A 10-Step Recipe for a Ram Revival

The Rams have an inordinate amount of time on their hands this January, so there’s no sense letting it go to waste.

Besides, they already did that with September, October, November and December.

Since John Robinson is staying, it’s time to begin working on who must go. Some coaches, perhaps. Some players, certainly. Defensively, the Rams need help at every position not currently manned by Kevin Greene or Jerry Gray. Offensively, the Rams need hypnosis for Cleveland Gary-- You vill not fumble --and no more GQ covers for Jim Everett.

Jim Harbaugh, maybe, but not Jim Everett.

Because we’re only here to help, we now offer the Rams 10 useful ways how they can spend their upcoming, expanded vacation.

1. All together now (repeat after me) . . . SCRAP THE SOFT ZONE. The Rams don’t necessarily need a different defensive coordinator--Fritz Shurmur would be fine with about nine new players--but they need a different defense to coordinate. You can’t say enough about what the soft zone has meant to the Rams, not in mixed company anyway, but a strategy that had been an invitation to disaster in 1989 became an outright guarantee in 1990.

The Shurmur soft zone worked miracles last year in the playoffs against Philadelphia, but that was one game and one very impatient Randall Cunningham. Take your time against a soft zone, don’t force your passes against a soft zone . . . and you will own that soft zone. Anthony Dilweg did it. Jim Harbaugh did it. Bubby Brister, Troy Aikman and Hugh Millen did it. You can, too.

The defense that attacks is the defense that wins in the ‘90s. Look at the current playoff field--Philadelphia, Buffalo, Kansas City, the Raiders, Chicago, the Giants. All resort to heavy-metal aggression up front, causing the offense to shift into retreat, not the secondary.

Robinson swears he would like to play that way but doesn’t have the players. But before you can play that way, you have to think that way.

So start thinking already.

2. Remember The Fearsome Foursome. The Rams neglected their pass rush in last year’s draft, gambling on the assumption that life with Bill Hawkins and Brian Smith would be livable.

At least they should learn from history’s mistakes.

If the defensive line isn’t a screaming-neon No. 1 on the Rams’ off-season priority list, then they should just shut the franchise down now. The Rams will draft high, and there will be help available: Notre Dame’s Chris Zorich, Miami’s Russell Maryland. Any way the Rams can clone draft picks?

3. Corner the cornerback market. The Rams appear to have their safeties of the future, but one is a cornerback. After all these years, why not try it Jerry Gray’s way and move him to safety alongside Pat Terrell, who displayed the proper instincts in his rookie season? Robinson has long envisioned Gray as a mini-Ronnie Lott at free safety. He’ll never know until he tries.

That, of course, would throw both cornerback positions wide open, as well they should be.

That is where Plan B comes in.

It is next to impossible to find immediate cornerback help in the college draft, although Notre Dame’s Todd Lyght might be a risk worth taking. The Rams must scour the Plan B bins, talk trade, monitor the waiver wires. Last off-season, the Giants repaired half their secondary this way, recycling Dave Duerson and Everson Walls, and finished with the second-best record in the NFC. It can be done.

4. Find Kevin Greene some help. This could be as simple as a healthy return by Fred Strickland, but the Rams can’t continue to go it alone with Greene at linebacker. Even with his summer-long holdout, even with his difficulty in adjusting to the new defense, Greene led the Rams with 13 sacks. The next highest was Mike Piel with five.

5. Hang on with Cleveland Gary. Fumbles aren’t terminal. Other runners have overcome them and gone on to lead valuable, productive lives. Wendell Tyler is No. 7 on the Rams’ career rushing list. Eric Dickerson is No. 1--and he fumbled 14 times one season.

According to Robinson, Gary’s problem is correctable. His fumbles almost always come at the end of runs, when Gary tends to lose his concentration. The football doesn’t automatically have to follow, and Gary, assuming his spirit can be reinflated, can be taught to improve his follow-through.

Someday, maybe, he can even look back at this and laugh.

6. But just in case, proceed with Operation Dupree. The trial of Marcus Dupree was one of the few successes of this Ram season. Dupree proved he could play, proved he could take a hit, and he has the look of the lean, mean, between-the-tackles running machine Robinson has always loved.

The comeback isn’t over. Given the experience of a full off-season’s worth of mini-camps and training camps, it might be just beginning.

7. Get a dictionary. Look up “special,” as in teams. With better kicking and kick coverage, the Rams might have been able to overcome their joke of a defense and still weasel their way into the playoffs. As it was, kicker Mike Lansford was never right after tweaking his Achilles’ tendon, converting just half his field goal tries from 30 yards and beyond; tackling on kickoffs usually resembled a kindergarten fire drill, and new punter Keith English offered little more than old punter Dale Hatcher--same old lack of grace under pressure.

Whatever happened to Hank (The Shank) Ilesic?

8. Hey, Bern. Got any friends? As much as the Rams needed a defensive CARE package, it was tough to knock the drafting of Bern Brostek in last April’s first round. Brostek was the new kid in the Rams’ blocking scheme, and with Jackie Slater turning 37 this year, Irv Pankey 33 and Doug Smith 35, the Rams could use another. Slater’s selection as the lone Ram in this month’s Pro Bowl says as much about the Rams as it does about Slater.

9. Find another possession receiver. Henry Ellard’s legs aren’t going to run forever and this year, they were in the shop much more than Robinson wanted. Flipper Anderson can crack games open, but the Ram passing attack sags like a punctured beach ball when Ellard is out of the lineup. Aaron Cox no longer has the look of the heir apparent--he has worse hamstrings than Ellard. Time to start looking for some fresh wheels.

10. Find out what Jim Everett ate this season. And put him on a new diet.

RAM NUMBERS HIGHLIGHT HENRY ELLARD “Disappointing” would be too kind a word to use to describe the Rams’ 5-11 season. Through it all, however, there was one consistent show of excellence and that was Henry Ellard. Despite being hampered by a pulled hamstring--he had to miss Nov. 25th’s game against the 49ers because of it--Ellard had one of his finest seasons in his eight-year pro career. The Fresno State product finished with 1,298 reception yards--third highest to his 1,414 in 1988--for a 17.1 yards per catch average--also his third best to the 19.7 of a year ago. In Monday night’s 20-17, season-closing loss to New Orleans, Ellard was at his best--catching five passes for 134 yards. His two catches in the first period were graphic illustrations of his season--first diving for a 32-yard reception down the right sideline, then going up high to tip a Jim Everett-thrown pass and bringing it down for a 25-yard gain. SEASON TO DATE Sixteen-game Totals (Record: 5-11)

FIRST DOWNS RUSHING YARDAGE PASSING YARDAGE Rams 311 Rams 1,612 Rams 4,016 Opp 287 Opp 1,649 Opp 3,942

PUNTS/AVERAGE RUSHING PASSING Rams Opp ATT AVG. TDs ATT CP TDs 69/38.6 66/41.7 Rams 422 3.8 17 Rams 561 310 24 Opp 427 3.9 17 Opp 501 296 30

PENALTIES/YARDS FUMBLES/LOST INTERCEPTIONS Rams Opp Rams Opp Rams Opp 87/632 110/968 25/14 32/19 12-105 17-204

SCORING BY QUARTERS

1 2 3 4 OT TOTAL Rams 62 130 85 68 0 345 Opp 98 123 74 114 3 412

POSSESSION TIME

Rams Opp 29:59 30:01