Can Natkin Clean Up Rams FB Mess?

Can Natkin Clean Up Rams FB Mess?
By Rams Nation's Barry Waller

Rams fans have their own version of “American Idol” coming to them this summer. Candidates auditioning for a professional contract have been showing their abilities before a panel of expert judges who should be brutally frank in the assessment of their future, as well as millions of fans joining in that experience with an almost obsessive passion about the contestant they feel has the talent to shine if given the chance.

On that blockbuster hit TV show, those fans sitting at home actually get a say in who comes out on top, though at the end the experts end up with their guy or gal getting the prize. That part of the voting process creates much of the vested interest felt by the viewing public who watch around the tenth remake of Ted Mack’s “Amateur Hour” talent hunt show that dated back to the very beginnings of the television medium.

There is no say at all in the final outcome for Rams fans when it comes to their own “Who wants to be a star!” auditions ongoing at Rams Park, as athletes vie for the role of starting Rams fullback.

The fervor this off-season in Ramsnation, when the fullback situation is analyzed and discussed, has nothing to do with any ability to influence the outcome. In fact, being out of control of the situation is the catalyst of even greater angst for a group who still feel a tremendous vested interest in their team. Most of them would not dismiss ALL of their clout as a group though, since ticket sales, or lack of them, can send a strong vote to team owners.

Rams fans already had all the proof they needed to have to be very concerned about the forced departure of starting fullback James Hodgins, from what they saw with their own eyes early in 2002, when the offense lost it’s “Hammer”.

All this off-season leading into training camp, Mike Martz was completely positive about his choice to take over for Hodgins, practice squad player J.R. Niklos, based on his workouts during and after the season. When the team passed on every available experienced free agent fullback then took a pass on the dozen or so college seniors drafted in April with one of their bounty of eleven draft picks, fans put their fears on hold.

The one athlete from the draft with even a chance to try his luck at fullback , fifth round tight end Dan Curley, had not played college fullback, plus his biggest weakness as a tight end was his blocking. His other negative trait was the inability to stay healthy, and that one now threatens to hang an early “bust” label on the pick. His training camp fullback “audition” lasted about three notes before Dan headed for the training room again.

On draft day, the Rams were probably highest on small college sleeper Jeremi Johnson, a big blocking fullback out of Western Kentucky, especially on Sunday after he went undrafted on day one. Mike Martz was not going to let Shaun McDonald get by him with their first pick in round four, but Johnson was still on the board when his second fourth rounder, the tenth pick in the round, was on the clock.

Earlier, the Rams had no real choice but to take Jimmy Kennedy with their first pick instead of reaching for a linebacker or cornerback to fill their greatest needs, and they couldn’t pass on a linebacker in the second round who seems a perfect fit for them. In round three a cornerback looked to be the likely pick for the Rams, but instead they opted for another guy Martz had to have, wide receiver Kevin Curtis.

One really can’t blame the Rams for any of those moves, especially with the quality remaining at cornerback the Rams later tapped on day two. McDonald was a surprise pick at the top of day two’s “action”, though no real shock considering how the Arizona State star’s talents and Alma Mater are things very dear to Martz’ heart. Because they had not addressed the cornerback need whatsoever to that tenth pick in round four, the Rams really had to pull the trigger and take Dejuan Groce with the pick. They had no way to know that the two talented corners they ended up taking in round five would be available at that point.

Just eleven picks after the Rams selected the Nebraska cornerback/punt return star, the Bengals snagged the Hodgins sized 5-10, 270 pound blocking machine that is Jeremi Johnson. Johnson has quickly taken the starting job in Cincinnati, who lost their two talented blocking fullbacks, Lorenzo Neal and Nick Luchey, in free agency.

Hindsight is 20-20 to be sure, but if Martz really wants to replace Hodgins role with a different player, and not alter what that player must accomplish in his scheme, it appears to be a mistake to pass on Johnson to take Groce, who hasn’t even made the impact in camp of the two corners taken a round later than him.

When examining the players Martz had in mind to possibly start at fullback in 2003, one had to think he was going to change the scope of that position to one where the receiving threat from the fullback was more than it had been before. Niklos is a former college pass catching tight end, as is Curley. Last week’s starter, rookie street free agent Chad Kuhn, has always been a fullback, blocking for Ron Dayne and Michael Bennett at Wisconsin, but at 6-1 240, with a history of “stinger” injuries, he certainly is no blocking sledge.

Even the player Martz coveted in free agency as possibly their second big signing after center Dave Wohlabaugh, only to lose him a day after that interest was discussed, when he re-signed with the Dolphins, fullback Rob Konrad, is more receiver than blocker. Once Konrad came off the market, the Rams interest in signing a free agent fullback seemed to die, with only blocking types out there, some at the top of the league in ability, however.

Now that Niklos is sidelined for a while with a bad concussion, and Kuhns again on the shelf with his “stinger” syndrome, Martz has put yet another ex-tight end front and center in the fullback spotlight. Once again, the talents of that player, another street free agent, Brian Natkin, do not begin with his blocking ability.

A teammate of Rams defensive tackle Brian Young at UTEP, the 6-2, 259 pound Natkin was a star WAC performer, earning all-conference honors his last three seasons in a four year career that included 172 receptions, eleven of them touchdown catches. Draft “expert” Mel Kiper said Natkin “Has few peers when it comes to catching the football; his hands and natural pass receiving skills are outstanding,” in his 2001 draft ratings. The other draft guides available in ever-larger numbers shared that assessment every year.

When it comes to blocking and strength, as well as speed, those were the reasons such a phenom was not a first rounder in the draft. Kiper called Natkin “Not physically imposing, only grading out as an average blocker,” and viewed him as “A backup and situational tight end.” The late Joel Buchsbaum’s ratings of Natkin’s blocking skills said he “Doesn’t have enough lead in his butt, and does not get much movement as a blocker, is basically a wall and screen-off guy.”

The guys at Ourlads called Natkin a “Decent but not strong blocker,” which is at least hopeful, but they later added that “He lacks the leg drive to generate consistent movement and he is not smooth blocking on the move.”

All of the draftnik “bibles” agreed on what kind of player Brian Natkin was, and they all seemed to scream H-Back when it came to labeling Brian in 2001. Another word for H-Back is “tweener”, and just like Niklos and Curley, and others like Ernie Conwell who have tried to move from tight end to fullback, he could be in for a real struggle when he gets his chance against the World Champions. I only hope his blocking on the move technique is at its best when Bucs All-Pro linebacker Derrick Brooks comes after the Rams passer.

Mike Martz continues to assure fans and the media that the Rams will have a competent player lining up at fullback at the Meadowlands in early September, when the Rams start playing for real against the New York Giants. He is talking to groups who have judged the previous hopefuls, and now can only see the inexperience and documented abilities of his latest nominee, and are getting less and less willing to be patient with the obviously dire circumstances.

Somehow, don’t you wish someone on the Rams coaching and scouting staff would play the role of Simon Cowell, the most bluntly honest of the “Idol” judges and notify the entire group of fullback aspirants that, “You ALL suck!”
It certainly doesn’t ease this reporter’s doubts about Brian Natkin when I read Buchsbaum’s comparison of him to former Rams H-back Marv Cook.

Cook was a star in New England, where he was in an offense designed around the tight ends in the receiving game, catching 82 passes for over 800 yards in 1991. When the Rams tried to use Cook in the backfield in 1995, as an H-Back that had to also block for Jerome Bettis, Bettis’ yards per carry suffered, as he ended his final season with the Rams with a 3.5 YPC mark.

The Rams sometimes seemed to be playing with only ten players in the running game because of Cook’s blocking deficiency that year, and only scored five rushing touchdowns in 1995.

The Rams had a very good blocking fullback, Tim Lester, when they ended their California existence, and just as the Rams are doing now with the type athletes looking to replace Hodgins, tried to replace Lester with a different sort who’s game is way more about receiving than blocking. Let’s all hope the result is better in 2003 than it was in 1995 with Cook. After that experience, the Rams went first to unknown Derrick Harris, and then free agent Craig “Ironhead” Heyward as their starting fullback, neither of which could ever be confused for a gifted pass receiver.

It remains to be seen who Martz and the Rams might go to between now and September if Natkin, the latest entry, fails to get out of the gate as a blocker.