Kromer

[London59]

When McVay was hired I was obviously excited about Wade Phillips, but Kromer was a coach I was really excited about.

The Rams surely discussed with him how much he would need a lineman in say rounds 2-3 vs what the Rams needed at other positions. Once past rounds two or 3, I assume Kromer felt the players already on the roster were young enough and talented enough to beat out anyone else on the board.

So, while personally surprised we didn’t add a lineman until rd 7, (and I think he was a great choice) I can only assume the Rams feel with the rolling out of Goff on occasion and the shake up of the line last year they are fine. Plus, you add Noteboom to the competition and hope for a return of 2018 Havenstein. In a way, that is 3 new lineman being added this year. So, O line maybe wasn’t the need we really felt it was.

 

[jap]

Don't forget what Kromer did for our woeful 2016 OL when he arrived in 2017 - turned them into one of the best NFL OLs in 2017 and 2018. His OL was decimated by injuries in 2019.

Time for the master to work his magic again!

 

[Corbin]

Great post. I bet Kroger feels appreciated and has plenty of work cut out for him with all the talent. Barring injuries, each one of these O-Lineman has shown dominance at one point or another.

Hell of depth at O-line. Honestly I just a bit uncomfortable for the center position.

 

[Deac]

Though it goes against what McVay usually does and I find him hard in his habits of going back to 11 formation, I think this may indicate a real sign they intend to use to 2 right end sets a lot more to help out the line,which I am in favor of, I just don't trust him to get away from the 11 personnel he seems to love so much.

 

[I like Rams]

When Cush was drafted right before us, you could tell something went wrong by McVays reaction. Guarantee they tried to gamble that Cush would be there, and almost was, but it back fired. Either way, I dont think this is the offseason to hope that our projects get up to speed. We have no idea what training camp will look like, but if its limited plus the fact McVay doesn't play starters in the preseason....I'm not liking the possible outcome.

 

[Gandalf]

Great post. I bet Kroger feels appreciated and has plenty of work cut out for him with all the talent. Barring injuries, each one of these O-Lineman has shown dominance at one point or another.

Hell of depth at O-line. Honestly I just a bit uncomfortable for the center position.

Strong guy to work in the warehouse

 

[jrry32]

McVay said that they feel good about the OL in an interview before the Draft. We thought he was blowing smoke. He clearly wasn't. I hope he's right.

 

[Kevin]

When Cush was drafted right before us, you could tell something went wrong by McVays reaction. Guarantee they tried to gamble that Cush would be there, and almost was, but it back fired. Either way, I dont think this is the offseason to hope that our projects get up to speed. We have no idea what training camp will look like, but if its limited plus the fact McVay doesn't play starters in the preseason....I'm not liking the possible outcome.

No, he was looking for Terrell Lewis’ phone number. Other posters already answered this.

 

[I like Rams]

No, he was looking for Terrell Lewis’ phone number. Other posters already answered this.

Lol thats pretty funny. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Dieter the Brock]

No, he was looking for Terrell Lewis’ phone number. Other posters already answered this.

So he could call and let Lewis know he really wanted Cush

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

When McVay was hired I was obviously excited about Wade Phillips, but Kromer was a coach I was really excited about.

The Rams surely discussed with him how much he would need a lineman in say rounds 2-3 vs what the Rams needed at other positions. Once past rounds two or 3, I assume Kromer felt the players already on the roster were young enough and talented enough to beat out anyone else on the board.

So, while personally surprised we didn’t add a lineman until rd 7, (and I think he was a great choice) I can only assume the Rams feel with the rolling out of Goff on occasion and the shake up of the line last year they are fine. Plus, you add Noteboom to the competition and hope for a return of 2018 Havenstein. In a way, that is 3 new lineman being added this year. So, O line maybe wasn’t the need we really felt it was.

He thought the Oline was adequate going into last year. That’s a big concern imo

 

[oldnotdead]

Coaching an o-line before the season is one thing. Making adjustments to the o-line during the season is IMO the true test of a coach. When the right side was falling apart with Blythe and Havenstein, Kromer did nothing. Not until forced by injuries to Allen and Havenstein did Kromer make adjustments. What I saw from that point on were young guys who played with some very poor fundamentals in technique. He tried to adjust to a gap blocking scheme that worked better than the simplistic outside zone he was exclusively using but the line was horribly inconsistent. Many times success of a run play had more to do with defensive mistakes than good o-line execution.

Remember, last season for all intents and purposes Kromer was the running game, offensive coordinator. Yet all he installed was a very simplistic outside zone run scheme? Outside zone runs depend upon the defense losing gap control to be successful. Good defenses expecting that scheme can simply stuff the run by maintaining their gap responsibilities. Kromer had not installed a counter to keep the defenses guessing. If you don't have an inside run attack then play action is less effective. When Kromer tried to switch to a gap scheme it was clear from the poor execution that the o-line really didn't understand how to execute the scheme. That is poor coaching.

Top run attacks use multiple blocking schemes to keep defenses guessing. Outside zone, inside zone, inside trap, to name a few, and each has variations. Why didn't Kromer use them? Why didn't his o-line know how to execute these other schemes? I'm sorry but these are all signs of poor o-line coaching and prep.

This is why I think we are going to see a whole new offense this year. Under O'Connell I think we will see a whole new offense starting with the run game. I think people who think this is going to stay with one workhorse RB named Akers, are going to be surprised when that isn't the case. Akers and Henderson are very similar in the type of RBs that they are. I think they will split snaps and will thrive in a power run attack. The Rams don't have a FB but they just drafted a TE who has the speed and size to be a good lead blocker and who has demonstrated he can execute a very good wham block in college.

The advantage an offense has when it has 2 RBs with similar capabilities is that there is no change that the defense can key upon. The offense still has their whole playbook open. Kromer has an impressive resume but I saw nothing of that last year. This year is a whole new thing and Kromer has an opportunity to deliver. Personally I find it very revealing that McVay didn't promote Kromer to OC and went outside the organization to hire McConnell. That would seem to suggest that Sean shares some if not all of what I see about Aaron Kromer.

 

[yrba1]

I'll give Kromer the benefit of the doubt, he was promoted to "run game coordinator" last season and that must've limit his duties in coaching the O-line. Kevin O'Connell will certainly relieve him to focus back on the O-line.

 

[8to12]

When Cush was drafted right before us, you could tell something went wrong by McVays reaction. Guarantee they tried to gamble that Cush would be there, and almost was, but it back fired. Either way, I dont think this is the offseason to hope that our projects get up to speed. We have no idea what training camp will look like, but if its limited plus the fact McVay doesn't play starters in the preseason....I'm not liking the possible outcome.

I believe there was another reason for his behavior. But, I will address the interest in Cushenberry. I believe Snead and McVay go into a particular part of the Draft with a couple of specific players in mind that they want to target and will trade up or down in order to get it done. Like I had posted previously, if they REALLY wanted Cushenberry, they would've taken him in the 2nd round or traded up earlier in the 3rd to get him ; they wouldn't have risked losing him. IE, they took Van Jefferson in the 2nd round when most teams had him valued in the 3rd round, per a draft analyst.

 

[I like Rams]

I believe there was another reason for his behavior. But, I will address the interest in Cushenberry. I believe Snead and McVay go into a particular part of the Draft with a couple of specific players in mind that they want to target and will trade up or down in order to get it done. Like I had posted previously, if they REALLY wanted Cushenberry, they would've taken him in the 2nd round or traded up earlier in the 3rd to get him ; they wouldn't have risked losing him. IE, they took Van Jefferson in the 2nd round when most teams had him valued in the 3rd round, per a draft analyst.

Yea kevin already told me Mcvay's reaction was due to not having Lewis's number at the time.

 

[TexasRam]

I really don't believe they wanted Cushenberry. I read somewhere that he doesn't project well as a zone blocking type. But more revealing is the fact that we had many chances to draft him or move up if they really liked him. Then Later with Biadasz, if they really wanted a center they had MANY chances to get him. It's clear they felt confident in this current group of Lineman. Apparently as Jrry pointed out, Mcvay was serious when he mentioned being OK with the Oline group.

When you draft two lineman the previous year (Edwards and Evans) and have another new guy to your system that was a projected first round talent (Corbett), and you have a lot (or maybe TOO MUCH) confidence in your coaching ability (Kromer), then you can easily say to yourself "We will be fine".

Mcvay knows that Havenstein, Whitworth and Blythe were three pieces of that top offensive line they fielded two years ago. Blythe in spot duty of course, but solid when he came in and I guess in Mcvays eyes, solid last year at the center spot.

So the question is the guard spots. Edwards has been solid admittedly and I guess Evans and Corbett will battle it out for LG.

The Rams have a long history of great teams led my great Olines. Its a huge part of our tradition. We also have 3-13 and 4-12 teams that let their Olines become neglected and weakened. This happens all the time with the Rams and around the league.

I love Mcvay and will give him his due shot to believe in what he sees, but as someone else stated. They did the same thing last year.

Now the Niners go off and sign Pro Bowl Tackle Williams, after signing the top C FA last year. And we draft some guy in the 7th round.

If you neglect the Oline you will pay. I hope I am not wrong here but it appears we are about to see the end of this 3 year winning streak.

 

[PARAM]

Things are rarely as good as they seem or as bad as they seem. Same goes for assistant coaches in the NFL. Kromer (and McVay) decided Noteboom and Allen would start on the OL and gave them zero reps in preseason. So they had to "gel" as the season progressed. Before anything could get going consistently, Noteboom went down. Then 3 weeks later Allen and Havenstein went down. I gotta believe that any game an OL goes down, unless you have experienced ex-starters behind them, there's going to be some problems. We went into the season "young" on the OL. That's not Kromer's decision, that's the head coaches decision. Maybe along with the GM, a group decision. So I'm not pissed at Kromer unless I'm also pissed at McVay and maybe Snead. Shit happens. We had 3 major injuries in a group of 5. If they play lights out in 2020, Kromer (and McVay) will be the shit.

 

[I like Rams]

Things are rarely as good as they seem or as bad as they seem. Same goes for assistant coaches in the NFL. Kromer (and McVay) decided Noteboom and Allen would start on the OL and gave them zero reps in preseason. So they had to "gel" as the season progressed. Before anything could get going consistently, Noteboom went down. Then 3 weeks later Allen and Havenstein went down. I gotta believe that any game an OL goes down, unless you have experienced ex-starters behind them, there's going to be some problems. We went into the season "young" on the OL. That's not Kromer's decision, that's the head coaches decision. Maybe along with the GM, a group decision. So I'm not pissed at Kromer unless I'm also pissed at McVay and maybe Snead. Shit happens. We had 3 major injuries in a group of 5. If they play lights out in 2020, Kromer (and McVay) will be the shit.

Only problem is our oline actually started playing better after everyone went down. Granted we were playing teams like the Falcons and bengals....

 

[PARAM]

Here's something I saw elsewhere:

Les Snead, when asked whether the Rams' lack of adding an offensive lineman until late should be seen as a vote of confidence in the current group:



From Rambill

 

[Mikey Ram]

McVay said that they feel good about the OL in an interview before the Draft. We thought he was blowing smoke. He clearly wasn't. I hope he's right.

Kind of a real ballsy move...This is either going to put him back on the Superman chair or wearing a dunce hat..