Offensive Depth Chart

[Merlin]

No pun intended on the title, although maybe there should have been. Either way this season is about wrapped up now so wanted to take a quick spin through the offensive depth and see what it looks like. Here goes...

Key
Elite
Above Average
Average
Below Average / Unproven
Not Good Enough
Cut
(Cap hit or FA status for 2020 is in parenthesis)

Offense

WR: Kupp ($1.1M); Webster (ERFA)
WR: Woods ($9.1M); Reynolds ($.8M)
WR: Cooks ($16.8M with a potential out in 2021 that brings $13M cap hit); Thomas (UFA)

LT: Whitworth (UFA); Brewer ($.5M)
LG: Corbett ($1.1M); Noteboom ($.9M)
C: Blythe (UFA); Shelton (ERFA); Allen ($.8M)
RG: Edwards ($.6M); Demby ($.6M)
RT: Evans ($.8M); Havenstein ($7.8M, dead cap drops to $1.6M after 2020 season)

TE1: Higbee ($8.6M); Mundt (ERFA)
TE2: Everett ($1.9M); Blanton (ERFA)

QB: Goff ($36M); Bortles (UFA)
RB: Gurley ($17.2M); Brown ($1.1M); Henderson ($.9M)

Offensive summary:

Right out the gate it's clear that the slip in Cooks' play has hurt this team. Not only has his play completely degraded, but he is paid very well. Paired with him in the paid well but not producing at the level of previous season are Goff & Gurley. I realize some are going to disagree on where I ranked these guys on the key, but I think the OL deficiencies give both Goff (who needs to work on mechanics this offseason Jesus) and Gurley (who has dipped from an elite player to a plus runner) the benefit of the doubt, i.e. both will be above average IF the Rams fix the line.

Second thing that is noticeable is the lack of talent on the offensive line. Edwards & Evans might both become above average next season and I think at least one of them will, but for now they're average for roster planning purposes. Whit as above average is iffy, however he is still better than that midrange group so that's why he is in blue even though we all understand his UFA status and age make it difficult to think he is retained when the line needs more talent. Rams don't have draft capital to go get everything they need, so I would think they try to bring in a FA to settle this group down that isn't on the verge of his play dropping off a cliff (which is Whit's problem).

Now I know some will call me a hater with Brown being below average. But the deal here is he's not a guy we can count on as a primary backup. That's clear now after two seasons in a row and a sizable element in our struggles this season.

Offensive need list is as I see it...

1. (Starter) LT.
2. (Starter) C.
3. (Depth) RB.
4. (Depth) QB.

Curious how you guys are seeing things am I being a jerk here?

 

[Riverumbbq]

I've been clear about wanting more beef on the OL, so what I wish for 2020 remains the same as earlier stated. Draft an OT early and a Center during the later rounds & re-sign Whitworth for one last and final season while Noteboom rehabs, then trade Havenstein while he has some value :

Trade Havenstein for a 3'rd round pick which is then used on OT Lucas Niang.

LT) Whitworth, Niang, (Noteboom)
LG) Edwards, Corbett, Trewyn
C) Corbett, Allen, Trewyn
RG) Brewer, Trewyn, Edwards
RT) Evans, Brewer, (Noteboom)

Noteboom is the 9'th man on the OL who will likely return mid-season 2020 from injury to battle for the swing OT position with Niang, then fight with Niang over the starting LT role during the 2021 pre-season following the departure of Whitworth to retirement.

Not much reason to debate or fuss much over Malcolm Brown, he only has a $50,000. dead money hit for next season, so it could go either way, but he will cost $1.mil less against our CAP next year if we do retain him, so I think we should, especially considering our limited number of draft picks for 2020. Henderson should displace him though as our #2.

At QB, the whole Bortles acquisition was a waste of time and effort, we should have just hung on to Brandon Allen as our #2. Bortles was a bargain because his old team picked up the freight on his salary, but he'll be off next year and getting paid by some needy team and we'll be without both he & Allen. Still, i'm not going to lose sleep over it as I did like how Wolford looked this pre-season.

This discussion over Cooks is going to have to be placed on the back-burner imo, it's just not practical to think of him as trade potential or as a CAP Casualty considering the huge dead money hit our CAP would have to absorb, so he's back in 2020 although with a good shot of playing elsewhere in 2021 when we start having to pay for Kupp, Ramsey, JJ3 & Everett.

Outside of Bortles, Thomas & Blythe leaving as free agents, the only other offensive personnel changes I can foresee for next year are on the OL.
On the other hand, I won't be one bit shocked to see Fowler, Littleton, Brockers, Weddle, Robey-Coleman, Hager & Tanzel Smart hitting the pavement following this season.
As always, JMO.

 

[Pancake]

Got a lot of elite money going to above average talent and Cooks the biggest waste of all. Wonder what kind of OL the Rams could have with that wasted cap space. The only big contract their I like at this point is Woods. He's a player who consistently shows up. Higbee has been coming on strong but not $8.6 mil strong. At least his arrow is pointing up though.

I like your needs list except maybe RB at #3. I only say that because barring injury why even have a 2nd RB on this team? Feels like the #2 RB gets 20 carries a year. If that's all McVay is going to use #2 might as well drop it to near last on the list. I almost can't even talk about RB or the running game without feeling a vent coming on.....

 

[RamsInfiniti]

No pun intended on the title, although maybe there should have been. Either way this season is about wrapped up now so wanted to take a quick spin through the offensive depth and see what it looks like. Here goes...

Key
Elite
Above Average
Average
Below Average / Unproven
Not Good Enough
Cut
(Cap hit or FA status for 2020 is in parenthesis)

Offense

WR: Kupp ($1.1M); Webster (ERFA)
WR: Woods ($9.1M); Reynolds ($.8M)
WR: Cooks ($16.8M with a potential out in 2021 that brings $13M cap hit); Thomas (UFA)

LT: Whitworth (UFA); Brewer ($.5M)
LG: Corbett ($1.1M); Noteboom ($.9M)
C: Blythe (UFA); Shelton (ERFA); Allen ($.8M)
RG: Edwards ($.6M); Demby ($.6M)
RT: Evans ($.8M); Havenstein ($7.8M, dead cap drops to $1.6M after 2020 season)

TE1: Higbee ($8.6M); Mundt (ERFA)
TE2: Everett ($1.9M); Blanton (ERFA)

QB: Goff ($36M); Bortles (UFA)
RB: Gurley ($17.2M); Brown ($1.1M); Henderson ($.9M)

Offensive summary:

Right out the gate it's clear that the slip in Cooks' play has hurt this team. Not only has his play completely degraded, but he is paid very well. Paired with him in the paid well but not producing at the level of previous season are Goff & Gurley. I realize some are going to disagree on where I ranked these guys on the key, but I think the OL deficiencies give both Goff (who needs to work on mechanics this offseason Jesus) and Gurley (who has dipped from an elite player to a plus runner) the benefit of the doubt, i.e. both will be above average IF the Rams fix the line.

Second thing that is noticeable is the lack of talent on the offensive line. Edwards & Evans might both become above average next season and I think at least one of them will, but for now they're average for roster planning purposes. Whit as above average is iffy, however he is still better than that midrange group so that's why he is in blue even though we all understand his UFA status and age make it difficult to think he is retained when the line needs more talent. Rams don't have draft capital to go get everything they need, so I would think they try to bring in a FA to settle this group down that isn't on the verge of his play dropping off a cliff (which is Whit's problem).

Now I know some will call me a hater with Brown being below average. But the deal here is he's not a guy we can count on as a primary backup. That's clear now after two seasons in a row and a sizable element in our struggles this season.

Offensive need list is as I see it...

1. (Starter) LT.
2. (Starter) C.
3. (Depth) RB.
4. (Depth) QB.

Curious how you guys are seeing things am I being a jerk here?

Surprised that you view Higbee as only AVERAGE.

 

[Merlin]

Got a lot of elite money going to above average talent and Cooks the biggest waste of all. Wonder what kind of OL the Rams could have with that wasted cap space. The only big contract their I like at this point is Woods. He's a player who consistently shows up. Higbee has been coming on strong but not $8.6 mil strong. At least his arrow is pointing up though.

I like your needs list except maybe RB at #3. I only say that because barring injury why even have a 2nd RB on this team? Feels like the #2 RB gets 20 carries a year. If that's all McVay is going to use #2 might as well drop it to near last on the list. I almost can't even talk about RB or the running game without feeling a vent coming on.....

I think the Rams spent the first half of the season trying to get Brown or Hendy rolling so that they could use Gurley in a partial role. His carry count was clearly 15. So the goal was probably 10 to 15 carries with the other two, which probably sounded doable prior to the season.

The run game is going to be critical. So will they stand pat with a repaired OL only? I'm not so sure which is why I included the RB depth as a need. And btw I really like Hendy, but for planning we don't know what the Rams know about these guys and just going off of production they need to be looking at that depth chart.

Btw this RB group in the 2020 draft is very good. Rams have more needs than early picks, though, so it's going to be interesting how they use FA to remove the biggest needs.

 

[Merlin]

Surprised that you view Higbee as only AVERAGE.

He's probably above average right now yeah. But there's a lot of guys who don't exactly fit on that scale and I didn't want to get too crazy with too many categories.

And btw I'm good with his contract for what I think we're going to get next season.

 

[Merlin]

I've been clear about wanting more beef on the OL, so what I wish for 2020 remains the same as earlier stated. Draft an OT early and a Center during the later rounds & re-sign Whitworth for one last and final season while Noteboom rehabs, then trade Havenstein while he has some value :

Trade Havenstein for a 3'rd round pick which is then used on OT Lucas Niang.

LT) Whitworth, Niang, (Noteboom)
LG) Edwards, Corbett, Trewyn
C) Corbett, Allen, Trewyn
RG) Brewer, Trewyn, Edwards
RT) Evans, Brewer, (Noteboom)

Noteboom is the 9'th man on the OL who will likely return mid-season 2020 from injury to battle for the swing OT position with Niang, then fight with Niang over the starting LT role during the 2021 pre-season following the departure of Whitworth to retirement.

Not much reason to debate or fuss much over Malcolm Brown, he only has a $50,000. dead money hit for next season, so it could go either way, but he will cost $1.mil less against our CAP next year if we do retain him, so I think we should, especially considering our limited number of draft picks for 2020. Henderson should displace him though as our #2.

At QB, the whole Bortles acquisition was a waste of time and effort, we should have just hung on to Brandon Allen as our #2. Bortles was a bargain because his old team picked up the freight on his salary, but he'll be off next year and getting paid by some needy team and we'll be without both he & Allen. Still, i'm not going to lose sleep over it as I did like how Wolford looked this pre-season.

This discussion over Cooks is going to have to be placed on the back-burner imo, it's just not practical to think of him as trade potential or as a CAP Casualty considering the huge dead money hit our CAP would have to absorb, so he's back in 2020 although with a good shot of playing elsewhere in 2021 when we start having to pay for Kupp, Ramsey, JJ3 & Everett.

Outside of Bortles, Thomas & Blythe leaving as free agents, the only other offensive personnel changes I can foresee for next year are on the OL.
On the other hand, I won't be one bit shocked to see Fowler, Littleton, Brockers, Weddle, Robey-Coleman, Hager & Tanzel Smart hitting the pavement following this season.
As always, JMO.

Well first off re: the bad contracts which are Gurley and Cooks yes it's a waiting game. Neither can really be moved this offseason but have to include them in the overall look at the roster. At this point the best thing the Rams can do is make the team around them better and hope they rebound a bit. And yeah no point in getting all into Goff since him not living up to that contract would be a catastrophe so they have no choice but to rebuild around him (I still think he can be the guy we need btw).

What I found illuminating about the exercise is that we have a lot of average on the roster. But of course they don't have a choice other than hoping a lot of these guys take big steps forward with some OL improvement in the offseason.

I don't see us getting a third rounder for Havenstein btw. If the Rams put him on the market other teams are going to use what it is (an attempted salary dump) against them in trade discussions. And it's not like teams are going to be beating the door down to snap him up.

It wouldn't surprise me if the Rams drafted a Center they like and maybe in round 2 if one's there, worked out an affordable deal for Whit to go one more year, and move forward with the pieces they have on the line. I hope that's not the case (I want a big FA addition on the interior) but have prepared myself for that type of approach.

Best case is Castonzo hits the market and the Rams go get him. But could they win that bidding war? Probably not. And chances are he won't hit the market anyway. It's ugly man.

IMO the most likely is we get Scherff, and if that happens Hav gets dealt for cap relief and Whit would need to accept a very affordable team deal.

 

[thirteen28]

No classification for Everett? The black font doesn't fall within any of the categories.

As for Higbee, if he continues playing the way he has of late, you're definitely going to have to move him up. He's been a good blocker for a long time, and the light seems to have gone on for him as a receiver.

 

[Merlin]

No classification for Everett? The black font doesn't fall within any of the categories.

As for Higbee, if he continues playing the way he has of late, you're definitely going to have to move him up. He's been a good blocker for a long time, and the light seems to have gone on for him as a receiver.

Yeah meant to put him in green but the edit timed out. Both him and Higs represent potential for big things next year though no doubt.

 

[thirteen28]

Yeah meant to put him in green but the edit timed out. Both him and Higs represent potential for big things next year though no doubt.

Thanks for the update. At this point I think Higs is definitely more of a complete TE due to his blocking. Everett is a better athlete and probably has a greater upside. Would love if he could put it all together with the way Higs is doing, man what a dynamic duo that would be.

 

[PhillyRam]

I've been clear about wanting more beef on the OL, so what I wish for 2020 remains the same as earlier stated. Draft an OT early and a Center during the later rounds & re-sign Whitworth for one last and final season while Noteboom rehabs, then trade Havenstein while he has some value :

Trade Havenstein for a 3'rd round pick which is then used on OT Lucas Niang.

LT) Whitworth, Niang, (Noteboom)
LG) Edwards, Corbett, Trewyn
C) Corbett, Allen, Trewyn
RG) Brewer, Trewyn, Edwards
RT) Evans, Brewer, (Noteboom)

Noteboom is the 9'th man on the OL who will likely return mid-season 2020 from injury to battle for the swing OT position with Niang, then fight with Niang over the starting LT role during the 2021 pre-season following the departure of Whitworth to retirement.

Not much reason to debate or fuss much over Malcolm Brown, he only has a $50,000. dead money hit for next season, so it could go either way, but he will cost $1.mil less against our CAP next year if we do retain him, so I think we should, especially considering our limited number of draft picks for 2020. Henderson should displace him though as our #2.

At QB, the whole Bortles acquisition was a waste of time and effort, we should have just hung on to Brandon Allen as our #2. Bortles was a bargain because his old team picked up the freight on his salary, but he'll be off next year and getting paid by some needy team and we'll be without both he & Allen. Still, i'm not going to lose sleep over it as I did like how Wolford looked this pre-season.

This discussion over Cooks is going to have to be placed on the back-burner imo, it's just not practical to think of him as trade potential or as a CAP Casualty considering the huge dead money hit our CAP would have to absorb, so he's back in 2020 although with a good shot of playing elsewhere in 2021 when we start having to pay for Kupp, Ramsey, JJ3 & Everett.

Outside of Bortles, Thomas & Blythe leaving as free agents, the only other offensive personnel changes I can foresee for next year are on the OL.
On the other hand, I won't be one bit shocked to see Fowler, Littleton, Brockers, Weddle, Robey-Coleman, Hager & Tanzel Smart hitting the pavement following this season.
As always, JMO.

If Thomas gets little interest, I would like him back on a min deal just for his STs duties. Not sure if you guys have noticed, but he is a beast on STs.

 

[PhillyRam]

They need to add a FB or HB. Maybe that can be Everett? Or just draft a guy late.

Either way, they need to add that type of player since that is one way to help your OL.

 

[Merlin]

They need to add a FB or HB. Maybe that can be Everett? Or just draft a guy late.

Either way, they need to add that type of player since that is one way to help your OL.

A fullback who could mash when we need to line it up and have a physical ball carrier would be nice too. But of course I don't think that's what the Rams want. They'd probably go for someone who can catch it moreso.

Deep RB draft though so who knows. Might see us add a power option mid to late rounds which would make me happy.