[PARAM]

It's an issue of need. I think Snead is the type who throws picks at a weakness until it is a strength, and OL is one of the major weaknesses. In fact I think they could afford to pick only OL, DL, and LB. They won't do that...but they could afford to do that.

The main thing about OL is that until it is at least just solid, it holds other things hostage.

Rams have 6 picks if they get a projected 4th round comp pick for Saffold.

I know the talking heads believe it's a major weakness. I know a lot of Rams fans believe it's a major weakness. But I wonder if Snead, McVay and Co. believe it's a major weakness? They were very high on Edwards.....in fact talked about him being a legit LT. They were high on Evans at the draft and I would think they'd be encouraged by his play down the stretch. They traded for Corbett. And it was obvious how they felt about Noteboom and Allen going into the season. The worst thing that should be said about Noteboom was he got injured. Allen? I'm not sure he's a bust. But as always, we'll have to see how it plays out. I think they are in position to look for players instead of positions.

[aeneas1]

The secret to the Los Angeles Rams’ turnaround is to emulate the Minnesota Vikings
By Sosa Kremenjas@QBsMVP Feb 6, 2020, 2:11pm CST

say what?

the vikes replaced an undrafted journeyman who was with the rams for a cup of coffee in 2014 (remmers) and a 6th round journeyman (compton) with another undrafted journeyman (kline) and a 1st round rookie, and just like their oline is top notch, and a blueprint for the rams? how do folks come up with this nonsense?

fwiw the gang at pff ranked the 2019 vikes oline 19th, and 27th in pass pro, the 19th ranking was because they ranked high in run blocking, something i'm sure delvin had nothing to do with (weird how he posted his lowest yards per carry average in 2019, eh?)... they also attributed cousins success to a 2019 adjustment in passing scheme from the prior year, amazing what scheme can do for an oline isn't it?

anyhoo, not sure how anyone could point to the vikes oline as an example of what the rams need to do to shore up their oline, mama mia.

[/zn/]

I know the talking heads believe it's a major weakness. I know a lot of Rams fans believe it's a major weakness. But I wonder if Snead, McVay and Co. believe it's a major weakness? They were very high on Edwards.....in fact talked about him being a legit LT. They were high on Evans at the draft and I would think they'd be encouraged by his play down the stretch. They traded for Corbett. And it was obvious how they felt about Noteboom and Allen going into the season. The worst thing that should be said about Noteboom was he got injured. Allen? I'm not sure he's a bust. But as always, we'll have to see how it plays out. I think they are in position to look for players instead of positions.

A lot of that is true--but they have not done it yet. I think Edwards and Evans are good finds, but it's still not a proven solid unit yet. (Though I have doubts about Corbett.) We don't know if they still feel the same way about Allen, though they did say NB was improving. Either way he had surgery and can't even practice until (I think) camp, and they do not know how he will look when he does. I don't think you count on him for early in the season. If they get AW and Blythe back it makes it easier, but even then there's virtually no notable depth, not unless Brewer comes through. We still don't know about Hav. It just seems to me you keep adding to that unit until it is stable and deep.

Can all that come together? Yes. But it does not hurt to deepen the unit. As it stands last year they played 10 different linemen in 16 games (though with Brewer it was only some plays in one game). 2 had surgery post-season (AW and Blythe) and 2 during the season (NB and Allen) and one more was banged up (Hav) .

Anyway, besides, since AW is probably good for only one season, they won't know about NB till he can play, at the very least they have to think about LOT for 2021...and maybe depth at ROT for 2012 too.

Short version: yes I can see them drafting linemen, particularly in a draft which is deep at OT.

[CanuckRightWinger]

The Rams Yutes OL Rushing Performance Last Half of 2019 Season per ESPN

TEAM...Ca/Yd...AVE....Comments
at PIT...23/88...3.8...306 Total Ram Yds, 8 Hekker punts (+ one fake-punt)
vs CHI...34/110...3.2...283 Total Ram Yds, we won b/c Trubinsky sucked
vs BAL...09/22...2.4....Rams O scored 6 points at Home
at ARI...30/132...4.4....Good game against a sadsack division cellar-dweller
vs SEA...35/162...4.6...Best game of second half. Total team effort!
at DAL...14/22...1.6...Ram OL manhandled by an inconsistent Cowboy D
at SF....24/72...3.0...Goff throws for 323 yds in losing cause
vs ARI...33/113...3.4...Ram TO adv was 5-0, yet tied 17-17 in 4th Qtr with sadsack cellar dweller

FINAL RAM 8 GAME RUSHING TOTAL...202 carries/721 rushing yards....3.57 yds/carry
And, 5 of 8 Rams final 2019 games were against non-Playoff Teams

The above stats are NOT indicative of a stellar NFL OL performance.
And, the eyeball test showed our 2019 OL being pushed around.

ME: Damn right McSnead will spend Draft treasure on the OL in 2020, a definite area of weakness in 2019, and hopefully fixed by McSnead for 2020.
Agree that David SneadDraftSteal Edwards is pick-of-the-litter of 2019 Ram OL yutes…..but the former Wiscosin Badger OT Blindside protector himself sees himself as a OG in the NFL.

The way it looks now, 13 to 15 Picks out of 64 total in April's First Two Rounds will be OL selections. If Los Ramos stay put at #52, were getting the tail end of that group of projected 2020 OL Blue-Chippers.

….of course, Snead could re-perform his 2019 Draft magic and find a OL starter in the 5th Round like he did with Edwards.....but I'm hoping we get one of those bona fide 2020 blue-chip OL guys.

[/zn/]

The Rams Yutes OL Rushing Performance Last Half of 2019 Season per ESPN

TEAM...Ca/Yd...AVE....Comments
at PIT...23/88...3.8...306 Total Ram Yds, 8 Hekker punts (+ one fake-punt)
vs CHI...34/110...3.2...283 Total Ram Yds, we won b/c Trubinsky sucked
vs BAL...09/22...2.4....Rams O scored 6 points at Home
at ARI...30/132...4.4....Good game against a sadsack division cellar-dweller
vs SEA...35/162...4.6...Best game of second half. Total team effort!
at DAL...14/22...1.6...Ram OL manhandled by an inconsistent Cowboy D
at SF....24/72...3.0...Goff throws for 323 yds in losing cause
vs ARI...33/113...3.4...Ram TO adv was 5-0, yet tied 17-17 in 4th Qtr with sadsack cellar dweller

FINAL RAM 8 GAME RUSHING TOTAL...202 carries/721 rushing yards....3.57 yds/carry
And, 5 of 8 Rams final 2019 games were against non-Playoff Teams

The above stats are NOT indicative of a stellar NFL OL performance.
And, the eyeball test showed our 2019 OL being pushed around.

ME: Damn right McSnead will spend Draft treasure on the OL in 2020, a definite area of weakness in 2019, and hopefully fixed by McSnead for 2020.
Agree that David SneadDraftSteal Edwards is pick-of-the-litter of 2019 Ram OL yutes…..but the former Wiscosin Badger OT Blindside protector himself sees himself as a OG in the NFL.

The way it looks now, 13 to 15 Picks out of 64 total in April's First Two Rounds will be OL selections. If Los Ramos stay put at #52, were getting the tail end of that group of projected 2020 OL Blue-Chippers.

….of course, Snead could re-perform his 2019 Draft magic and find a OL starter in the 5th Round like he did with Edwards.....but I'm hoping we get one of those bona fide 2020 blue-chip OL guys.

Your "assessment" is based on the premise that no one on the 2019 OL improves, develops, or just performs more effectively in a more coherent unit.

I doubt Kromer, McVay, and Snead share that view.

I also doubt they share the view that when a 2nd half of the season OL consisting of 2 vets who had post-season surgery (Blythe and AW) plus 3 inexperienced injury replacements does not play at an ideal level, the only explanation is lack of talent. That's you leaping to all kindsa off-base conclusions. In contrast, I see them doing better than should be expected under tough circumstances.

I disagreed with PA on a minor issue---whether or not the Rams would draft OL. I think they will, because if nothing else they don't know yet where they stand with the LOT for 2021. But they will be adding talent to talent, not adding talent to nothing.

So I do agree with PA that there absolutely were signs that they do have players to build with.

A line AS BAD as YOU claim does not tie SF, a team with the league's 2nd ranked defense, in a 30-point game on the road at the end of the season.

[PARAM]

.....A line AS BAD as YOU claim does not tie SF, a team with the league's 2nd ranked defense, in a 30-point game on the road at the end of the season......

Speaking of SF, the gold standard of the NFC in terms of offensive line play and offensive line coaching (how they didn't miss a beat with their OT's going down).......they played Arizona twice in 3 weeks. In the first game, the game their starting OT's returned, they beat the sad sack Cardinals 28-25, gaining 101 rushing yards on 31 carries (3.1). In the second game, they won by a bit more, 36-26 and gained an impressive 34 yards on 19 carries. On the year, they gained 135 yards on 50 carries against the sad sack Cardinals (2.7 ypc). How come? Lousy O line coaching? Lack of talent along the O line? Bad playcalling? Against cellar dwellers?

[/zn/]

Speaking of SF, the gold standard of the NFC in terms of offensive line play and offensive line coaching (how they didn't miss a beat with their OT's going down)......

I don't think SF is a normal case. They played a FB a huge percentage of the time, plus one of the best blocking TEs in the biz, and relied on those strengths to run the ball. Plus of course they gameplanned in an exceptional running game. So they were able to work around what would usually be a drawback. I think all that's indicative of is this--if you are going to have OL injuries, do it on a team that has all sorts of personnel and scheme advantages running the ball.

That can especially work if you have a top defense.

As it is, they were 29th in passing attempts, and 2nd in rushing attempts. Even with that low passing rate they were 18th in sack percentage. In all 4 of their losses they allowed 7 or more pressures (against Seattle it was 18). The secret to beating them all year was to make them pass. Neither the OL nor the qb held up under that.

So I don't take the SF case as telling us much about the normal situation of OL injuries.

The Rams are much more of a real exception when it comes to that. Playing 2 injured OL plus 3 inexperienced injury replacements, and without a dominant run game to fall back on (let alone a top defense), it's kind of an accomplishment that they would even go 4-3....especially since for the most part, to win, they had to pass. I can only take that to mean that as rough as that OL was with the injury replacements, they still had talent to work with--and that's what made the difference.

If I had to explain that it would be this. Unlike most teams when it comes to OL depth, the Rams were actively rebuilding (5 draft picks and a trade in 2 years). The target year was supposed to be 2020 but injuries forced them to play guys earlier than that. Most teams do not have OL depth like that because they are not actively rebuilding the OL in advance that way.

[PARAM]

Whitworth wants to return to L.A..

Andrew Whitworth has already expressed his desire to return for his 15th season in 2020, but he’s hoping it is with the Los Angeles Rams. Ahead of free agency, Whitworth spoke about why he wants to return to Los Angeles next season.

“Obviously my wish is to hopefully stay in Los Angeles and continue with the Rams,” Whitworth said. “I just think there’s a lot there I have left to do in leadership and play and everything else. If that works out, great. If there’s another opportunity somewhere else, I’ll be ready.”

Following the Rams embarrassing defeat in Super Bowl 53, Whitworth was uncertain that he would be back in 2019. But after starting in all 16 games for Los Angeles in 2019, the veteran left tackle is anxious to continue playing football.

Once free agency begins in March, Whitworth is set to become an unrestricted free agent. Despite other teams likely making offers for him, it appears that the Rams will get first-dibs to re-sign him.

Last offseason, the Rams chose to allow Rodger Saffold to walk in free agency in favor of getting younger on the offensive line. It goes without saying that Los Angeles realizes they made a mistake in doing so.

After making a crucial mistake with Saffold, the Rams should prioritize retaining Whitworth this offseason. Even though he is 38-years-old, Whitworth is still the most reliable member of Los Angeles’ offensive line. In addition, he can continue to groom the youthful members of the offensive line that could replace him.

The 14-year veteran has made it loud and clear that he would like to finish his career with the Rams. On the other hand, it is unclear if Los Angeles will have the financial resources to be able to keep Whitworth.

LINK

[CanuckRightWinger]

Sheesh zn….you continue to be big on projecting what other posters write, huh?

My "premise"?
Premise????
I posted 2019 Los Ramos rushing stats.
Y'know, factual stats that Los Ramos personnel actually amassed vs real NFL competition.

Question: What did you post?
Answer: Not numbers! Instead, more of the repetitive analysis of what posters actually mean by their words.

You say that I "am leaping to an offbase conclusion"?
The only conclusion I state is that the Rams will draft OL talent in the 2020 Draft. Based on what I saw last year from our OL and ALSO on what I am reading now from Draftniks and Mock Drafts, etc......I think I am in the mainstream of assessing the Rams OL as "an area that needs improvement."

You think that McSnead and Kromer see ample OL talent on the current Rams Roster to satisfy our 2020 OL needs?
Good for you!
Should I write it down, and re-post it in April?.....or do you want to reply in yet another stats-free post, and hedge your bets?

See, IMO McSnead need help on the filling-out of their 2020 OL …
seems counting on novices in 2019 didn't work out so hot. and it appears that the mainstream media (EG. Cowherd commentary in the OP.....hello!) are sharing the same boat with me.

I concur with the media reports that see Whit coming back for 2020. I think that would be a smart move by McSnead. I am hopeful that Hav mends fully and regains his pre-2019 effectiveness. I've also praised David Edwards all of 2019, calling him Snead'sDraftSteal.

So IMO that leaves holes at Starting OC and a Starting OG for 2020.
….and that's why I have posted before that McSnead will spend Draft Treasure and/or FA buck$ on OL for 2020. Maybe...the vacant OC or the vacant OG spot can be filled by an Evans, or a Corbett, or a Brewer.....but the Rams braintrust are not going to try to plug TWO holes with unproven novices again, as it didn't turn out so well for Stan's indigestion in 2019. After the Dallas game, I heard Phillips Milk Of Magnesia stock was up 3 points!!

Others may want to hang their hopes on YearToYear improvement and 100% Surgical Recoveries.....but I am pretty sure that McSnead are not in THAT camp for the 2020 Ram OL Plan.

[aeneas1]

if teams would just line up dbs in front of whit from here on out maybe we could get another 5+ solid years out of him!