What are they going to do about this O Line?

[-X-]

Ultimately, it's all about winning, do that and all is forgiven........fail to win......well we know that story already.

Yeah, it's all about winning. I agree.
But let me throw a consolation prize out here.
No matter what they do, we've got each other, this fine community, and all the fun that brings.

That's kind of important too, IMO.
Now bring it in.

 

[V3]

I am suggesting you tone it down. Simple as that. I am a moderator and don't use the ignore function. Capiche? If I feel you are dragging down the mood of the site, I am going to say something. I have and you are.

Sorry if that's how you feel. I'm just saying what I, and many others, have been seeing brewing for a long time now. When the same issues continue to be problems and you see them coming well in advance, it's beyond aggravating. Hopefully you can understand where I'm coming from.

 

[Prime Time]

But again, if you don't like that, by all means, use the ignore feature.

That line of reasoning works fine for regular members but you were addressing a mod. Mods and admins don't have the luxury of using the ignore feature. We have to read everything, the good, the bad, and the whiny. So just to reacquaint you and others, so this doesn't happen again in the future:

The Founder:

-X-

Admins/Owners:

CGI_Ram, Selassie I

Mods:

RamFan503, yours truly

 

[LACHAMP46]

I think our D is likely gonna be a top 5 unit once GW settles down and let's them play as they did in the last half of '14.

I think we have every reason to expect excellent ST play again this year.

Can I get an amen on those two phases of the game?

Amen!

Foles was the biggest question mark, at least for me. And he has answered that question in a positive manner, IMO.

Me too...If he can play, offense will be fine, but the running game, without a solid line, will need a transcendent RB....

Mods and admins don't have the luxury of using the ignore feature.

What's the ignore feature?

 

[-X-]

What's the ignore feature?

Click on someone's avatar and you'll see the link near the top-right.

 

[LACHAMP46]

Click on someone's avatar and you'll see the link near the top-right.

too funny....I thought Yall was BSing me!!!

 

[FRO]

Nah man - it's just the constant harping by some. It gets old. We can see. Most of us are pretty well in tune with what the Rams are doing even if we don't choose to make every post about how bad we have looked in pre-season. Some of can even see some good things when watching.

I appreciate what you are saying about playmakers over weapons in that we all have a method we see as the way to go. It's just the incessant griping harshes my mellow. Feel me dog?

Anyway, I gotta go put some siding on my house.

Cheers

I understand what you are saying. 10 years of non winning football and 4 winning seasons out of the last 25 years will lead some to look at the negative side. I mean I go into almost every Rams game knowing I'm going to be upset. I miss the good ole days when I knew we we going to win on Sunday. The team isn't too far off. I just fear the line will really hold us back a year. I hope I'm wrong and I will be the happiest person in the world to be wrong.

 

[Fatbot]

I saw breakdowns from the edges, not the inside, but I admit, I need to look closer.

I replayed the plays as well and I agree with you, the interior OL was far better than it initially looked, really great news. I think the B.Jones era is about to take off. The problem is the edge, and it's not just the tackles, which leads to...

Cook, Kendricks, and Harkey make our TE corps strong, as well.

I think there is a big misconception happening where people think the TEs are strong, but they haven't shown it -- especially at the inline blocking position. Cook made great progress last season to be a respectable blocker at times, but so far has given back all those gains to regress to the non-blocker he was a couple years ago. Both he and Kendricks allows the defensive end to dominate them at the point of attack. Hard to have a successful running game if you can't run to the outside at all. To his credit Kendricks is very good from the H-Back spot -- Harkey too -- but inline TE blocking is a mess right now. The Rams spend the second most cap money on the TE position in the NFL, this should be an elite position. Some of the OL woes are actually TE woes.

 

[RamFan503]

I replayed the plays as well and I agree with you, the interior OL was far better than it initially looked, really great news. I think the B.Jones era is about to take off. The problem is the edge, and it's not just the tackles, which leads to...


I think there is a big misconception happening where people think the TEs are strong, but they haven't shown it -- especially at the inline blocking position. Cook made great progress last season to be a respectable blocker at times, but so far has given back all those gains to regress to the non-blocker he was a couple years ago. Both he and Kendricks allows the defensive end to dominate them at the point of attack. Hard to have a successful running game if you can't run to the outside at all. To his credit Kendricks is very good from the H-Back spot -- Harkey too -- but inline TE blocking is a mess right now. The Rams spend the second most cap money on the TE position in the NFL, this should be an elite position. Some of the OL woes are actually TE woes.

I haven't been able to watch the whole thing - hopefully tonight. But this is what I noticed right out of the gate. If the TE is blocking like a matador, a young tackle is then faced with having two defenders to block or let both go as happened a couple times. I don't think our TEs are going to be taking on many DEs and OLBs head on in preseason so I am assuming they actually will fix this when the games count.

I honestly think our O-line will be decent to start the year and then pretty impressive as the season builds.

 

[JonRam99]

I'll post this in it's own thread, but here's a link to a fairly objective play-by-play analysis of Grob & Havenstein:
http://www.turfshowtimes.com/2015/8/31/9232083/grob-and-hav-play-by-play-vs-the-colts-ol-trending-up

All in all, this is an OL unit that is freshly minted, & still finding it's legs, but has been recently loaded up on talent by Snisher & needs a little time to jell. A lot of their play is mental, and it's the mental mistakes that are killing them at the moment, but as they gain experience together, I'm optimistic they'll turn into a pretty good unit--maybe not 5 All-Pro's, but there's pro-bowl level talent at a couple of positions here (Grob, Saff, Brown). And I don't think this is kool-aid either.

 

[LACHAMP46]

Both he and Kendricks allows the defensive end to dominate them at the point of attack.

IDK if TE's should be blocking most DE's...now OLB's, for sure, handle that assignment...But top notch DE's...even top of the food chain OLB's (looking at YOU Justin Houston, might as well add Von Miller and the man-child known as Khalil Mack) the TE will probably struggle in pass-pro and have a play blown up....Run blocking should be different...sealing & using leverage...but pass blocking, I don't see it.

 

[RamFan503]

I understand what you are saying. 10 years of non winning football and 4 winning seasons out of the last 25 years will lead some to look at the negative side. I mean I go into almost every Rams game knowing I'm going to be upset. I miss the good ole days when I knew we we going to win on Sunday. The team isn't too far off. I just fear the line will really hold us back a year. I hope I'm wrong and I will be the happiest person in the world to be wrong.

It's funny. To many of us old time Rams fans (I go back to the '67 team), this ten years - though frustrating - is really just another blip on the radar. We've seen some pretty bad teams along with some pretty great ones. I'm not sure if that gives us a little more perspective to not get quite as bent out of shape at the last several years or not, but for me personally, you are generally not going to see me dwelling on the last 10 years as if it is a permanent condition. Things change in the NFL and they can change in a hurry. But they can also stay the same or get worse even when you think it's all starting to fall your way.

I agree that the team isn't too far off. I've thought that before and been wrong. I've thought the other and been wrong too. I just don't see the fun in expecting the worst. Nor do I like having to listen to fellow fans preaching doom and gloom.

I've said it before that many of us here are proud homers. That doesn't mean we are blind - just maybe a bit more wanting to find the good side of what we see.

 

[RamFan503]

Sorry if that's how you feel. I'm just saying what I, and many others, have been seeing brewing for a long time now. When the same issues continue to be problems and you see them coming well in advance, it's beyond aggravating. Hopefully you can understand where I'm coming from.

Honestly I can. Don't get me wrong. I'm only saying that it gets a little old when it just becomes constant blasts of negativity. Read back through your posts and maybe you can see what I'm saying. I'm not the only one seeing it - trust me. No one here wants a losing season and yet we still understand the frustration.

-X- can address it better than I and several of the others that have been here since the beginning as well. The vision for this site was to be a bastion for Rams fans from all over the country and world who wanted to get away from the constant bickering, infighting, and negativity found on other sites. We wanted a place that seemed like you were sitting across the bar from your Rams fan buddies shooting the shit over a beer. And just like when you do that, we get off on other topics to BS about and pretty much get to where we consider each other friends.

I have met several of the posters here and have had a great time with them. I consider this place pretty special and am always going to try to preserve what we have here.

Hopefully you can understand where I am coming from.

Cheers man.

 

[RamFan503]

Hahahaha - to be honest, it really felt dorky when I read it back again. I'll holster that particular term.