Adam Archuleta (1 Viewer)

[RAPTURE]

His days of being a top 10 - 20 are long gone.-- Rams Moving Archuleta --Fri Jun 24, 2005 --from FFMastermind.comESPN's Len Pasquarelli reports St. Louis coaches have all but finalized plans to move S Adam Archuleta from strong safety to free safety. RAPTURE

 

[Renegades of Funk]

Does Atogwe or Carter get the SS gig. Carter is more of a SS type, but Atogwe was drafted much higher. Worth keeping an eye on.

 

[Beaumont]

Most of the stuff from the Rams homers I have seen says that they are going to have left and right safeties both with equal cover responsibilities -- not true FS or SS ...Not sure if it is true, but FYI ...

 

[-OZ-]

Does Atogwe or Carter get the SS gig. Carter is more of a SS type, but Atogwe was drafted much higher. Worth keeping an eye on.

http://www.stlouisrams.com/article/49225/

Atogwe Hopes to Make the Grade at Safety

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

By Nick Wagoner

Staff Writer

It didn’t take long for Oshiomogho Atogwe to begin doing research after hearing his name called in the third round of the NFL Draft.

Although he didn’t quite have his Rams’ defensive playbook yet, the young safety out of Stanford took it upon himself to see where he would fit in once he received said playbook.

“I was aware that they were in need of safeties, but I didn’t know to what extent until after they had drafted me and I really started to research, checking the website,” Atogwe said. “After they drafted me, I checked out who they had and who they didn’t have. When I looked at the roster, there was only one active safety on the roster in (Adam) Archuleta, so I knew they needed someone to come in and play early and I have my goals set on that.”

Leave it to the player from Stanford to do some extra studying. It is that kind of dedication and cerebral approach to the game that landed Atogwe in St. Louis with the second pick of the third round, No. 66 overall.

With a situation at safety that could be described as nothing short of dire heading into this offseason, the Rams opted to add a plethora of possibilities for the position in hopes that at least a few of them could step to the forefront and claim a spot.

As it stands, Archuleta is the only returning safety and should be a starter. Archuleta is recovering nicely after a back injury severely limited him last season. That leaves the other safety spot open for one of the many competitors.

Joining Atogwe in what should be the most heated training camp competition are Michael Stone, Michael Hawthorne, Mike Furrey, Jerome Carter and perhaps cornerback Ronald Bartell.

Although he is a rookie, Atogwe is starting new with the Rams just like his competition, meaning that there probably isn’t a clear favorite to win the job. It’s that open possibility that has Atogwe excited about the start of training camp.

“I feel like they brought in a lot of DB’s for a reason,” Atogwe said. “Competition will end up bringing out the best players with whoever can stand the heat. I feel like it’s good for the team.”

Atogwe became accustomed to competition in the camps and workouts leading up to the draft. It was there that he jockeyed against the likes of Carter and Bartell for draft position.

Now, that competition is done and those three are teammates, but, as life in the NFL dictates, the competition never ends.

“It’s definitely easier, that stress is gone, but now you are competing for a job so there is a little stress there,” Atogwe said. “It’s just a little competition amongst friends, that’s all.”

That competition probably won’t be settled until training camp concludes. There are a number of things that could set one safety apart from another. Each players has his strengths and weaknesses, it will be the ability to fit into the Rams’ system that determines how they fare.

According to coach Mike Martz, St. Louis has a different system when it comes to safeties than most teams. Most teams employ the traditional free and strong safety while the Rams place an emphasis on area of coverage.



“Right now we have a right and a left safety, it is not one of those situations where you have a linebacker-type safety and a corner-type safety,” Martz said. “We would like to think that we have more corner-type people in both safeties.”

In other words, whereas most teams have a strong safety (the linebacker-type) such as Denver’s John Lynch and a free safety (generally more the cornerback-type) such as Aeneas Williams was for the Rams, St. Louis will have two safeties that can do some of both.

That means when the coaching staff is evaluating who fits in where, they probably won’t have the group divided into free and strong safeties. Instead, all the safeties will work in drills together and be judged based on their ability to make plays in coverage as well as in the box.

This is where Atogwe might have a leg up on the competition and is one of the rookies with the best chance to play or even start right away.

“He is a very solid player,” Martz said. “There are just no nicks on him in terms of a particular area where we might have to get him up to speed. He will make an immediate impact for us on special teams and he is going to have a chance to go in there at safety and earn a spot as a starter potentially.”

Of course, Atogwe isn’t the perfect player or he would have gone off the board much sooner. At 5’11, 215 pounds, he is a little on the small side for a safety and he has average speed for a safety.

On the other hand, Atogwe is an intelligent player who majored in biological sciences at Stanford. He also has a reputation as a hard worker, spending time working as a paperboy in Windsor, Ont., Canada, a busboy at a racetrack and held summer jobs working for a landscaping company and detassling corn.

Atogwe’s work ethic and experience should make competing for a football job a relatively easy task by comparison. After all, he has always accomplished what he set out to do.

“It’s always an option to be a starter,” Atogwe said. “I don’t try to put limitations on myself. I just perform my best and if the coaches feel I should be a starter, I will not be shy in accepting that role.”

I didn't know much about Atogwe before, but I like what I'm reading.

 

[Beaumont]

I didn't know much about Atogwe before, but I like what I'm reading.

Oz, yer making me look good here ... thanks!In my recent initial auction for IDP dynasty I left almost no money for rooks. I only had $10 of $10,000 left for rooks when they came up for bid. I put it all on Atogwe and I think thats looking good ...

 

[Renegades of Funk]

I had seen that same article regarding Atogwe, but the fact that Pasquerelli is talking about Archuleta moving to FS makes me wonder what really is going on. If they are playing a right and left safety there wouldn't need to be any talk of Archuleta moving to FS???

 

[jetmonkey]

I thought early talk had pisa tinoisamoa playing SS this year; what happened to that?

 

[Weiner Dog]

Guys, I think we're all missing the bigger picture here. Even if Archuleta's FF scoring takes a slight hit, he's still dating Miss America...Shandi Finnessey.

link:

http://dailynews.dayoo.com/img/2004-04/13/...1c694a78a37.jpg

When it's all said and done, I'll think he'll be A-OK.

 

[The Carnage]

I thought early talk had pisa tinoisamoa playing SS this year; what happened to that?

I traded for him when I heard it. That was enough to put an end to it. I drafted Atogwe, so I can't imagine that turning out well either.

Just a public service announcement...

 

[Bob Magaw]

here is the rams report for FBG (offense reports made it into magazine but not defense)... probably not too much has changed since written back in may... post-draft...

http://www.footballguys.com/05teamreport-ram.htm

in retrospect, i may have come off as overly optimistic on atogwe. no one really knows who will start opposite archuleta... probably not even the rams yet.

but i thought at the time, & nothing has changed my opinion in the interim, that he has the best combination of athleticism, talent & skills to earn the starting nod.

since the team report, i have recently seen KFFL list michael stone, michael hawthorne, atogwe, jerome carter & furrey as possible starters at SS... which is just restating that they & no one knows. i'd be shocked if furrey starts. the little highlights i saw of carter, i came away not quite as impressed as a i thought i would be... hard to put my finger on it, but if i had to boil it down it had to do with him seeming a little slower reacting & not as quick to the spot, compared to atogwe... & some scouts think he may have trouble in coverage...

of course atogwe could too... many safeties who were studs at the collegiate level struggle with the transition to covering bigger, faster WRs in the pros.

i would also be surprised if hawthorne starts, who sounds more like a CB/S-tweener who will hopefully be a ST demon & possibly the nickle back... this also describes michael stone... though i did hear his name mentioned as one of the early favorites for the other safety... but i think that is premature & pretty speculative.

bartell was a second rounder & was both a FS & CB in college... the word is the rams would like to leave him at CB for now. they could use an upgrade at nickle back from groce & garrett (he may be hard pressed to make team... i think he is jammer's cousin & blazing fast but not physical enuf).

tino is definitely the WLB... there was a lot of talk about him switching to SS, but that experiment was aborted early on... as far as i know, b4 they even actually tried it. i think he has the requisite athleticism to pull it off, but some scouts think he has the potential to be an all-pro LB, so perhaps that is best to let him grow into the WLB position. i'm not sure, but the move may have been prompted by concerns that he could be undersized, & that the shoulder he had problems with in '04 may not be able to withstand the pounding he will surely get over the long haul from the LB position.

it is interesting that there was talk about moving archuleta to FS... was that to accomodate the aborted tino position switch... or due to similar concerns about his herniated disc/s? than he was back SS for a minute... now he is back to FS. are they still concerned about his health?

i think archuleta's rookie contract ends this season. i'm glad somebody above noticed the logical contradiction. martz was emphatic about saying their defensive scheme was shifting to one in which they no longer distinguished between SS & FS... ie - getting away from old school division of labor with a LB-like hammer in run support who may not be adept in coverage, & a CB-like safety who can cover with good aerial skills, but may be deficient in run support.

instead just called right & left safety... i believe the giants were like this a few years ago (b4 coughlin) where the SS was expected to cover & the FS could be a weapon against the run.

in calling arch a FS, i think we can only conclude that some of the old school ways of parsing skill sets are still in play... or why bother calling them SS & FS at all?

i have no doubt they would like their SS to be able to cover & their FS to be able to tackle... but we could say that about every team in the league... that is obviously the ideal to have two interchangeable parts at the two safeties (much tougher for offenses to exploit on run & pass plays)... great idea in theory, but much harder in practice to be lucky enough to find even one guy, let alone two, equally adept in coverage & run support. everybody would like to have a SS that can cover like ed reed... & a FS like ken hamlin that can knock you into next week is similarly unusual (even last may not be greatest exemplar as he may have some coverage deficiencies).

coverage is almost always listed as a weakness for archuleta... i'm not sure if he was really asked to do that too much in the past. he is very fast (sub-4.4?) & has decent change of direction... with the important caveat & proviso... when his back is right. so it is possible that he could take on additional coverage responsibilities & not be a huge liabilty... if he is asked to do that a lot more, we'll have to see if he bites too hard on play action from being overly aggressive (in the past he was asked to go forward & rarely in reverse), how his run/pass read & recognition is, etc.

imo, though, he is a superior athlete who should be OK in this area. he does have notoriously & horrifically bad hands for a good athlete, though... don't know if a little practice in the off-season will magically confer upon him good hands. it would be astounding if he gets anything more than 1-2 INTs (if that).

* edit/add - agreed with the... he'll be OK regardless part. only i thought he was dating jennifer walcott? this is a family joint so no links or Shick will give me the heave ho ... but if you are over 18 & know how to look things up on google...

** edit/add II - a big problem with rams D, & why that got gashed in the run game repeatedly (see ATL playoff game... ouch) was appallingly bad tackling in the back seven... claiborne & coakley imo will be vastly superior to thomas & polley... the secondary got hammered by injuries last season... not just arch but aeneas williams & travis fisher... if fisher & archuleta are healthy, & they can plug somebody in at the other safety position, their last line of defense could be greatly improved... one reason i am high on the rams prospects to get back to the playoffs & make more noise this season.

with their schedule, & barring injuries, i think 10-6 or 11-5 is doable, which most likely makes me a contrarian. this is still accounting for the fact that ARI should be better in '05. in the AFC, i predict at least one team will finish 10-6 & be left on the outside looking in come playoff time... i'm not sure, but i don't think that has happened since they went to current playoff format (if ever?).

 

[Weiner Dog]

only i thought he was dating jennifer walcott?

There's a good chance I'm wrong. I was simply posting a rumor from a Rams' message board.Either way...I'd also be sporting a herniated disk in my back, if I were Archuleta.