Post draft the biggest weakness on the roster was swing OT, because we knew that Jackson generally speaking was likely to miss some time. Now the biggest weakness on the roster is LT. No telling how this will play out, but just like I said last year when the Rams were fiddle fucking around with Avila after he clearly wasn't impressing at C, this is what qualifies as a bad look for the season.
Also and for the record I was behind the Rams' approach on Jackson. Just like with Noteboom I knew there was risk but overall approved of the way the Rams handled the situation. Both instances they rolled the dice. With Noteboom they got burned. This time we'll have to wait and see.
In McVay's time with us the typical failure element for him is the OL. It is where his teams typically come up short and where the most instances of the fans being right when they criticize the roster have occurred. There have been quite a few subpar options that were depended on more than they should have been, and questionable approaches mixed in, than at any other position. Basically if you look at McVay's insanely high standards with his pass catchers, or QB, compared to what he has accepted on the OL, it demonstrates that the OL group is the biggest area of weakness for an otherwise Hall of Fame level coach.
Said this on another board and will again here. That if McVay had an elite OL coach he would be running a dynasty. But instead he's had a steady stream of median types at best who have contributed to the subpar decisions they have made over time with that unit. The fact that I agreed with their decision on Boom or Jackson is irrelevant here, because I'm just some asshole pounding beers on his couch. If it backfires it will be exactly like with Boom, where we say ok they fucked this up and move on after it costs them a year window. It sucks but there is really no reason to try to sugar coat it.
Lastly as it pertains to how McVay will operate IF Jackson is a loss overall for the season... The best approach would be a heavy run game. McVay on the positive side of the ledger is a master of misdirection in his scheme and manufacturing movement for the offense even when they are undergunned up front. He's had a ton of practice doing that. And I really like this RB room. Can he actually do that though. Can he actually discipline himself to run the ball. Well I'd say that he has shown in streaks an ability to do that, though it usually happens after a bad run of losses like in 2018. Also overall it seems like he has to have high trust in his lead back to do it.
So all of the above is a long winded way of arriving at what I think is now the most important competition on the roster, that being the question of whether Hunter can win a primary role and add some explosive plays to this unit. Because I don't believe in Williams as a lead back. I don't believe he is going to fix a fumbling problem that is the result of a weak chicken wing when he's working his contact balance, as that is a huge part of his game. I hope the Rams don't sign him prior to this season due to that. Corum is a potential high volume back but is similarly limited wrt a lack of explosiveness. So best case scenario is Hunter comes in hungry and wins a big enough role to where McVay will concede the job to him over the early part of the season. Because he is enamored with Williams, and I understand why, even though he is not going to be the dude to lead this team through a potential LT disaster.
And from there of course we have the defense. We're gonna need to be a defensive team, a team that limits points among the best in the league, to win a ton of games this year if we don't have Jackson. The front is strong enough but can the secondary live up to that? Meh. Let's just say I hope so.
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