A step back on offense, 2 steps forward on defense?

[badnews]

A lot has been said about our LBers being our most obvious weakness or at least biggest uncertainty.
Imo the elephant in the room is our age on the O-line. Odds are not in our favor to match last years performance or health from Whit, Sully or Saffold.
But on defense, I dont think even we are prepared for just how good this unit will be. We might not have the leagues highest scoring O this year, and if we are outside the top 5 it wouldnt totally shock me. That kind of productivity is very rarely repeated.
When the season is over, which unit finishes as our greatest strength?

I mean ffs, even our STs has the talent and coaching to be the leagues best once again. Amazing!

 

[Soul Surfer]

I wouldn't say Brandin Cooks is a, "step-back" on offense.

But yes, that miracle of O line continuity is not predestined to continue this year.

That's why they loaded up on developmental players and so far, so good.
They kept all three and Noteboom looked amazing on pass protection, which of course is the main job of a left tackle.

I love what I've seen and heard of our young active linebackers.

I truthfully don't think they could be any worse in run stoppage then last year's unit and obviously were retained for their run stoppage ability.

Rotating those young specialist linebackers in and out of there for their abilities is going to be key.

The NFL should be scared, they should be very scared.

 

[Soul Surfer]

If Whitworth goes down;
They have the option of sliding Saffold over or leaving him in place and bringing Noteboom into left tackle if they feel he's ready.
Or slide Saffold over and put Noteboom in at left guard.

One of the most amazing things I see about Noteboom is he obviously knows the snap count because on pass protection you have to have a slight jump on that defensive end and 100% know your assignment on that play.
If they do insert him at left tackle, or guard for that matter, you're sure to see a lot of stunts by the d-line.

If Sullivan goes down they have the option of going with the veteran Blythe or if they think Allen is ready, go with him.

Saffold has three possible options if he gets injured in Blythe, Noteboom or Demby.

Gameday active backups should be Blythe and Noteboom initially

 

[Tailback]

Noteboom looked good at both tackles AND playing guard. If the OL can stay healthy till mid-season at least, I think Noteboom will be more than ready to play very well.

 

[jjab360]

Rotating those young specialist linebackers in and out of there for their abilities is going to be key.

Micah Kiser is an amazing run defender, I hope he gets some playing time.

 

[Soul Surfer]

Micah Kiser is an amazing run defender, I hope he gets some playing time.

He has been described as a "tackling machine".

He had a couple of amazing plays in the preseason and he takes on the runner straight up and doesn't get dragged for 3 yards.

 

[Rams43]

About our O.

Exactly the same as last year’s unit EXCEPT they all have the advantage of a year experience, plus Cooks is an upgrade for this O over Watkins, plus McVay has reportedly added some new wrinkles that he feels that they’re now ready for.

About our D.

Upgrades everywhere you look. For those worrying about our new LB’s? Don’t. All are better fits than Quinn, Ogletree, and Barwin. Gonna be a Top 3 unit this season.

About our ST.

I see another stellar group among the 4 units under Fassel. Elite, actually.

Honestly, I think the Rams are sitting on a powder keg of greatness. Could have as many as 6 Pro Bowl level players on O. Might be as many as 6-7 more on D. And maybe 4 more on ST. (Again).

Not that that many will be voted in, just that they would be worthy.

The Rams are gonna be a LOAD for every single opponent this year. Trust me.

 

[badnews]

About our O.

Exactly the same as last year’s unit EXCEPT they all have the advantage of a year experience, plus Cooks is an upgrade for this O over Watkins, plus McVay has reportedly added some new wrinkles that he feels that they’re now ready for.

About our D.

Upgrades everywhere you look. For those worrying about our new LB’s? Don’t. All are better fits than Quinn, Ogletree, and Barwin. Gonna be a Top 3 unit this season.

About our ST.

I see another stellar group among the 4 units under Fassel. Elite, actually.

Honestly, I think the Rams are sitting on a powder keg of greatness. Could have as many as 6 Pro Bowl level players on O. Might be as many as 6-7 more on D.

Not that that many will be voted in, just that they would be worthy.

The Rams are gonna be a LOAD for every single opponent this year. Trust me.

About our O: the oldest C and LT in the league last year are a year older.
Both were worn down by the end of the season and expecting us to avoid the dirty "I" word for a second season across the Oline is a recipe for a rude awakening. I believe the Rams are the most talented and best coached team in the league. I fully expect us to finish top 10 or better in all 3 phases.
I understand that the O will be more familiar with McVays offense, but so will the rest of league.
McVay is smart enough to know you dont fix what isnt broken. If he is making changes its because he's also smart enough to know the same tricks rarely work twice.

I expect great things from all 3 phases, I just also expect bigger growth from our D and less luck with our O-line, who were as responsible as any group for our #1 scoring Offense. Cooks is an upgrade but how many passes can we take away from Gurley, Woods, Kupp? Its totally possible that Cooks could be a big upgrade from Watkins but change very little in terms of our production or efficiency.

 

[Soul Surfer]

About our O: the oldest C and LT in the league last year are a year older.
Both were worn down by the end of the season....

I agree that there was an *appearance* that Whitworth was "worn down" by the end of the year (or maybe just taking on better or fresher defensive ends?)
I didn't see Sullivan as worn down at all.
He seemed to improve through the middle part of the year and looked really good at the end.

 

[96GS#007]

I thought Blythe filled in well when needed last year and Noteboom has looked pretty darn good. I don't see the season spiraling into the ground if one of them needs to step up and play.

On D....Everyone talks about the run D but it sure seems like a lot of the stats are "padded" by virtue of them giving up 1 big run in multiple games. After that 1 big run, they'd buckle down and play well. The Jax and New Orleans games are good examples. Nonetheless, one big run nearly every game is one too many.

 

[Ram65]

I thought the offense left a lot of points on the field last year. Injuries are the only thing slowing down the Rams offense. I see them getting better with Cooks and a full year in the offense. They could survive one injury on the O line. Can't lose Goff or Gurley. Luck always helps and big leads for restsng the veterans. Improved defense gives them more chances on offense and better field position or similar. They had great field position from the special teams.

 

[Soul Surfer]

Everyone talks about the run D but it sure seems like a lot of the stats are "padded" by virtue of them giving up 1 big run in multiple games. After that 1 big run, they'd buckle down and play well. The Jax and New Orleans games are good examples. Nonetheless, one big run nearly every game is one too many.

The run D was nothing to brag about during the regular season, pretty middle-of-the-road.
It was the Atlanta playoff game that made them decide to redo the linebackers and bring in Suh, in my opinion.

 

[PhillyRam]

About our O.

Exactly the same as last year’s unit EXCEPT they all have the advantage of a year experience, plus Cooks is an upgrade for this O over Watkins, plus McVay has reportedly added some new wrinkles that he feels that they’re now ready for.

About our D.

Upgrades everywhere you look. For those worrying about our new LB’s? Don’t. All are better fits than Quinn, Ogletree, and Barwin. Gonna be a Top 3 unit this season.

About our ST.

I see another stellar group among the 4 units under Fassel. Elite, actually.

Honestly, I think the Rams are sitting on a powder keg of greatness. Could have as many as 6 Pro Bowl level players on O. Might be as many as 6-7 more on D. And maybe 4 more on ST. (Again).

Not that that many will be voted in, just that they would be worthy.

The Rams are gonna be a LOAD for every single opponent this year. Trust me.

I will say it would have been nice to keep Quinn...even if just for passing situations...He came on at the end last year and at least for one more year would have been great to have when playing Wilson/Rogers/Wentz/Jimmy G etc...

 

[SoCalRam78]

About our O.


About our D.

Upgrades everywhere you look. For those worrying about our new LB’s? Don’t. All are better fits than Quinn, Ogletree, and Barwin. Gonna be a Top 3 unit this season.

I agree, people are worried about the LBs but the upside is higher than this washed up group

Tree: Soft at point of attack and often out of position
Barfwin: Bottom line, he was a pretty bad linebacker last year
Quinn: one trick pass rushing move and mediocre in coverage.

 

[BonifayRam]

IMO I would have very little problem having a good discussion on the PRO side that the Rams O has been improved. The below would be a small sample of my thought in the below units:

#1) OT's-Whitworth/Havenstein/Noteboom/Demby>Lucas/Williams/Whitworth/Havenstien
#2) OG/OC's-Saffold/Brown/Blythe/Sullivan/Demby/Allen>Neary/Donnal/Blythe/Brown/Sullivan/Saffold
#3) RB's-Gurley/Brown/Davis/Kelly > Gurley/Austin/Brown/Davis
#4) WR's-Cooks/Woods/Kupp/Cooper/Thomas/Reynolds >Watkins/Kupp/Woods/Reynolds/Cooper

I see the TE & QB as an improvement too based on the added one year seasoning of these very young Ram players who are in these two units.

 

[BonifayRam]

The run D was nothing to brag about during the regular season, pretty middle-of-the-road.
It was the Atlanta playoff game that made them decide to redo the linebackers and bring in Suh, in my opinion.

Wade favoring ..stop the pass over stop the run show'd. Wade runs more Nickle D's 4-2-5 than the standard 3-4-4's which would intice our opponets to run more often & they did often with some really big runs.

 

[OldSchool]

I’ve yet to see any reason why the Rams offense will take a step back let alone two. Futures bright for the Rams, no reason to think otherwise.

 

[TSFH Fan]

Here's some factors that could be related to a downturn in offense, at least early on, AFTER game 1 against LVR:

(1) Brain Drain -- sure, the OC label seems like just a label, but I'm pretty sure that LaFleur attended and contributed to meetings. I expect that Olson contributed as well. In is Jedd Fisch, who's been out of the league for a bit. Also we've yet to see how the ShaAaron Kromdron OC duo works out. Granted, it was probably just a label change with no real changes in duties/responsibilities.

(1a) ShAaron Kromdron?

(2) Game Film -- like it or not, NFL DC's are the top 1% of the 1% in coaching and they spent all off-season dissecting the Rams' Offense, including Goff's mental wiring and tendencies.

(3) Need More O Reps -- Yes, the Rams are supposed to be diving way deeper into McVay's playbook this year and coming up with all kinds of ways to counter anticipated defensive adjustments. They got zero pre-season game reps to work on the new stuff. Also, while you can change the playbook, there's probably limits to changing Goff's wiring.

(4) Unprecedented Health -- To me, the Rams last year seemed unusually healthy compared to preceding seasons.
Or as stated by FO:

If there’s one big red flashing warning light pointing to regression
for the Rams, it’s with their injury luck.
For the second year in a row, the Rams finished tops in adjusted games lost, with just 15.6 AGL. This included just 3.6 AGL on offense, a ridiculously small number. It’s a lot easier to run a complicated offensive scheme when you don’t have to worry about giving extra help to backup linemen! . . .
We’re not saying the Rams are due for a wave of injuries, because that’s not how statistics work. It’s likely, however, that the Rams’ injury luck will not continue. We don’t know how McVay will react to being required to replace injured players, because he has never really had to do it. It’s possible the next man up will step in and everything will keep running smoothly, but it’s those kinds of shifts in luck that help push Plexiglass teams down in their next seasons. You can’t count on everything going perfectly two years in a row.

(5) Plexiglass Principle? -- https://www.footballoutsiders.com/files/FOA2018-LARSample.pdf
It's a long read.

[The Rams are] projected to face a tougher schedule in 2018, and everyone will have a full year of film of McVay’s offense to break down. The road will be tougher in 2018, and it remains to be seen how the Rams will respond.
The Rams will likely be up to the task. The Rams will likely not be as good this season. These aren’t contradictory statements.

 

[yrba1]

A lot of variables to factor in if we'll progress or regress. On offense, we don't have the element of surprise anymore but we have continuity and upgraded talent; on defense, it's definitely an upgrade at various positions but our linebackers/edge rushers are unproven, will likely work in our favor though with Wade's scheme.

 

[kurtfaulk]

.

i'm sure all these bozos in the media said the same thing about the 2000 rams. how did all that film of them help defenses out?

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