Rams will evaluate 'improving the run game' with OL, RBs and TEs

[Riverumbbq]

Cameron DaSilva
8 hours ago


In each of Sean McVay’s first two seasons as head coach, the Rams ranked in the top 10 in rushing. They were eighth in 2017 and third in 2018, each time being led by Todd Gurley in the backfield.
This season, the Rams took a major step back. They finished the year with 1,499 yards rushing on 401 attempts, which ranked 26th and 18th in the NFL, respectively. Their 3.7 yards per carry as a team were 27th, a far cry from the 4.9 yards per carry they averaged in 2018 and 4.3 the year before.

Most of the blame and credit for a team’s success or failure on the ground falls on the running back. That’s not always fair, given the role the offensive line and tight ends play in the running game.
Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead know the Rams have to be better in that department next season, but there isn’t a one-step solution to the problem. They’re going to work on this element of the offense by evaluating the offensive line, running backs and tight ends.
“I think we’re evaluating more improving the run game,” Snead said, via the Associated Press. “It’s probably boring, but that’s a collective thing. All really good running backs probably give their offensive linemen nice gifts after Christmas after a successful year, and I think that’s for a reason. I think we all know that. We’ve got to look at offensive linemen and runners and tight ends and how we’re running the football, instead of just one individual.”
Snead was asked by reporters whether Gurley was the same player he was in previous seasons, to which he said flatly, “This year, he wasn’t.” But Gurley isn’t the only problem. The offensive line struggled in run blocking, which was evident in the season finale when Gurley had six carries for minus-5 yards at one point.

But at the same time, Gurley didn’t have the same explosiveness or knack for creating big plays that he had the past two seasons. Snead isn’t giving up on him, of course, saying there have been instances where players bounce back from disappointing seasons in the past.
“I think we’ve seen players have years that were less than the past come back and actually get back to where they were,” Snead said. “He’s still a young football player. … If you did take a step back this year, in terms of stats, I do think you can see players who do come back and get to a higher level than they were in their down years.”

The Rams can free up more than $4 million in cap space by trading Gurley this offseason, but finding a trade partner is easier said than done with a running back making $14.38 million per year entering his sixth NFL season.
Cutting him isn’t a financially practical move, either, which means Gurley will probably be back in 2020. Snead wouldn’t say whether Gurley or any other players are on the trade block, but given the front office’s aggressiveness in recent years, no deals should surprise fans or media members in Los Angeles.

Rams will evaluate 'improving the run game' with OL, RBs and TEs

The Rams are going to look at improving their running game, but not just at one position.

theramswire.usatoday.com

 

[hotanez]

I think most of us would agree that Gurley would have had a much better season if the Oline could have been better at run blocking. Unfortunately though, in my opinion, Gurley will never be the same player he was in 2018 before getting hurt. The big plays in both the pass and run, the hurdling over defensive players all that is pretty much done. He can still be effective but not MVP caliber anymore. So freaking sad.

 

[Petrowsky]

I think most of us would agree that Gurley would have had a much better season if the Oline could have been better at run blocking. Unfortunately though, in my opinion, Gurley will never be the same player he was in 2018 before getting hurt. The big plays in both the pass and run, the hurdling over defensive players all that is pretty much done. He can still be effective but not MVP caliber anymore. So freaking sad.

I still think that Gurley can be a 1,000+ yard, 10 TD RB. He definitely doesn’t have the same explosiveness, but he’s still a good RB in my mind. The OL definitely factored into his down year, but I think there was more at play than OL effectiveness.

 

[Riverumbbq]

Gurley & Goff will be fine with a sound OL.

At 6'6", 262lbs., I sure hope they can get TE Kendall Blanton more involved in the blocking game. Might also be fun to see him ploughing space like Cory Harkey did a few seasons back as a FB. Gurley voiced not being happy with the Harkey cut.

Higbee & Mundt really stepped it up this year, looking forward to what's ahead for them.

 

[I like Rams]

Keeping Gurley is more valuable than the small amount of cap we would save letting him go. Brown nor Hendeson did any better on their limited snaps so there is no one to take his spot and I dont think we need to spend any draft picks this offseason on the position. Work on getting the oline fixed and make Gurley great again.

 

[RhodyRams]

to improve the run game..look no further than the 5 guys charged with run blocking

 

[Riverumbbq]

Rams GM believes Todd Gurley will bounce back despite a disappointing 2019 season
Gurley set career lows in rushing yards and total yards from scrimmage

• by Bryan DeArdo
• @BryanDeArdo
• 
  
• 4 hrs ago • 2 min read

Todd Gurley's health was a question mark coming into the 2019 season and it remains one following the least productive season of Gurley's career.
After sitting out the final two gams of the 2018 season and receiving just 12 touches in the Rams' 13-3 loss to the patriots in Super Bowl LIII, questions began surfacing about whether or not Gurley's lack of touches was due to an injury. Six months later, Gurley's trainer, Travelle Gaines, told CBS Sports that his client is dealing with an "arthritic component to his knee," but stressed that the two-time All-Pro running back would be ready by the start of the season. Gurley then proceeded to set career lows in rushing yards (857) and total yards (1,064) for the Rams, who missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
While he acknowledged that Gurley was not the player in 2019 that he was in recent seasons, Rams general manager Les Snead believes that Gurley -- who is still just 25 years old and in the middle of his four-year, $60 million extension -- will bounce back in 2020.
"I think we've seen players have years that were less than the past come back and actually get back to where they were," Snead said, via Greg Becham of The Associated Press. "He's still a young football player. ... If you did take a step back this year, in terms of stats, I do think you can see players who do come back and get to a higher level than they were in their down years."

When addressing Gurley's dip in production, Snead said that the Rams, in general, need to make improvements as far as their running game is concerned, as Los Angeles finished 26th in the NFL in rushing and 27th in average yards per carry. Conversely, the Rams finished fourth in the league in passing yards, as Jared Goff threw the ball a league high 626 times for a career high 4,638 passing yards. While he put up prolific numbers, Goff also threw a career-high 16 interceptions that largely contributed to the Rams missing the playoffs a year after winning the NFC.

While he did not address the reasons behind Gurley's diminished role in the offense (his 272 touches were the lowest since his rookie season), Snead said that Gurley never complained about his lack of touches. Snead also made it clear that he does not regret his decision to extend Gurley's contract, which includes $45 million in guaranteed salary.
"I can see where you go, from an analytical standpoint, 'OK, maybe you give him a contract and he didn't have as good a statistical year,'" Snead said. "I do believe we believe you can't necessarily (act like a) CEO and lead from just a spreadsheet. That's probably the age of Madden football, and you can move people in fantasy. Those are human beings that gave a lot to this organization and deserve to be compensated."

Rams GM believes Todd Gurley will bounce back despite a disappointing 2019 season

Gurley set career lows in rushing yards and total yards from scrimmage

www.cbssports.com

 

[Bootleg]

Don't forget friends, Gurley struggled big time in 2016, Fisher's last year. Turns out there was nothing wrong with Gurley. It was just a lack of scheme and offensive line.

 

[kurtfaulk]

Keeping Gurley is more valuable than the small amount of cap we would save letting him go. Brown nor Hendeson did any better on their limited snaps so there is no one to take his spot and I dont think we need to spend any draft picks this offseason on the position. Work on getting the oline fixed and make Gurley great again.

Damn straight.

Whenever the rams got inside the redzone my son and i would spontaneously blurt out "give the ball to Gurley".

.

 

[Ram65]

The difficult thing concerning the run game is figuring out who will be the best offensive lineman going forward. It is interesting to read the opinions here on the forum. There certainly are a lot of them and they do vary. We don't know how the Rams see things. We know they overestimated the young talent last year. This is going to be a very important offseason for the current offensive lineman on the roster and PS. They should be building strength and work to be more explosive to be ready to compete in camp.

Can the Rams and Whitworth come to an agreement for one more year?

Is Havenstein able to come back to 2018 form?

Can Rams sign/trade/draft at least one offensive lineman that is a marked improvement over current roster players?

Do the Rams decide to add a big blocking TE/FB to help the running game?


I still like Gurley, Henderson, and Brown in the backfield.

 

[hotanez]

Don't forget friends, Gurley struggled big time in 2016, Fisher's last year. Turns out there was nothing wrong with Gurley. It was just a lack of scheme and offensive line.

He wasn't hurt though, Not until the end of the season when he had a bad ankle. The reason for that year was the worst Oline in the NFL and a pathetic offensive scheme. The Rams have admitted that Gurley has an issue that will limit him. In my opinion very different cases.

 

[hotanez]

I still think that Gurley can be a 1,000+ yard, 10 TD RB. He definitely doesn’t have the same explosiveness, but he’s still a good RB in my mind. The OL definitely factored into his down year, but I think there was more at play than OL effectiveness.

He was almost a 1000 yard runner this season, short by something like 150 yards. I'm talking about MVP level. Like I said it's a sad outcome for a player that looked like the best at RB.

 

[bubbaramfan]

Rams poor rush stats fall mostly on the poor OL play. Losing Saffold and Sullivan was huge. Rams OL got pushed around all year.

 

[fearsomefour]

The braintrust largely misjudged last off season.
The starters they selected to replace Saffold and Sullivan were not good enough.
When injuries occurred they played Demby who was not good. Eventually he was replaced by Edwards and Hav by Evans. Both played better than guys ahead of them on the depth chart.
Do I have faith in them to evaluate young talent well on the OL? Not really.
That is based on recent history.
Best case Whit comes back (at a reduced rate), Havenstein gets healthy and returns to his pre 2019 form. With Edwards at one of the G spots that checks 3 of the 5 starting spots.
I would still bring in a low rate FA or two to at least provide some depth where you know what you have.
Right now there are 4 question marks on the OL. I would put Edwards in at one of the G spots. The rest is up for grabs.
The TEs are fine.
The RBs are fine.
The OL is the issue.

 

[BonifayRam]

Rams poor rush stats fall mostly on the poor OL play. Losing Saffold and Sullivan was huge. Rams OL got pushed around all year.

Noteboom was never a ncaa starting OG . Rams org decision to not to have an legit NFL starter to replace Safford was the first crack of OL failure. It's evident to me that JN will never be a NFL OG unless there is an emergency.

2nd was the serious overestimated skills of OC Allen.

3rd was the same overestimated abilities of Blythe.

Who were the main administrative Ram personnel responsible? If I had been one of the main administrative people I would be forced to fire myself!

 

[BonifayRam]

The braintrust largely misjudged last off season.
The starters they selected to replace Saffold and Sullivan were not good enough.
When injuries occurred they played Demby who was not good. Eventually he was replaced by Edwards and Hav by Evans. Both played better than guys ahead of them on the depth chart.
Do I have faith in them to evaluate young talent well on the OL? Not really.
That is based on recent history.
Best case Whit comes back (at a reduced rate), Havenstein gets healthy and returns to his pre 2019 form. With Edwards at one of the G spots that checks 3 of the 5 starting spots.
I would still bring in a low rate FA or two to at least provide some depth where you know what you have.
Right now there are 4 question marks on the OL. I would put Edwards in at one of the G spots. The rest is up for grabs.
The TEs are fine.
The RBs are fine.
The OL is the issue.

I would add a power bruising tougher FB/RB to push or replace the far too often MIA Malcolm Brown.

 

[fearsomefour]

I would add a power bruising tougher FB/RB to push or replace the far too often MIA Malcolm Brown.

Yeah maybe draft one.

 

[hotanez]

I would add a power bruising tougher FB/RB to push or replace the far too often MIA Malcolm Brown.

I'm with you 100% on this one Boni, we need a RB that can get the short down conversions. Brown is not reliable, best to cut him.

 

[iamme33]

Yeah maybe draft one.

I wonder if Everett could be converted to fb hback for added blocking and short yardage plays. this would save us having to spend a draft pick on a fb type player. after all brown is injury pron and Henderson is an unknown. this would also give us mundt and Higbee in line short yardage plays

 

[Oregonram]

I agree with the front office being wrong on talent level. Frankly, it makes our coaching staff look like dummies to have all these guys resting during real live action during pre-season...I know I know, they could have been injured...but how could we be so overconfident in these guys? Did they EVER have to block Donald, and Brockers in practice? None of this adds up for me. And then my last concern is when we are averaging over 4 ypc and whooosh, the running game is abandoned.