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St. Louis Rams feeling better about offensive line after draft
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...eling-better-about-offensive-line-after-draft
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- In the days leading up to last week's NFL draft, St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher insisted he felt good about what his team had in place on the offensive line. He also made it clear that he'd feel better about it by the end of the weekend.
In other words, Fisher would be satisfied with his offensive line after it invests heavily in it during the draft. Nobody knew exactly how deep those investments would run but by the time the draft was complete, the Rams added four big, physical offensive linemen to a meat locker sorely in need of more beef.
Second-round offensive tackle Rob Havenstein, third-round guard Jamon Brown, fourth-round utility man Andrew Donnal and sixth-round guard Cody Wichmann are the newest additions to the group.
"I feel good, yeah," Fisher said. "I feel real good. It's been a long time coming, particularly because of the needs and what we've done together over the last three years. The Todd [Gurley] pick was great and then our focus went to the big guys. For us to be able to say that we came away with the three and then of course our last pick today, it was pretty impressive."
The question now becomes how those new additions will fit into the Rams' depth chart? As it stands, Greg Robinson is written in pen as the left tackle. Rodger Saffold will also start though he could plug in at either guard position depending on how the other three spots shake out.
The Rams are also aiming to fill the void at center with an option that was already in house with the choice coming from amongst the trio of Barrett Jones, Tim Barnes and Demetrius Rhaney. That competition will play out in training camp.
From there, it's entirely possible that two of the four rookies could win starting jobs. The most likely plug and play option is Havenstein, who seems the most logical candidate to start at right tackle. Brown could also figure in the mix as the Rams intend to kick him inside to guard. But would the Rams be comfortable starting both rookies on the line, especially on the same side?
"I don't want to say they're options, but they're real players," Fisher said. "These guys have played a lot of football in college. You look at the number of games played and starts with respect to all four of the offensive linemen that we drafted, it's solid. They're durable. They're smart. They're well coached and they're going to fit in."
Adding a veteran into the mix would still make plenty of sense and that's something that both Fisher and general manager Les Snead have said the team will consider in the coming weeks. That could mean a reunion with tackle Joe Barksdale or adding a guard like Justin Blalock. It could also mean plugging in veteran swing tackle Garrett Reynolds somewhere along the line for a bit.
A veteran would allow at least three of the rookies to start out on the bench and adjust while also providing a calming presence for youngsters like Robinson, whoever starts at center and, likely, Havenstein.
Even if the Rams do have to lean heavily on rookies, they believe strongly that the group they brought in is ready to play right away based on the playing experience of that quartet in college. Havenstein, Brown, Donnal and Wichmann combined for 147 collegiate starts with only Donnal not in the starting lineup for at least three years of his career.
Beyond that experience, Snead also said the Rams took a long look at where NFL offensive line starters come from as a way of guiding their draft.
"We studied OL as hard as any position this year and just with what some of the data says, most starting left tackles, the average round you get those guys, average is second," Snead said. "But obviously, you get that position in the first and we kind of addressed that last year. But you take the guard spot, the center spot and the right tackle spot and the average round of all starters in the league is about 3.6. So we felt like in rounds two, three, four we could address the OL and get some guys that have a chance to come in and help us."
And though the Rams might bristle at the suggestion, adding so many options to the offensive line at the very least increases the chances that the Rams will hit on some of their latest selections.
"We didn't throw darts, now," Fisher said. "We think these guys can play. So, we'll have a much better idea once we get them in and get going, but we feel like they can all come in and contribute."
By Nick Wagoner
http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-ra...eling-better-about-offensive-line-after-draft
EARTH CITY, Mo. -- In the days leading up to last week's NFL draft, St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher insisted he felt good about what his team had in place on the offensive line. He also made it clear that he'd feel better about it by the end of the weekend.
In other words, Fisher would be satisfied with his offensive line after it invests heavily in it during the draft. Nobody knew exactly how deep those investments would run but by the time the draft was complete, the Rams added four big, physical offensive linemen to a meat locker sorely in need of more beef.
Second-round offensive tackle Rob Havenstein, third-round guard Jamon Brown, fourth-round utility man Andrew Donnal and sixth-round guard Cody Wichmann are the newest additions to the group.
"I feel good, yeah," Fisher said. "I feel real good. It's been a long time coming, particularly because of the needs and what we've done together over the last three years. The Todd [Gurley] pick was great and then our focus went to the big guys. For us to be able to say that we came away with the three and then of course our last pick today, it was pretty impressive."
The question now becomes how those new additions will fit into the Rams' depth chart? As it stands, Greg Robinson is written in pen as the left tackle. Rodger Saffold will also start though he could plug in at either guard position depending on how the other three spots shake out.
The Rams are also aiming to fill the void at center with an option that was already in house with the choice coming from amongst the trio of Barrett Jones, Tim Barnes and Demetrius Rhaney. That competition will play out in training camp.
From there, it's entirely possible that two of the four rookies could win starting jobs. The most likely plug and play option is Havenstein, who seems the most logical candidate to start at right tackle. Brown could also figure in the mix as the Rams intend to kick him inside to guard. But would the Rams be comfortable starting both rookies on the line, especially on the same side?
"I don't want to say they're options, but they're real players," Fisher said. "These guys have played a lot of football in college. You look at the number of games played and starts with respect to all four of the offensive linemen that we drafted, it's solid. They're durable. They're smart. They're well coached and they're going to fit in."
Adding a veteran into the mix would still make plenty of sense and that's something that both Fisher and general manager Les Snead have said the team will consider in the coming weeks. That could mean a reunion with tackle Joe Barksdale or adding a guard like Justin Blalock. It could also mean plugging in veteran swing tackle Garrett Reynolds somewhere along the line for a bit.
A veteran would allow at least three of the rookies to start out on the bench and adjust while also providing a calming presence for youngsters like Robinson, whoever starts at center and, likely, Havenstein.
Even if the Rams do have to lean heavily on rookies, they believe strongly that the group they brought in is ready to play right away based on the playing experience of that quartet in college. Havenstein, Brown, Donnal and Wichmann combined for 147 collegiate starts with only Donnal not in the starting lineup for at least three years of his career.
Beyond that experience, Snead also said the Rams took a long look at where NFL offensive line starters come from as a way of guiding their draft.
"We studied OL as hard as any position this year and just with what some of the data says, most starting left tackles, the average round you get those guys, average is second," Snead said. "But obviously, you get that position in the first and we kind of addressed that last year. But you take the guard spot, the center spot and the right tackle spot and the average round of all starters in the league is about 3.6. So we felt like in rounds two, three, four we could address the OL and get some guys that have a chance to come in and help us."
And though the Rams might bristle at the suggestion, adding so many options to the offensive line at the very least increases the chances that the Rams will hit on some of their latest selections.
"We didn't throw darts, now," Fisher said. "We think these guys can play. So, we'll have a much better idea once we get them in and get going, but we feel like they can all come in and contribute."