Everyone rips Noteboom's play but IMO that's not the case. The problem was Kromer threw him to the lions and simply didn't know (which he should have) that Noteboom wasn't ready. IMO Noteboom isn't the LG for the future. This year is supposed to be what last year was, to give him game experience before moving to LT. When he got hurt they had no choice but to re-sign Whitworth. What we are seeing in Joe is the result not only of the excellent training staff in Joe's rehab, but the mentoring of Whitworth. IMO Whitworth's calling is as an O-line coach. You can see him talking up the guys on the field, correcting their mistakes. If Joe plays well this year it will give them options with Whitworth next year.
That was the reason they played Edwards at RG last year to season him to take over at RT. Evans doesn't have any business playing OT at this level. He suffers from the same problem that Rob does, he's slow-footed. That was the knock on Rob in his predraft evals that he lacked the feet to play at OT in the NFL, and was too tall to play inside as he couldn't get his pads down as he must at OG. It's the same problem Edwards suffers from at RG and why they simply moved Corbett into that position. Next year if he plays well, Noteboom will move to LT with Corbett moving back to LG. Edwards will replace Havenstein at RT and Evans will move into the RG spot.
Blythe IMO isn't the center of the future. He was brought back exactly for this contingency, i.e. Allen not being ready. Allen may or may not play this year, depending on how the season goes and how well or not the o-line plays. Blythe's problem at center is two-fold IMO opinion. Watching his play be it at OG or center, he looks to lack good field vision and therefore field awareness. Once he commits, he struggles to disengage and lacks the athleticism and quickness to redirect. This lack of field vision and lack of quickness also shows in his hit or miss second-level blocking. For whatever reason Kromer doesn't seem to have confidence in Shelton who has the field vision and mobility you want in a center. IMO Kromer is much like Wade in that he doesn't like to play younger guys even if they might be better than the vet he's relying upon. The defensive book is clear on Blythe and was clearly evident in how teams played him, especially on passing downs. He's a very poor blocker if he's faced with speed. He also struggles to redirect, so many times the MIKE will simply wait until Blythe is engaged in a double and simply run right by him.
Blythe is a 5-year vet so he's all he's ever going to be. I'm hoping that this inside zone and power gap run attack which masks his flaws in run blocking. I only hope one that missed block in the passing game doesn't get Goff hurt. That will be mitigated by the emphasis on coaching up Goff to get rid of the ball quicker on time. Blythe is a COVID expedient until Allen is healthy enough to regain his starting position.
Sullivan was a fan favorite I get it. But his play wasn't as good, as some seem to suggest as it has been with Bythe as well. In his first starting year, Allen outplayed both. In the long run, I can see clearly why Snead didn't spend serious draft capital on the o-line this past draft. McVay simply hasn't had the guys healthy enough to implement the complete change. They have the talent to put together a very good o-line if they put them into a position that will simply play to the strengths of his players.
The change in the mandate of requiring at least 4 o-line active on game days will mitigate the need to continually cross-train. Through the years I have seen the value of cross-training the o-line, with one caveat that you do so with veterans who are already established and experienced in one position. When you do it like Kromer did last year with a bunch of rookies you retard their development. Rookies need to adjust to the speed of the game as well as the increased emphasis upon good technique. Now throw in constantly switching positions with the need to change techniques before they even have one position nailed down is foolish in the extreme. I'm not simply just an amateur observer seeing this, but several conversations with an ex-NFL Probowl lineman confirmed what I've seen. We saw the results in last year's camp when Kromer tried to do it with all the rookies. My friend should know because he was converted from a college DT to an NFL OG and it took him 4 years before he began his outstanding career.
From what I've seen they are practicing inside zone and gap blocking schemes for their run attack which I think will be largely between the tackles. The threat of a strong inside run game prevents the LBs from dropping too quickly and enhances the play-action game. Since few teams will be able to match up in man coverage with the 11 personnel of the Ram's pass attack Goff IMO will see a lot of zones. He needs to more quickly read the flavor of the zone and get rid of the ball faster, and from what I'm reading and seeing that is exactly what the Ram's are focused upon.
