LA Rams LB Coach Joe Barry signs new contract to return

[jrry32]

Kromer remains an enigma for me. His & McVay's first year, 2017, we didn't draft any offensive linemen, instead we brought in a couple free agent pros in Whitworth & Sullivan. We already had Jamon Brown at RG, Saffold at LG and Havenstein at RT, this was the making of a solid veteran line-up for the most part, not really much teaching required of Kromer, more a need to just build chemistry.

2018 was the year we dismissed Brown in favor of Blythe, and drafted Noteboom, Allen & Demby. None of whom have shown much of anything as we now end the 2019 season.

2019 brings Evans & Edwards through the draft, and a host of UDFA's to stack the practice squad. It also spells the end of Sullivan and a regression for Havenstein.

How much influence Kromer had on the draftees or free agents since joining the organization, your guess is as good as mine, but when it comes to judging who his starting OL would be in 2019, featuring Noteboom at LG, Allen at Center, Blythe at RG and Demby as his first man up, he can't help but being held responsible.
jmo.

This is some serious revisionist history. Our OL was pure shit in 2016. Havenstein and Brown looked awful. Yes, Whitworth helped as a stabilizing force at LT, but Saffold, Brown, Havenstein, Blythe, and Sullivan all improved vastly as players versus where they were in 2016 during their time here. And yes, we can complain that things didn't work out in 2019. But there were a lot of things that went wrong this year.

Noteboom, for example, was almost certainly playing out of position. But regardless of it all, we lost three OL starters for most of the year and still managed to have a functional OL by the end of it. Evans and Edwards were ready to play a lot quicker than expected and provided better play than you'd expect from a 3rd or 5th round rookie. Corbett came over in a trade after being a forgotten man in Cleveland and provided solid play at LG. All in all, Kromer's ability to scrape together a functional OL over the second half of the year only convinced me of his value here.

We'll see how he does in future years, but I don't doubt the guy. And I wish Noteboom was healthy, because I still think he can be a quality LT based on what I saw in 2018. Allen, imo, was a miss. Don't know whose call that was.

 

[Faceplant]

Offense was the issue this season. This is just more fodder for the media to hate on the Rams..... And they are already eating it up. The Rams are quickly becoming a hated franchise..... It's weird.....and annoying. As fans, we put up with futility for decades, have a couple winning seasons.... And boom. Haters everywhere. Peeps must hate LA..... fuck em.

 

[jrry32]

If you are going to hold Wade accountable, why not hold Snead, McVay, and Kromer accountable as well? How do you separate one from the other? It seems to me that for several games we all lauded the way Wade would scheme/make adjustments after halftime. And how about that super bowl run last year, when the D carried them. And for the past 3 years, besides flipping the defensive backfield, quite frequently I might add, did the Rams ever give Wade a high draft pick for a linebacker or defensive lineman? Outside of Gaines, who is a rookie, I can't think of any other decent draft pick.

I understand that change is inevitable. I just like these guys when they become Rams, and it's hard to see them go. Especially guys like Wade Philips.

Who isn't? Difference is that the offense was an elite unit in 2017 and 2018. It dropped to 11th in PPG and 7th in YPG this year after a lot of things went wrong. You don't throw the baby out with the bath water.

 

[Riverumbbq]

This is some serious revisionist history. Our OL was pure shit in 2016. Havenstein and Brown looked awful. Yes, Whitworth helped as a stabilizing force at LT, but Saffold, Brown, Havenstein, Blythe, and Sullivan all improved vastly as players versus where they were in 2016 during their time here. And yes, we can complain that things didn't work out in 2019. But there were a lot of things that went wrong this year.

Noteboom, for example, was almost certainly playing out of position. But regardless of it all, we lost three OL starters for most of the year and still managed to have a functional OL by the end of it. Evans and Edwards were ready to play a lot quicker than expected and provided better play than you'd expect from a 3rd or 5th round rookie. Corbett came over in a trade after being a forgotten man in Cleveland and provided solid play at LG. All in all, Kromer's ability to scrape together a functional OL over the second half of the year only convinced me of his value here.

We'll see how he does in future years, but I don't doubt the guy. And I wish Noteboom was healthy, because I still think he can be a quality LT based on what I saw in 2018. Allen, imo, was a miss. Don't know whose call that was.

Revisionist ? Word for word what I stated was fact, I never even brought up 2016, and McVay/Kromer wasn't here at that time. Keep to what was written and avoid the B.S.

Early 2019 pre-season games we witnessed far better play by Edwards & Brewer while starters were held out, yet it was Noteboom chosen to play out of position and Demby brought in as the first reserve. Like it or not, that's how it went down. In a way we should be thankful for the injuries as Edwards, Evans, Corbett & Brewer were introduced and the OL settled down some.
Noteboom playing LG wasn't some overnight decision, it was the plan all off-season, as was Allen.
As I stated, Kromer remains an enigma for me, it's difficult to criticize him in some aspects like how the rookies & Corbett stepped up this season, but he also needs to take responsibility for some earlier missteps, nothing for you to get your panties in a twist.

 

[Mackeyser]

Is it Wade's fault that Peters did not fit his system or is it Wade's fault for not tweaking the coverage to Peter's strength?

We gave up two 1st rnd picks for a guy that fits Wade's scheme to replace a guy that is first team All-Pro this year. And now we're moving to someone else.

Not all change is for the best so I hope the next guy is at least as good as Wade if not better.

Peters got 1st team All Pro because he went to a winning team and slotted in perfectly from a scheme and personnel standpoint. He was what they were missing. Fits like that often exaggerate value. Peters is NOT scheme independent and was NOT an All Pro in our scheme. At best, he was a #2 who needed a #1 to play off of.

Peters is a very good corner, but there are easily 10 CBs who are better in the NFL, so I take this All Pro nod in context.

 

[dasramas]

Love SonofaBum howeve the Baltimore and Dallas games bothered the hell out ou f me as did the Tampa game for that matter the first niner game as well.
This season time and again the middle of the field was open as end exploited. I think 3rd and 16 twice against the niners was a bit too much to bbn ignore. It happened more than we might want to admit

I am hoping the defense gets mean and nasty. Seemed way too soft at times.

 

[TexasRam]

I definitely wouldn't throw out Kromer because of the O-line debacle this year. He has proven he can coach guys up for a solid Oline on multiple teams now.

But he should share the blame this year for the talent evaluation he did on Allen and Noteboom slotting to LG and Demby as well.

Kromer has a black eye on his head after this year for sure. He's been allotted several draft slots to develop and evaluate and his unit was a wreck. I understand the injury situation but Noteboom, Allen and Evans don't look like starters to me.

 

[Jacobarch]

Feel bad for Wade, he's definitely taking the fall for this season. It's unfortunate because it wasn't Wade's fault we lost the SB. That one was McVay not being able to scheme and adjust. Hope he doesn't get to involved on the defensive side, he has a lot of work to do on offense.

Good point. I'm sure however if you asked mcvay if he'd fire himself I bet he'd say yes. To that point I'm sure we're going to see more coaching moves on offense and I expect him to hire a real OC to assist him.

 

[Jacobarch]

I definitely wouldn't throw out Kromer because of the O-line debacle this year. He has proven he can coach guys up for a solid Oline on multiple teams now.

But he should share the blame this year for the talent evaluation he did on Allen and Noteboom slotting to LG and Demby as well.

Kromer has a black eye on his head after this year for sure. He's been allotted several draft slots to develop and evaluate and his unit was a wreck. I understand the injury situation but Noteboom, Allen and Evans don't look like starters to me.

Evens played very well. He only allowed one sack. He played better than Hav as well.
I can't put a lot of blame on AK this year. The jury is still out on Allen and Boom because they played less than half a season. We also changer up our oline scheme after we shuffled around everyone on the oline. I think it's pretty genius If I'm being honest.

 

[Riverumbbq]

I definitely wouldn't throw out Kromer because of the O-line debacle this year. He has proven he can coach guys up for a solid Oline on multiple teams now.

But he should share the blame this year for the talent evaluation he did on Allen and Noteboom slotting to LG and Demby as well.

Kromer has a black eye on his head after this year for sure. He's been allotted several draft slots to develop and evaluate and his unit was a wreck. I understand the injury situation but Noteboom, Allen and Evans don't look like starters to me.

I agree with your first two sentences, although McVay was in the thick of it and whatever he decides on the fate of Kromer is good for me.

Where I disagree though is on Noteboom & Evans, one played out of position and the other is a rookie tossed into fire and came out pretty clean, considering. Allen looked out of his element, so it's difficult to predict his future because amazing things can potentially occur between year 1 and year 2 with continuing development, but Snead has brought in 3 potential competitors for his position after the season got underway. Who knows, with another off-season, maybe even Demby turns things around.
jmo.

 

[IBruce80]

Love SonofaBum howeve the Baltimore and Dallas games bothered the hell out ou f me as did the Tampa game for that matter the first niner game as well.
This season time and again the middle of the field was open as end exploited. I think 3rd and 16 twice against the niners was a bit too much to bbn ignore. It happened more than we might want to admit

I am hoping the defense gets mean and nasty. Seemed way too soft at times.

Pretty much summed up my feelings.
Yes, our D played well at times, but it's the other times (listed in quote) that troubled me.
I believe that if our O line had no issues at all, yet our offence performed the way it did, more heads would roll.
For the most part, the offensive line is like a scapegoat for offensive issues.
The D, however, falls on Wade.
Big Wade fan, might be regrettable letting him go, but 3 years, notable changes, big talent pool, yet inconsistent at best.

 

[jrry32]

Revisionist ? Word for word what I stated was fact, I never even brought up 2016, and McVay/Kromer wasn't here at that time. Keep to what was written and avoid the B.S.

Early 2019 pre-season games we witnessed far better play by Edwards & Brewer while starters were held out, yet it was Noteboom chosen to play out of position and Demby brought in as the first reserve. Like it or not, that's how it went down. In a way we should be thankful for the injuries as Edwards, Evans, Corbett & Brewer were introduced and the OL settled down some.
Noteboom playing LG wasn't some overnight decision, it was the plan all off-season, as was Allen.
As I stated, Kromer remains an enigma for me, it's difficult to criticize him in some aspects like how the rookies & Corbett stepped up this season, but he also needs to take responsibility for some earlier missteps, nothing for you to get your panties in a twist.

Until you see it on the field, there's not much you can do to anticipate how a guy like Noteboom will handle OG. He looked good at LT in 2018. And it's worth noting that rookies settling down later in the season isn't surprising. Just because a guy like Evans played decent later in the year doesn't mean he was ready for a big role early in the year. Edwards is the exception, but I do wonder if they were hesitant with him due to concerns over how well he knew the offense. Obviously, once we saw Demby on the field for a few snaps, that concern no longer mattered.

 

[kurtfaulk]

Love SonofaBum howeve the Baltimore and Dallas games bothered the hell out ou f me as did the Tampa game for that matter the first niner game as well.
This season time and again the middle of the field was open as end exploited. I think 3rd and 16 twice against the niners was a bit too much to bbn ignore. It happened more than we might want to admit

I am hoping the defense gets mean and nasty. Seemed way too soft at times.

all you had to do was look at mcvay's face at the end of the whiner game and you knew he was gonna




.

 

[Riverumbbq]

Until you see it on the field, there's not much you can do to anticipate how a guy like Noteboom will handle OG. He looked good at LT in 2018. And it's worth noting that rookies settling down later in the season isn't surprising. Just because a guy like Evans played decent later in the year doesn't mean he was ready for a big role early in the year. Edwards is the exception, but I do wonder if they were hesitant with him due to concerns over how well he knew the offense. Obviously, once we saw Demby on the field for a few snaps, that concern no longer mattered.

That's very true, and likely the reason so many fans were upset Noteboom didn't see some pre-season snaps so a more honest evaluation might be made. It will be interesting to see if this is repeated going forward with extremely young, inexperienced projected starters. Saffold was our success story with transitioning from OT to OG, where both Robinson & Havenstein were pitiful, Noteboom just hasn't shown he was meant for this.
True on Evans, he was a late bloomer and the pre-season didn't show well for him, and his mid-season epiphany should be partially credited to Kromer. Edwards, Brewer & Demby were bounced around so much from position to position during the pre-season, finding a home wasn't going to be a slam dunk, but at least in Edwards/Brewers case, they did pretty well wherever they were assigned.
jmo.

 

[TexasRam]

I guess I don't share everybody's enthusiasm on Evans.

Evans did show some push in the run game and even some solid pass pro blocking at times.

But he was so inconsistent and whiffed several times. I know the guy was a rookie and not a polished product. I guess I see him as a project. I think if the Rams go into 2020 with Evans a starter I am going to be pretty upset.

Edwards showed the consistency to start however. Evans for me is the perfect depth type of guy you keep around and possibly look to him a few years down the road if he shows more consistency.

 

[Rabid Ram]

Well we have no idea if he wants in on that side of the ball since he is the OC and DC already.



It's not a huge change but it's enough that for the first half of the season the players may struggle.




I suspect this was more or as much Snead and McVay than just McVay.

And if you think it was a good move to get rid of WP why do you think it was a good move to hire him in the first place just three years ago. That's contradictory.

Lots of people thought it was a great move to bring in Jeff Fisher and wanted him gone the 3rd year

 

[Riverumbbq]

I guess I don't share everybody's enthusiasm on Evans.

Evans did show some push in the run game and even some solid pass pro blocking at times.

But he was so inconsistent and whiffed several times. I know the guy was a rookie and not a polished product. I guess I see him as a project. I think if the Rams go into 2020 with Evans a starter I am going to be pretty upset.

Edwards showed the consistency to start however. Evans for me is the perfect depth type of guy you keep around and possibly look to him a few years down the road if he shows more consistency.

Remember also who Evans was playing next to, first Blythe, then another rookie (Edwards) who was taking his first NFL snaps at RG after being moved from LG following Allen going down. In fact, those were also Evans' first NFL snaps.
All these guys are going to look better with another camp under their belt.

 

[PressureD41]

If we did make the move to a 4-3 DEF

Littleton would be a good WILL Backer imho. But do we pay him tho!? Could Reeder 6'1 240 or Patrick 6'2 247 handle the MIKE??? And furthermore I assume Kiser isn't fast or athletic enough to be a MIKE, but he could be a 2 down back up SAM, no? Okoronkwo as our SAM, no?
Would need some true DE, tho

 

[Riverumbbq]

If we did make the move to a 4-3 DEF

Littleton would be a good WILL Backer imho. But do we pay him tho!? Could Reeder 6'1 240 or Patrick 6'2 247 handle the MIKE??? And furthermore I assume Kiser isn't fast or athletic enough to be a MIKE, but he could be a 2 down back up SAM, no? Okoronkwo as our SAM, no?
Would need some true DE, tho

I'm pretty sure the 30% rule eliminates Littleton as a realistic hope for a long term extension. The Rams should have re-signed him last year if they really wanted to hang on to him.
jmo.

 

[PressureD41]

I swear Littleton, bet on himself this season and was willing to wait before signing.