I feel pretty comfortable with Joe Noteboom taking over for big Whit next year.
Whit’s got 2 more wins in him. Maybe more if he wants to keep going… but yeah feels good to have Noteboom ready for the future.
I agree with that PPF article and have been saying this about Noteboom for some time - he is injury prone and has a very small sample size of good work having played behind Whitworth. I am not convinced that Noteboom will find many teams willing to offer him big money. Although, with how thin offensive line talent is, perhaps I am wrong.
I think it is more likely that a chance to start ends up being more determinative of where Noteboom ends up than strictly $$$. He has earned the chance to start. But I hope it is not for the Rams. Unlucky for Noteboom (and lucky for the Rams), Whitworth was largely healthy for his time here. Usually, a player in his position would have had more chances to show his stuff with injuries forcing him into action at his natural position.
I have nothing against the player. I quite like Noteboom. But a Super Bowl favourite like the Rams should not be going with a player that is somewhat untested at a position as important as LT. If you make the wrong call, there will not be any good replacements available come September. If Big Whit (who is an absolutely elite LT) retires, the Rams should use all of that cap space, plus more if necessary, to bring in a top tier replacement. Especially with how pass happy this offense and coaching staff is, and with Stafford's injury history.
Who else is out there at LT?
I like Boom. If Whit retires and they resign Boom, it will show the Front Office like him too. They were proven right on the centre position this past off-season and they've earned the benefit of the doubt with roster decisions at this point.
Alaric Jackson was a very nice surprise. But before Jackson saw the field with our offense with both Noteboom & Whitworth out OL coach Carberry went with the over 6-6 ft 320 plus pound starting left OG David Edwards @ LT. Not much has been discussed on that past event & what Carbeery did.I agree, and it's not like the cupboards are bare behind Noteboom either as Alaric Jackson was also a pleasant surprise in relief.
Alaric Jackson was a very nice surprise. But before Jackson saw the field with our offense with both Noteboom & Whitworth out OL coach Carberry went with the over 6-6 ft 320 plus pound starting left OG David Edwards @ LT. Not much has been discussed on that past event & what Carbeery did.
The other Carberry/Kromer backup practice LT was very short now entering his 3rd season Tremayne Anchrum who as a rookie saw #2 team reps in OTA's/TC & preseason @ LT post. Even Carberry in 2021 was utilizing Ancrum primarily @ OT. The problem was Tremayne Anchrum tore up a knee playing in 3rd preseason gm. & was basically shelved for the 2021 season.
So it sure looks like the Rams OL cupboard is jammed full of OT's likes (both Right & Left) bu,t very depleted of run blocking interior OL'ers. Finally, even 4th yr Bobby Evans who is under contract was a starting LT in college plus we all know that Evans can not play OG in the NFL so it's swing OT or unemployment line for Evans.
OL Carberry has youngsters Adrian Ealy & Max Pircher lined up behind starting veteran starting RT Rob Havenstien. Seriously that is a large cadre of OT's under contract.
I have been pondering Coleman Shelton for a long while now. The more I see him on the field the better I like him.I'd actually be comfortable moving Shelton to LG, keeping Allen at Center, and making Edwards a swing OT this next season, although it's unlikely to play out that way. Since Edwards is scheduled to enter free agency following the upcoming season, I feel we'll lose him without discovering his full potential as an OT. Edwards was made an early starter at OG because of OL injuries, this situation also precipitated the trade for Corbett and in moving Blythe from LG to Center, it was a chaotic period for us that ended up working out fairly well, at least temporarily, although our subsequent drafting for depth on the interior OL apparently lost all focus.
Yep, that particular center dialogue is wide open for discussion.One other irritating thing here is that it seems of late that teams have been paying centers a bit more. With all these young QBs I think there's been some focus on taking pre-snap threat calls from them and letting centers handle them like we did with Goff and Sully in 2017/2018. Translation is guys like Allen and the kid from Tampa are likely to get some money in FA.
I'm guessing Allen will be the #2 center in FA.