Tentative Offensive Line going into offseason?

[WestCoastRam]

Saffold - Robinson - Barnes - Brown - Havenstein

LT is obviously an issue. That being said - and I'm open to disagreement here - I think moving Saffold back to LT is our best bet unless we pick up a bandage vet or draft pick right now. Saffold is an average LT with huge durability concerns but even I think that places him above Greg Robinson right now. Robinson, due to contract and athletic ability should at least be tried at the guard spot. It would be criminal not to let him have a shot there in training camp.

Brown/Whichmann are JAGS and we could definitely use an upgrade there in FA or draft. I was happy with Havenstein's performance last year but really down on his play this year (some people mentioned the injury that basically kept him out of almost all of camp). I'd give him a pass right now.

Barnes - I'm too lazy to check, but didn't we sign him to only a one year contract. Please, I feel like a tackling dummy could replace him. He's serviceable when he plays "lights out" but who wants a guy who's only serviceable with his best play?

Thoughts?

 

[OldSchool]

With the roster currently as it is?

Robinson - Saffold - Barnes - Brown - Havenstein.

And I wouldn't mind replacing every one of them or having them in different positions.

 

[SierraRam]

? - ? - ? - ? - Havenstein.

 

[den-the-coach]

? - ? - ? - ? - Havenstein.

This^

 

[Dodgersrf]

As much a beating as GROB gets, our interior oline play was very poor.
Strengthen the interior and Grob would be less a factor. Our oline woes certainly shouldn't fall entirely on his shoulders. Replacing him with a better LT seems unlikely this year anyway.
LG, C, RG. Without solid play from these guys, there is no pocket for Goff.

 

[shovelpass]

We would need to pick up a capable backup LT because banking on Saffold to last all 16 games is tough, and subbing Robinson to replace him would only weaken 2 spots. I'm all for strengthening the G and C positions. But I'm optimistic that the new coaching staff will help develop some of the talent on this team.

 

[bluecoconuts]

Keep Saffold on the inside, as soon he he goes to tackle he gets injured. He was fine throughout the season until they benched Robinson and put Saffold at tackle, he was injured what? 5 minutes into the first quarter?

Robinson isn't that much better, but you can still teach him to be a better tackle, and there were definitely signs throughout the season. Saffold wasn't all that great and he kept being injured, double whammy of no thank you for me.

 

[Merlin]

They need to add two to the interior. The OG options in FA are superior to the Center options, so I expect them to add one Guard that way. Then I think they'll draft a Center midrounds.

Saffold // Brown // ROOKIE // Zeitler // Havenstein

That's what I'd like to see. Depth would be good except for LT, at least from the outside looking in. Guy like Donnal might be more of an option than he's given cred for. Also the whole "move GRob to OG" thing is an obvious bet for someone that wants to make it look like they have some sort of scoop. The new OL coach might want to start him off as depth LT and work him up as a bench option, his value there might be best for the team.

 

[Riverumbbq]

In my mock posted a couple days ago I have :

LT - Dion Dawkins (2'nd round pick), D. Williams
LG - Saffold, Wichmann, Nico Siragusa (4'th round pick)
C - J.C. Tretter (Free Agent), Wichmann
RG - Greg Robinson, Brown, Siragusa
RT - Havenstein, Donnal

 

[Sportsed]

LT - GRob
LG - Saffold
C - Pocic (2nd rd pick LSU)
RG - Zeitler (FA)
RT - Havenstein

 

[WestCoastRam]

In my mock posted a couple days ago I have :

LT - Dion Dawkins (2'nd round pick), D. Williams
LG - Saffold, Wichmann, Nico Siragusa (4'th round pick)
C - J.C. Tretter (Free Agent), Wichmann
RG - Greg Robinson, Brown, Siragusa
RT - Havenstein, Donnal

This would be ideal, getting a LT in the draft that was better than average, keeping Saffold at guard and having Robinson and another battle it out for the other guard spot.

 

[jap]

Keep Saffold on the inside, as soon he he goes to tackle he gets injured. He was fine throughout the season until they benched Robinson and put Saffold at tackle, he was injured what? 5 minutes into the first quarter?

Robinson isn't that much better, but you can still teach him to be a better tackle, and there were definitely signs throughout the season. Saffold wasn't all that great and he kept being injured, double whammy of no thank you for me.

Beetlejuice stands a much better chance of staying healthy playing in a phone booth. At tackle where he is out in space, he tends to over extend himself and end up tweaking or straining something.

They may as well slide GRob back to guard. They can still take advantage of his outstanding athleticism by pulling to lead the Express! on sweeps/screens outside.

 

[OldSchool]

So who are some ZBS free agents that would be good add's in the off season?

 

[12intheBox]

Most important thing on the O line if you ask me is to develop a center. Maybe it's a guy already on the roster, heck - maybe it's Barnes with the right scheme - but we need to be better in the middle.

 

[Rambitious1]

? - ? - ? - ? - Havenstein.

 

[PressureD41]

Multi-Grain
Beef Steak
Mustard
Brown
Havenstein

 

[shaunpinney]

this needs to be fixed from the inside out - start with upgrading the Centre position, and, as I've mentioned in another thread, I think we need a proven Vet in here and not a Rookie.

EDIT: We could go after Andrew Whitworth, for a season, I know he's a bit long in the tooth now, but he's solid quality (and an LA kid) or Riley Reiff another solid T.

I'd also try and upgrade at C too, AQ Shipley springs to mind or JC Tretter. Two strong, reliable vet C's to help our young QBs.

 

[Fatbot]

Hard to answer not knowing 100% if McVay is going to bring his same scheme from Washington. The problem is Washington loved the outside zone play, and if 2016 taught us anything our social experiment pairing "refrigerators with legs" with zone blocking was a horrendous failure. To a man they lack the lateral quickness, the communication&combos were awful and the backside technique was non-existent. I would love to hear a statement that McVay wants to simplify his run playbook with a more power focus, otherwise it might look a whole lot like last season -- a bad zone base trying to mix in power runs to make up for the base failure. Instead, I'd love to hear about playing to the strengths of our line and not wasting precious camp time trying to teach square one zone blocking technique that our personnel just isn't suited for anyway.

While scheme will help define the extent, there's no question that there needs to be turnover in personnel. I'm somewhat surprised by the Saffold love in this thread -- heck love for any OL after last season's abomination. I think Rams fans need to shake their Stockholm Syndrome now that Fisher is gone and reset their expectations and standards. Too long have we accepted guys that have "a slight chance that maybe he won't suck someday" occupying a starting position or roster spot. What exactly is Saffold's ceiling? "Injury prone and inconsistent with flashes of average"? Sorry that's no longer good enough.

Rams fans' years of being beaten down mean we suffer from paranoia that if we dump a guy that could be average then we won't have anyone else... There's an entire universe of potential out there folks, we don't have to be so brainwashed and myopic about the talent pool. We don't need to waste time (and a roster spot) on limited performance and low potential. If a guy is high priced on the OL, he better damn well be above average and at a minimum on the cusp of a pro bowl performer, and hungry to win every snap. If a guy is sucking up a roster spot on the depth chart, he better damn well be good enough to instantly step in if the guy in front of him stumbles -- and/or be a young and hungry guy with a pro bowl ceiling.

Obviously it will take some time to turn it over. For example we're stuck with GRob's contract, and maybe we do keep Saffold another year as well but hopefully only as depth. I do agree that of the bunch Havenstein gets the biggest benefit of the doubt since we've seen him flash high ability, but honestly if he (or anyone) is damaged goods due to his injury then buh-bye. NFL life is too short to care about who you get rid of -- there are plenty of other fish in the talent sea and it's time to focus on the talent to bring in being better both now and with a long-term plan.

 

[lockdnram21]

Robinson???Havenstein is how I see it