Rams’ No. 1 Pick Just a Little Green : Robinson Expects Rookie Tailback to Grow Into His Spot
In case you haven’t noticed, tailback Gaston Green has mostly been hiding under three yards and a cloud of dust this summer.
Green has played three exhibition games so far as a Ram (he sat out the opener in Canton), and his longest run from scrimmage has been 13 yards. He was supposed to get that much running backward.
His summer report card reads like this: 38 carries, 115 yards, a 3.0 yards-per-carry average, no touchdowns.
Not the kind of numbers you might expect from a first-round pick who is being paid $1.825 million over four years.
But instead of pulling the remaining hairs from his head, Coach John Robinson just smiles when asked about Green, who apparently is coming along right on schedule--John Robinson’s schedule.
With two other former No. 1 picks in the backfield, Charles White and Greg Bell, Robinson has had the luxury of nursing Green into the National Football League. Here, you must crawl before you run.
“You can make a big error, and I think everyone’s done it,” Robinson said. “You want a guy to be something. You draft him, recruit him to be that. He might not be able to be that for you. You have to take him where he’s at and try to get the best out of him.”
In Robinson’s eyes, Green is just a baby, 21 years old when the Rams drafted him April 24. The worst thing Robinson could have done, he said, was to have handed Green the ball and demanded that he be Eric Dickerson.
Green, for all his raw speed and talent, isn’t Dickerson. At this point, he’s not even White or Bell.
So progress comes like drips from an eyedropper:
Aug. 3 vs. the Denver Broncos: Green gains 23 yards in 13 carries, a 1.77 per-carry average.
Aug. 13 vs. the San Diego Chargers: Green carries 10 times for 38 yards, a 3.80 average.
Aug. 20 vs. the Houston Oilers: Green gains 54 yards in 15 carries, a 3.60 per-carry average.
“If you would have said Gaston Green would be our tailback this year, that he would have come in and taken Charlie’s place, asked him to do what Charlie did last year, well, it would have been just too much for a player so young,” Robinson said.
In Saturday night’s 20-17 loss the Oilers, Green finally showed flashes of the speed and quickness that made him famous at UCLA. In one second-half drive, Green had a 13-yard run and another of 11 that was called back because of a holding penalty.
Robinson thinks Green will be the player everyone expects him to be. Just not today. He just needs room to grow, mentally and physically.
“I think we’ll see two years from now a far different physical player,” Robinson said. “I think his run skills are outstanding. The more I see him the more I’m convinced of that. The time will come when we’ll talk about him being big time. Some guys come in and are 23 going on 26. He just had his 22nd birthday. Clearly, he has more physical development ahead of him.”
Until then, the Rams figure to use Green in specific situations as a speed weapon, a player who could wreak havoc on tired defenses in the fourth quarter.
Bell, whom some considered a longshot to make the team, continued his impressive summer Saturday night. Bell gained 59 yards in 12 carries in the Houston loss and leads Ram rushers with 118 yards with a 4.4 yards-per carry average.
Bell said Sunday he’s done just what he set out to do.
“Now, the decision’s not on me,” Bell said. “Now, it’s on them. Can they do without me? The decision’s not with the front office or the general manager, it’s on the guy who’s supposed to make it--the head coach. It’s on him, and those things I can live with.”
Bell’s summer certainly has the head coach thinking, and there seems a possibility that Robinson will keep Bell as the third tailback with White and Green.
Robinson, though, said he isn’t going to make his roster cuts through the papers.
“If he makes the team, that means somebody else doesn’t,” Robinson said. “And if he doesn’t, then I want to tell him. But he (Bell) has certainly done well.”
A large gash over guard Mike Schad’s left eye, suffered early in training camp, continues to cause him problems. Schad had to leave Saturday’s game because of the swelling.
“He’s going to turn into the Elephant Man if we don’t do something,” Robinson said.
Ram Notes
Former Ram receiver Ron Brown is scheduled to meet today with Tampa Bay Buccaneer Coach Ray Perkins, presumably to work out the details of a trade. Brown, who retired last spring to pursue his track career, reserved a room at a Tampa hotel Sunday night. It’s now believed the Rams may receive Tampa Bay’s second- and fifth-round draft picks in 1990 for the rights to Brown. . . . Saturday night’s game was wild and dangerous, and the proof is in the penalties. There were 21 in all for a total of 233 yards. . . . Houston finished with 12 penalties for 124 yards, the Rams 9 for 109 yards. . . . Injury updates: Rookie defensive lineman Mike Piel is suffering from a recurring neck injury and will undergo what is called a Magnetic Resonance Imaging test. . . . Tailback Greg Bell suffered a bruised thigh in the game, though it’s not considered serious.
Coach John Robinson outlined the following probable return dates for four players coming back from arthroscopic knee surgery: Linebacker Jim Collins and fullback Mike Guman--Oct. 1; punter Dale Hatcher and nose tackle Greg Meisner--Sept. 11. Obviously, all will miss the Sept. 4 opener. . . . Linebacker Mark Jerue’s sore knee is acting up again and he’ll be given a few days off this week. Robinson said Jerue played his best game of the summer Saturday night. . . . Rookie receivers Aaron Cox and Flipper Anderson are hardly acting like rookies. Anderson made a great, one-handed catch Saturday night and Cox caught one touchdown pass and made a 26-yard reception at the end of regulation that set up a 44-yard field-goal attempt by Mike Lansford. Lansford could have won the game with the kick but missed. “Frankly, I’m surprised the receivers are playing so well,” Robinson said. “They certainly are dispelling some of those things (about rookies).”
