PRO FOOTBALL ’87 : COACHES, PLAYERS, TEAMS AND TRENDS TO WATCH THIS SEASON : RAMS : They Are Hoping Zampese Is Final Piece of the Puzzle

These are the 1987 Rams, complete from A to Zampese, the team everyone seems to love these days.

A peek into their portfolio reveals:

--John Robinson, head coach. In another life, he could have sold plumbing fixtures door-to-door. This time around he’s selling a football team. Sold. He could motivate a dog to leave a bone.

--Jim Everett, quarterback. He has started five games as a professional but acts as though it has been 55. They call him the Blade, so it’s not surprising that his ball cuts like a knife.

--Ernie Zampese, offensive coordinator. He climbed out from under a rock called the San Diego Chargers and has found celebrity in Anaheim. Of course, he brings to the Rams the concept of the forward pass, intriguing to longtime followers. Since arriving, he has conducted more interviews than Rona Barrett.

--Eric Dickerson, running back. Entering his fifth season, he needs only 32 yards to break the 7,000 mark. He has heightened his mystique with a series of off-the-field antics and depositions, and at 26 is a fast-runnin’, high-steppin’, begoggled wonder.

--Dennis Harrah, offensive guard. At 34, he is still the king of heat balm in the underwear. He can hold more foreign linen than a corner dry cleaners. He’s also All-Pro and is a must for your next Super Bowl party.

--LeRoy Irvin, cornerback. He’s this year’s walking home entertainment center. Absolutely one of the best cover men in the game today, though you’d think he couldn’t cover a check with the money the Rams pay him. A threat to make a headline at any moment.

--Fritz Shurmur, defensive coordinator. As meticulous as a Swiss watchmaker, he actually had his revolving-door, cut-and-paste defense at the top of the NFL charts for two weeks in 1986. Most still wouldn’t know him from Fritz Coleman.

--John Shaw, vice president and financial coordinator. Known as “Squiggy” to his subordinates, he has displayed an uncanny ability to lure players into signing contracts and then making them wish they hadn’t (see LeRoy Irvin, Eric Dickerson, etc.) Shaw has this team by the money-clip. Nice guy, though.

--Georgia Frontiere, the benevolent owner. She loves her team enough to throw them sideline kisses. She’s been kept out of the spotlight in recent years, protected on all fronts, but still is very much in control.

The Rams have talent, make no mistake.

“I guess if you can get to the NFC championship game with Dieter Brock as quarterback, you must have good players,” Houston Oilers Coach Jerry Glanville said of the Rams.

But more than that, this team seems to have acquired an attitude, something missing in past years. It no longer seems to be the child that’s content to sit in the back of the class with hands folded.

These Rams seem to have acquired a spunk to rival the past two Super Bowl champions--the Chicago Bears and New York Giants. After years of relative complacency, these Rams have spoken out and fired darts at management. Some of these Rams have asked to be traded. Some of these Rams have police records. Some Rams have sued and have been sued.

These Rams are planting the seed for post Super Bowl book rights.

Robinson described it metaphorically as locking the back door.

“I mean there’s no place left to go,” he said. “You’ve got to stand and fight. I think that attitude can help you.”

Of course it also helps to have some weapons.

The Rams closed the 1986 season with three straight losses, including a wild-card playoff fade-out to the Washington Redskins. In all, it was another fine season for the Rams. They finished at 10-6. Fine. They made money. Fine. A fine team, the Rams.

But to step up and trade punches with the NFC’s heavy-hitters, the Rams had to move in the off-season. They did, in February, when they signed Zampese, an offensive coordinator who added instant credibility to the franchise.

The Rams finished last in NFL passing the past two seasons. Robinson, to his credit, set out to remedy a problem for which he was partially responsible.

“I was preoccupied with the quarterback last year,” he said. “I constantly worried about that position. When you have a nagging problem, it can cause some immobility. You’re almost obsessed with it and maybe you don’t pay attention to some of the other things.”

Robinson has the freedom now to back to observe his team and tinker when he chooses.

And somewhere between a Washington playoff loss and now, the Rams have become NFC favorites in some circles. Can a young quarterback and his tutor really make a difference? Is the lack of a legitimate pass rush too big a worry? Are the Rams really Super Bowl bound?

No one knows for sure, but here’s a closer look:

OFFENSE

Zampese, 51, is not an impressive figure. On the field, he’s a body emersed in a yellow, floppy hat, a rumbled shirt and sunglasses. He chain-smokes. He is humble.

“Ernie would like it if no one ever looked at him,” said John Madden, who gave Zampese his first coaching job at Hancock Junior College. “He’d like to be locked up in a closet, watching film.”

But Zampese’s knowledge of the NFL passing game is well known. But he says he’s not here to take over the offense, though he will call plays from the press box. Zampese’s dream is to mix his talent for the pass with Robinson’s ability to coach the run.

“We have some talented people,” Zampese said. “People as good as anybody. Hopefully we can tie with the running attack the ability to win a game throwing if we have to.”

Zampese likes what he sees in Everett.

“The big thing that happened here was that the quarterback situation has finally been resolved,” Zampese said. “When there is doubt, it makes a difference. Jim is going to be the quarterback and everyone knows it.”

Everett completed 59% of his passes in the exhibition season for 577 yards. A pace like that for a season would put him in the Pro Bowl. The thing is, Everett doesn’t have to carry the whole offensive load. It’s comforting to look up in the huddle and see:

--Dickerson. Let’s see. Last year, there were 11 100-yard rushing games, 1,821 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns in the regular season. Not a bad guy to build a team around. This year, the Rams would like to get from Dickerson more pass receptions (he had just 26 in 1986) and fewer fumbles (he led the league with 15). Still, Dickerson is where it all begins and ends.

--Henry Ellard. How valuable is he? Well, he missed seven games in 1986 and still led the team in receptions with 34 for 447 yards. Ellard, to boot, is also the NFL’s all time leading punt returner with a 12.86-yard average. Better yet, he finally signed a contract that pays incentives for returning punts. The Rams will do cartwheels if Ellard can catch 70 passes.

--Ron Brown. He’s the sprinter who’s just dying to become an outstanding receiver. This could be the year. Brown seems to have found new direction and spirit under Zampese and this could be the season he drops the appendage, “Brown/world class sprinter and receiver.” He’ll settle for receiver, period. Brown’s right wrist, fractured last year, is still sore but is much better, which should mean fewer dropped passes.

--Buford McGee. He’s been a mystery man, a versatile back who’s been mostly injured since the Rams acquired him from the Chargers in exchange for Barry Redden. McGee, a favorite of Zampese, played in only one exhibition game because of a lingering hamstring problem. Ultimately, McGee could be a factor. CONCERNS--It might be tight end. The Rams thought they had the answer in Tony Hunter, a big man who can run deep, but he never recovered from off-season arthroscopic knee surgery and was recently released. It leaves the Rams with veteran David Hill, a strong blocker, and two kids--first-year man Damone Johnson and rookie Jon Embree.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR--How much slack will Robinson give Zampese on offense? What’s the call on third down and five? When and if the Rams get in trouble, will the team revert to old form?

DEFENSE

The concern here is clear enough.

“The one area we need to improve would be putting pressure on the passer,” Robinson said this week. The Rams had 39 sacks last year, 10th highest in the NFC. Robinson hoped to solve the problem with rookie Donald Evans, the defensive end from Winston-Salem State. Evans didn’t work out as planned and will spend the first six weeks of the season on injured reserve.

So now it’s up to Shurmur and others to do another patch-work job. What must be remembered is that the system of constant rotation of players worked well enough last season, as the Rams finished fifth overall in the NFL. In an effort to get more punch, the Rams have moved nose tackle Shawn Miller to right defensive end, joining a three-man front of Doug Reed and Greg Meisner. In passing situations, veteran Gary Jeter joins Miller, Reed and linebacker Kevin Greene as a pass rusher.

Jim Collins, who missed all of last season with a nerve injury in his neck, led Ram tacklers in the exhibition season with 29. He’s back at right inside linebacker. Carl Ekern, who made the Pro Bowl last season, returns on the left side.

The Rams say they have three starting outside linebackers in Mike Wilcher, Mel Owens and Greene, though Wilcher and Owens are officially the starters.

The same three-man rotation exists in the secondary, where veterans Nolan Cromwell and Johnnie Johnson will alternate at safety with Vince Newsome, the team’s leading tackler last season with 113.

CONCERNS--Will cornerback LeRoy Irvin come out of his “trade-me” funk and return to Pro Bowl form? There were signs this week that he will. Also, can the Rams generate enough of a pass rush to take the heat off the secondary?

WHAT TO WATCH FOR--The emergence Greene. The Rams will use him at linebacker and as a pass rusher. The coaches love him.

Alas, special teams. Kicker Mike Lansford is consistent and proved last year against the Chicago Bears that he can make the game-winning 50-yard field goal. Robinson still can’t figure punter Dale Hatcher. Two years ago, he made the Pro Bowl as a rookie. Last year, his average-per-kick dropped almost five yards.

“He came up with some flat balls (during the exhibition season),” Robinson said. “He’s been inconsistent, yet brilliant at times.”