Yeah I do think we have a talent problem on the OL. But I'm just tired of discussing it.It's not just the run game. The concern is with the OL talent overall and how that affects both the run and the pass. How did the passing game do last year when teams didn't respect the play action?
If we cant run the ball, we will be forced into 2nd and longs, 3rd and longs...known passing situations. Defenses will pin their ears back and focus solely on rushing the passer, which completely cripples McVay's offense. Which means more pressure of Goff, which we know leads to mediocre QB play at best. This is why so many around here are pissed we didn't upgrade the oline because of the affect it has on all aspects of our offense and game-planning.
Yeah I do think we have a talent problem on the OL. But I'm just tired of discussing it.
Getting the run game going will achieve the desired effect. If you look at the overall offensive production the passing game carried the offense last season. Meanwhile our run game plummeted from top 3 to bottom 3. McVay is a master of scheming open pass catchers, but he needs that run game to play off of. Also the run blocking side of things is more of a weakness for 3/5 of our projected starting OL. If Hav loses his job to Evans or Noteboom it'll be 4/5.
Yep and I'm certainly not feeling confident about our OL. The 5 we ended last season with was a pass blocking line (only Edwards is a good run blocker from the group). And a couple of them weren't even good at pass blocking, they're just better at that than the run.I get it, but in the context of this article, PFF is slighting Akers due to the line in front of him and our decision to not invest in more talent, so it needs to be discussed. If we made an off-season move to bring in a stud lineman or drafted one within our first few picks, Akers would surely be higher here. Its not a indictment of his talent at all, just what they expect from him as a rookie with the line in front of him. I personally love him and think he was the most talented overall back in the draft.
When you say the passing game carried us last year, its because it had to. The run game was non existent like you said. But that heavy passing attack doesn't bode well for this offense. We need a balance to be successful and teams have to respect our play action game again. Can we get the running game and playaction back on track with this o-line? Whats the probability of that happening? The whole season will come down to that.