Dupree Goes Out of Style : Rams: Knox says one-back offense can’t use a straight-ahead runner and waives leading rusher of exhibition season.
ANAHEIM — Turning his back on preseason performances, popular sentiment and the power-football offensive philosophy he used to personify, Ram Coach Chuck Knox on Monday waived Marcus Dupree, the team’s most impressive running back this summer.
Dupree, who evoked comparisons to “The Natural” when he joined the Rams two years ago after an injury-induced five-year layoff from football, now leaves the team just when he seemed to be reaching a level close to his days as a Mississippi high school legend.
And, in what might have been his most surprising comments Monday, Knox, a man not noted for his belief in myths, legends or passing offenses, said the main factor in cutting Dupree loose was the Rams’ “evolution” into a one-back, pass-oriented offense for the 1992 season.
Ground Chuck, no more.
Knox said he has opted to go with a rotation of Cleveland Gary and Robert Delpino as the one-back because versatile backs are more valuable than straight runners in offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese’s air-borne offense.
“It’s a decision that I don’t understand, but it’s something I’m going to have to live with,” the 28-year-old Dupree said of his release. “I don’t have any problems with what I did.”
Thirteen other players became former Rams Monday as the team dropped to the 47-man roster limit, and there are expected to be several more moves in the next few days involving the injured-reserve list.
But the decision to cut Dupree, if not quite shocking to those who heard Knox’s terse daily comments about him throughout the summer, was clearly the most controversial.
Dupree gained 148 yards in 34 preseason carries, leading the closest Ram runner by almost 100 yards, and his 4.4-yards per-carry average was a full 1 1/2 yards more than any one of the four backs who made the roster. In the Aug. 15 Raider game alone, Dupree carried 22 times for 100 yards.
Was he the Rams’ best runner this summer?
“Right now, yes,” Dupree said Monday morning. “I’m just beginning to feel better. I was beginning to get comfortable with the offense. I mean, I’ll let you guys be the judge. You saw me run the ball.”
Asked the same question, Knox did not have the same answer.
“Obviously, I think our decision would indicate that (Dupree wasn’t),” Knox said. “You know, you could have (good rushing) averages . . . we have to look at a lot more things than that.”
Clearly, one of the things Knox looked at was the past performances of Gary and Delpino, who led the team in rushing in 1990 and ‘91, respectively, but gained a combined 63 yards in the preseason while fighting through minor leg injuries.
Dupree, who signed with the Rams Oct. 3, 1990, five years after suffering what was thought to be a career-ending knee injury in the USFL, carried the ball only 68 times the past two years for 179 yards and often was bothered by nagging injuries.
From the Rams’ first mini-camp under Knox this May, to which Dupree reported late, the Knox-Dupree relationship had been tenuous, at best. Knox gave only flinching praise to Dupree even after the Raiders game, seemed to question his durability when he missed two weeks of training camp with an infected toe, and gave him only three carries in the team’s exhibition finale against the Chargers Thursday.
On Monday, when asked about Dupree, Knox made certain to mention several times how hard it was for him to cut another back, Seattle Plan B import Derek Loville.
Knox explained to Dupree and the media that the main reason Dupree did not make the team was that he was not versatile enough to adapt to the one-back offense, and that the two backup spots--filled by rookie Tim Lester and second-year man David Lang--were reserved for prime special teams contributors.
“We’ve evolved pretty much to a one-back offense,” Knox said. “And . . . we just felt we had backs that were a little more well-rounded, could catch the ball coming out of the backfield and could do some of the other things besides run with the football.
“Marcus Dupree had a good training camp for us. . . . He worked hard and he was productive. Obviously, we had to make a decision as to which four afforded us the best chance to be successful offensively.”
Knox, who has used a two-back set and a run-run-run philosophy for just about his entire 19 years as an NFL head coach, said he has decided the best way for the undermanned Rams to play offense was with a finesse game, highlighting the talents of quarterback Jim Everett, receivers Flipper Anderson and Henry Ellard and the rest of the proven pass attack.
“We’re going to be a multiple-formation team, playing with a lot of formations and a lot of motion,” Knox said.
“We don’t think we’re good enough to line up there and play smash-mouth football with people. We’re going to have to have some movement, create some things.”
Dupree, who this summer used his 235-pound body to smash out tough six- and seven-yard gains but has never been known as a pass catcher or a blocker, simply did not fit into the finesse system, Knox suggested. That’s exactly what Knox told him Monday morning when he gave him the word of his release.
“He just said if he was running the same offense he ran up in Seattle, I could make the team then,” Dupree said. “But they’re running Ernie’s offense right now.”
When Dupree got just three carries Thursday night, he said he began to sense that his Ram career could be about to end.
“I even called home last night and told my mom and family that I was cut,” Dupree said. “I just had that feeling. And they were like, ‘No way.’ ”
Dupree said he was planning to fly home to New Orleans today, then perhaps go up to Chicago to visit his mentor, Walter Payton, and explore the possibility of becoming a partner in Payton’s attempt to secure an expansion NFL franchise for St. Louis.
When he first joined the Rams, Dupree said he made the brutal comeback because he didn’t want to be 50 years old someday, wondering if he ever could have played in the NFL.
“We’ll just see how the next couple of days go,” Dupree said when asked if he would try to hook on with another team. “If not, I’ll just get on with my life, (knowing) that I did play in the NFL.
“That I could play.”
Ram Notes
The Rams got down to the 47-man roster limit Monday, but that doesn’t mean they are done maneuvering. But the main decisions, as usual, involve the running back situation, where Coach Chuck Knox did not deny the Rams would be scouring the waiver wire. “I haven’t had a chance to look at the wire yet. but I’m sure there are going to be some running backs on it that are going to have names that are going to have some appeal to a lot of people,” Knox said. “And we just have to take a look at it.” The Rams, carrying a light load of four running backs currently, could pick up another team’s discarded back or they could simply re-sign tailback Derek Loville, who the Rams cut Monday, if no other team claims him.
The Rams opted to cut free-agent punter/kicker Steven Domingos, who kicked the winning field goal in the Rams’ 16-13 overtime victory Aug. 22 over the Green Bay Packers. Don Bracken, in his eighth year in the NFL, and Tony Zendejas, were retained. “Bracken has had the experience, that was the biggest factor,” Knox said. “Domingos has got a good leg. I think he can kick. He just needs some seasoning and some experience.”
Knox said he still wasn’t ready to announce starters at middle linebacker or right linebacker, although it may hardly matter since the Bills are an odd-ball offense to defend against. Knox has only five linebackers on the current roster and admits the Rams are a bit short at that position, but said it was necessary because the team had to keep extra defensive linemen due to nagging injuries. Bill Hawkins probably will not be ready for the Bills game, but Knox said he hoped Robert Young (shoulder) and Gerald Robinson (knee) will be ready to practice Wednesday. The team is not scheduled to practice today.
Teams have until 1 p.m. today to form their practice squads. They must have at least three and at most five inexperienced players on the squad. Eighth-round pick Rickey Jones, a safety cut Monday, and 12th-round pick Kelvin Harris, a center released last week, are expected to be members of the squad.
