LA Rams 2017 "Offensive Personnel"

[JKBOGEN]

Holy hell this is amazing dude!

 

[BonifayRam]

I think The Rams go short on O'lineman on 53 & keep a nice set on the practice squad as Kromer develops them.

Might be right.....Kromer appears set @ 3 OL posts.....has Donnal who has played four OL positions the first two seasons...has Brown who has started @ both OG posts & now is the leading prospect @ RT that's 3 posts in his first 2 seasons.....has Wichmann who ended up as the starting OG @ two OG posts his first 2 seasons...has Havenstein who is slated to start @ RG after 2 seasons @ RT.....so Kromer has four 3rd yr OL'ers to fight it out for the 2 less settled OL posts leaving 2 versatile OL'ers as reliefs. Throw in 2 second season OL'ers Murphy who looks to swing between both OT posts & center Blythe who was a 4 yr starter who played center and both guard spots.

Kromer could easily go with the 9 OL'ers I mentioned above. When you analyze what that 9 has in versatility & youth mixed in with experience .......I am just fine with it . Then sign rookie UDFA's Eldrenkamp & Dunn to the Practice Squad for as you said development. I would use that extra spot for an extra boundary corner that gets cut from the better secondaries just before the regular seasons starts.

 

[So Ram]

Might be right.....Kromer appears set @ 3 OL posts.....has Donnal who has played four OL positions the first two seasons...has Brown who has started @ both OG posts & now is the leading prospect @ RT that's 3 posts in his first 2 seasons.....has Wichmann who ended up as the starting OG @ two OG posts his first 2 seasons...has Havenstein who is slated to start @ RG after 2 seasons @ RT.....so Kromer has four 3rd yr OL'ers to fight it out for the 2 less settled OL posts leaving 2 versatile OL'ers as reliefs. Throw in 2 second season OL'ers Murphy who looks to swing between both OT posts & center Blythe who was a 4 yr starter who played center and both guard spots.

Kromer could easily go with the 9 OL'ers I mentioned above. When you analyze what that 9 has in versatility & youth mixed in with experience .......I am just fine with it . Then sign rookie UDFA's Eldrenkamp & Dunn to the Practice Squad for as you said development. I would use that extra spot for an extra boundary corner that gets cut from the better secondaries just before the regular seasons starts.

I think The Rams have enough DB's , they just need to see who steps up. If not then yes it was a huge hole last season.
-- I know I'm still on EJ Gaines side of it. I think he will comepete for playing time. Special teams was a big part of his game his rookie year before taking over for Tru Johnson & actually messed with the front offices mind. He got injured at the being of OTA's.Last year before that Kenny Britt tangle up he started holding his own again. -- Last year was a disappointment, but Inthink he was playing hurt because of the need at CB.
That is a position you don't want to have bad wheels of any kind. -- that goes back to the Jason Seahorn days. You don't see many like him at the position.

 

[Dodgersrf]

Great work @Florida_Ram (and a ton of it). Another, of many, great posts.

Oline.
I'm really looking forward to seeing Saffold play between a good C and LT. Having solid play on both sides of him may improve his play even further. I really am crossing my fingers that Sullivan can hold up.
Moving Hav to guard made sence when Grob was penciled in at RT, but will they really swap Hav and Brown? What does Kromer see that Boo didn't? Hav showed a ton of potential as a rookie at RT. As far as Brown goes, he needs to stay healthy. We heard rumblings of "Pro Bowler" in his rookie training camp.

WR
I really liked the signing of Woods. A guy with drive and determination to bring to a table of underachievers. A ton of youth at this position after Woods and Austin. That 6th spot between Spruce and Thomas is intriguing. Or will someone like Cooper take a fall.
Maybe we go with 7 to start the season.

TE
Higbee or Everett as the guy. I say both.
Hemingway is a guy that has to show something. We are again, very young at this position. Can we see a scenario where he gets cut because a veteran TE becomes available? This is an important position in McVays Offense.
Harkey is a guy that I really like watching. He's a mauler that just has fun.
With the addition af Sam Rodgers, do we keep 4 TE or do we go with 3. If we keep 7 WR's, I can't see us keeping 4 TE, But who knows?

RB.
I'm very comfortable with Brown and Green playing in spot duty or even bigger roles if the unthinkable happens to Gurley and Dunbar. I really wish we could have kept Benny instead of Dunbar. Benny has been solid, durable and versatile.

QB
It's all about Goff, Goff and more Goff. He's going top be good. I'm actually going into the season as this being his rookie year. I am happy, that it appears we will have some year to year structure and continuity for the kid. (Something Bradford never had with us) Good and bad. The kid needs to play without having to look over his shoulder. I don't buy into the reports that Mannion will take over if Goff struggles.
Mannion is still an unknown to me. From everything I've heard, he's a very intelligent player. Some are critical do to his lack of athleticism. Which is fair to do. I prefer tough and smart in my QB.
Do we keep 3? I doubt it.

 

[LACHAMP46]

At 31 years of age, McVay's youth has been scrutinized due to the responsibilities required of an NFL head coach. Even with the addition of Wade Phillips and the other seasoned coaches added to his staff, McVay will be floating over uncharted rough waters that a first time HC can only learn how to steer to calmer seas by acquiring on the job experience.

In his first season on the job, the Rams new head coach will also have the play calling duties on game days.

LaFleur said Goff had been coming in to the facility early and staying late in an effort to learn.

“When you get a new guy in an offense, there is a transition period with that,” LaFleur said, “but he’s done a nice job at picking it up at a surprisingly quick pace.”

“The idea is to kind of have that quarterback be a point guard and be a great distributor to all your guys,” McVay said. “You want to be able to get them touches and get them involved.”

https://sports.yahoo.com/sean-mcvay-doesnt-time-rams-suck-190918393.html

IRVINE, Calif. — Sean McVay had three hours. Stashed away by the Los Angeles Rams in a hotel room – after a first job interview for their vacant head coaching job had gone into overtime – he was given a little time to kill before an on-the-fly meeting with quarterback Jared Goff.

Hitting the pool was an option. Maybe have a little snack or some coffee. Even a nap wasn’t out of the question after a rigorous interview with the Rams’ brain trust. Instead, McVay reacted in his typical fashion. He went to his room, pulled out his computer and queued up all of his Washington Redskins film. Three hours later, he had created an entire tutorial. We’re talking slides, concepts, film – a crash course on offensive design that could probably be taught in every NFL quarterback room next season. “We just wanted him to have a little get-to-know-you meeting with Jared,” general manager Les Snead recalled later. “Just get a feel for each other.”

What Goff ended up getting was a three-credit course on how the Rams’ offense would function around him. And what McVay ultimately got was a job.

This is how you become the youngest coach in the history of the NFL. You take a meeting where the Rams assumed you’d likely be a year or two away from being ready, and you force them to pencil you into a second interview within the first 30 minutes. You leave them so spellbound that they ask you to stay one extra night and then stash you in a hotel until they can track down their presumptive franchise quarterback for a meeting. And when the Rams tell you to relax for a few hours before meeting Goff, you pull out your laptop and crank out an entire offensive tutorial for him.

If there’s any question about whether Jared Goff can make positive strides in the NFL next season, Sean McVay isn’t wasting any time finding the answers. And he started before he even landed the Rams job – in that very first encounter – a meeting that wasn’t just about teaching an offense, but also about seeing whether Goff was going to take responsibility for some of the failures in his rookie season.

“I wanted to see if this was a guy who lost some confidence. I also wanted to see if he took the accountability or he kind of looked to play the blame game,” McVay recalled recently. “… The tendency is, when things don’t go well, a lot of people decide when there’s not people around to hear them say it – they blame their coaches or teammates or whatever it is. There’s a lot of people who deflect blame instead of taking accountability and ownership.

“He took the blame.”

New Rams head coach Sean McVay works with second-year quarterback Jared Goff. (AP)
There are already a million stories out there about McVay and Goff and where this Rams franchise is going. Most of them orbit around some prodigal chestnut – how McVay became the youngest coach in NFL history at 30 years old; or how the 22-year old Goff is slated to be the youngest starting quarterback in the NFL when the season starts. But of all the tales that tie them together, that first meeting might be the most poignant, because it represents the bottom-line, no-screwing-around attitude that has settled in.

Simply put, if Goff is the real deal, McVay is going to make that evident this season. Not in 2018. Not in 2019 or beyond. The growth and signs of development have to start now. Long-term plans are great – and Goff is still framed in that light – but the upward trajectory is expected to start taking shape immediately, if not back in that first January meeting. Whatever the quarterback expectations are from the fan base, they won’t exceed McVay’s designs or aspirations.

“Peyton [Manning] and Tom [Brady], in terms of just their motivation – and you hear some stories about Drew Brees – those guys are maniacal in their approach,” said McVay, now 31. “That’s why they are who they are, man. They’re not [screwing] around.”

That's what I'm talking about.....

Great read @Florida_Ram

I like the left side of the O-Line...the right side....hmmmmm....I will always wonder was Everett & Kupp the way to go, or say, Zay Jones/JuJu and Jake Butt????? We shall see. Hemingway could be a secret weapon. Tavon Austin....oh brother...

Gurley is still the stud in this group...followed by Higbee

 

[Dodgersrf]

I like the left side of the O-Line...the right side....hmmmmm....I will always wonder was Everett & Kupp the way to go, or say, Zay Jones/JuJu and Jake Butt?????

The Right side will be interesting.
As far as the draft.....Both those options look good. I hope we got it right.

 

[BonifayRam]

Great work @Florida_Ram (and a ton of it). Another, of many, great posts.
Oline.
I'm really looking forward to seeing Saffold play between a good C and LT. Having solid play on both sides of him may improve his play even further. I really am crossing my fingers that Sullivan can hold up.
Moving Hav to guard made sence when Grob was penciled in at RT, but will they really swap Hav and Brown? What does Kromer see that Boo didn't? Hav showed a ton of potential as a rookie at RT. As far as Brown goes, he needs to stay healthy. We heard rumblings of "Pro Bowler" in his rookie training camp.

I agree fully left side OL should Rock:rockon:. On Sully might want to cross yur toes too.

Now on to your big question on Rob Havenstein.....If you listed the top 5 negative skills & talents that Rob has...all would fall in the Pass Blocking area. If you flipped that & listed the best you would see all on the list would be run blocking talents. Bottom line Rob Havenstein struggled in the pass-blocking one-on-ones most all the time & if slightly injured his pass blocking suffered first. We all got a belly full from what we saw that last season when Rob was injured. Rob was Unhealthy for the entire 2016 season & should have been IR'd when the regular season began.

In the past for many seasons Rob was the Badgers' most effective run-blocker playing RT & opened a ton of holes for Gordan the other LA team's top RB. Rob has some serious drive-blocking ability. Rob can swallow up large DL'ers on a regular basis. Rob has been for a long time a lumbering road grader when used on run-heavy offense. Boudreau might have pondered utilizing Rob @ RG but the fact was Rob was weak for an interior 6-8 325 pound OL'er as a rookie. But its new season & yrs away from that time. Rob has refurbished & rebuilt his physicality.

Kromer changed the exterior OT blocking schemes that would have been even more detrimental to Rob's pass blocking & overall performance @ the RT. Rob's athleticism does not fit in well with Kromer's scheme @ the OT position. Since Rob has improved his power & strength (since early 2015) along with the new inside blocking scheme Kromer felt that RG was the place for him to work from in his new OL.

 

[Florida_Ram]

@Dodgersrf said

Oline. I'm really looking forward to seeing Saffold play between a good C and LT. Having solid play on both sides of him may improve his play even further. I really am crossing my fingers that Sullivan can hold up.

Moving Hav to guard made sence when Grob was penciled in at RT, but will they really swap Hav and Brown? What does Kromer see that Boo didn't? Hav showed a ton of potential as a rookie at RT. As far as Brown goes, he needs to stay healthy. We heard rumblings of "Pro Bowler" in his rookie training camp.

Yes sir, Saffold playing between a pro bowl tackle and former pro bowl center could set up him up for his best season in a long time.

WR I really liked the signing of Woods. A guy with drive and determination to bring to a table of underachievers. A ton of youth at this position after Woods and Austin. That 6th spot between Spruce and Thomas is intriguing. Or will someone like Cooper take a fall. Maybe we go with 7 to start the season.

No dispute here... when you factor in Special Teams value, a 7th WR is very possible to make the 53 even if he's rarely in the mix to get targets as a WR.

TE Higbee or Everett as the guy. I say both. Hemingway is a guy that has to show something. We are again, very young at this position. Can we see a scenario where he gets cut because a veteran TE becomes available? This is an important position in McVays Offense. Harkey is a guy that I really like watching.

He's a mauler that just has fun.
With the addition af Sam Rodgers, do we keep 4 TE or do we go with 3. If we keep 7 WR's, I can't see us keeping 4 TE, But who knows?

I might have too high of expectations for last years raw TE Mr. Hemingway. He keeps showing up on my sleeper radar as being a contributor this year but he's also a boom/bust type so I could easily be way off.

RB. I'm very comfortable with Brown and Green playing in spot duty or even bigger roles if the unthinkable happens to Gurley and Dunbar. I really wish we could have kept Benny instead of Dunbar. Benny has been solid, durable and versatile.

Aaron Green on paper is a younger version of Lance Dunbar but both of them (due to their size) could be fragile scat back pass catchers out of the backfield. I'm glad we have Green for insurance in case Dunbar has some hiccups when the final cuts come.

QB It's all about Goff, Goff and more Goff. He's going top be good. I'm actually going into the season as this being his rookie year. I am happy, that it appears we will have some year to year structure and continuity for the kid. (Something Bradford never had with us) Good and bad. The kid needs to play without having to look over his shoulder. I don't buy into the reports that Mannion will take over if Goff struggles. Mannion is still an unknown to me. From everything I've heard, he's a very intelligent player. Some are critical do to his lack of athleticism. Which is fair to do. I prefer tough and smart in my QB.
Do we keep 3? I doubt it.

Nothing else to elaborate on here... We fly with Goff or we crash hard with him and and pass the baton to Mannion..

Good stuff @Dodgersrf , you always have mellow and solid perspective with your personal view of Rams insight.

 

[Florida_Ram]

Simply put, if Goff is the real deal, McVay is going to make that evident this season. Not in 2018. Not in 2019 or beyond. The growth and signs of development have to start now. Long-term plans are great – and Goff is still framed in that light – but the upward trajectory is expected to start taking shape immediately, if not back in that first January meeting. Whatever the quarterback expectations are from the fan base, they won’t exceed McVay’s designs or aspirations.

I can't disagree here CHAMP. McVay will not let Goff hold him back in 2018 if he only performs marginally better than he did in 2016. If coach doesn't believe in him after the 2017 season ends, he will get a new qb in free agency and probably jump on one the 2018 draft. Of course I think he's got the right man for the job but opinions often times are like guesses and nobody can guarantee a guess or we would all be rich beyond our means.

 

[Dodgersrf]

I might have too high of expectations for last years raw TE Mr. Hemingway. He keeps showing up on my sleeper radar as being a contributor this year but he's also a boom/bust type so I could easily be way off.

I hope he has a strong camp. The youth of this TE group may be a disadvantage for a guy like Hemingway. He makes more sense playing behind a proven veteran on a team that has the luxury of waiting for him to develop. I've always liked a mix of youth and proven talent in any group. Player / Coaches can shorten the learning curve on the young guys.

I would like to keep him if at all possible.

Again, great stuff as always Florida