HELP WANTED - OFFENSIVE LINEMEN!!!

[Elmgrovegnome]

I was toying with, why not try moving Noteboom to RT this year, and Havenstein to G. I don’t think Noteboom is a guard, but he is is one of our best 5.

Noteboom has not looked good this year either. I shudder to think of him playing OT on either side. The Rams need to get serious about upgrading the line in the draft. A few studs are needed, especially at OLT, with Whitworth soon to retire.. Throw in a quality guard too.

 

[oldnotdead]

Where are all these ProBowl o-line going to come from? How are they going to pay them if they are that good. I doubt there is anyone out there that isn't significantly better than who they already have on the roster and PS.

We live in a world of instant gratification. One loss and fans are panic stricken. Believe me, bringing in someone from the outside is going to set things back not help. O-line is different than the other units. They need to play as one, and that kind of play only comes with time. After 4 games people are willing to throw in the towel? You would think they are 1-3 not 3-1.

Noteboom has never played OG and McVay didn't play the first unit during preseason. This is their pre-season. Demby was a disaster in pre-season but as I pointed out he was moved all over the place on each possession. Once he got to settle in at RG he started to play better. Did he make mistakes, yeah but he played better in his two starts than the veteran Blythe did in his one start.

My point is this. It takes time for o-line to gel...i.e. to understand what the guy next to him is going to do without it being spoken. This o-line is no where near that right now. Coupled with a center who is new to the NFL in terms of starts so his calls might not be what they will be next year. I think he's making some mistakes in his protection calls. Goff isn't at that point in his career where he can correct them.

They just need to play good enough, untll that unspoken communication begins to develop. So far they have. That is as much as can be expected. The one part that is a concern is that it's two veterans that are the weak links. But bringing in someone else's castoff isn't the answer. The answer is finding the solution with the guys they have, be it shifting or replacing or simply giving them help by playing two TE's. IMO the solution is on the team, they simply need to work it out. I think they will.

People need to chill and see what fixes McVay and Kromer come up with. Running better would be a huge help and IMO that means a change in blocking scheme.

 

[BonifayRam]

Snead/ McVay/ Kromer either fixed the NON effective Offensive Line or the Rams can kiss a Championship 2019 season ................

Goodbye Closing Window GIF - Goodbye Bye Closing Window - Discover & Share GIFs

Click to view the GIF

tenor.com

 

[Merlin]

Noteboom has not looked good this year either. I shudder to think of him playing OT on either side. The Rams need to get serious about upgrading the line in the draft. A few studs are needed, especially at OLT, with Whitworth soon to retire.. Throw in a quality guard too.

Have to agree. Boom makes a lot of small mistakes that Saff didn't too, like not being quick/decisive getting to his 2nd level assignment, awareness of which guy to pick up, etc. These are the types of mistakes that are costing the Rams the explosiveness we know so well...

By way of example here's a quick pass to Woods in the flat early in the game when we were down 7-0 (this could easily be a TD or at the least a first down):

Boom stutter-steps a couple times while the DB breaks on the ball:

Missed assignment:

From potential big play to -1 yard loss. Great play by the DB due to Boom's indecision:

Oh and btw... I am confident Boom is going to get better and better. He just needs to learn all those lessons that experience teaches.

 

[Merlin]

Another example of Boom struggling to get 2nd level (With Saff this is another big play for the Rams). This comes first play of the series (where Goff is intercepted on third down) following Tampa taking a 14-0 lead:

Hand off to Brown, things look great but Boom needs to seal that safety inside:

Dude runs right past him, forcing the play inside. If he makes his block there's a TON of green for Brown to operate in, likely first down:

3 yard gain meh.

 

[“Turbo set!”]

This is what most of the forum asked for when they applauded signing Gurley, Woods, Cooks, and Donald to huge contracts.

There is only so much money to go around.

 

[Merlin]

Pretty much. Boom has a long way to go on 2nd level blocks in particular, and sadly you see it over and over on the outside zone runs to the left. To the point where--even though I think he's going to be a fine player--he might find his starting job in jeopardy if he doesn't start improving.

 

[BonifayRam]

This is what most of the forum asked for when they applauded signing Gurley, Woods, Cooks, and Donald to huge contracts.

There is only so much money to go around.

Top high Rams Org officials simply forgot to pay attention to the basic's here for good solid offensive effectiveness............. Core element has always been investing in a solid OL cadre.

Rams pulled the trigger early on NEW RB Gurley, QB Goff's, TE Higbee contracts. Same Org spent $53.5 million for New contracts for DT, two ER's, Saf, ILB & RB.

How much was spent this off season on the OL other than previous & rookie contracts.......ZERO $$$ on the OL.

 

[Merlin]

Blythe also is struggling btw and it's not just him. Here's an example where he's pulling to kick out Nassib:

Boom doesn't so much as chip his assignment and his guy is about to be in the play from behind. Higs is currently whiffing on his block of the LB. And Blythe is about to be cast aside by Nassib like a 10 year old:

Whole lotta nuthin for TG:

 

[BonifayRam]

Pretty much. Boom has a long way to go on 2nd level blocks in particular, and sadly you see it over and over on the outside zone runs to the left. To the point where--even though I think he's going to be a fine player--he might find his starting job in jeopardy if he doesn't start improving.

How many colleges long term starting OG's have the Rams have on their Ram OL cadre?

I am wondering about the Rams past trending of drafting OT's to play OG. Noteboom, Edwards, Evans, Demby were all college starting OT's. Blythe was primarily starting center not a OG. Not one college starting OG on the roster.

 

[Merlin]

How many colleges long term starting OG's have the Rams have on their Ram OL cadre?

I am wondering about the Rams pass trending of drafting OT's to play OG. Noteboom, Edwards, Evans, Demby were all college starting OT's. Blythe was primarily starting center not a OG. Not one college starting OG on the roster.

Yeah and honestly it's worked for them so it's hard to argue against, but the OG types tend to be a little more used to moving to the 2nd level, pulling and kicking out, etc. So right now with Boom we have an OG learning on the job. But IMO with Blythe we have an OG who is a marginal talent and who struggles vs better players.

Since Boom's struggles seem to be assignment/execution based, he has that potential to improve and I assume he will. I pray he will that is.

 

[Merlin]

Here's an example of our OL doing it right. And it shows what Gurley can still do if he's given a seam to get rumblin...

Pre-snap:

At the snap things look good:

At the handoff we see Boom is in front of his assignment but is turned around and makes a weird-looking unorthodox seal block lol. Allen breaks off Blythe's guy and gets 2nd level in textbook fashion. And it's there:

TD run with Gurley trucking some DBs:

 

[DR RAM]

Noteboom has not looked good this year either. I shudder to think of him playing OT on either side. The Rams need to get serious about upgrading the line in the draft. A few studs are needed, especially at OLT, with Whitworth soon to retire.. Throw in a quality guard too.

He’s not built like a guard, and hasn’t developed the strength needed to play guard. I think he’s a better fit at tackle. Dude, we have to go with what we have. We need to try to fix this now, however we do it, we can’t wait for next season.

 

[DR RAM]

How many colleges long term starting OG's have the Rams have on their Ram OL cadre?

I am wondering about the Rams pass trending of drafting OT's to play OG. Noteboom, Edwards, Evans, Demby were all college starting OT's. Blythe was primarily starting center not a OG. Not one college starting OG on the roster.

I don’t-not even disagree with the philosophy, but it seems to be biting us on the ass. We need some inside OL’ers.

 

[bubbaramfan]

 

[Juice]

Trent Freaking Williams

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

He’s not built like a guard, and hasn’t developed the strength needed to play guard. I think he’s a better fit at tackle. Dude, we have to go with what we have. We need to try to fix this now, however we do it, we can’t wait for next season.

Last year McVay and Kromer said they like Noteboom at guard.

I have apprehensions about players that don't get strong in college. Aquino Barkley could dead lift 550 lbs. At around 210 lb s. There is ample opportunity to get stronger in college, unless a guy hits his ceiling. Unfortunately the Rams have two guys like that on the OLine. Blythe has the same problem. Since teams learned how to negate the zone blocking and the Rams have to change or mix schemes, we have seen the line getting abused. That's because the line is mostly a smaller more agile zone blocking type, at least in the interior. No way to fix that in one year. It would take a massive upheaval in the off season to get the right types in there.

 

[Turducken]

Think we could trade for Trent Williams. I absolutely hate to say it but this is 99% Whits last season. It would be nice to put Williams at RT and bump Hav inside. Hav gets beat by speed a lot. That can be mitigated by playing G. The question is, who's our trade bate? Reynolds? Draft Picks?

We would need to clear about $5m more in cap space to pay him under his current contract (which he is holding out from). About the only way to do that would be to trade Brockers for Williams (frees up about $7 mil, but then you have a big hole on defense that can't be patched from the practice squad).

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Another example of Boom struggling to get 2nd level (With Saff this is another big play for the Rams). This comes first play of the series (where Goff is intercepted on third down) following Tampa taking a 14-0 lead:

Hand off to Brown, things look great but Boom needs to seal that safety inside:
View attachment 30988

Dude runs right past him, forcing the play inside. If he makes his block there's a TON of green for Brown to operate in, likely first down:
View attachment 30989

3 yard gain meh.

Allen has the same problem. He runs past a loner that he needs to block and the guy makes the tackle. One play against Cleveland stands out. Inside screen to Kupp. Allen even looks at Shobert and then looks ahead to block someone else. Schubert runs behind Allen and makes a tackle that should have gone for 10+, maybe longer. The little things are huge.

 

[yrba1]

Top high Rams Org officials simply forgot to pay attention to the basic's here for good solid offensive effectiveness............. Core element has always been investing in a solid OL cadre.

Rams pulled the trigger early on NEW RB Gurley, QB Goff's, TE Higbee contracts. Same Org spent $53.5 million for New contracts for DT, two ER's, Saf, ILB & RB.

How much was spent this off season on the OL other than previous & rookie contracts.......ZERO $$$ on the OL.

We extended Havenstein a 4-year contract last season and signed Whitworth in FA during McVay's rookie season. Our FO has done a good job fixing our O-line compared to what it was under the Fisher era. Would say not re-signing Saffold to a new deal was questionable. Not a fan of Blythe due to his physical limitations, Demby is still an unknown, and Noteboom is playing out of position; interior line assignments are sophisticated compared to the previous decades and I hope we address that either through FA or the draft as I'm not a fan of these three moving forward.