Yeah, we’re still talking about Jeff Fisher. If you want to read the first part of this article, you can click here.
The Los Angeles Rams are one game away from clinching their first NFC West title since 2003 and their first playoff appearance since 2004. If you’ll notice something important about those years, at no point in either of them was Jeff Fisher the Rams head coach.
Let’s get back to Fisher’s correct claim that he put a lot of this Rams roster together. When it comes to defensive personnel, Fisher was always a great judge of talent. Drafting Aaron Donald alone is evidence of that, but Fisher’s big problem with player evaluation was always on offense. He can claim now that quarterback Jared Goff is a Pro Bowl-caliber player, that he always saw it, but the evidence just isn’t there.
Below are the Rams’ offensive draft picks under Fisher:
2012
Round 2, Pick 33: Brian Quick, WR, Appalachian State
Round 2, Pick 50: Isaiah Pead, RB, Cincinnati
Round 4, Pick 96: Chris Givens, WR, Wake Forest
Round 5, Pick 150: Rokevious Watkins, OL, South Carolina
Round 6, Pick 171: Greg Zuerlein, Kicker, Missouri Western
Round 7, Pick 252: Daryl Richardson, RB, Abilene Christian
Of these picks, Zuerlein was unquestionably a home run. He’s currently the best kicker in the league. The rest? Every single one of them worthless or, in the case of Quick and Pead, complete busts. Of the rest of these guys, Brian Quick is the only one that’s played a down of football in the NFL this season.
No you didn't #JeffFisher. You left them in terrible shape. 3 QBs who are going to play in the postseason had their worst years with you. You are the definition of mediocrity. In 22 years only 6 winning seasons. He should never be a HC again. He also can't develop QBs/offenses https://t.co/3r1egiNbre
— Dr. Jim Glovach, Ed.D. (@JimGlovach) December 23, 2017
2013
Round 1, Pick 8: Tavon Austin, WR, West Virginia
Round 3, Pick 92: Stedman Bailey, WR, West Virginia
Round 4, Pick 113: Barrett Jones, Center, Alabama
Round 5, Pick 160: Zac Stacy, RB, Vanderbilt
Not only did the Rams spend a high first round pick on Austin, a guy that barely sees the field under Sean McVay’s vastly improved offense, they actually traded up to get him. Fisher could have sat at the Rams’ original pick and taken DeAndre Hopkins or Tyler Eifert… or Zach Ertz… or Robert Woods… or Le’Veon Bell or God only knows how many absolutely terrific offensive weapons other than Austin.
Not only did Fisher think Austin was much better than he actually was, he continued to think so and made sure he got an expensive contract extension last season.
Again, not a single one of these other players have taken a snap in the NFL this season. Bailey at least gets a pass because he wasn’t so much a bust as the victim of a drive by shooting where he was shot in the head.
When you hear Jeff Fisher is interested in coaching the Browns pic.twitter.com/7S2rTYhLcb
— NFL Retweet (@NFLRT) December 19, 2017
2014
Round 1, Pick 2: Greg Robinson, OT, Auburn
Round 3, Pick 75: Tre Mason, RB, Auburn
Round 6, Pick 214: Garrett Gilbert, QB, SMU
Round 7, Mitchell Van Dyk, OT, Portland State
Round 7, Demetrius Rhaney, Center, Tennessee State
Not only was Robinson a bust, he was one of the all-time busts in the history of the Rams organization. After starting a few games for the Detroit Lions this season, Robinson was cut and is no longer on an NFL team.
Mason, of course, went nuts and is out of the NFL. Gilbert, Rhaney and Van Dyk are hanging onto NFL rosters by a thread, buried on depth charts or just getting called out of the blue to suit up because of injuries.
If Gurley and Goff make the hall of fame they should have Jeff Fisher be the person who inducts them since once he was fired their careers were saved.
— Robert Littal BSO (@BSO) December 17, 2017
2015
Round 1, Pick 10: Todd Gurley, RB, Georgia
Round 2, Pick 57: Rob Havenstein, OT, Wisconsin
Round 3: Pick 72: Jamon Brown, OT, Louisville
Round 3, Pick 89: Sean Mannion, QB, Oregon State
Round 4, Pick 119: Andrew Donnal, OT, Iowa
Round 6, Pick 201: Bud Sasser, WR, Missouri
Round 6, Pick 215: Cody Wichmann, OG, Fresno State
After three seasons of absolutely wasting picks on offense, Fisher went all in for 2015 and had, hands down, his best draft on that side of the ball in spite of himself. Gurley, Havenstein and Brown are all starters. Gurley, no thanks to Fisher, is arguably the best running back in the league.
Mannion is one of the NFL’s better back ups. Donnal, Sasser and Wichmann are no longer on the team. Los Angeles cut Donnal this off-season. Wichmann is on the Titans’ practice squad and a medical issue kept Sasser from ever playing an NFL down.
Chris Ballard when he heard that Jeff Fisher wants to coach the #Colts pic.twitter.com/3UQ3y61vMD
— Colts Coverage (@Colts_Coverage) December 19, 2017
2016
Round 1, Pick 1: Jared Goff, QB, California
Round 4, Pick 110: Tyler Higbee, TE, Western Kentucky
Round 4, Pick 117: Pharoh Cooper, WR, South Carolina
Round 6, Pick 177: Temarrick Hemingway, TE, South Carolina State
Round 6, Pick 206: Mike Thomas, WR, Southern Miss
If the Bears hire Jeff Fisher, I am quitting football and moving to the moon.
— Robert Mays (@robertmays) December 19, 2017
For the second straight year (and Fisher’s last), he went all in on offense. The Rams traded up for Goff and used all but one of their remaining picks on offense, taking talented players every step of the way. It’s safe to say that these two drafts (2015 and 2016) are probably why Les Snead kept his job as general manager. Thomas is so talented McVay decided to keep him in spite of his drug suspension. Cooper, of course, made the Pro Bowl as a return man. Higbee is officially the starting tight end and Hemingway is currently on injured reserve.
Thanks to two good offensive drafts and consistently great defensive drafts, yes, Jeff Fisher put together the largest portion of this roster. He wants to sit inside his fart cloud and bask in that, using it as evidence he deserves another shot at an NFL job.
The truth is, it should damn him from ever coaching again.
Fisher was right last season during his much-maligned and mocked speech where he told his team he wasn’t going 7-and-9 again. He told his players that they were too talented for that and he was absolutely, 100 percent correct.
He was the problem. Fisher and his shitty staff. It’s no secret that the last three quarterbacks to play under Fisher; Nick Foles, Case Keenum and Jared Goff are all two weeks away from starting for playoff teams. They all, to a man, played like complete trash while suiting up for Fisher.
Nick Foles was 4-7 with seven touchdowns and 10 picks under Fisher. Playing for somebody else, he’s 15-4 with 44 touchdowns and 12 picks.
Case Keenum was 7-7 with 13 touchdowns and 12 picks under Fisher. This year in Minnesota he’s 9-3 with 20 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Jared Goff was 0-7 under Fisher with five touchdowns and seven picks. He’s 10-4 this year with 24 TDs and seven interceptions.
All three were on the Rams’ roster when the preseason began in Fisher’s final season. Think about that. I wonder if Fisher does. NFL owners with coaching vacancies better.
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