Rams free-agent preview: Offensive line: Wagoner

[RamBill]

Rams free-agent preview: Offensive line
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/6527/rams-free-agent-preview-offensive-line

The free-agent market is scheduled to begin March 11 and teams may begin negotiations with those poised to hit the market beginning March 8. We'll count down to that with a position-by-position look at what the Rams have in place, who is set to hit the market, what they might need and who might fit the bill.

In place: It's no secret the Rams have some potential moving parts on the offensive line heading into free agency but things are beginning to crystallize before the market opens on March 11. Among the players who started most of 2013, left tackle Jake Long, right tackle Joe Barksdale and center Scott Wells are still in place.

Long is recovering from a knee injury and his status for the first week is up in the air though the Rams remain optimistic he'll be ready for the opener. Barksdale had a solid season though he's scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent next year. Wells has long been considered a potential cap casualty but the larger-than-expected salary cap makes it more likely he'll stick around.

The biggest question here centers on guard Harvey Dahl, who carries a $4 million salary-cap number into next season and is coming off another season-ending injury. The Rams could make a move to create space now or see how other things play out before making a decision.

Beyond that quartet, the Rams have youngsters such as Brandon Washington, Barrett Jones and Mike Person whom they have been grooming in hopes they'll step in to help at some point. Center Tim Barnes started a few games at the end of the year in Wells' place and should be back to compete again.

Pending free agents: Rodger Saffold, Chris Williams, Shelley Smith, Barnes (exclusive rights/already tendered)

What's needed: The Rams' offensive line as a whole outperformed its individual pieces in 2013. A lot of the credit for that should go to offensive line coach Paul Boudreau. The Rams' presumptive starting five from the beginning of the year played just 295 of the team's 968 snaps together last season, checking in just above 30 percent. Only three other units around the league spent less time together on the field.

The thing about the missed time is that it was expected. The Rams entered the year with a veteran but injury-prone group and it lived up to that billing. That's what makes the offensive line the team's top priority heading into the offseason. They need to get younger and more talented so they can finally have a group that sticks together awhile without having some sort of major makeover every offseason.

Beyond that, the Rams want to be a physical, run-first offense in a division loaded with fearsome front sevens. They do just fine with Boudreau maximizing lesser talents but if they want to reach the next level, it makes sense to give him something better than regular old clay to work with.

In terms of specifics, the Rams could use help at both guard spots and a top-tier tackle who could start on the right side and become Long's future replacement.

Possible fits: The best in-house fit is Saffold. The Rams really want to bring him back but they're going to have a lot of competition. Bringing Saffold back would cure a lot of what ails the offensive line. He'd be the long-term option at guard and provide solid depth at tackle. That wouldn't mean they could just skip over the line in the draft but it would lessen the need. Coach Jeff Fisher has also said he'd like to bring Chris Williams back and that could make sense so long as he's cheap depth and not expected to be a starter. Some also are high on the potential of Smith, though I don't see it after watching him struggle against some of the league's better fronts. If Saffold departs, the Rams could look to spend some money on a veteran guard such as Denver's Zane Beadles or Kansas City's Jon Asamoah or Geoff Schwartz. The market for linemen doesn't look very strong, though.

Verdict: One way or another, the Rams are going to make some changes or moves along the offensive line. I tend to doubt Dahl will return though if Saffold leaves, maybe the Rams allow him to play the final year of his contract. Everything that happens here will depend on Saffold but I do expect the Rams to bring back at least one from the group of Saffold, Williams and Smith. When all is said and done, it would be a surprise if the Rams don't spend at least some free-agent money and draft capital addressing the offensive line.

 

[Prime Time]

Measuring Beyond Girth
Offensive linemen are overlooked by everyone except the coaches who grade them each week—and those marks are the difference between lasting in the NFL and finding a new career. For wide bodies, there’s little room for error

By Ross Tucker

Offensive linemen are football’s forgotten men. They sometimes work on an island, trying to stop rabid pass rushers one-on-one, while other times they’re cogs in complex schemes that demand perfect spacing and precision timing. No matter the assignment, they always toil in anonymity—unless, of course, they make a glaring mistake.

Aside from punters, offensive linemen are the only ones who aren’t represented in fantasy football. In real life, their performance is typically gauged by negative metrics: sacks allowed and penalties committed. Formulas such as the New York Life Protection Index and The MMQB’s Pressure Points depict how an entire line is playing, but there’s no sortable ranking on any mainstream pro football website that gives you a snapshot of, say, how a team’s right guard is playing.

But what if I told you that the only players who lack relevant statistics are actually the most scrutinized and harshly graded players on the field? And what if I told you that most front office executives and scouts typically know less about offensive line play than any other position? It’s a scary thought for veteran free agents such as Willie Colon, who spent his first seven seasons in Pittsburgh before joining the Jets in 2013.

A tackle turned guard, the soon-to-be 31-year-old ranks No. 78 on The MMQB’s list of top free agents. But in the absence of yards gained, passes caught or touchdowns scored, how do you measure the true value of a 6-foot-3, 350-behemoth who is paid to mimic a road grader?

All offensive linemen have stats, but they’re largely a matter of interpretation. Like pop quizzes taken in a classroom, the grades are often reflected in percentages, such as 82% or 93%. Although variations exist across all 32 teams, the gist is simple: a lineman gets a plus (+) for completing his assignment and a minus (-) when he fails. If a team runs 100 plays and a lineman gets 90 plusses his mark will be 90%—a solid game.

The cumulative score, for good or for worse, becomes a player’s identity.

“We only get tested, so to speak, 16 times,” says Eric Winston, a veteran tackle who enters free agency after playing with the Cardinals last season. “Those grades are your one and only report card.”

Yet there’s a fine line between living in the penthouse or the outhouse. An All-Pro grades between 89-93% while an average player grades between 85-89%. Dip below 85% and you’re staring at a career change. Let that sink in: The difference between making $5-10 million a year and going back to your hometown comes down to just a few plays a game. Those fate-deciding plays could be significant or they could be inconsequential—that’s how unforgiving the sport is—or your future could be determined by your opponent. If you’re going up against J.J. Watt one week, you’ll likely grade lower than your teammates. Catch a string a stars and, well, people may soon be questioning your ability to play in the NFL.

For veterans, it’s an increasing doubt they have to overcome with each passing offseason.

* * *

In November, I sat down with Colon at the Jets’ training facility in Florham Park, N.J., to watch game film and talk about how offensive linemen are graded. Colon, who had three offensive line coaches during his time with the Steelers, explained that his new coach, Mike Devlin, has a unique grading system in which players get a number (0-4) for each play.

Getting a 0 means you made an egregious mental error or a penalty. A 1 means a bad block. A 2 means you blocked your man but your technique left something to be desired. A 3 is given for executing your assignment with excellent technique. A 4? Well, that’s a rarity. It means you got a 3 and then some, which likely means a pancake block. If you’re getting a lot of pancakes, you’re either going to the Hall of Fame—think former Cowboys guard Larry Allen—or the defender on the receiving end is going to hit the waiver wire by Tuesday.

Jets tackle Austin Howard (77) and guard Willie Colon executed a perfect “squeeze” block against the Falcons in Week 5. (Duncan Williams/Cal Sports Agency)

Colon and I watched the Jets’ Week 5 Monday Night Football victory over the Falcons. After playing college football at Princeton, I was a guard for the Redskins, Cowboys, Bills and Patriots from 2001-07, so I figured I might as well go over a good grade sheet with one of my big-men brethren, right?

Colon highlighted a play early in the first quarter on which he got a 3 because he and right tackle Austin Howard executed a unique mental assignment to perfection. The call was scat protection, meaning there was no back in the backfield to protect rookie QB Geno Smith. When the Falcons blitzed, Colon and Howard had to “squeeze” the inside gaps. Colon picked up the blitzing linebacker to his inside, and Howard took the defensive tackle who had lined up over Colon, leaving the edge rusher free but giving Smith enough time to throw the ball.

Late in the second quarter, Colon received a 1 because he didn’t give center Nick Mangold enough help on the defensive tackle before moving on to block a linebacker on the second level. Even worse, he tripped and his man made the tackle. But a few plays later he redeemed himself with a 4. On a lead draw to the weak side, Colon and Mangold knocked defensive tackle Peria Jerry back a full seven yards—into the linebacker—to spring running back Bilal Powell. It’s among the rarest, most successful blocks you’ll ever see.

Finally, it’s crunch time. The Jets are trailing, 28-27, and trying to get into field goal range with less than a minute to play. Powell runs directly behind Colon, who knocks Corey Peters, a 305-pound defensive tackle, a yard off the ball on a solo drive block, which is very hard to do. Powell gets the first down, Colon gets a 3, and a few plays later Nick Folk kicks the winning field goal. Linemen don’t make headlines, but at least Rex Ryan recognized Colon and Mangold by giving them game balls for their efforts.

Though the Jets were triumphant and Colon’s contributions were heralded, his line coach still went through the tedious task of grading every play before preparing for the next opponent.

* * *

Most coaches grade performance and technique, which have a strong correlation but not always. For example, a lineman might get a plus (+) for blocking his man but a simultaneous minus (-) because he didn’t take the right footwork. The goal is to get as many +/+ plays as possible and avoid -/- like the plague. Some coaches factor in the difficulty of the opponent, but grades aren’t a pure barometer of talent. Grading offensive linemen is actually an inexact science that can be as subjective as art.

The idea is to give an objective evaluation of each player’s performance, but there’s no doubt in my mind that some line coaches whom I played for had a grading bias. It’s impossible to know whether biases are conscious or subconscious; sometimes a coach has an affinity for a certain player because he recommended drafting or signing him. The opposite can hold true. If a coach doesn’t like you because you aren’t “his guy”—well, you shouldn’t expect any benefit of the doubt.

Cardinals right tackle Eric Winston (73) picks himself up after making one cut block to take on a Bucs linebacker. (Al Tielemans/SI/The MMQB)

“There’s no question that it is somewhat subjective,” Winston says. “These are human beings giving out the grades. How could it not be?”

I saw numerous examples over the years when one player would get a plus in almost the exact same situation that another would get a minus. There can be a gray area based on how important the technique component is, but the more I thought about it, the more I wondered if I had once benefitted from such bias.

In 2002, I started the last seven games at left guard in place of an injured Allen for the Cowboys, who claimed me off waivers midway through the season after the Redskins cut me. I finished with the highest grade among all linemen in six of those games. At the time, I was 23 and playing fairly well, so I didn’t think much of it. In college, I sometimes thought I was getting somewhat of a raw deal compared to a couple of my teammates’ grades. But as a second-year pro, I believed linemen’s grades to be sacred in the NFL. It never occurred to me that I could be benefiting from bias.

The guys whom I played alongside, Flozell Adams and Andre Gurode, went on to multiple Pro Bowls and had much better careers than I did. Could I have really outperformed them? Gurode was only a rookie and had been playing right guard, opposed to center, the position at which he made the Pro Bowl. It wasn’t a career-defining stretch of games for Adams, but there was only one way to find out: I called Frank Verducci, my line coach in Dallas who in 2013 oversaw the offensive line for the Montreal Alouettes in the CFL.

“Frank,” I asked point-blank, “are you sure I deserved to grade out the highest in those games?”

“Absolutely,” he responded, “You were the most productive guy we had.”

He went on to explain that a plus is a plus and a minus is a minus—although he mentioned something else that made me think I had received help on more than one occasion. Verducci’s grading system placed a premium on knocking opponents off their feet, a specialty of mine. Any cut block that sent a defender to the turf was given extra credit, if you will. After watching film with Colon, I asked Mike Devlin, the Jets’ line coach, if bias exists. “There’s no question that winning and losing affect my objectivity,” he said. “It certainly affects my mood when doing the grades, and that has to have an impact somehow.”

I pressed for more details from Verducci, who said, “You have to understand that a line coach has a vision of what he wants his line to look like. When you’re up until 2 a.m. grading, you do appreciate the guys who are trying to do things in line with that vision.” Then he added: “If we had five guys like you, we wouldn’t have won a Super Bowl—but we would’ve been in every game.”

Thanks! I think?

Pro Football Focus ranks players, by all positions, based on proprietary formulas. Agents are now using the information to leverage contract negotiations.

Unlike my time in the NFL, teams aren’t the only ones grading offensive linemen. The analytics website ProFootballFocus.com rates them as well. According to PFF, Colon tied for 36th overall among guards in 2013. But the stats are so detailed that Colon’s agent can parse them to find leverage. In a bygone era of football, teams might have been able to point at Colon’s 12 penalties—the most among guards in the league—and call them a red flag. But the agent can counter that Colon ranked fourth among guards in pass protection, and first among available free agents this offseason.

But just like coaches’ grades, the PFF marks aren’t perfect. Though there’s no bias, there’s a lack of insight.

“The only people who know whether a player screwed up are the guys in that meeting room,” allows Sam Monson, a Pro Football Focus analyst. “We try to counter that by only grading what a player attempts to do, rather than guessing what he was supposed to do.”

Says Winston, who is No. 69 on the PFF ranking of 2013 tackles: “It’s very hard to do it independently. Last season was my eighth year and I still can’t always tell who messed up when watching film of other teams.”

Grading linemen can hold players accountable, and it can get everyone on the same page in terms of expectations, but doing so is not without peril.

“I don’t like when guys get too grade-conscious,” Devlin says. “Sometimes you just have to block the freakin’ guy.”

* * *

But how can you not be grade-conscious when so much is at stake? “Line coaches will downplay it sometimes,” Winston says, “but you know that everyone in the organization is seeing those grades.”

He’s right. I’ve seen more than one line coach claim he was the only one looking at grades, but then those grades were introduced during contract negotiations. It’s why some veterans bristle at being graded, believing it to be a flawed and an unnecessary exercise.

Colon celebrating the Steelers’ Super Bowl XLIII victory in February 2009. (Damian Strohmeyer/SI/The MMQB)

Willie Colon, however, isn’t one of those veterans.

“In Pittsburgh, we would always say that your tape is your résumé,” he says, “and the grades are a reflection of your tape.”

Winston, who spent his first six seasons in Houston before spending the last two in Kansas City and Arizona, finds value in being graded—to a certain point. “The grade itself isn’t as important as the feedback that you get going through and reviewing the grading process,” he says.

Teams, I believe, do a decent job of understanding how opponents can affect a lineman’s grade in a given week. But there’s a knowledge gap in assessing the different line positions over an entire season. You might recall, for instance, left guards getting huge contracts in 2007. Derrick Dockery and Eric Steinbach were solid players, but neither was worthy of the 7 year, $49 million deals they both inked. Yet they were highly sought after because they graded out so well when other teams did their own evaluations.

The reality is, most left guards should grade out higher than right guards.

Most teams are “right-handed,” meaning they often put the strength of the offensive formation to the right side rather than the left. As a result, most slide protections—a zone scheme in which three linemen block two defenders—go to the left, which is customarily the quarterback’s blindside. This means the right guard on most teams has a tougher job because he’s tasked with more one-on-one pass blocking assignments than the left guard. The stats bear this out: In the Pro Football Focus rankings of guards who played at least half of their team’s snaps last season, seven of the top 11 were left guards; 12 of the top 15 tackles also played on the left side.

Until sites like Pro Football Focus become mainstream, the pervading belief will be that you can only tell how an offensive line is playing based on sacks allowed or rushing yards per carry—flawed metrics that suggest you can have a forest without any trees. Whether an offense moves the ball forward and gets pushed backward, football’s forgotten big men are playing a game in which their personal scoreboards change on every play like a stock market ticker.

As someone who started at least five NFL games at both guard positions, I often tell people that I could have played left guard for an entire season and the team would have been fine. Right guard? I would have been exposed as a liability after a handful of games because my one-on-one pass protection wasn’t up to snuff. Then again, you’d never know it by looking at my 2002 grades.

Can someone please show me the dotted line?

A former NFL offensive lineman, Ross Tucker is a national columnist for the Sporting News.

 

[blackbart]

I just do not see how anyone that has been watching for the last three years thinks Saffold is a good option at tackle. He is average at best when he can stay on the field. I would rather let him walk than over pay and depend on him to play more than half a season. C-YA let's try something new.

 

[fearsomefour]

T

I just do not see how anyone that has been watching for the last three years thinks Saffold is a good option at tackle. He is average at best when he can stay on the field. I would rather let him walk than over pay and depend on him to play more than half a season. C-YA let's try something new.

The problem is options.
The FA G market is thin. Beedles is not a complete player, Shwartz is the best of the bunch but does not offer the flexability to play T.
If Saffold goes (likely) and nothing else is added the situation is grim.
The Rams don't want to overpay and I get that. Someone probably will. The article was dead on about competing in the NFC West.
Playing multiple rookies on the line? Hello 6-10.

 

[blackbart]

T

The problem is options.
The FA G market is thin. Beedles is not a complete player, Shwartz is the best of the bunch but does not offer the flexability to play T.
If Saffold goes (likely) and nothing else is added the situation is grim.
The Rams don't want to overpay and I get that. Someone probably will. The article was dead on about competing in the NFC West.
Playing multiple rookies on the line? Hello 6-10.

There are rookies and then there are first round guys who can play as good or better than Saffold right now. I am happy that Boudreau was working out both Matthews and Robinson. I'm sure they are doing their best to get a guy that can play now. If Saffold is gone and wells is back it makes this different but still not solid. They need to commit to rebuilding the line with new blue chip talent like they have been in other areas of the team. I am confident they know this and that is why they are running these workouts.

I also think they will be active in the FA market for a guard that could be a stop gap measure for a 1 or 2 year deal.

Barrett Jones was a second round talent before his injury pushed him into obscurity. He had a chance to rehab last year and could be a surprise to a lot of people and make a big impact for us. He played well at 3 different positions at 'bama and was highly decorated. I know that doesn't always mean anything in the NFL but I also have faith that he will be one of those guys Coach Bou will get a lot of effort and production from.

My hope Matthews in the first round a guard in the second, Barnes and Jones come up to potential and Long recovers in time to play 3/4 of the season.

 

[BonifayRam]

There are rookies and then there are first round guys who can play as good or better than Saffold right now. I am happy that Boudreau was working out both Matthews and Robinson. I'm sure they are doing their best to get a guy that can play now. If Saffold is gone and wells is back it makes this different but still not solid. They need to commit to rebuilding the line with new blue chip talent like they have been in other areas of the team. I am confident they know this and that is why they are running these workouts.

I also think they will be active in the FA market for a guard that could be a stop gap measure for a 1 or 2 year deal.

Barrett Jones was a second round talent before his injury pushed him into obscurity. He had a chance to rehab last year and could be a surprise to a lot of people and make a big impact for us. He played well at 3 different positions at 'bama and was highly decorated. I know that doesn't always mean anything in the NFL but I also have faith that he will be one of those guys Coach Bou will get a lot of effort and production from.

My hope Matthews in the first round a guard in the second, Barnes and Jones come up to potential and Long recovers in time to play 3/4 of the season.

I am not so sure that many rookies could step in an play as good as Saffold could @ ORG or even the OLG post but I am sure they will play more plays/games and remain on the field better than Saffold could. I just do not care if its Robinson or Matthews as long as as they get one of them. I see many recent Mocks having Matthews drop out of the top 10 & if that was the case where Matthews fell then I would be hot to trade up from 1.13 to get him. Thus getting both GR & JM.

I not so sure that the Rams will be active in the early high end FA market unless a good OG drops in. I see the Rams looking for bargains later in the year when they will sign a guy like Chris Williams. I fully agree with you that the OL must be top priority Now!

Ref. Barrett Jones I think Jones will play a vital role in Boudreau's OL this season. It would not surprise me at all that when the TC & preseason begins that Barrett Jones will be our OLT in place of the rehabbing Jake Long if we don't draft a OT. Mark that down! When Long returns Jones will become the game day top back up in this OL...if Wells remains healthy????. Barrett Jones (if you will recall) earned All-SEC and the Outland Trophy at left tackle in 2011. Jones was much more consistent overall in his blocks ...not saying better though @ OLT for Bama than Cyrus Kouandjio was. Jones should be our starting center in 2015. Kouandjio could use some serious Boudreau instruction!

I think this 2014 draft has some real good OG candidates for Snead to look strong at even if they by pass GR & JM.

 

[lockdnram21]

cant jones play guard.

 

[Alan]

He played G, T and C in college and virtually nothing in the NFL so you decide. I will say that they had him practicing a lot at guard. But that could be because their backup options at C were better than at G.

 

[lockdnram21]

If we fail to resign Saffold we need to sign oneof the cheifs free agen Guards.Then draft Robinson and a guard later in the draft for depth

 

[CGI_Ram]

I'd like to see the Rams sign a fresh body or two for this oline that has a track record of health.