Rams 2023 coaching changes

[So Ram]

He's right. The OL improved leaps and bounds with Kromer here. Havenstein, Corbett, Edwards, and even Blythe (considering he was a waiver wire add who played some competent football here) are clear examples. Saffold took his game to the next level. And our OL, with the additions of Kromer, Whit, and Sullivan, went from one of the worst in 2016 to one of the best in 2017 and 2018.

What he did in 2019 in itself was impressive.Bobby Evans was better his rookie season than almost every other season.Add Corbett was LG & Edwards was RG to finish the season.

 

[So Ram]

Absolutely not. Kromer had the OL playing very well. He utilized Jamon Brown, who started 14 games the previous 2 seasons (at G & T) and he played well in the 2017 season. Then in 2018 he replaced him with Blythe, starter of 1 G in his career to that point and he was servicable....at 2 positions. Didn't we make the SB? In 2019 he had Noteboom and Allen playing well (28 PPG on offense the first 5 weeks) prior to JNs injury. And then 3 weeks later when Allen and Big Rob went down in week 9, he coached up Edwards, Corbett and believe it or not Evans. In fact, at that time, Evans was considered to have a brighter future than the other two. We did finish 9-7 that season. A lot better than the 5-12 this year but of course we had 5 times the amount of injuries in 2022.

See the problem with Noteboom and Allen is their injuries. But some fans allow that to cloud their judgement of their actual talent. I have heard fans say how bad the OL played early in the season, particularly Noteboom. And I read some fans quoting PFF stats like "Noteboom leads the league in sack and pressures allowed". But upon review.....rewatching every game including the Buffalo game I call BS. Those numbers were bogus. The dude is a stud at LT. Quick kick step, balance, good punch, etc. I watched him handle Bosa with ease. I watched him handle 4 guys on the Cowboy DL too....they moved Parsons opposite Havenstein after 4 tries vs Noteboom because he couldn't get more than a yard into the backfield. The problem I have is I don't watch that part of the game when the game is live so I don't dispute those misconceptions until I've rewatched the games and focused on the player (or players) in question.

I don't know what they plan on doing in 2023 but I wouldn't be shocked if nothing changed on the OL. I like Allen at C but his knees are shot. You can't realistically rely on a guy who needs to have them drained every other week. Noteboom? He should be the LT and he'll probably be ready in time for camp. Jackson playing along side him would give the Rams a very good left side of the line. If Shelton doesn't opt out and starts at C, with Anchrum or Bruss at RG, the weak link in the OL will be Havenstein. He gets beat often in pass pro. But we'll see. It could be they go a different direction but I don't expect it. Drafting a C? Absolutely. How high? I don't know.

But I would ask anybody who thinks...expounds....repeats what they hear about Noteboom not being any good to rewatch the game and focus just on him.

EXCELLENT POST!! SPOT ON!

My question is what happens with Zak Kromer? He ended up being the TE’s coach when Thomas Brown went back to being the RB’s coach.
I like the new coaches.

 

[So Ram]

The Rams will always be Super Bowl champs. After Sunday they simply won't be the current ones. When a player retires the title and accolades go with him, which is why the players value it so much. It's my IMO Stafford has accomplished all he wanted to to in LA. He can retire any time and still be known as a Super Bowl winning QB. It's why IMO Snead needs to hold on to Mayfield for one more year.

In 2004 the Rams can handle the cap hit if Stafford retires. Mayfield needs a whole year to learn the offense and the WRs. If Baker knows he's the Ram's starter in 2024 he stays. If Baker stays he becomes what they hoped Goff would. Goff simply wasn't a good fit for McVay. We have seen him blossom in Detroit. Mayfield and Goff are basically equivalents in terms of talent. The difference is McVay wants Mayfield whereas he inherited Goff. If Baker stays and becomes the starter in 2024 we will see what this team would have been under Goff had things gone right, i.e. had McVay done more to tailor the offense to Goff's skillset.

If Morris is hired by Indy or is let go, I think Henderson would be a good fit at DC. If he is DC I expect McVay to draft DL in the second round, and it might not be an edge. If a player like Bryan Bresee is there when they pick in the second round they could go with him. They could be drafting AD's replacement so they should be able to get a very good 3T early in the second round and simply move AD to DE. Moving AD to DE might encourage him to stay 2 more years instead of just one more. He won't be facing double teams on each snap. Snead has a habit of drafting a player to fill a position he anticipates coming open a year before it does. That's why I think he could be drafting a DT 3T in the second round.

By the way I find it interesting that Morris' two proteges were fired in January. Morris specifically brought Lance Schulters and Skyler Jones along with him from Atlanta. I'm hoping that the only reason Morris is still here is because of Indy and the prospect of comp picks. They can promote Henderson to DC. I find it very interesting that the media hasn't really picked up on this. Why would they quietly fire these two and not the guy that brought them along with him?

But I think signing LaFleur could see them taking a RB in the third round (in anticipation of getting a 3rd rd comp pick). Just like bringing in Caley to coach TEs could see them drafting a TE in a TE heavy draft this year.

Raheem Morris is going to be on The Rams coaching Staff if not hired by the Colts. LaFleur brought his name up a couple of times of why he is The Rams OC,besides Mcvay. FYI - not sure about the other coaches?

Is Jeremy Springer going to take over as special teams coach?

 

[PhillyRam]

No in 75 they played the Cowboys and Dempsey missed on FG and got the other one block that was returned into Rams territory.

Yeah, their special teams sucked. Bobby Bryant blocked a FG in 76' that amounted to a 10 point swing in the NFCG. I remember watching that game, sitting in my Rams bean bag chair.

 

[FarNorth]

Report: Rams hiring Bills' Ryan Wendell as new O-line coach​

Sean McVay is beginning to fill out his coaching staff for the 2023 season. With Kevin Carberry out as the Los Angeles Rams’ offensive line coach, McVay needed to find a replacement.

According to Dan Graziano of ESPN, the Rams are hiring Ryan Wendell as their new O-line coach. Wendell, who played eight years in the NFL with the Patriots and Panthers, has been the Bills assistant offensive line coach since 2019, his first coaching opportunity.

Wendell is just 36 years old, so this is another young hire by McVay. Mike LaFleur, the Rams’ new offensive coordinator, is just 35 years old, too.

Only 36? Suit him up, he can be a player coach. Rams need all the oline help they can get!

 

[So Ram]

Former Patriots team captain hired as OL coach for Rams

The Rams hired a former Patriots team captain as their new offensive line coach.

patriotswire.usatoday.com

This is a solid hire. Like I keep saying about relationships with Sean Mcvay.
When The Rams won the Superbowl he said this was The Best coaching staff he had ever worked with during the season. Many of times.

For all The Raheem Morris HATERS,I’m still LMAO!! He has kept Sean Mcvay grounded.The first guy Mcvay hugged was Wes Phillips whose Daddy(son of bum) helped Mcvay land the HC job with The Rams.

I like the Youth Sean Mcvay has on his staff now.Raheem IMO comes back in some reguard as a(mentor) Rams assistant HC ?
The Rams promote or do something to really Inspire The Defense!!

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

He's right. The OL improved leaps and bounds with Kromer here. Havenstein, Corbett, Edwards, and even Blythe (considering he was a waiver wire add who played some competent football here) are clear examples. Saffold took his game to the next level. And our OL, with the additions of Kromer, Whit, and Sullivan, went from one of the worst in 2016 to one of the best in 2017 and 2018.

‘Improving’ is a very loose term when considering some of those players. Plus you were always a Kromer fan.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Absolutely not. Kromer had the OL playing very well. He utilized Jamon Brown, who started 14 games the previous 2 seasons (at G & T) and he played well in the 2017 season. Then in 2018 he replaced him with Blythe, starter of 1 G in his career to that point and he was servicable....at 2 positions. Didn't we make the SB? In 2019 he had Noteboom and Allen playing well (28 PPG on offense the first 5 weeks) prior to JNs injury. And then 3 weeks later when Allen and Big Rob went down in week 9, he coached up Edwards, Corbett and believe it or not Evans. In fact, at that time, Evans was considered to have a brighter future than the other two. We did finish 9-7 that season. A lot better than the 5-12 this year but of course we had 5 times the amount of injuries in 2022.

See the problem with Noteboom and Allen is their injuries. But some fans allow that to cloud their judgement of their actual talent. I have heard fans say how bad the OL played early in the season, particularly Noteboom. And I read some fans quoting PFF stats like "Noteboom leads the league in sack and pressures allowed". But upon review.....rewatching every game including the Buffalo game I call BS. Those numbers were bogus. The dude is a stud at LT. Quick kick step, balance, good punch, etc. I watched him handle Bosa with ease. I watched him handle 4 guys on the Cowboy DL too....they moved Parsons opposite Havenstein after 4 tries vs Noteboom because he couldn't get more than a yard into the backfield. The problem I have is I don't watch that part of the game when the game is live so I don't dispute those misconceptions until I've rewatched the games and focused on the player (or players) in question.

I don't know what they plan on doing in 2023 but I wouldn't be shocked if nothing changed on the OL. I like Allen at C but his knees are shot. You can't realistically rely on a guy who needs to have them drained every other week. Noteboom? He should be the LT and he'll probably be ready in time for camp. Jackson playing along side him would give the Rams a very good left side of the line. If Shelton doesn't opt out and starts at C, with Anchrum or Bruss at RG, the weak link in the OL will be Havenstein. He gets beat often in pass pro. But we'll see. It could be they go a different direction but I don't expect it. Drafting a C? Absolutely. How high? I don't know.

But I would ask anybody who thinks...expounds....repeats what they hear about Noteboom not being any good to rewatch the game and focus just on him.

I focus on line play all of the time. Noteboom has never been a stud. Consider how many teams would trade their actual stud OLTs for Noteboom. He’s bottom of the league.

He can’t handle bull rushes. He doesn’t play strong. He’s all finesse, which may be why he has a good kick step. But he’s always had trouble playing with strength. His second level blocking in space has improved but again not to what I’d call stud level.

Maybe what you are seeing isn’t that Kromer improved the play of those players, but that he just had them playing better than Carberry did. The only guy that really impressed me under Kromer was Edwards. He looked like a future All Pro for a season and a half. Carberry may not be that good of an Oline coach.

And the comment about the line being in a Super Bowl is meaningless. Carberry’s line went to one too. Plus both had Whitworth’s play and leadership. If making it to a Super Bowl was a testament to the greatness of an Oline coach then neither Kromer, nor Carberry wouldn’t have been fired.

 

[Tano]

Raheem Morris is going to be on The Rams coaching Staff if not hired by the Colts. LaFleur brought his name up a couple of times of why he is The Rams OC,besides Mcvay. FYI - not sure about the other coaches?

Is Jeremy Springer going to take over as special teams coach?

Jerry Springer on Special Teams? Well at least they would have attitude.

 

[PARAM]

I focus on line play all of the time. Noteboom has never been a stud. Consider how many teams would trade their actual stud OLTs for Noteboom. He’s bottom of the league.

He can’t handle bull rushes. He doesn’t play strong. He’s all finesse, which may be why he has a good kick step. But he’s always had trouble playing with strength. His second level blocking in space has improved but again not to what I’d call stud level.

Maybe what you are seeing isn’t that Kromer improved the play of those players, but that he just had them playing better than Carberry did. The only guy that really impressed me under Kromer was Edwards. He looked like a future All Pro for a season and a half. Carberry may not be that good of an Oline coach.

And the comment about the line being in a Super Bowl is meaningless. Carberry’s line went to one too. Plus both had Whitworth’s play and leadership. If making it to a Super Bowl was a testament to the greatness of an Oline coach then neither Kromer, nor Carberry wouldn’t have been fired.

So you focus on the O line play all the time? That's gotta be hard to do and still watch the action. I re-watched and focused on one player in question. I'd think that really gives the best perspective. We just disagree.

But the fact they made it to the Superbowl is important. The 2 years we went to the Superbowl the common denominators were Whitworth and Havenstein. But ironically the biggest factor was the starting 5 started 80 games each year. It reflected in the QBs numbers, despite there being 2 different QBs. Sack% allowed was 5.5% (2018) and 4.9% (2021). Yards per attempt were 8.3 (2018) and 8.1 (2021). Yards per reception were 12.9 (2018) and 12.1 (2021). TDs to Ints was 2.7 (2018) and 2.3 (2021). Hell, 2018 Goff looked almost as good as 2021 Stafford. Wny? Because of O line health, talent and continuity.

We'll see what happens with Noteboom but my guess is he's on the squad starting at LT.

"He can't handle bull rushes"? Give some examples. Instead of just saying "he can't handle bull rushes" tell us how many times the bull rush has beat him. For instance, after I watched and charted the first 5 games this year, I pointed out Nick Bosa lined up opposite JN 37 times. Want to guess how many times Bosa "won"? Or better yet, you tell me. Tell me how many times he beat JN with a bull rush.

"He doesn't play strong"? What TF does that mean? He looked pretty strong to me punching Bosa, Parsons and others off their rush. Is that a Kiper term?

"He's all finesse, which may be why he has a good kick step"? So you agree he has a good kick step but you attribute that to finesse? He's got a good kick step because he's physically talented and has excellent balance. Add to that a strong punch, very good downfield vision and blocking and you have what some might call, a stud LT,

But the company line is "he sucks". Like I said, we'll just disagree.

 

[jrry32]

‘Improving’ is a very loose term when considering some of those players. Plus you were always a Kromer fan.

I'm a Rams fan, and Kromer did good work here. Bobby Evans is the only notable failure of the many guys we brought in during his time here. (I guess you could also point to Jamil Demby, but he was a 6th round pick.)

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

So you focus on the O line play all the time? That's gotta be hard to do and still watch the action. I re-watched and focused on one player in question. I'd think that really gives the best perspective. We just disagree.

But the fact they made it to the Superbowl is important. The 2 years we went to the Superbowl the common denominators were Whitworth and Havenstein. But ironically the biggest factor was the starting 5 started 80 games each year. It reflected in the QBs numbers, despite there being 2 different QBs. Sack% allowed was 5.5% (2018) and 4.9% (2021). Yards per attempt were 8.3 (2018) and 8.1 (2021). Yards per reception were 12.9 (2018) and 12.1 (2021). TDs to Ints was 2.7 (2018) and 2.3 (2021). Hell, 2018 Goff looked almost as good as 2021 Stafford. Wny? Because of O line health, talent and continuity.

We'll see what happens with Noteboom but my guess is he's on the squad starting at LT.

"He can't handle bull rushes"? Give some examples. Instead of just saying "he can't handle bull rushes" tell us how many times the bull rush has beat him. For instance, after I watched and charted the first 5 games this year, I pointed out Nick Bosa lined up opposite JN 37 times. Want to guess how many times Bosa "won"? Or better yet, you tell me. Tell me how many times he beat JN with a bull rush.

"He doesn't play strong"? What TF does that mean? He looked pretty strong to me punching Bosa, Parsons and others off their rush. Is that a Kiper term?

"He's all finesse, which may be why he has a good kick step"? So you agree he has a good kick step but you attribute that to finesse? He's got a good kick step because he's physically talented and has excellent balance. Add to that a strong punch, very good downfield vision and blocking and you have what some might call, a stud LT,

But the company line is "he sucks". Like I said, we'll just disagree.

You are citing health. That has little to do with coaching. The Oline was healthy for both Oline coaches.

I watch every game at least twice. Sometimes three times. That way I can really focus on the DLine and Oline play.

Noteboom isn’t very good. He’s never been. Some players have limitations. Coaching can’t do a lot to change that. Nobody is turning him into Whitworth.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

I'm a Rams fan, and Kromer did good work here. Bobby Evans is the only notable failure of the many guys we brought in during his time here. (I guess you could also point to Jamil Demby, but he was a 6th round pick.)

You were very high on Kromer when he was hired. He had good personnel in Buffalo. It made him look better than he was.

The Rams Oline has been okay. It hasn’t been great or even good at times. A lot of the Rams success is scheme. McVay works around the Olines weaknesses. If these guys were so well coached why aren’t they a top five Oline every year.

If you are saying that Kromer did a better job coaching a subpar group than Carberry did, then I’d agree. Neither of those coaches are premiere Oline coaches.

 

[PARAM]

Boy, some guys get all the luck!!!

Kromer had either good personnel or good health or good assistants or a weak schedule or great running backs or fantastic weather....what else can we cite to minimize his success? Nicer uniforms? Great offenses? Excellent head coaching*?

*Shocking the 'excellent head coaches'....Payton, McVay, etc keep hiring Kromer!!

When arguments like that are submitted.....well let's just say..........my concern for Noteboom (or other lineman) has dropped drastically.

 

[PARAM]

I watch every game at least twice. Sometimes three times. That way I can really focus on the DLine and Oline play.

Noteboom isn’t very good. He’s never been. Some players have limitations. Coaching can’t do a lot to change that. Nobody is turning him into Whitworth.

I only watch them live once and on replay once to focus on one guy. I will watch them a third time if I want to focus on another guy. I don't know what Noteboom has not done to earn your evaluation but from my eye, he's solid.

"Noteboom isn't very good" is a statement. But anybody can say anything about any player. Specific examples would be better. And hint: He's susceptible to the bull rush isn't one. It's just another statement.

Nick Bosa is supposed to be all world. How did Noteboom do vs him this year? Give me your breakdown. I'll give you Bosa's stats for that game......2 sacks, 5 QB hits, 2 TFL.....but I'd like you to tell me how many of them did he get vs Noteboom and how many did he get vs Havenstein?

Same with Micah Parsons.
Von Miller beat him once.....yes, on a bullrush......but VM has beaten the best of them.

 

[OldSchool]

Boy, some guys get all the luck!!!

Kromer had either good personnel or good health or good assistants or a weak schedule or great running backs or fantastic weather....what else can we cite to minimize his success? Nicer uniforms? Great offenses? Excellent head coaching*?

*Shocking the 'excellent head coaches'....Payton, McVay, etc keep hiring Kromer!!

When arguments like that are submitted.....well let's just say..........my concern for Noteboom (or other lineman) has dropped drastically.

Amazing the excuses that will be made in support or opposition to somebody

 

[ReekofRams]

Amazing the excuses that will be made in support or opposition to somebody

I’m starting to think that as much you end your posts with a smiling/laughing face, that you might want to ease off on the booze there,

 

[Classic Rams]

Yeah, their special teams sucked. Bobby Bryant blocked a FG in 76' that amounted to a 10 point swing in the NFCG. I remember watching that game, sitting in my Rams bean bag chair.

In a way I'm happy that I missed that block-TD. I was in the back seat of a rental car on our way to a relative's. Heard the play happen on the radio & couldn't believe it. If I had seen it live I would've had PTSD! What a stupid play.

 

[PhillyRam]

In a way I'm happy that I missed that block-TD. I was in the back seat of a rental car on our way to a relative's. Heard the play happen on the radio & couldn't believe it. If I had seen it live I would've had PTSD! What a stupid play.

I was happy when they dumped Dempsey.

 

[OldSchool]

I’m starting to think that as much you end your posts with a smiling/laughing face, that you might want to ease off on the booze there,

Might be the opposite, haven't had a drink in weeks.