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Growing pains continue for young O-line
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_b48dbd47-ada9-594c-a288-d7fff6c22cf4.html
There are times when Jamon Brown and Rob Havenstein still feel like rookies. But as Havenstein points out, they’re well beyond the stage where they can use that as an excuse.
“Once you cross those white lines, you’ve gotta play like a guy who’s been there,”said Havenstein, a second-round pick from Wisconsin last spring. “I’m out here for a reason. They expect me to perform. I expect me to perform. My guys around me expect me to perform.”
Almost since the day they were drafted, the expectation was that Havenstein would be the team’s opening-day starter at right tackle and Brown would be an opening-day starter at guard on what would be the league’s most inexperienced offensive line.
For most of training camp and the preseason, Brown and Havenstein lined up side-by-side with Brown at right guard. Brown was subsequently switched to left guard where he has started the first five games of 2015.
“Obviously, I feel like I’ve grown a lot,” said Brown, a third-round pick out of Louisville. “But just looking back at the game we played against the Packers, watching that film let me know there’s still a lot more out there for me to learn. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I think it’s a good thing.”
The same can be said basically for the entire starting line. With the exception of Rodger Saffold, who’s now out for the season with a shoulder injury, the unit had little or no NFL experience entering the season.
It was anticipated, almost expected really, that the group would struggle early and have its share of ups and downs. That’s exactly what transpired over the first one-third of the season.
“They’re way ahead of where I thought they’d be in the run game,” coach Jeff Fisher said before the team’s long bye weekend. “I think we have some work to do in the pass game, just in subtle techniques.
“It’s not a matter of having mental errors and things like that. They know what to do. The group has to work together.”
After the Rams employed the same starting five throughout the first five games, Garrett Reynolds steps into the right guard spot in place of Saffold for Game 6 this Sunday against the visiting Cleveland Browns.
Largely because of injury, continuity has been a rare commodity for this unit under Fisher. From left to right, the Greg Robinson, Brown, Tim Barnes, Reynolds and Havenstein unit expected to start against Cleveland will be the 17th starting combination in the 53 games since Fisher began as Rams coach in 2012.
That averages out to roughly one new starting combination every three games, and that’s far from ideal.
The struggles of the O-line this season have been difficult to categorize, because it has been different players at different times, and different problem areas in different games. The Rams had a lot of difficulty run-blocking during the first three games, but things started to click in a big way the past two contests against Arizona and Green Bay.
Part of the reason for that obviously was the arrival of running back Todd Gurley in the lineup. But it goes beyond that because the unit does seem to be blocking better in the run game.
The Rams averaged 71.3 yards per game and 3.8 yards per carry in their opening three contests. In the past two games, it’s 177.5 yards per contest and 5.7 yards per carry. Gurley accounted for 305 of the 355 yards rushing against Arizona and Green Bay.
“I think we’re still pushing to kinda solidify our identity,” Brown said. “We’ve had some success in the run game. We have an incredible backfield in Todd Gurley, Tre Mason, and Benny (Cunningham).
“But for us, the goal is to continue to grow. So that’s a thing where we’re not getting content, or we’re not (satisfied) with what we’ve done. We’ve gotta keep pushing.”
Conversely, the unit did a decent job of pass-blocking in the first four games. Perhaps even better than decent, with Nick Foles sacked a modest six times for the season entering Green Bay. He was sacked three times at Lambeau Field, and hit — usually very hard — on nine other occasions.
All told, eight of Foles’ 19 incomplete passes in that game were throws that came nowhere near the intended receiver. Those eight were all cases where the pass trajectory was either disrupted or the ball was purposely thrown away because Foles was hit or scrambling on the play. In addition, Foles was hit on two of his career-high four interceptions, which affected the flight of the ball.
There was no one culprit when it came to allowing hits. A review of game film by the Post-Dispatch showed Robinson was the primary blocker on three of the hits, Saffold on 2½, Havenstein on 1½, and Brown and Reynolds on one apiece.
When it came to the three sacks allowed, they were even more split up, with Barnes, Reynolds, Mason, tight end Lance Kendricks, and fullback/tight end Cory Harkey all bearing some responsibility depending on the play.
Twisting and stunting by Green Bay defensive linemen and linebackers caused problems for the Rams’ young blockers, and it’s something they should expect to see from every opponent until they show they can block it better.
“Going into the preseason, when me and Rob were on the same side, we saw a lot of that early,” Brown said. “Obviously, splitting us up, putting us on two different sides, made it a little harder to kinda pinpoint us and pick us out.
“But we’ve still had our share of twists and games, different things that were thrown at us. And I think teams are gonna continue to do it because it’s the hardest thing to pick up. ... So we’re preparing for that obviously.”
Picking up those stunts and blitzes is a matter of technique, communication, and vision.
“The guys are doing great, they’re learning,” Reynolds said. “You know it takes a while to get used to who you’re playing next to, and that’s when you start seeing something special happening. You see little glimpses of it right now.”
More than glimpses are needed as the season progresses, in order for the offense to progress.
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_b48dbd47-ada9-594c-a288-d7fff6c22cf4.html
There are times when Jamon Brown and Rob Havenstein still feel like rookies. But as Havenstein points out, they’re well beyond the stage where they can use that as an excuse.
“Once you cross those white lines, you’ve gotta play like a guy who’s been there,”said Havenstein, a second-round pick from Wisconsin last spring. “I’m out here for a reason. They expect me to perform. I expect me to perform. My guys around me expect me to perform.”
Almost since the day they were drafted, the expectation was that Havenstein would be the team’s opening-day starter at right tackle and Brown would be an opening-day starter at guard on what would be the league’s most inexperienced offensive line.
For most of training camp and the preseason, Brown and Havenstein lined up side-by-side with Brown at right guard. Brown was subsequently switched to left guard where he has started the first five games of 2015.
“Obviously, I feel like I’ve grown a lot,” said Brown, a third-round pick out of Louisville. “But just looking back at the game we played against the Packers, watching that film let me know there’s still a lot more out there for me to learn. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I think it’s a good thing.”
The same can be said basically for the entire starting line. With the exception of Rodger Saffold, who’s now out for the season with a shoulder injury, the unit had little or no NFL experience entering the season.
It was anticipated, almost expected really, that the group would struggle early and have its share of ups and downs. That’s exactly what transpired over the first one-third of the season.
“They’re way ahead of where I thought they’d be in the run game,” coach Jeff Fisher said before the team’s long bye weekend. “I think we have some work to do in the pass game, just in subtle techniques.
“It’s not a matter of having mental errors and things like that. They know what to do. The group has to work together.”
After the Rams employed the same starting five throughout the first five games, Garrett Reynolds steps into the right guard spot in place of Saffold for Game 6 this Sunday against the visiting Cleveland Browns.
Largely because of injury, continuity has been a rare commodity for this unit under Fisher. From left to right, the Greg Robinson, Brown, Tim Barnes, Reynolds and Havenstein unit expected to start against Cleveland will be the 17th starting combination in the 53 games since Fisher began as Rams coach in 2012.
That averages out to roughly one new starting combination every three games, and that’s far from ideal.
The struggles of the O-line this season have been difficult to categorize, because it has been different players at different times, and different problem areas in different games. The Rams had a lot of difficulty run-blocking during the first three games, but things started to click in a big way the past two contests against Arizona and Green Bay.
Part of the reason for that obviously was the arrival of running back Todd Gurley in the lineup. But it goes beyond that because the unit does seem to be blocking better in the run game.
The Rams averaged 71.3 yards per game and 3.8 yards per carry in their opening three contests. In the past two games, it’s 177.5 yards per contest and 5.7 yards per carry. Gurley accounted for 305 of the 355 yards rushing against Arizona and Green Bay.
“I think we’re still pushing to kinda solidify our identity,” Brown said. “We’ve had some success in the run game. We have an incredible backfield in Todd Gurley, Tre Mason, and Benny (Cunningham).
“But for us, the goal is to continue to grow. So that’s a thing where we’re not getting content, or we’re not (satisfied) with what we’ve done. We’ve gotta keep pushing.”
Conversely, the unit did a decent job of pass-blocking in the first four games. Perhaps even better than decent, with Nick Foles sacked a modest six times for the season entering Green Bay. He was sacked three times at Lambeau Field, and hit — usually very hard — on nine other occasions.
All told, eight of Foles’ 19 incomplete passes in that game were throws that came nowhere near the intended receiver. Those eight were all cases where the pass trajectory was either disrupted or the ball was purposely thrown away because Foles was hit or scrambling on the play. In addition, Foles was hit on two of his career-high four interceptions, which affected the flight of the ball.
There was no one culprit when it came to allowing hits. A review of game film by the Post-Dispatch showed Robinson was the primary blocker on three of the hits, Saffold on 2½, Havenstein on 1½, and Brown and Reynolds on one apiece.
When it came to the three sacks allowed, they were even more split up, with Barnes, Reynolds, Mason, tight end Lance Kendricks, and fullback/tight end Cory Harkey all bearing some responsibility depending on the play.
Twisting and stunting by Green Bay defensive linemen and linebackers caused problems for the Rams’ young blockers, and it’s something they should expect to see from every opponent until they show they can block it better.
“Going into the preseason, when me and Rob were on the same side, we saw a lot of that early,” Brown said. “Obviously, splitting us up, putting us on two different sides, made it a little harder to kinda pinpoint us and pick us out.
“But we’ve still had our share of twists and games, different things that were thrown at us. And I think teams are gonna continue to do it because it’s the hardest thing to pick up. ... So we’re preparing for that obviously.”
Picking up those stunts and blitzes is a matter of technique, communication, and vision.
“The guys are doing great, they’re learning,” Reynolds said. “You know it takes a while to get used to who you’re playing next to, and that’s when you start seeing something special happening. You see little glimpses of it right now.”
More than glimpses are needed as the season progresses, in order for the offense to progress.