Silva: Rams Lack of Urgency on O-Line Amazing/Alarming

[shovelpass]

No doubt - but apparently so has a lot of our 2nd and 3rd string qb's..

In the past 8 seasons, the Rams have only had a QB play a whole season twice. (Sam, 2010 and 2012)

Other qb's of the past?

Bulger, Null, Frerotte, Berlin, Green,Boller, Null, Feeley, Clemens, Hill, Davis.

I think the fact that Hill was hurt by half time week 1 is telling - especially since he barely had any time with rotational joke that was the interior

I don't remember Null, Frerotte, Davis, Berlin, or Clemens having any sort of injury with us, so don't bother mentioning them. More than half of the rest were journeymen well into their 30's when they went down. The only thing that you are proving is that players get injured, look at any roster over the past 8 years and you will see plenty of QB injuries. Our line is/ has been garbage, yes true, and that puts our Qb's at risk but that doesn't makeup for the fact that Sam is injury prone. It sucks, I and plenty of others wish it wasn't so, but it's the truth. If he can go the whole season in Philly without injury I am willing to overlook his injuries here and in college and assume it was all the offensive lines fault.

 

[iced]

I don't remember Null, Frerotte, Davis, Berlin, or Clemens having any sort of injury with us, so don't bother mentioning them. More than half of the rest were journeymen well into their 30's when they went down. The only thing that you are proving is that players get injured, look at any roster over the past 8 years and you will see plenty of QB injuries. Our line is/ has been garbage, yes true, and that puts our Qb's at risk but that doesn't makeup for the fact that Sam is injury prone. It sucks, I and plenty of others wish it wasn't so, but it's the truth. If he can go the whole season in Philly without injury I am willing to overlook his injury past here and in college and assume it was all the offensive lines fault.

Yet Foles is also injury prone, and had a much better line in Philly. Clemens started after injuries to Bradford AND feeley in 2011 - he was the 3rd stringer.

2014 - Then bradford goes down after an o-line whiff, followed by hill going down 2 weeks later in the opener.Rams allowed the 8th most sacks in 2014... So how would trading one injury prone qb for another with a porous line help?

 

[Ram Quixote]

I don't remember Null, Frerotte, Davis, Berlin, or Clemens having any sort of injury with us, so don't bother mentioning them. More than half of the rest were journeymen well into their 30's when they went down. The only thing that you are proving is that players get injured, look at any roster over the past 8 years and you will see plenty of QB injuries. Our line is/ has been garbage, yes true, and that puts our Qb's at risk but that doesn't makeup for the fact that Sam is injury prone. It sucks, I and plenty of others wish it wasn't so, but it's the truth. If he can go the whole season in Philly without injury I am willing to overlook his injuries here and in college and assume it was all the offensive lines fault.

Clemens went down on the 3rd to last play of 2011 with an ankle injury. We were in the middle of a comeback against the niners, but that fell flat when he went down.

 

[Memphis Ram]

While the OLine hasn't been great they have been good enough to win with on gameday with a better QB and Offensive Coordinator.

BTW, I've noticed that every year, the Oline seems to get all of the blame on sacks and pressures when quite a bit of that blame should go towards the backs, TEs, QB and Offensive Coordinator.

 

[shovelpass]

Yet Foles is also injury prone, and had a much better line in Philly. Clemens started after injuries to Bradford AND feeley in 2011 - he was the 3rd stringer.

2014 - Then bradford goes down after an o-line whiff, followed by hill going down 2 weeks later in the opener.Rams allowed the 8th most sacks in 2014... So how would trading one injury prone qb for another with a porous line help?

I wouldn't necessarily call Foles injury prone yet, but it's possible. I will say that I like Foles' chances to make it out of preseason and even the entire year regardless of the offensive line compared to Bradford. When Sam went down against the Browns, it wasn't exactly a major hit. Getting a healthier QB that has proven to be successful at a much, much lower price helps. I know that Clemens filled in for Feeley and Bradford, I never mentioned Feeley as not being injured with us. Feeley again was into his 30's and hasn't played since. I'm not disputing our line is bad, so whatever stat you want to throw out on the ineptitude of our line is pointless. Yeah, again, I get that Hill went down for 4 weeks with a thigh injury, he was 34 and players get injured. Aaron Rodgers has missed time from injuries, I guess you wouldn't want him over Bradford then?

 

[Speeps]

I wasn't aware that the offseason was over. Silva does this all the time, next.

 

[Ballhawk]

Ok i'll buy that, but i'm going to go with the 1-4 start. Even playoff teams with average QB play don't come out unprepared and dig themselves a hole like that.

Unless their over rated FA left tackle wiffs on a block, getting their QB hurt before the season gets started!:eek:

 

[Amitar]

Who signed elsewhere that you think the Rams should have signed?

Iupati (Arz) and Franklin (SD)

 

[snackdaddy]

I have to wonder if Snisher thinks the defense will be so dominant the offense can't help but make some plays will the extra opportunities. If the defense is that dominant the offense can stay with the game plan and won't be playing catch up most the time.

Then again, maybe they don't look at 2015 as their year. Maybe they know a team in a lame duck season gets a pass if they play poorly.

 

[Stel]

Iupati (Arz) and Franklin (SD)

Iupati, 5 yrs/$40 million ($6.7 mil cap hit in 2015)
Franklin, 5 yrs/$36.5 million

Again, good players but I don't fault the Rams for not paying what they were paid. I would have been interested in Franklin but I think Iupati's contract was too high.

 

[ramsince62]

The season isn't over... but it's awfully hard to win when you can't pass because your QB is running for his life every play and you can't run because the defense is in the backfield every play.

Just makes winning terribly difficult.

Plugging the open holes (both starters and depth) with rookies and second tier free agents is not a recipe for success, IMHO.

Which is why this team went 6-10 and without significant improvement it will be another season of tears for everyone including Fisher and Snead.

 

[tahoe]

I dont know how you guys cant panic at this point? No free agency isnt over but there isnt anyone worth signing outside of Blalock and Barksdale left. They only have two starting caliber linemen on the roster, no I dont consider anyone outside of Robinson and Saffold starting caliber. They are worse than they were last year at this point. They have painted themselves into a corner with having to draft an olineman. Although I wouldn't be surprised if snisher drafted another defensive player instead of a lineman... Its just frustrating seeing this team not improve an obvious serious need.

 

[kurtfaulk]

I'm sorry, but how is this pretty obvious?

i dunno, maybe because they only have 2 starters on the line as of right now. there are no quick fixes to the oline. 3 rookies on the oline is not a good route. barnes, jones or rhainey at c do not give me a sense of security. i pray jones is ready and competent. barks wasn't very good and the rams feel the same way as they want to pay him minimal salary. if he comes back more whiffing will follow. they can pick a rookie with the best intentions but you never know how they will turn out. they tried the fa route the previous years and it got them nowhere. they're stuck, unless a couple of the reserves step up this year.

i'm within my right to feel disheartened about the oline. if you feel warm and fuzzy about it i'm happy for you but i'm worried.

.

 

[tahoe]

This oline just gives me the warm and fuzzies...
LT Robinson
LG Saffold
C Rhainey
RG Jones
RT Reynolds

 

[FRO]

They signed Long and Wells and both got hurt. Saffold has gotten hurt. This year some of the backups even got hurt. It happens. Sure they could have better stocked the OLine, but if those guys stay healthy, the team would have actually might have built one of the better OLines in the league.

I understand that, but with all the picks we have had over the last 3 years it would have been nice to pick more linemen.

 

[kurtfaulk]

This oline just gives me the warm and fuzzies...
LT Robinson
LG Saffold
C Rhainey
RG Jones
RT Reynolds

superbowl.

.

 

[Memphis Ram]

i dunno, maybe because they only have 2 starters on the line as of right now. there are no quick fixes to the oline. 3 rookies on the oline is not a good route. barnes, jones or rhainey at c do not give me a sense of security. i pray jones is ready and competent. barks wasn't very good and the rams feel the same way as they want to pay him minimal salary. if he comes back more whiffing will follow. they can pick a rookie with the best intentions but you never know how they will turn out. they tried the fa route the previous years and it got them nowhere. they're stuck, unless a couple of the reserves step up this year.

i'm within my right to feel disheartened about the oline. if you feel warm and fuzzy about it i'm happy for you but i'm worried.

.

I don't feel anyway about the OLine because it's only April 21st, the season is over four months away, and the roster isn't complete yet. But, you are well within your rights to feel anyway you'd like.

It's just that you stated that something was obvious that wasn't obvious to me. And mainly because of my first sentence.

 

[NERamsFan]

While i'd love to draft both Scherff & Erving, how do you get there ? I've seen several of these posts projected by fans here, but if Scherff goes at 10, how do you trade back into the 1'st for Erving ? I could see other combinations with Erving using two 2'nd round draft picks from a tradedown, but i'm not understanding finding the ammunition to get Scherff & Erving. And please don't tell me you want to give up a high 2016 pick.

The way I see it, we take Sheriff @10 and trade up ahead of KC in exchange for our 2nd, Rams 2nd next year, and any other reasonably low pick to get this done.

Now you may disagree with giving up future picks but think about it, if this trade went thru we would still have a first and second next year, with a team going into next year with a young but relatively experienced group. We don't have many holes left so we can wager the future a bit to complete a really competitive team. I truly believe by adding both the linemen, we can go into the season expecting a few bumps naturally but then roll into next seasoned much more season and ready for a championship... All with a full array of picks.

 

[rams24/7]

While the OLine hasn't been great they have been good enough to win with on gameday with a better QB and Offensive Coordinator.

BTW, I've noticed that every year, the Oline seems to get all of the blame on sacks and pressures when quite a bit of that blame should go towards the backs, TEs, QB and Offensive Coordinator.

Agreed. Davis blew the DAL and AZ games and Hill blew the SD game. Sure the OL wasn't great but we had the opportunity to win in spite of it, but it was the QB who cost us. That's 9 potential wins with backups on a brutal schedule.

If we can just have a healthy QB for 16 we should have a very strong shot at 10+ wins.

I'll worry about the OL if we don't add 2+ guys in the draft and sign Barks/Blaylock

 

[Memphis Ram]

I dont know how you guys cant panic at this point? No free agency isnt over but there isnt anyone worth signing outside of Blalock and Barksdale left. They only have two starting caliber linemen on the roster, no I dont consider anyone outside of Robinson and Saffold starting caliber. They are worse than they were last year at this point. They have painted themselves into a corner with having to draft an olineman. Although I wouldn't be surprised if snisher drafted another defensive player instead of a lineman... Its just frustrating seeing this team not improve an obvious serious need.

No one worth signing outside of Blalock and Barksdale in your opinion, but maybe the Rams feel otherwise. For example, OT Ryan Harris started 15 games for the Chiefs at RT last year, gave up fewer sacks, and had fewer penalties than Barksdale. He's still available. For the Pro Football focus loyalist, he was rated the Chiefs 2nd best OLineman last year. Last I heard, Jake Long hasn't retired and is rehabbing his knee injury. Veteran C/G Mike Pollock is still sitting out there waiting for a deal. As is OG Rob Sims. Neither may be long-term alternatives, but they don't have to be for 2015.

Plus, there are still players that will get cut after this draft and there are still may be trade options. And if they are forced to draft an OLineman, they sure picked a great draft to do so. This is one of the deeper interior lines drafts I've seen in awhile.

Not only that, but they've got guys that they have been developing already on the roster. Who heard of Tom Nutten and Mike Gruttadauria prior to them getting their shot? How about Harvey Dahl whom developed under Bourdeau in Atlanta after being signed off the 49ers practice squad for goodness sakes. Barksdale was once cut himself, but now he's "worth signing." We just don't know what we think we may know.

And I guess, as stated previously, I can't panic because it's way too early in the process, I don't know the final roster, and the season is still over 4 months away. But, I'll also add that when I look at other OLines around the league, I don't see too many units that don't have questions or 1-2 guys that are weak links. So I don't have this unrealistic view that the Rams have to have 5 very good lineman to have success on offense. All they need are 5 solid guys on the same page and the OLine will be fine for 2015. Especially if the RBs and TEs do a better job than they did last year.

Again, the real key is what happens at QB and Offensive Coordinator.

 

[bluecoconuts]

Speaking of Null, remember how the Rams tried to connect him to Warner with the grocery bagger link, and then he threw 5 interceptions in his first game?

Man he was awful.

 

[DrLurkalot]

I may be a Fisher/Snead apologist, but I think they are going about this the right way. The upper level veteran talent such as Iupati and Franklin were too expensive. The leftovers like Blalock, Long and Barksdale would be fine at the right price, but they may feel some future salary cap cuts will be cheaper and/or better. I'm confident the Rams will add at least two talented linemen in the draft. Other teams will draft plenty as well, which will lead to some quality veterans being cut for salary cap reasons. Odds are we add two of Flowers/Scherff/Tomlinson/Cann/Marpet/Clemmings/Fisher/Ogbuehi in the draft and sign two of Blalock/Barksdale/Long/and/or some veteran cap casualty (hopefully Evan Mathis) on waivers or free agency.