What are they going to do about this O Line?

[FRO]

Yeah, but there's a flip-side to that too. They could have invested heavily in the O-line early on, but then it's possible we're complaining about our super sucky defense that can't seem to cover anyone or stop the run, and we constantly give up 30+ points to other teams.

Now I gotta hear, "What the freak is wrong with Fisher? He's supposed to be a strong defensive minded coach, and we absolutely suck on defense. I don't know why he kept drafting offensive linemen when we have nobody to run the ball and no receivers worth a crap. Could have used some draft capital on that, right? And why can't we EVER find anyone who can return punts???? It's been 15 years since we were glad to have Hakim fumbling for us! And can we PLEASE get someone to plug up the middle of the defense so we stop getting gashed for 200 yards by no-name running backs for once! And maybe a corner or two who knows how to play man coverage? I swear to God, Fisher is the worst thing to happen to us since Jason Smith. At least he didn't have a hand in drafting THAT pile of rubbish with one of his high picks. I guess I'll give him a D- where Devaney gets an F."

I agree that post is total hindsight of mine. I wanted Colby Fleener at 33, we picked Quick, we should have picked Glenn. We traded up for Austin, a move I wanted us to make, we should have stayed pat at 16 and picked DeAndre Hopkins and picked Larry Warford in the second. Total and complete hindsight.

I absolutely love the moves we made on defense. Our defensive draft picks have been money. They had a blue print and a plan on building the defense though and it definitely shows. The problem with the offense is they went playmaker over line. The line they inherited was horrible. It was horrible in 2012, it was decent in 2013, then back to horrible in 2014. I wish when they started building the team, and they had a blank canvas because they basically inherited an expansion team, that they would had built the offensive line like they did the defensive. You win at the line.

 

[FRO]

If I remember correctly, the Snead/Fisher plan was to pick a unit and make that unit great. He picked the defense first...It isn't fair to compare a normal bad team that makes a big jump, like Cards did under Arians....We were historically bad...Expansion team Bad..JOHN FREAKIN MCKAY BUCCS, bad. R-E-L-A-X.relax

We were historically bad. I don't think their focus was solely on one side of the ball however.

 

[FRO]

Bleh. I'm staying off this board today.

Don't feel like getting out of bed just to hang my head. Last night got me excited for some real Rams football (win or lose), but instead I get to read about how the O-line sucks, Fisher freaked up the rebuild, we can't stop committing penalties, pre-season matters for suck-ass teams, we overreached for Tavon, and blah blah boo fuckety hoo. It's a beautiful morning, so I'm gonna go enjoy it.

If there's a big pool of tears on this board when I get back, I ain't cleanin' it up.

Look I'm not being totally negative. Fisher and Snead have built a super talented roster. Probably the best roster we have had since 2004. They are human and nobody is batting 1.000 when it comes to building a team and drafting. I think their biggest mistake is not having an identity on offense and building accordingly. Our inexperienced line has talent, it's just going to take us time to develop it. It's super hard for rookies to step in day one and compete at a high enough level and win games. We will be a better team in the long run for the 2015 offensive line draft, but we will struggle early due to inexperience along the line.

 

[Loyal]

We were historically bad. I don't think their focus was solely on one side of the ball however.

Maybe not 100% on defense, because they did get Quick and Pead early, but they did draft Mchael Brockers, Ogletree, Trumaine Johnson, Janoris Jenkins, TJ McDonald, Rodney McLeod in the 1st two years of Fisher

 

[FRO]

Maybe not 100% on defense, because they did get Quick and Pead early, but they did draft Mchael Brockers, Ogletree, Trumaine Johnson, Janoris Jenkins, TJ McDonald, Rodney McLeod in the 1st two years of Fisher

I no problem with them drafting all those guys. Like I said they had a plan on how to build the defense and they executed that plan very nicely. We are stocked with talent on defense. On offense they went playmaker over linemen. Which when they took over we had zero playmakers or linemen, so they could have went either way. If their plan from the beginning was ground and pound, then they should have went offensive line because you need people movers up front to accomplish that. The problem is they didn't seem to know what they wanted to do. In 2013 the first four games they decided to run the spread which fit Bradford to a T. The spent big money on Cook who was a fit for the spread. They traded up for Tavon who is a spread guy as well. Fisher and Schotty weren't spread guys though. It didn't fit them and the experiment failed and we ditched it after 4 games. They should have come in day one with an offensive philosophy like they did on defense a drafted guys that fit. We aren't too far off however. If this line can gel quickly we have enough offense to make the playoffs. Foles is a good QB. We have quality backs. Our receivers aren't the greatest, but they are good enough. We just need that line to come together quickly. My only complaint is waiting until year 4 of the rebuild to invest heavily in the line. Cordy Glenn and Larry Warford would do more for this team than Brian Quick and Tavon Austin in my opinion. I like both Quick and Austin. Think they can both be very good players. I just think ground and pound teams need big nasty linemen.

 

[fancents86]

Not sure why this is a thread? we should have been prepared for this when we realized who our starting line up was. I know I was. Our offense is gonna be fast check downs to keep Foles up right until our O line becomes more experienced. Nothing is going to be done about our o line right now. There's nothing that CAN be done.

 

[Loyal]

I no problem with them drafting all those guys. Like I said they had a plan on how to build the defense and they executed that plan very nicely. We are stocked with talent on defense. On offense they went playmaker over linemen. Which when they took over we had zero playmakers or linemen, so they could have went either way. If their plan from the beginning was ground and pound, then they should have went offensive line because you need people movers up front to accomplish that. The problem is they didn't seem to know what they wanted to do. In 2013 the first four games they decided to run the spread which fit Bradford to a T. The spent big money on Cook who was a fit for the spread. They traded up for Tavon who is a spread guy as well. Fisher and Schotty weren't spread guys though. It didn't fit them and the experiment failed and we ditched it after 4 games. They should have come in day one with an offensive philosophy like they did on defense a drafted guys that fit. We aren't too far off however. If this line can gel quickly we have enough offense to make the playoffs. Foles is a good QB. We have quality backs. Our receivers aren't the greatest, but they are good enough. We just need that line to come together quickly. My only complaint is waiting until year 4 of the rebuild to invest heavily in the line. Cordy Glenn and Larry Warford would do more for this team than Brian Quick and Tavon Austin in my opinion. I like both Quick and Austin. Think they can both be very good players. I just think ground and pound teams need big nasty linemen.

I agree with most of what you said. The biggest failure of the coaching staff IMO, was that year of the Spread Offense for 4 games...It's like Fisher made a stab at what everyone was saying is/was the future, which was being a pass happy team. He forgot who he was for a while....I wonder if part of that was Fishers high belief in Sam Bradford and trying to emphasize what he did well at Oklahoma, and what Chip Kelly is trying to do with im in Philly. Problem was back then, we didn't have Philly's talent on Offense...

 

[CGI_Ram]

There really is only one thing to do with this line...

In all seriousness; look around. A lot of teams have issues with their lines... Arizona, Atlanta, Seattle.

It's way too early for me to be concerned, except for injuries to the starters.

 

[Memphis Ram]

The team went the veteran OLine route and the guys got hurt (Long, Wells, Saffold). It happens.

 

[OldSchool]

Yeah, but there's a flip-side to that too. They could have invested heavily in the O-line early on, but then it's possible we're complaining about our super sucky defense that can't seem to cover anyone or stop the run, and we constantly give up 30+ points to other teams.

Or even worse went half in on offense and half in on defense and neither side is able to do much at all.

 

[FRO]

I agree with most of what you said. The biggest failure of the coaching staff IMO, was that year of the Spread Offense for 4 games...It's like Fisher made a stab at what everyone was saying is/was the future, which was being a pass happy team. He forgot who he was for a while....I wonder if part of that was Fishers high belief in Sam Bradford and trying to emphasize what he did well at Oklahoma, and what Chip Kelly is trying to do with im in Philly. Problem was back then, we didn't have Philly's talent on Offense...

All of my whining is hindsight stuff you can't change. Once this inexperienced line gets their feet under them they will be fine. It may cost us early though. The window off opportunity is just now opening for our team. Our young talent is about to blossom and we will hit our stride. This young line may slow down that process by a year however.

Right. In hindsight we probably should have tried to get a bounty for Bradford on 2010 draft day because we had nothing to give the guy in terms of help. We had an aged Jackson that was about to break down and nothing else. I was a huge Bradford proponent during draft time.

Trying not to get too off subject since you brought it up, I think when drafting a QB you need to implement the system they ran in college. Luck has his college OC. Wilson runs a similar style of offense he ran at Wisconsin. RGIII took the league by storm when running his college offense. He sucks as a pocket passer. They try to make Kaepernick a traditional drop back guy and he isn't as good as when he is free to run. The only guy that really has been able to change his game in recent memory is Newton. For some reason I think they hate Newton because they keep giving him crap to work with. Seeing Bradford look at home last night had me thinking about all of that. But I digress.

 

[dbrooks25]

Way too early for this. Yes, the O-line will be a concern in the short term, but mainly because we're talking about a group of inexperienced guys. Now if we were talking about a lack of talent across the O-line, then I would be real concern. And this talk of GRob being a waste of a pick and moving him to guard is absurd. Orlando Pace hasn't been here for a long time, so I'm not sure why some are acting spoiled when it comes to the 2nd year left tackle? Remember Jason Smith? Yeah, I thought so, just let Robinson get some experience under his belt and he'll be fine.

 

[V3]

Way too early for this. Yes, the O-line will be a concern in the short term, but mainly because we're talking about a group of inexperienced guys. Now if we were talking about a lack of talent across the O-line, then I would be real concern. And this talk of GRob being a waste of a pick and moving him to guard is absurd. Orlando Pace hasn't been here for a long time, so I'm not sure why some are acting spoiled when it comes to the 2nd year left tackle? Remember Jason Smith? Yeah, I thought so, just let Robinson get some experience under his belt and he'll be fine.

When your 2nd year OT that was taken 2nd overall looks like Jason Smith, there are going to be concerns. He's not only getting beat due to poor technique, he's getting overpowered. Not calling him a bust yet or anything but if you don't see why people are starting to voice some concerns, I don't know what to say. It's worthy of being mentioned.

 

[blue4]

Way too early for this. Yes, the O-line will be a concern in the short term, but mainly because we're talking about a group of inexperienced guys. Now if we were talking about a lack of talent across the O-line, then I would be real concern. And this talk of GRob being a waste of a pick and moving him to guard is absurd. Orlando Pace hasn't been here for a long time, so I'm not sure why some are acting spoiled when it comes to the 2nd year left tackle? Remember Jason Smith? Yeah, I thought so, just let Robinson get some experience under his belt and he'll be fine.

I've always wanted him to play guard from day one. People aren't acting spoiled, they're realizing that he's more raw than advertised.

And we do remember Jason Smith, it's why everyone is concerned. You know, guy's got the physical tools, just needs time, well we'll work on that technique, that stuff?

 

[Ramhusker]

Can't panic yet. They will get more time against the Chiefs. Fisher has to play them in that game. He can rest Saffold and Reynolds but the rest should get significant time. And that's what they need the most. If the OL falls on its face against Seattle, THEN, we can open the jug of moonshine and try to drink this away.

 

[Speedr@m]

from what im seeing we only have 2 decent players on line . Brown and Saffold. one is a injury waiting to happen and the other just got injured. they gotta do something. The line is going to hurt whole offense

what do you mean what are they going to do? They are going to go with what they have and see if they develop. pray that they get better

its going to be a difficuly start... we just have to hope that get better with reps and mature

 

[Corbin]

Guys wtf? Yes we would all like for our players to look like all pros in the pre season but that isn't going to happen for various reasons. I know you want to rant, rave, and brag about G-Rob or whoever is killing it or have the national media write articles to put your mind at ease we are doing good.

It's way to early to panic. Guys are bitching because we are 0-3, really? This team looked progressively better yesterday than the two games before and there's still a lot of 'the sky is falling' crap.

 

[lockdnram21]

what do you mean what are they going to do? They are going to go with what they have and see if they develop. pray that they get better

its going to be a difficuly start... we just have to hope that get better with reps and mature

well they going to need a whole lot of prayer. Might want to call in reinforcements

 

[lockdnram21]

Guys wtf? Yes we would all like for our players to look like all pros in the pre season but that isn't going to happen for various reasons. I know you want to rant, rave, and brag about G-Rob or whoever is killing it or have the national media write articles to put your mind at ease we are doing good.

It's way to early to panic. Guys are bitching because we are 0-3, really? This team looked progressively better yesterday than the two games before and there's still a lot of 'the sky is falling' crap.

im not worried about wins and losses im worried about how bad the line looks. They dont have to be all pros but be serviceable. In the passing game Foles made them look better then they were. In running game they were horrible. I thought run game was Robinson and Havensteins bread and butter. Doesnt look like it. They should be much better

 

[Ram65]

Bleh. I'm staying off this board today.

Don't feel like getting out of bed just to hang my head. Last night got me excited for some real Rams football (win or lose), but instead I get to read about how the O-line sucks, Fisher freaked up the rebuild, we can't stop committing penalties, pre-season matters for suck-ass teams, we overreached for Tavon, and blah blah boo fuckety hoo. It's a beautiful morning, so I'm gonna go enjoy it.

If there's a big pool of tears on this board when I get back, I ain't cleanin' it up.

Well it's the start of a heat wave here in Phila so forget going outside.......

Seriously, the hope is to play good defense and steel a couple early games while the offensive line has time to gel. I was hoping Gurley is ready early because he will make the offensive line and offense in general look better. The Rams got to cut out the STUPID PENALTIES!!! The offensive line can only get better from here...