was. It was a cheap shot, it was a dirty shot, and I think everybody else that saw that tape saw that.

It's a somewhat contradictory sentiment from Harrison, who has complained about the league being "soft" in the past. "It's not my fault if the guy curls up like a little girl because he doesn't want to get hit," he said in a 2009 interview on Sirius satellite radio (via Sean Leahy of USA Today). "Football now is turning into a soft, pansy sport."

Harrison wasn't the only person to take umbrage. Zimmer didn't mince words when discussing his feelings toward the Rams coaching staff:

Fisher also responded to Zimmer's critique, per Florio:

I think a good a lesson to be learned from this is control your emotions immediately after the game and go back and look at the tape before you jump to conclusions. Mike's and my handshake was very short. He didn't say a word. I went out to congratulate him. I was going to ask him how his quarterback was and congratulate him on the win, and he was gone. I understand that, but you also need to control your emotions after a game and go look at the tape and then adjust accordingly. Again, I don't know who they play this week. I don't care, but we've moved on. We're on to Chicago.

The hit in question came in the fourth quarter. Bridgewater was in the process of sliding when Joyner hit the signal-caller in the head with his forearm (see the 0:53 mark):

Bridgewater exited the game after suffering a concussion, and his status for Sunday's matchup against the Oakland Raiders remains in question. According to ESPN.com's Ben Goessling, the second-year star passed the first test in the NFL's concussion protocol.

ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert wrote Monday that Joyner will likely receive a fine from the league but avoid a suspension since he doesn't have a track record of similar plays.

As the aftertaste of the NFL draft still lingers on the tips of everyone's tongue even after rookie camps and team OTAs, the St. Louis Rams selection of Georgia Bulldogs running back Todd Gurley with the 10th overall pick remains a mistake.

Value, injury history and a lack of a supporting cast in St. Louis made Gurley the wrong decision for the Rams based on where they are in their building process. 

Gurley's overall talent can't (and won't) be denied. The 6'1", 221-pound running back owns a rare combination of explosion and power. During his three seasons in Georgia, Gurley averaged 7.38 yards every time he touched the football. He also added at least one play of 75 yards or longer in each of the campaigns. 

Due to this blend of physical running ability and consistent threat of hitting a home run each time he touched the ball, Gurley was often compared to Adrian Peterson or at least named the best running back prospect since AD left Oklahoma to join the NFL ranks in 2007. 

“It’s a great comparison, but it’s not something I have any idea about," Gurley told MMQB.com's Peter King. "I’ve got a long way to go for that.”

King even revealed that the Rams rated Gurley as the best overall player in this year's draft class. 

The running back was a difference-maker in Athens, Georgia, and the Rams expect the same from him in an offense that struggled under head coach Jeff Fisher's supervision—the unit hasn't finished better than 23rd in total offense during his three-year tenure.

Usually, an argument against selecting any running back in the first round—even one as talented as Gurley—starts with a nod toward positional value. 

In today's NFL, workhorse backs are essentially a thing of the past with only two runners—DeMarco Murray and LeSean McCoy—accepting more than 300 carries last season.

And the investment needed to obtain a quality running back rarely requires a first-round pick, let alone a top-10 overall selection. 

Last season, none of the league's top-10 rushers was the first running back selected in his particular draft class. Only one of them, Marshawn Lynch, was even a former first-round pick. 

Positional value be damned, one can easily argue a legit top talent supersedes dogmatic views of today's league. Usually, that particular argument would be correct. But there is an instance where overall value as it pertains to an entire draft class can be even more important than simply collecting talent. 

This year's draft class was the deepest in running back talent than it has been in years. It's likely that numerous starters will emerge from multiple rounds. 

While Gurley is clearly very talented, the odds are more likely that a running back selected later in the draft actually produces at a higher level of production as a rookie and over their careers. 

The last running back selected within the top-10 picks was Alabama's Trent Richardson, who the Cleveland Browns chose with the third overall pick in 2012. 

Richardson went on to become one of the biggest busts in recent memory and is already on his third team in three years after averaging a meager 3.3 yards per carry. One of the reasons Richardson never developed at the rate most expected was due to struggling with injuries early in his career. The Alabama running back received two knee scopes between the end of his final season in Tuscaloosa and before he ever officially suited up as a member of the Browns. 

No one is directly comparing Gurley and Richardson as players, but the Georgia product also has a few red flags due to injury concerns. 

The obvious starting point in Gurley's medical history was his most recent setback. During a Nov. 15 contest against the Auburn Tigers, he tore the ACL in his left knee. While Gurley could return by the start of the season, the team won't rush him into the lineup. 

Dr. James Andrews, the godfather of orthopedic surgeons in the sports realm, performed the surgery on Gurley's knee and expects a full recovery. 

"[James] Andrews told teams the week before the draft that he’d put his professional reputation on the line that Gurley, when fully healed sometime late this year, will be as good as he ever was, and no more susceptible to chronic knee problems than any other running backs," King reported. 

The rule of thumb regarding a major knee injury is it isn't fully recovered until the second season after it happened. The Rams might not see the results the team expects this fall. And that's OK. Gurley's selection was a long-term play. 

However, as Bleacher Report noted in February, the running back's injury history extends beyond a torn ACL.   

In 2013, he dealt with a strained quadriceps muscle and a sprained ankle, which cost him three games. 

Despite these things, the Rams were still 100 percent sold on Gurley's ability and what he brought to the organization.

General manager Les Snead explained to King the team's line of thinking as it pertained to this year's 10th overall pick: 

Todd, for us, was one of those once-every-few-years talents, one of the best players we’ve seen come out in a while. We just felt he was somebody we couldn’t pass up. This wasn’t about Week 1 against Seattle, whether he’d be ready to go then; we will let nature takes its course on that. This was a long-term decision.

One of the things we looked at was the team around him. I’m not sure about this, but it’s possible there might not be an offensive lineman who blocked for him at Georgia who will start at the next level, or play at the next level. When we looked at him on tape, we saw him playing against a lot of seven- and eight-man fronts, which is what he’s going to be seeing when he lines up for us. We saw him playing against not a lot of air, which is what he’s going to be seeing when he plays for us. So that translates pretty well.

First thing's first. Snead's usage of hyperbole is a little unbecoming of such an intelligent and talented general manager. 

David Andrews was one of the nation's top centers during his time with the Bulldogs, and he's currently on the New England Patriots roster after signing with the franchise as an undrafted free agent. Georgia left tackle John Theus is projected as a likely draft pick for the 2016 class, too. 

Also, there was more than one Georgia running back that performed some magic behind the same offensive line. Nick Chubb posted a freshman season that only fell short of the iconic Herschel Walker and his mythic 1980 campaign. With Gurley out of the picture due to a suspension earlier in the season and then the ACL injury, Chubb amassed 1,594 rushing yards and averaged 7.1 yards per carry. 

Georgia's offensive line might not currently claim a lot of NFL talent, but the team's production in the running game certainly didn't drop off without Gurley in the lineup. 

Injuries aside, both Gurley and Richardson were selected by offensive-deficient franchises with the intention of becoming tone-setters and the focal points of their respective schemes. 

Gurley won't be able to create for himself in the NFL like he did during his collegiate career. 

In this particular case, the Rams are putting the cart before the horse, and that cart is a Lamborghini in disguise. St. Louis' offense, though, lacks the horses to get it up to full speed. 

Fisher's offensive template was designed during his initial years in Houston as the head coach of the Oilers and then transplanted to Tennessee once the team officially became the Titans. 

Over the course of Fisher's career, the head coach displayed a preference toward a physical, run-first scheme that takes pressure off of the quarterback and doesn't require a plethora of talented skill players at wide receiver. Fisher's teams generally won by controlling the clock and playing strong, fundamentally sound defense. 

It's a good plan in theory, but the execution in St. Louis is flawed. 

The Oilers/Titans under Fisher's direction once experienced tremendous success after rookie running back Eddie George was drafted. George immediately became the focal point of the offense. He ran for 1,368 yards during his first year and was named the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year after the 1996 campaign. 

However, there are five reasons why this plan of action previously worked for Fisher with George, and their names are Brad Hopkins, Bruce Matthews, Mark Stepnoski, Kevin Donnalley and Jon Runyan. 

By the time the 1995 Heisman Trophy winner was inserted into the Oilers lineup, four of the five starters were already set, with Runyan developing into the team's starting right tackle as a rookie. 

Otherwise, Matthews entered the 1996 campaign as an eight-time Pro Bowler (and yet to be named six more times before his career was finished). Stepnoski traveled to Hawaii for the Pro Bowl five times and won two Super Bowls before George became a member of the organization. Both Donnalley and Hopkins established themselves as starters at least a year prior to the aforementioned season. 

On the flip side, the Rams offensive line is arguably the team's biggest question mark. The franchise decided to release veteran offensive tackle Jake Long and center Scott Wells prior to the start of free agency. Right guard Davin Joseph and tackle Joseph Barksdale weren't re-signed as free agents either. 

Only left guard Rodger Saffold remains on the roster and actually started an entire season in the NFL.

The rest of the offensive line will likely be comprised of left tackle Greg Robinson, who was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft, center Barrett Jones and rookie right tackle Rob Havenstein. Fellow rookie Jamon Brown and veteran Garrett Reynolds will compete to start at right guard. So, the possibility exists the Rams running backs will be playing behind a rookie right side with a center that played in only nine games over the past two seasons.

No one is going to forget the Dallas Cowboys offensive line of the 1990s with this particular group. Now, the Rams do have talent along their offensive line, but the majority of it has yet to mature and fully realize their potential.  

As such, Gurley will be asked to do more if the Rams offensive line doesn't jell. Even some of the best backs in NFL history needed good offensive lines in front of them. 

Two running backs in recent history—Peterson and Barry Sanders—were able to overcome real deficiencies along their offensive lines due to raw talent. 

It's simply too much to ask any running back to do what those two accomplished throughout their historic careers. 

Finally, Gurley might not receive much help from the rest of the team's skill positions. 

The Rams traded for quarterback Nick Foles during the offseason, but the former member of the Philadelphia Eagles has yet to truly establish himself as a legitimate starting quarterback. If the Arizona product can play to the level he did during the 2013 season when he completed 64 percent of his passes and owed a 27-to-2 touchdown-to-interception ratio, the Rams offense will roll. Foles stumbled a year later, though, when his completion percentage fell to 59.8 percent and he threw 10 interceptions compared to 13 touchdowns. 

A resurgent Foles will make the entire Rams organization better. A struggling Foles will only restrict what the team can do on that side of the ball. 

Foles and Gurley also need help from the team's wide receivers and tight ends for the offense to realize its full potential. The organization invested heavily in both positions in recent years, but none of those players developed into the type of threat defenses fear. None of the receivers on the roster posted more than 52 receptions or 748 receiving yards last season.

If the Rams develop into the Todd Gurley Show, they likely won't be any better off than they were when Steven Jackson ran for 1,000 or more yards year after year yet St. Louis didn't experience much team success. 

Fisher and Snead saw a special talent when they watched Gurley during his collegiate career. Most did. His selection, however, was a luxury for a team that lacked certain core elements. 

A greater emphasis should have been placed on the offensive line either during free agency or the draft (or both). Once the trenches were built to satisfactory standards, the Rams could have spent a later pick on a running back with the potential to get similar results from the position. 

The Rams can't hope that a top running back talent, particularly one with an injury history, can overcome the roster's remaining issues. 

Gurley is good, but he's not that good. If he doesn't live up to his potential, the Rams won't have anyone to blame but themselves. 

 

Brent Sobleski covers the NFL draft for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @brentsobleski.

There’s a strange phenomenon in the NFL, and it can only be explained by counting dollars. The many dollars that belong to St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher.

Every year, Black Monday—the day when the coaching carousel starts its annual warp-speed spin—comes and brings the violent fall of axes around the league. Inevitable firings are made official, and franchises are realigned as the offseason begins.

Yet since 1994, Fisher has been without a head coaching gig for only one season. Explaining that should be about as difficult as dissecting the ending of Lost or making someone understand a black hole.

No, not the crazed Oakland Raiders version of a black hole. I’m talking about the space-time vacuum version.

But the explanation is simple, though no less depressing. Fisher is still owed $14 million over the next two seasons, according to ESPN.com’s Nick Wagoner, and with an average annual salary of $7 million, he’s among the top five highest-paid NFL head coaches.

That’s all you really need for an explanation. Or if you’re someone who enjoys efficiency, one word would suffice: money.

In four years as 49ers head coach, Jim Harbaugh (5-3) has as many playoff wins as 20-year veteran Jeff Fisher (5-6)

— ryan van bibber (@justRVB) December 28, 2014

The salaries of NFL head coaches are notoriously kept in the dark. But if Wagoner and others—including a Forbes list in 2013—are even somewhat close and Fisher is making only slightly less than defending champion Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, then it becomes pretty tough to swallow that cash.

Which is a damn shame, because accepting mediocrity usually leads to more mediocrity.

Year	Wins	Losses	Ties
2014	6	10	0
2013	7	9	0
2012	7	8	1
2010	6	10	0
2009	8	8	0
2008	13	3	0
2007	10	6	0
2006	8	8	0
2005	4	12	0
2004	5	11	0

The Rams signed Fisher to that ballooned contract in 2012. They did that even after Fisher spent 17 years with the Tennessee Titans/Houston Oilers, and only six of those seasons ended with a winning record.

Now with the Rams, he’s added three more years of losing. He’s occupied a top coaching spot somewhere in the NFL for two decades and has only those six seasons with a record over .500 on his resume.

His last winning season? That came in 2008. His last playoff win? You’ll have to go back to a time when texting a word with the letter “L” in it meant hitting the "5" key on your phone three times.

Fisher hasn’t won a playoff game since 2003. During his tenure, the Rams have been exactly how Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians described them: average defined.

Team	Rank	Wins	Losses	Ties
Broncos	1	38	10	0
Patriots	2	36	12	0
Seahawks	3	36	12	0
Colts	4	33	15	0
Packers	5	31	16	1
Rams	25	20	27	1

There’s an impulse to look back on Fisher’s most recent failure in 2014 and blame injuries, the football equivalent of a “meh.”

Yes, it’s true that the Rams lost quarterback Sam Bradford long before this season even started. Losing any starting quarterback during the preseason isn’t a pleasant experience.

But are we really convinced there’s a chasm between Bradford and Shaun Hill, or even what Austin Davis provided briefly?

Player	Games	Comp %	Yards	Yds/attempt	TDs	INTs	QB rating
Hill	9	63.3	1,657	7.2	8	7	83.9
Bradford	7	60.7	1,687	6.4	14	4	90.9

The only gap of any significance in favor of Bradford is the touchdown-to-interception ratio. Overall, Bradford has been inaccurate throughout his career with a completion percentage of 58.6. He’s also shown an inability to push the ball deep, which is reflected in his career yards per attempt of 6.3.

The state of Bradford’s career and the dire need for quarterback competence in St. Louis are subjects for another deep-thinking offseason day. The shallow dive here shows that pointing to Bradford alone is convenient and short-sighted.

In fact, we can say that about any injury and its impact on Fisher’s results.

The Rams also lost promising young wide receiver Brian Quick early in the season, and defensive end Chris Long for 10 games.

But the validity of citing injury woes wears pretty thin when the Rams are in the same division as a team likely about to use Ryan Lindley as its starting quarterback for a playoff game. It gets even less tolerable when another team in the NFC West finished with the league’s fifth-best defense even after playing without linebackers NaVorro Bowman and Patrick Willis for all or most of the season.

Finally, any injury groaning in St. Louis takes its last breath of air when the haul for Robert Griffin III is tallied. Rams general manager Les Snead dealt the second overall pick in 2012 to the Washington Redskins. In return, he received four picks: three first-round picks and a second-rounder.

After further dealing, the talent and depth given to Fisher as a result of that trade was gargantuan:

Clip n' save. pic.twitter.com/OUoep9l4jw

— Steve Czaban (@czabe) December 7, 2014

Yet still another offseason is beginning in St. Louis before anything descends on New Year’s Eve from atop a strangely vacant building.

So how do we really explain the great riddle of Jeff Fisher and his most recent season that ended with a 6-10 record? A crushing lack of in-game adjusting, mostly.

Of the Rams’ 10 losses, they trailed by less than a touchdown in four of them. The most glaring failures came early in the season, when they repeatedly blew comfortable leads.

Week	Largest lead	Result
Week 3 (vs. Cowboys)	21-0	lost 34-31
Week 6 (vs. 49ers)	14-0	lost 31-17
Week 7 (vs. Seahawks)	21-7	won 28-26

Any shred of defense quickly vanished in two of those games and knuckles unnecessarily turned several shades of white in a third.

That’s not a good look for any team and any coach. But it really isn’t a fashionable look for a defense-oriented head coach like Fisher, who spent many years on that side of the ball as a coordinator.

Throughout Fisher’s reign of averageness, Pro-Footbal-Reference.com indicates the Rams have allowed 5.4 yards per play. That ranks them 17th over the three-year span and is once again aligned with what I presume is Fisher’s mission statement: Give me the middle, nothing more.

When the total points allowed by all defenses since 2012 are added up, the NFC West flexes its muscle, with three teams in the top five. The Rams? 14th.

Even with those blown leads and disappointments, there were still plenty of reasons to have rosy Rams thoughts this season. They beat the Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos, and went through a three-game stretch during which they outscored opponents 82-12 (including two straight shutouts).

There are enough sources of bubbly optimism to believe that if Snead can find even passable quarterback play, the Rams should be a playoff team in 2015.

They have rising young players at core offensive positions like Quick, fellow wide receiver Stedman Bailey and running back Tre Mason, and a defensive line that turns quarterbacks into dust.

Fisher has been gifted one more chance with this group during an era when few coaches remain employed after three straight sub-.500 seasons. A year from now, the money left on his contract will be much easier to swallow, and without strides forward, a mysteriously revered coach should finally be cast off.

Eventually, potential has to turn into production. When it doesn’t, failure turns into accountability, and then a job search begins.

Fisher avoids that cycle far too often.

The 2014 season hasn't exactly gone the way the St. Louis Rams would have hoped.

The troubles started before the season even began, when quarterback Sam Bradford suffered a year-ending ACL tear. A 1-4 record to open the season became the disappointing follow-up.

St. Louis has gone 4-3 since that opening stretch, yet it remains at the bottom of the NFC West with a 5-7 overall record.

When you combine the loss of Bradford with a daunting nonconference schedule (vs. NFC East, AFC West), it is fairly easy to understand why this season has been a difficult one.

However, the 2014 season has also come with many signs of promise, found most notably in the way the team has responded over the past couple of months. The Rams have had a couple of bad losses in that span (34-7 against the Kansas City Chiefs, 31-14 against the Arizona Cardinals), but they have also had the look and feel of a very competitive club overall.

That is a testament to the ability of general manager Les Snead, who has built a roster capable of surviving the loss of former No. 1 overall pick Bradford. It is an even bigger credit to head coach Jeff Fisher, who has his team playing its best football of the season at a time when lesser teams might have folded.

The ability to bring preparation, motivation and consistency to a franchise is a big reason why Fisher lasted an impressive 16 seasons with the Tennessee Titans and a big reason why the Rams were quick to hire him in 2012.

Sunday's 52-0 shellacking of the Oakland Raiders was as dominant as any performance a team has put forth this season. The offense put 45 points on the board, while the defense limited the Raiders to just 244 net yards of total offense and zero points. The Rams also forced five turnovers, including an interception that was returned for a touchdown.

Rams' 1st shutout win since 2006...6 TDs from scrimmage, most in Fisher's 3 seasons here... only 4th shutout by Rams since move to STL.

— Bernie Miklasz (@miklasz) November 30, 2014

What's more, it might not even be the most impressive win of the Rams season.

Wins over division rivals the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers prove that St. Louis can hang with the other teams in the NFC West. A convincing 22-7 victory over Peyton Manning and the mighty Denver Broncos shows that the Rams can hang with just about anyone in the league.

As Jeff Fisher noted in his conference call with media prior to the Rams' win over the Raiders (via Raiders.com), his isn't a team that dwells on wins or losses, which goes a long way toward being competitive each and every week.

"Well, every week’s a challenge," he said. "We’re coming off a loss. They’ve had a couple extra days to prepare. I know the players don’t think about what happened last week. When the ball’s kicked off they play hard."

Fisher went on to discuss his team's loss to the Chargers last week, in the wake of a win over the Broncos, saying: "No, this team’s a week-to-week team. There were no issues with respect to that."

And the fact that the Rams have been producing statement wins with second- and third-string quarterbacks should give you an idea of the overall talent that resides on the roster.

Young players like Tavon Austin, Tre Mason, Robert Quinn and Alec Ogletree help form the nucleus of a team that has a very bright future.

A week ago, I discussed how the Rams appear to be a quarterback away from being a playoff team. Whether that quarterback is a healthy Bradford or a new signal-caller, it should be just about the last piece of the Rams' puzzle.

Based on the way Fisher has his team playing now, it shouldn't be too much of a reach to view St. Louis as a perennial contender once that stability emerges under center. 

With four winnable games left on the schedule (Redskins, Cardinals, Giants and Seahawks), a 9-7 record and possible playoff berth are not entirely out of the question. However, 9-7 likely won't be good enough for a postseason ticket this season, so the Rams should probably start looking ahead to next year.

For most teams, that is a disappointing proposition at this time of year. For the Rams, however, looking ahead to the possibilities of next season and beyond should bring nothing but good feelings.

If St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher is brought up in conversation, it won't be long before someone uses the phrase "well-respected."

During his 16 years in Tennessee, he built a consistent title contender, persevered throughout a brutal salary-cap crunch and rebuilt the team into a playoff team. Turmoil at the quarterback position—and, as Adam Fusfeld of Business Insider wrote at the time, conflicting rumors about internal discontent—led to his surprise parting from the Titans in 2011.

The well-respected coach was out of work for a proverbial five minutes. His arrival in St. Louis began an outbound parade of disappointing holdovers and influx of exciting young talent. Expectations have been high, despite playing in a meat grinder of a division.

When quarterback Sam Bradford went down with a torn ACL for the second time in two years, the Rams' playoff dreams were deferred another season.

But apparently, Bradford's ACL kept every other unit together. 

The NFL's third-most prolific pass rush in 2013 had just one sack through 2014's first five games. Slumping sophomore tailback Zac Stacy was benched. Per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), the Rams' 28th-ranked offensive line has dramatically regressed in pass protection.

Sophomore sparkplug Tavon Austin, on whom Fisher blew a king's ransom in draft value to get, has been all but invisible. On an offense starved for weapons, top receiver Brian Quick was lost to an ACL injury. Even veteran backup Shaun Hill, signed specifically to cover for the oft-injured Bradford, lost his gig to 2012 undrafted free agent Austin Davis.

When a 31-17 home loss to the San Francisco 49ers dropped the Rams to 1-4 that was it for the 2014 season. Time of death: Week 6.

Fisher's record as head coach of the Rams dropped to 15-21-1, a winning percentage of .419. Rams fans and writers alike, such as TurfShow Times, began to question just how long Fisher could stand on just his reputation:

This is year three of Jeff Fisher and Les Snead's tenure with St. Louis. This was the product they've built.

— TurfShowTimes (@TurfShowTimes) November 10, 2014

Since then...well, the Rams have been good. Maybe even really good. Kinda great, in fact. Their shocking 22-7 upset of Peyton Manning and the mighty Denver Broncos gave them a 3-2 record through one of the toughest five-game stretches any team will face this season.

They beat the Seattle Seahawks at home, lost at Kansas City, got revenge against the 49ers in their house, and lost to the Arizona Cardinals before beating the Broncos. That's five teams with a collective record of 32-12—when they aren't playing the Rams.

Maybe you aren't impressed.

Maybe the Seahawks, 49ers and Broncos were sleeping on the Rams despite all three teams being in the thick of competitive division races. 

Maybe Fisher and the Rams notching these wins are flukes, meaningless, or both, as noted by Mike Tunison:

https://twitter.com/xmasape/status/534082775574278144

Maybe, but no. Fisher's made tough decisions, necessary adjustments and controversial moves. The Rams have made great strides in all the problem areas, and they're playing solid football, Bradford or no.

After their anemic one sack in the first five games, the Rams have racked up 18 since. A fourth-down sack by sensational rookie defensive tackle Aaron Donald, his fourth on the season, stopped a Broncos fourth-quarter scoring drive.

Fisher and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams have gotten more and more out of Donald and have begun using monster pass-rusher Robert Quinn in a myriad of ways. Early in the season, Quinn seemed hell-bent on using an outside speed move at every opportunity. In the sack above, though, he executed a perfect stunt in tandem with Donald, and the result was havoc.

Historians can debate the merits of signing veteran left tackle Jake Long and guard/tackle Rodger Saffold to massive deals before drafting raw tackle Greg Robinson No. 2 overall.

But when Long first underperformed, and then went down with an ACL injury for the second time in two seasons, Robinson was there to step in. His Pro Football Focus pass-block grade through his first two starts matched Long's season-to-date mark of minus-0.4.

Letting Hill sit on the bench with a minor injury in favor of Davis, the untested hot hand, seemed like Fisher waving the white flag. Yet Davis outperformed all the (nonexistent) expectations, racking up 2,001 yards passing and 12 touchdowns in just eight starts. However, back-to-back multi-interception games spurred Fisher to switch horses again.

"We looked at things Monday night in lengthy discussions with the offensive staff," Fisher told Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "and just felt that the best thing to do at this point moving forward was to lean on the experienced quarterback."

His decision was vindicated. Hill completed 69 percent of his 29 attempts against the Broncos, per NFL.com, for 220 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. Rookie Tre Mason, who's been outstanding since Fisher vaulted him over the disappointing Stacy on the depth chart, added 113 yards on 29 carries.

Receiver Kenny Britt, known as a talented tease under Fisher in Tennessee, finally opened up the Rams' vertical game, hauling in a 63-yard bomb from Hill.

Fisher, directly or indirectly, has righted the ship in St. Louis. He's found answers to a lot of the hard questions being asked of him, and the Rams are playing quality ball against the very best of the NFL.

Of course, it's all too late. The win brings them up to 4-6, hopelessly behind the NFC West-leading Arizona Cardinals and way off the conference's wild-card pace.

Their next game is on the road against the San Diego Chargers. They close the season at the Seahawks' CenturyLink Field, and in between host the 9-1 Cardinals. Even if they snuck out a win in one of those three and swepte their other matchups, they'd be looking at 8-8—and there are already five NFC teams with at least seven wins.

As strong as the Rams have been over the last five weeks, they aren't playing relevant football.

That said, they've proved they've got the talent to beat anyone in the NFL, and Fisher's proved he's got a steady hand on the tiller. Down the stretch, the Rams will need to continue to see young players like Donald and Robinson improve, and they'll need to find out which, if either, of Hill or Davis are worth penciling in as the starter going forward.

If general manager Les Snead can get as much instant impact out of the 2015 draft as he did in 2014—and settle the long-term picture at quarterback—the Rams will be serious contenders for the crown of the NFL's toughest division.

Ty Schalter is a National NFL Lead Writer for Bleacher Report, and member of the Pro Football Writers of America. All stats are sourced from Pro-Football-Reference.com, except where otherwise indicated.