What Speed Can Give McVay's Rams

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oldnotdead

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I think this draft might have tipped McVay's hand a bit when he spoke with enthusiasm about landing Tutu at 57. Then you look at that freak of nature Harris at TE. It now gives Sean a new concept that was missing from his offense. The 4 receivers vertical concept would stress the popular cover 3 defenses which is what Staley brought to the Rams and Baltimore runs it frequently as well. I think McVay's interaction with Staley would have naturally included how to beat that type of coverage. McVay realized it was a big reason the Ravens shredded the Rams in 2019 because the Rams simply couldn't match up.

So what does McVay and Snead do? They draft Burgess to replace Johnson at safety. Why? Because Burgess has CB speed and experience in playing as a CB. So Now the Rams can match up with Ramsey, Williams, Rochell, and Burgess out of their nickel. This year Snead and McVay emphasized speed as a trait they coveted on offense. They grabbed Tutu, Harris, and Funk all with excellent 4.3 type speed, and Jefferson with about similar speed as well.

Now the Rams have enough speed to play a 4 vertical passing game even out of their base 11 personnel. Let me illustrate what I'm talking about. In their base 11 personnel they play Jefferson at X, Tutu at Y, Kupp at Z, Harris at TE. Those are your 4 vertical receivers. Another 11 personnel set would have the same WRs but Funk as RB and Higbee at TE. Funk becomes the 4th vertical. What makes this concept so devastating to the defense, is few secondaries can match up with that kind of receiver speed. Since those 4 verticals will probably be man-covered someone is going to be open and with Staffords having played every NFL team he's going to know pre-snap where his best matchup will be.

Remember both Woods and Kupp can also be at X and Y respectively as both can run those boundary deep routes. I simply inserted the rookies to show what the offense can now do long-term. It's a major expansion of the offense. If that secondary is bracing for potential 4 verticals, it's going to open up the run game which will be playing against a light box.

Speed kills on both sides of the ball. This is how much the Rams have improved their roster since just 2019. This offense will be dangerous this year but even more so as the rookies develop. The same can be said about the defense as well. This is why I'm saying Snead and McVay have built a championship roster that will be good for several more years. This is why I'm saying don't be overly harsh on your judgment of this draft. The Rams quietly added guys that might be key pieces going into the future. McVay isn't planning on staying with the dink and dunk passing game any longer. That was made apparent in the trade for Stafford.

Their SB window is wide open now and will be even more so over 2022 and 2023. Buckle your seat belts my friends as this team is getting ready to take off.
 
Last edited:

PressureD41

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What about 12 Personnel w/ Hopkins & Harris on 3rd and 7. Akers in the backfield. Harris chip blocks and releases in corner post route on the wide side w/ Akers running a vert off the RT at the safety?
 

leoram

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What difference does it make how fast the receivers run if the QB is flat on his back in 2.5 seconds? In 17 and 18 Goff was one of the NFL leaders in yards per attempt because he had protection. Woods, Kupp, and Watkins/Cooks were fast enough.

But I get your point. The want speed to stretch the field. That's not a bad thing. I just hope their belief the line will improve again next year comes to fruition.
 

snackdaddy

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What difference does it make how fast the receivers run if the QB is flat on his back in 2.5 seconds? In 17 and 18 Goff was one of the NFL leaders in yards per attempt because he had protection. Woods, Kupp, and Watkins/Cooks were fast enough.

But I get your point. The want speed to stretch the field. That's not a bad thing. I just hope their belief the line will improve again next year comes to fruition.

Its been a belief of fans and pundits that the Rams offensive line was bad and will continue to be bad. The Rams disagree with that. So does PFF. They seem to think the Rams line improved. Apparently McVay seems to think Goff was a part of the problem. Does he know more than the fans and pundits?


3. LOS ANGELES RAMS

It is safe to say that the Rams got the bounce-back season they badly needed from their offensive line following the disaster that was the 2019 season for Los Angeles up front.

There really wasn’t a whole lot of movement from the Rams this past offseason to add to the group, so the change centered around improvement from the players who were already on the roster. Andrew Whitworth improved his PFF grade by 16 points before his injury, while Austin Blythe’s and Austin Corbett’s grades each jumped nearly 20 points. Those improvements paled in comparison to Rob Havenstein’s jump from a 50.9 PFF grade in 2019 to 80.0 heading into this year’s postseason.

As a result, Jared Goff has been pressured on fewer than 30% of his dropbacks after that number sat at 36% in 2019. That remains one of the biggest keys to this offense moving forward, given Goff's career clean pocket vs. pressure splits.
 

Tano

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Its been a belief of fans and pundits that the Rams offensive line was bad and will continue to be bad. The Rams disagree with that. So does PFF. They seem to think the Rams line improved. Apparently McVay seems to think Goff was a part of the problem. Does he know more than the fans and pundits?


3. LOS ANGELES RAMS

It is safe to say that the Rams got the bounce-back season they badly needed from their offensive line following the disaster that was the 2019 season for Los Angeles up front.

There really wasn’t a whole lot of movement from the Rams this past offseason to add to the group, so the change centered around improvement from the players who were already on the roster. Andrew Whitworth improved his PFF grade by 16 points before his injury, while Austin Blythe’s and Austin Corbett’s grades each jumped nearly 20 points. Those improvements paled in comparison to Rob Havenstein’s jump from a 50.9 PFF grade in 2019 to 80.0 heading into this year’s postseason.

As a result, Jared Goff has been pressured on fewer than 30% of his dropbacks after that number sat at 36% in 2019. That remains one of the biggest keys to this offense moving forward, given Goff's career clean pocket vs. pressure splits.
Their PFF past protections grades that were that high due to McVay going to a short passing game. The majority of the passes were designed where the receivers did not run past 20 yards.
 

Elmgrovegnome

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Its been a belief of fans and pundits that the Rams offensive line was bad and will continue to be bad. The Rams disagree with that. So does PFF. They seem to think the Rams line improved. Apparently McVay seems to think Goff was a part of the problem. Does he know more than the fans and pundits?


3. LOS ANGELES RAMS

It is safe to say that the Rams got the bounce-back season they badly needed from their offensive line following the disaster that was the 2019 season for Los Angeles up front.

There really wasn’t a whole lot of movement from the Rams this past offseason to add to the group, so the change centered around improvement from the players who were already on the roster. Andrew Whitworth improved his PFF grade by 16 points before his injury, while Austin Blythe’s and Austin Corbett’s grades each jumped nearly 20 points. Those improvements paled in comparison to Rob Havenstein’s jump from a 50.9 PFF grade in 2019 to 80.0 heading into this year’s postseason.

As a result, Jared Goff has been pressured on fewer than 30% of his dropbacks after that number sat at 36% in 2019. That remains one of the biggest keys to this offense moving forward, given Goff's career clean pocket vs. pressure splits.
Stretching the field combined with a good running game will take some pressure off the offensive line.
 

Karate61

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The oline will absolutely be "good enough"!

There's 22 positions. Not all positions can be the top players.

We have a decent oline, surrounded by some great players on both sides of the ball.

Should be an exciting upcoming season.
 

FarNorth

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Their PFF past protections grades that were that high due to McVay going to a short passing game. The majority of the passes were designed where the receivers did not run past 20 yards.
And lots of rollouts by the qb.
 

yrba1

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The oline will absolutely be "good enough"!

There's 22 positions. Not all positions can be the top players.

We have a decent oline, surrounded by some great players on both sides of the ball.

Should be an exciting upcoming season.

Plus Stafford's pocket presence and stats under pressure is an improvement over Goff. I have a gut feeling he's gonna elevate the O-line's PFF stats
 

Rams43

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Call me crazy, but I’m expecting a Top 3 Offense.

We haven’t had a QB of Stafford’s caliber since Kurt Warner. And now McVay will suddenly have his wide open playbook options back with all these weapons at his fingertips? Are you kidding me?
 

Merlin

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You know what makes me happy is that Reynolds is gone. Nothing against the guy but he was just never gonna move that needle. Web too, he had a nice look and wasn't good enough either. Even Everett. He was a tease. Have fun watching him drop passes and fail to adjust to balls in flight Seattle.

Our depth chart now at least has some excitement to it. One may not like DJax (I don't) but he adds real speed even at his age. Might not like Tutu's drafting (I'm on the fence) but he does the same. The two big eligible types they drafted offer some upside while they help us on teams, and I look forward to following their development. This roster just feels like it's on an upward trend now with the skill types.
 

Allen2McVay

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You know what makes me happy is that Reynolds is gone. Nothing against the guy but he was just never gonna move that needle. Web too, he had a nice look and wasn't good enough either. Even Everett. He was a tease. Have fun watching him drop passes and fail to adjust to balls in flight Seattle.
I'm OK getting old except my mind is not as sharp.

I can't figure-out who is Web. Do you mean Nsimba Webster?

I also miss bending. I can still get down but getting back-up is a crap-shoot.
 

RAMSinLA

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I know its a humongous IF but IF the o-line surprises us we have the makings of the 2nd greatest show on turf....
But I'm always wrong so don't listen to me....lol
 

CGI_Ram

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I'm OK getting old except my mind is not as sharp.

I can't figure-out who is Web. Do you mean Nsimba Webster?

I also miss bending. I can still get down but getting back-up is a crap-shoot.


Chris Farley Idk GIF
 

dang

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So setting salary and health aside. What does DJax/Tutu give us as a weapon in comparison to a healthy Cooks?
 

CGI_Ram

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So setting salary and health aside. What does DJax/Tutu give us as a weapon in comparison to a healthy Cooks?

If that combo equals a healthy Cooks I’ll be happy. Those two bring similar things.
 

jjab360

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So setting salary and health aside. What does DJax/Tutu give us as a weapon in comparison to a healthy Cooks?
Not much but when we had a healthy Cooks we were one of the best offenses in the league which is why they're trying to get that element back again
 

ArkyRamsFan

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I'm OK getting old except my mind is not as sharp.

I can't figure-out who is Web. Do you mean Nsimba Webster?

I also miss bending. I can still get down but getting back-up is a crap-shoot.
Yep I'll step up and speak for Merlin; Web is referring to Nsimba Webster. You heard it here first!

~ArkyRamsFan~
 

Allen2McVay

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Yep I'll step up and speak for Merlin; Web is referring to Nsimba Webster. You heard it here first!

~ArkyRamsFan~
OK

I thought so but unlike Reynolds and Everett, Webster is currently on the roster; and was rarely on the field with the offense.

I thought his inclusion in the post was odd.
 

oldnotdead

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  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
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Go ahead and look back at the o-line play last year. There were times when Goff had more than enough time but he was gunshy and late on the trigger. I don't blame him as much as McVay for a variety of reasons. I know I'm not the only one who saw it because the ex-Rams now in Detroit know with better coaching and some decent o-line play in front of him along with a coach who won't be in his ear until the last seconds, that Goff has huge upsides that remain untapped.

But more than that, defenses were blitzing the hell out of the Rams because they had no respect for the Rams receivers and knew McVay's offense had limited options for Goff to get rid of the ball quickly. Having uber-fast receivers, however, changes things totally from a defensive point of view. The QB won't have to hold it as long, and if he connects on a blitz that receiver will take it the distance. Facing a savvy vet QB like Stafford who is very decisive and reads defenses well, makes blitzing a problematic proposition for a DC. The blitzes worked because the o-line blocking calls were wrong. I said all season that Blythe was poor with his blocking calls and he simply missed most of those blitzes. McVay held Goff in the huddle too long for him to get to the LOS and make his own reads so he was going many times with McVay's reads. Everyone could see that the defenses would change after 15 seconds so many times both Goff and Blythe misread it.

With Stafford that whole dynamic changes. He will get to the LOS with plenty of time to make his own reads, or quick snap if the defense isn't set. I feel good about the o-line playing well enough for this offense to really be dangerous. I honestly believe that this o-line isn't as bad as many on this board feel. Carberry was a hugely impactful hire IMO.