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Rams WR
Isaac Bruce
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ST. LOUIS — Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt are staking their claim as the NFL’s
most dynamic receiving duo.
Through the first five games, the two gifted Rams wide receivers have combined for 52
catches for 1,125 yards and eight touchdowns. They also had accounted for three of the six
biggest receiving days in the NFL this season before the Rams had Week Six off on bye.
"It’s unusual to have two wide receivers of that caliber on the same
team‚" Rams general manager Charley Armey said. "The great thing is that
they feed off each other. Usually, when you get two great wide receivers on the same team
like that, you get ‘Give me the damn ball’ syndrome. Whenever one of them has
success, it’s just like the other one had he had success."
The 27-year-old Bruce has served as a mentor to Holt, 24, in somewhat the same way
Minnesota’s Cris Carter has helped school Randy Moss.
"Isaac has helped Torry a great deal," Armey said. "It is kind of like
the Carter-Moss relationship. The difference with Carter-Moss is that one is much older.
These two are both very young. They are going to be very good for a long time."
Bruce has rebounded from two years of hamstring problems to reclaim his status as one
of the NFL’s elite wideouts.
Bruce caught 77 passes for 1,165 yards and 12 touchdowns last season. He’s on pace
for an even bigger year this season.
Bruce’s numbers through five games project to 96 catches for an NFL-record 1,933
yards and 16 touchdowns over 16 games.
Numbers aside, Bruce said his No. 1 personal goal is to make the Pro Bowl for the
second straight season.
"I want to go back-to-back to the Pro Bowl and try to get a string going,"
Bruce said. "If not me, then Torry Holt. He is definitely starting off really well.
He is at a point right now where he is capable of making plays anywhere on the
field."
There is more to Bruce’s game than just catching the ball. He’s also a
ferocious blocker.
"I’m just paying a lot more attention to details right now," Bruce said.
If Rams QB Kurt Warner throws an interception, Bruce is one of the guys fighting to
make the tackle.
"When you watch him flying down the field, knocking guys down, jumping over piles
to get a hit on a defensive back," Rams head coach Mike Martz said, "that’s
pretty awesome. That’s playing, man. That’s going after it."
Bruce already stands No. 2 on the Rams’ all-time list for receptions and receiving
yards. He’s No. 3 in TD receptions.
But Bruce says he doesn’t care about those records.
"If I play to my ability, as long as I expect to play, those will eventually
fall," Bruce said. "So I’m not really worried about them."
Warner said Bruce has no flaws that he can find.
"Isaac does everything well," Warner said. "He never takes a play off
even though there might be a play where he knows he is a decoy. The odds are very slim
that he is going to get the ball, but he is running just as hard as the route that is
dictated to go to him. I think that is what makes him so special."
Holt said he has tried to copy Bruce.
"It’s obvious that I have taken some things from Isaac and applied it to my
game, and I’m getting open a little better now," Holt said.
However, Holt can’t imitate Bruce’s cutting ability. Bruce explodes in and
out of his breaks so fast it seems no defensive back can cover him one on one.
"It is just a natural thing, like (how) Marshall Faulk runs with eyes as much as
his feet," Armey said. "Ike has such quick reactions."
Armey and the Rams picked Holt with the No. 6 overall pick in the 1999 draft, passing
over CBs Champ Bailey and Chris McAlister and DE Jevon Kearse.
Armey ranked Holt as the No. 1 player on his draft board after watching Holt win the
Fred Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top collegiate receiver during his senior
season at North Carolina State.
"The most important thing that stuck out in my mind about Torry Holt is that he
always performed in competitive situations," Armey said. "When the competition
got tougher, he got better. Against Florida State, he scored what, five touchdowns in one
game or something like that? It’s just easy when you are getting beat by Florida
State to say, ‘Let’s wait until next week when we play Wake Forest.’ He
didn’t do that. He has the kind of competitive edge that really caught our eye."
Holt had a more-than-respectable rookie season. He caught 52 passes for 788 yards and
six touchdowns during the regular season and was the team’s leading receiver in the
postseason with 20 catches for 242 yards and one touchdown.
On a team with less offensive firepower, Holt’s numbers would have been bigger.
"If I was playing for a different team, I may have had 80 or 90 balls and
1,000-some yards," Holt said. "I’m sure I could have had that."
Holt is poised for a breakout sophomore season. He’s currently on pace for 70
receptions for 1,667 yards and 10 touchdowns.
"He’s got a long career ahead of him, and it’s going to be
an illustrious career, I guarantee that," said Al Saunders, the Rams associate head
coach and WR coach. "He is playing with a lot more confidence than he did last year
at this time. Last year he was just figuring out where to line up."
Steve Korte covers the Rams for the Belleville (Ill.) News Democrat. |
