Rams’ offensive line problem isn’t as bad as it looks

[Allen2McVay]

And I will bring it back up later this season when the Oline looks a lot like it did last year.

Curious who you wished they had selected, and where.

I have posted twice that while I like both Akers and Jefferson, I wish the Rams would have taken Ezra Cleveland at 52 or 57 but would not have expected much from him in n 2020.

 

[Merlin]

I love my team but I have very low expectations going into this season without any significant upgrades on the Oline.

Good summation on how I feel atm Elm.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Curious who you wished they had selected, and where.

I have posted twice that while I like both Akers and Jefferson, I wish the Rams would have taken Ezra Cleveland at 52 or 57 but would not have expected much from him in n 2020.

There were a few possible options. I like four of the centers and at least three of the OTs. People are correct that there aren’t as many plug and play Olinemen theses days because most come from a spread offense and only hold blocks for three seconds. I really like Hunt at OG, Ruiz, Hennessy, Cushenberry, Jones at OT. And I didn’t expect any to be instant all Pros but Snead needs to start sometime. I like Cleveland’s potential but he doesn’t seem to have the same tenacity as others. He reminds me of Noteboom.

If I had to pick the biggest need I still say it’s center. This was a pretty good center draft and they passed on them all, in favor of what? Blythe is on a one year deal so that makes me think he isn’t a long term solution. Allen doesn’t look like he belongs in the NFL. So I guess they are banking on Shelton?

At guard maybe Edwards and Corbett are the future? Supposedly they love Evans. Is he Havenstein’s replacement or Whitworth’s replacement? I hope they aren’t banking on Noteboom. Either way that still leads to Center as the great unknown.

But I’d have loved to see some dominance on our Oline. I just don’t see it at a single Offensive line position. Imo they need at least two difference makers and have none.

 

[OC--LeftCoast]

And I will bring it back up later this season when the Oline looks a lot like it did last year.

You do that now, some of us disagree shitcanning rooks after one year or less on the field, I suppose we’re buying in to this ludicrous “development“ thingy

Your av literally pretty much coincides with your take my man, so yeah time will reveal

 

[MachS]

some of us disagree shitcanning rooks after one year or less on the field, I suppose we’re buying in to this ludicrous “development“ thingy

What rooks are you taking about? Noteboom and Allen who were 2nd year players? The guys that sat and learned from pro coaches and vets for 18 months while we went to the super bowl, before ever being asked to play? They were being groomed to take over, after over a year+ of pro coaching. The actual rooks (edwards and evans) played well last year, an clear and obvious upgrade in play over noteboom and allen. The point is this is year 3 for Noteboom and Allen, year 3..and we STILL dont know what we have. They are both coming off injury so should we expect their play to be better this year if thrust into the lineup? Point is, we are one injury away from Noteboom, Allen, or Demby being a starter again for us.

 

[OC--LeftCoast]

What rooks are you taking about? Noteboom and Allen who were 2nd year players? The guys that sat and learned from pro coaches and vets for 18 months while we went to the super bowl, before ever being asked to play? They were being groomed to take over, after over a year+ of pro coaching. The actual rooks (edwards and evans) played well last year, an clear and obvious upgrade in play over noteboom and allen. The point is this is year 3 for Noteboom and Allen, year 3..and we STILL dont know what we have. They are both coming off injury so should we expect their play to be better this year if thrust into the lineup? Point is, we are one injury away from Noteboom, Allen, or Demby being a starter again for us.

I

I guess I didn’t emphasize “on field” enough

Do any of these guys even have 10 games (complete games) logged?

And stop being fake news (misleading narrative leaving out facts that don’t fit an agenda) they were drafted 2018, neither barely sniffed the field their rookie season, or were even active

Look, I see it one way, you see it differently

Time will reveal soon enough, you may be correct but I need a little more time...

And the obvious fact McVay and Sneed apparently were ok status quo (or didn’t have an OLine at their slot upgrade fall in their laps) gives me hope you’re off on this one

 

[Allen2McVay]

There were a few possible options. I like four of the centers and at least three of the OTs. People are correct that there aren’t as many plug and play Olinemen theses days because most come from a spread offense and only hold blocks for three seconds. I really like Hunt at OG, Ruiz, Hennessy, Cushenberry, Jones at OT.

OK. Thanks for responding.

I am trying to understand what some fans might have done if they were making the decision. For instance, from your response, both Ruiz and Hunt were selected before the Rams first pick at #52. So there was no real chance to get them (barring a trade up).

Now Hennessy, Cushenberry and Josh Jones are all in the same category as my targeted OL (Ezra Cleveland). All four were available for the Rams at 52 and 57 but none were there at the Rams next selection at #84

All four went off-the-board between 58-and-83. The Rams could have had any of the four with their second round picks but none with their third rounders.

I would have used one of the #2s on Cleveland; and been tempted by Hennessy at #84 had he not been taken at #83.

All that being said, I do like Akers (52), Jefferson (57) and Lewis (84).

 

[MachS]

I

I guess I didn’t emphasize “on field” enough

Do any of these guys even have 10 games (complete games) logged?

And stop being fake news (misleading narrative leaving out facts that don’t fit an agenda) they were drafted 2018, neither barely sniffed the field their rookie season, or were even active

Look, I see it one way, you see it differently

Time will reveal soon enough, you may be correct but I need a little more time...

And the obvious fact McVay and Sneed agree with status quo gives me hope you’re off on this one

I hope they turn out to be good players, but with the evidence we have so far its still up in the air. And you cant count their rookie year as a "redshirt" year like it didnt count. Of course it counts, and they could have beaten out Blythe or Sullivan for starting jobs as rookies. But they didnt..Sullivan and Blythe who are average NFL starters at best.

Hoping they heal up, continue to develop, and become viable options for our FUTURE OL is one thing... but expecting Noteboom and Allen to serve as primary backups for interior OL in 2020 is CRAZYYYY. Noteboom is 6 months removed from an ACL + MCL tear. When does he get back to 100% ? And what level of play can we expect at his 100%? What happens if blythe, corbett, or edwards goes down in the first half of the season? Demby has to start? Hav or Evans at guard?

 

[OC--LeftCoast]

I’ve seen enough of Blythe tbh, was actually hoping for a bonafide plug and play stud Center

didn‘t happen

Whit
Noteboom/Evans/Edwards
Corbett
Evans/Edwards
Hav

Thats what Im hoping for

Demby was very disappointing obviously, he may very well not make the cut

 

[LARAMSinFeb.]

I’ve seen enough of Blythe tbh, was actually hoping for a bonafide plug and play stud Center

didn‘t happen

Whit
Noteboom/Evans/Edwards
Corbett
Evans/Edwards
Hav

Thats what Im hoping for

Hopefully the Noteboom G experiment is over.

 

[CanadianFan]

Whitworth-Corbett-Blythe-Evans-Havenstein for me...

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

OK. Thanks for responding.

I am trying to understand what some fans might have done if they were making the decision. For instance, from your response, both Ruiz and Hunt were selected before the Rams first pick at #52. So there was no real chance to get them (barring a trade up).

Now Hennessy, Cushenberry and Josh Jones are all in the same category as my targeted OL (Ezra Cleveland). All four were available for the Rams at 52 and 57 but none were there at the Rams next selection at #84

All four went off-the-board between 58-and-83. The Rams could have had any of the four with their second round picks but none with their third rounders.

I would have used one of the #2s on Cleveland; and been tempted by Hennessy at #84 had he not been taken at #83.

All that being said, I do like Akers (52), Jefferson (57) and Lewis (84).

One thing that we can never know is it Snead tried to trade up or not. I would have tried to trade up to get Hunt. I doubt there was a shot to get into round 1 for Ruiz though.

another option would have been to trade back in round 2. I value Running backs lower than Snead I guess. I didn't see Akers as being worth the 52 pick. Ditto Jefferson, especially when you weigh need and positional value. The Niners have success with guys like Mister and Breida, Seahawks have Carson, and Washington doesn't use high picks on RBs. All have success. I feel the line is more important and a position with more longevity, this a better value. So trading up by sacrificing 52 or 57 plus a third would be worth it for me. Another option is just trading back and taking Cushenberry and a RB in round 3, along with the other thirds.

I guess they aren't too worried about having the second worse Oline in the NFL.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

You do that now, some of us disagree shitcanning rooks after one year or less on the field, I suppose we’re buying in to this ludicrous “development“ thingy

Your av literally pretty much coincides with your take my man, so yeah time will reveal

31st ranked Oline in the league and to start the season Kroner and McVay were fine going into the season with them. Let that sink in. They were good with that Oline and it turned out like shit. It would have been even worse if it was Goff's knee that got crunched by Allen, or Demby. I don't understand how anyone can trust Kromer 's evaluation after that. Did you see how bad some of them played? And the top back up was Demby. Do you think Kroner went into last season saying, " This Offensive line is going to be bad. " ? He thought they'd be good.

 

[Loyal]

31st ranked Oline in the league and to start the season Kroner and McVay were fine going into the season with them. Let that sink in. They were good with that Oline and it turned out like shit. It would have been even worse if it was Goff's knee that got crunched by Allen, or Demby. I don't understand how anyone can trust Kromer 's evaluation after that. Did you see how bad some of them played? And the top back up was Demby. Do you think Kroner went into last season saying, " This Offensive line is going to be bad. " ? He thought they'd be good.

I think Kromer was overconfident, because of the previous year's health on the Oline, and he underestimated (or someone else up the foodchain) the loss of Rodger Saffold.

 

[FarNorth]

31st ranked Oline in the league and to start the season Kroner and McVay were fine going into the season with them. Let that sink in. They were good with that Oline and it turned out like shit. It would have been even worse if it was Goff's knee that got crunched by Allen, or Demby. I don't understand how anyone can trust Kromer 's evaluation after that. Did you see how bad some of them played? And the top back up was Demby. Do you think Kroner went into last season saying, " This Offensive line is going to be bad. " ? He thought they'd be good.

I'm not prepared to give up on Kromer just yet.

I was as unhappy as anyone with the o-line play last year, but I just think we have to be careful in assuming we fully understand what happened within the organization to contribute to that result.

Not clear to me that Kromer assured McVay that the line would be good, much less be good under any or all adverse circumstances. He was very careful in choosing his words when assessing them at the beginning of the year. I don't remember hearing any grand promises. Kromer knew and pretty much stated that the lineup at the start of the season was a work in progress which needed time to gell.

They didn't get it. The Rams instead had a lot of injuries--- Noteboom, Allen, Havenstein, etc.-- that really compromised the line play last year. When you include the loss of loss of Saffold and Sullivan with the injury to Havenstein, they lost three starters. Not a great situation for any coach.

Also not clear that Kromer wasn't asking for reinforcements. The Rams elected to sign Fowler instead of Saffold-- I doubt Kromer advocated that. My take is that McVay gave Phillips and the D priority. Is that Kromer's fault? Snead and McVay set the FA and draft priorities, not the o line coach. They finally got Corbett, but it was pretty late in the day for help last year.

The Rams also didn't use their top picks on the line last year. The mid round guys they did get, Evans and Edwards, both showed some promise when thrown into the breach. They appear to be solid draft picks and there is a chance that they play well this year. However, starting them over more experienced players, until there was no choice, would probably have been roundly denounced as a poor decision.

I think we need to look at last year at least in part as an organizational failure for which McVay shares responsibility because he controls the allocation of resources. Kromer can be blamed for his coaching choices but I don't see where he had any silver bullets to avoid injuries or improve the roster. And those imo were the main problems.

Let's see what Kromer does this year. (We have no choice anyway.) If the o-line is terrible again you can remind us all you were right.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

I'm not prepared to give up on Kromer just yet.

I was as unhappy as anyone with the o-line play last year, but I just think we have to be careful in assuming we fully understand what happened within the organization to contribute to that result.

Not clear to me that Kromer assured McVay that the line would be good, much less be good under any or all adverse circumstances. He was very careful in choosing his words when assessing them at the beginning of the year. I don't remember hearing any grand promises. Kromer knew and pretty much stated that the lineup at the start of the season was a work in progress which needed time to gell.

They didn't get it. The Rams instead had a lot of injuries--- Noteboom, Allen, Havenstein, etc.-- that really compromised the line play last year. When you include the loss of loss of Saffold and Sullivan with the injury to Havenstein, they lost three starters. Not a great situation for any coach.

Also not clear that Kromer wasn't asking for reinforcements. The Rams elected to sign Fowler instead of Saffold-- I doubt Kromer advocated that. My take is that McVay gave Phillips and the D priority. Is that Kromer's fault? Snead and McVay set the FA and draft priorities, not the o line coach. They finally got Corbett, but it was pretty late in the day for help last year.

The Rams also didn't use their top picks on the line last year. The mid round guys they did get, Evans and Edwards, both showed some promise when thrown into the breach. They appear to be solid draft picks and there is a chance that they play well this year. However, starting them over more experienced players, until there was no choice, would probably have been roundly denounced as a poor decision.

I think we need to look at last year at least in part as an organizational failure for which McVay shares responsibility because he controls the allocation of resources. Kromer can be blamed for his coaching choices but I don't see where he had any silver bullets to avoid injuries or improve the roster. And those imo were the main problems.

Let's see what Kromer does this year. (We have no choice anyway.) If the o-line is terrible again you can remind us all you were right.

I won't be the only reminded me. The majority on this forum are concerned about the Oline. I only know one person going into this season that thinks the line will be just fine.

 

[dieterbrock]

Seems to me that replacing Gurley and Cooks was far more important to McVay than we knew. This offense needs production from RB#1 and clearly Henderson isnt that. RB's can make immediate impact and DH did not do that. He looked lost in pre-season, there were stories about his study/work habits and he had issues in pass pro.
I guess my point is had we known (which of course you never would) that RB#1 and WR were the top 2 priorities, and that Akers and Jeff were the #1 guys on the board, then look at #84 and on tell me who they missed on? If the guys on the board arent any higher ceiling than Noteboom, Havenstein, Blythe, then why pick them?
I think I may be one of Kromer's biggest critics, but clearly the Rams have a 180 opinion on him. They purged the coaching staff, and kept the guy who's unit performed amongst the worst. Puzzling. Now they went thru an entire draft an picked 1 guy for the o-line. Right or wrong, time will tell, but it sure seems pretty obvious what horse is being backed here

 

[Kevin]

I doubt that Goff would like to start the next season with a rookie left tackle and rookie center.

 

[den-the-coach]

I'm not prepared to give up on Kromer just yet.



Let's see what Kromer does this year. (We have no choice anyway.) If the o-line is terrible again you can remind us all you were right.

I agree, IMO, Aaron Kromer is still one of the best OL Coaches in the NFL and if McVay was going to make a change, he would have hired Bill Callahan IMO because he had the chance. Kromer will be limited because of the Pandemic, but so will every other team in the NFL. It's obvious the Rams need improvement from the likes of David Edwards (needs to get stronger), Brian Allen (In all facets of his game), Rob Havenstein (quicker with rushes off the edge) and Austin Blythe holding up better at the point of attack.

There is no debating that when Blythe moved to Center, the OL looked better as I believe Center is the best position for Blythe, but I have posted enough about wanting a bigger player in the middle..I'm also hoping that keeping Whitworth did not hinder the Rams in the acquisition of Trent Williams because I sure wish the Rams had made that trade and not the 49ers.

 

[OldSchool]

I agree, IMO, Aaron Kromer is still one of the best OL Coaches in the NFL and if McVay was going to make a change, he would have hired Bill Callahan IMO because he had the chance. Kromer will be limited because of the Pandemic, but so will every other team in the NFL. It's obvious the Rams need improvement from the likes of David Edwards (needs to get stronger), Brian Allen (In all facets of his game), Rob Havenstein (quicker with rushes off the edge) and Austin Blythe holding up better at the point of attack.

There is no debating that when Blythe moved to Center, the OL looked better as I believe Center is the best position for Blythe, but I have posted enough about wanting a bigger player in the middle..I'm also hoping that keeping Whitworth did not hinder the Rams in the acquisition of Trent Williams because I sure wish the Rams had made that trade and not the 49ers.

We’ve also seen when he takes additional job responsibilities to OL coach it suffers. He’s just coaching the OL this year.