Snead/Mcvay neglect caring about the 0-line isn't backed up by facts.

[Ellard80]

View attachment 57388

well yeah when you are on your 10th sting lineman your going to have a shitty line.

They are 3rd string and practice squad for a reason.

 

[I like Rams]

I think that is the issue that people have with the OL

If the Rams had made it a higher point in the 2020 & 2021 drafts, then maybe we could be going into 2022 with a good to very good OL and if we did have these injuries we would be below average to average instead of horrible at two spots during the season because the depth would be decent and NO EVANS and Kolone.

Even before Evans and Kolone, remember Demby? Lol. The fact he had a roster spot was infuriating.

 

[Tano]

Even before Evans and Kolone, remember Demby? Lol. The fact he had a roster spot was infuriating.

So true and Blythe was terrible at center - he should never have been moved from RG to Center

 

[Corbin]

PFF Grades

2017 6th
2018 6th
2019 -31st
2020 3rd
2021 7th

Outside of 2019 the 0-line average ranking is 5.8 out of 32 teams

This year the 0-line has been decimated by injuries

well yeah when you are on your 10th sting lineman your going to have a shitty line.

They are 3rd string and practice squad for a reason.

Wait, so it’s okay to omit bad years to paint a picture? Come on man ROD isnt CNN or Fox News.

With 2019 it’s 10.6 out of 32 teams.

With 2022 factored in so far with half a season gone we place 14.7 out of 32 teams.

Just inside the top half of the league.

Average.


Ps Having Bobby Evans and the like as an immediate backup isn’t an excuse to injuries. ( all though I do realize it’s historically bad). If we had drafted wisely with quality talent some of these bottom dwellers would more than likely not be here today.

 

[Ellard80]

Wait, so it’s okay to omit bad years to paint a picture? Come on man ROD isnt CNN or Fox News.

With 2019 it’s 10.6 out of 32 teams.

With 2022 factored in so far with half a season gone we place 14.7 out of 32 teams.

Just inside the top half of the league.

Average.


Ps Having Bobby Evans and the like as an immediate backup isn’t an excuse to injuries. ( all though I do realize it’s historically bad). If we had drafted wisely with quality talent some of these bottom dwellers would more than likely not be here today.

because the narrative has been that mcvay doesnt care (hence the title of this thread)

injuries forcing practice squad players and unsigned players to play has nothing to do with caring.

 

[Corbin]

because the narrative has been that mcvay doesnt care (hence the title of this thread)

injuries forcing practice squad players and unsigned players to play has nothing to do with caring.

Well if someone thinks McVay ‘“doesn’t care” that’s just lazy and a bad statement.

However, I’d argue the philosophy him and Les have choosen as of late isn’t the best one coupled with all their other previous personal decisions.

 

[Kupped]

Wait, so it’s okay to omit bad years to paint a picture? Come on man ROD isnt CNN or Fox News.

With 2019 it’s 10.6 out of 32 teams.

With 2022 factored in so far with half a season gone we place 14.7 out of 32 teams.

Just inside the top half of the league.

Average.


Ps Having Bobby Evans and the like as an immediate backup isn’t an excuse to injuries. ( all though I do realize it’s historically bad). If we had drafted wisely with quality talent some of these bottom dwellers would more than likely not be here today.

Bobby Evans is an immediate backup?
He's the 9th lineman.. and primarily a tackle.

That's something that gets overlooked here, imo.. AND I'M NOT MAKING AN EXCUSE FOR EVANS... I'm just pointing out that his natural position is right tackle and when he played there as a rookie, he wasn't awful.

He's just terrible... TERRIBLE at left guard... that's why he's the 6th guard.

 

[Kupped]

A couple of reasons I think the complaining is misguided is because it really all comes down to Tutu.

The Rams have spent plenty capital and developed picks.. within the model they used to acquire top-end talent to help win the Super Bowl.

Period.

Have they made the right decision every time? No.

But injuries have decimated the guard position, specifically.. and here we are.

I'm just hoping that Brewer wasn't a mirage last week.. the Rams have thought really highly of him.. let's see if things click.

 

[thirteen28]

Some criticism is valid. Keeping a guy like Evans around for as long as they have is a valid critique. Ditto with the length of time they hung on to Demby. And the debate over a certain 2nd round pick leads to a valid criticism for most of us.

At the same time, they did draft Bruss, they did draft Anchrum, and they did sign Alaric Jackson. So it's not like they weren't trying to get players they could work with.

And of course, nobody can plan for the ridiculous number of injuries we have had in that group, which has to be a few standard deviations away from the norm. Bad luck happens sometimes.

Going forward though, I do think a philosophical adjustment needs to be made in the approach to OL given the way defenses are adjusting to stop the McVay offense. I think some bigger, more physical maulers compatible with a power running game would be a good zig to rest of the NFL's zag right now, and McVay could adjust his offense accordingly. That DOESN'T mean it has to go all Ground Chuck - power running can be paired with a sophisticated passing attack, and has been before. The Redskins did it in the 80's and the Cowboys did it in the 90's.

 

[Tano]

At the same time, they did draft Bruss, they did draft Anchrum, and they did sign Alaric Jackson. So it's not like they weren't trying to get players they could work with.

Yeah let's get a late seventh round pick and a UDFA OL, that will work.

We might actually get lucky with them but how often does a seventh round pick and UDFA OL actually contribute and become a good OL.

What are the odds?

That's a serious question because I would like to know.

1 out of a 100 or is it even worse?

 

[snackdaddy]

They obviously made a mistake with the Tutu pick. But lets be real. Creed Humphrey was not gonna transform this line into something better. He's better than Allen but not enough to be the missing piece. Mainly because Allen really isn't the problem. Its a team thing. The line as a whole is really bad. But one guy does stand out more than the rest. We know who that is.

 

[Merlin]

Some criticism is valid.

It certainly is. If we had received zero injuries thus far there's a reasonable chance we'd be screaming about Bruss and Boom right now and waiting for them to play well. Because Bruss was not ready to start. And because Boom struggled against every end that has any strength in his rush.

Now folks want to make excuses for the team and the approach and act like it's all about the injuries, which I do not agree with. As I have observed in other threads I was ok with them signing Boom to play LT even though I knew it might not work and I figured he could slide to RT worst case. Same with rolling the dice on a rookie RG since I was hoping we would be able to push the pile in the run game. I was fixated on that this previous offseason.

But I don't have to be right in my predictions to see what is clear here in the present. And I'm not going to dig in on a previous stance just because it is the stance I took. Rather I'm going to observe that they went budget on the OL this season and got burned. And it's funny how position groups tend to get injured when they're not good enough, I think that's an entire thread in and of itself as to whether it's valid but it seems that way to me.

The only positive in this shit season so far is Jackson. He is a windfall for us if he keeps playing well at LT. And if he solves LT then that frees up a lot of resources for the Rams. I expect they will sign him this offseason to get him locked up so they can call it done, but either way him emerging means they don't have to spend big to go get an answer at that crucial position. Now instead of say trading up for a blindside protector in round 2 they can do the same for edge and solve another cornerstone position. Or whatever else they may cook up with that pick. Maybe they can find a speedy passcatchy pairing for Tutu, who knows.

 

[Ellard80]

It certainly is. If we had received zero injuries thus far there's a reasonable chance we'd be screaming about Bruss and Boom right now and waiting for them to play well. Because Bruss was not ready to start. And because Boom struggled against every end that has any strength in his rush.

Now folks want to make excuses for the team and the approach and act like it's all about the injuries, which I do not agree with. As I have observed in other threads I was ok with them signing Boom to play LT even though I knew it might not work and I figured he could slide to RT worst case. Same with rolling the dice on a rookie RG since I was hoping we would be able to push the pile in the run game. I was fixated on that this previous offseason.

But I don't have to be right in my predictions to see what is clear here in the present. And I'm not going to dig in on a previous stance just because it is the stance I took. Rather I'm going to observe that they went budget on the OL this season and got burned. And it's funny how position groups tend to get injured when they're not good enough, I think that's an entire thread in and of itself as to whether it's valid but it seems that way to me.

The only positive in this shit season so far is Jackson. He is a windfall for us if he keeps playing well at LT. And if he solves LT then that frees up a lot of resources for the Rams. I expect they will sign him this offseason to get him locked up so they can call it done, but either way him emerging means they don't have to spend big to go get an answer at that crucial position. Now instead of say trading up for a blindside protector in round 2 they can do the same for edge and solve another cornerstone position. Or whatever else they may cook up with that pick. Maybe they can find a speedy passcatchy pairing for Tutu, who knows.

But the point is that we have had excellent offensive lines in most seasons

maybe this year was going to be bad regardless but there has been a constant narrative that mcvay neglects the oline.

But the results do not back that up as a whole.

 

[nighttrain]

The only positive in this shit season so far is Jackson. He is a windfall for us if he keeps playing well at LT. And if he solves LT then that frees up a lot of resources for the Rams.

this^
train





in spades!

 

[Ram Ts]

It can be both the injuries and FO neglect.

Clearly the injuries this year are ridiculous and any OL would be negatively impacted in a huge way. There is no doubt about that. Nobody could expect this level of injuries. With such, the horrific OL results are expected. Sometimes you get kicked in the nuts unfortunately. But without the huge injuries, this OL was setup for a downturn - not 32nd but middle at best imo.

Having said that, prior years success of the OL was always a bit precarious and some luck. Last year and the previous SB year run had an amazing luck of lack of injuries and continuity. Also luck that Whit lasted so long in his age and Corbett was a lucky pull. So it’s been known by many the last couple years that this luck isn’t sustainable and real draft capital needed to be invested in the OL.

 

[Ellard80]

I also think its a fallacy among the footbal fan that if you have a good 0-line that means your offense will be okay or better... which is not neccesarily true....

There are also explosive offenses that do not have good offensive lines - one example is the dolphins this year.

The bills last year didnt have a great 0-line and were one of the best offenses.

With a salary cap there are many different ways to go.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

How do you know that?

How do you know that just one or two O-Line injuries would have had as much of an impact?

That's where you're kind of lost me.

If any two of the six Rams' offensive linemen that went-down were the only multi-game injuries, the O-Line would had had greater continuity, with higher-rated back-ups filling-in. How do you know the Line would not have been much better than it has been?

That's what depth is for. When a team loses one or two players at a position group.

It’s nearly the same line as last year. Going from Corbett to a backup while Corbett was on the team can be seen as a slight downgrade. Ditto going from Whitworth to Noteboom. Plus they relied on a center who has a bad knee. This stuff was known before the season started. They downgraded the Oline despite struggling to run the ball last season in the playoffs.

They have been very fortunate getting AJ as an UDFA. But he started as a backup. The best offensive lineman they have at guard or Tackle was sitting on the bench. That seems very peculiar to me and makes me wonder who is making these evaluations and what they are based on.

 

[Allen2McVay]

It’s nearly the same line as last year.

... When the Rams won the Super Bowl.

 

[Tano]

Ps Having Bobby Evans and the like as an immediate backup isn’t an excuse to injuries. ( all though I do realize it’s historically bad). If we had drafted wisely with quality talent some of these bottom dwellers would more than likely not be here today.

What I have been trying to say

 

[Merlin]

But the point is that we have had excellent offensive lines in most seasons

maybe this year was going to be bad regardless but there has been a constant narrative that mcvay neglects the oline.

But the results do not back that up as a whole.

This isn't most seasons. This is 2022 and we're not going to be able to compete due to this line. So it's worthy of discussion on its own merits.

And no need to remind me that we won it all. I am aware and very happy about it. Doesn't mean I want to make excuses for the failures on our team.