Revamped offensive lines seeking to build chemistry

from Revamped offensive lines seeking to build chemistry for Rams, Chargers

RYAN KARTJE

link: http://www.ocregister.com/2017/08/15/revamped-offensive-lines-seeking-to-build-chemistry-for-rams-chargers/

When Orlando Franklin was released in May, the Chargers offensive line didn’t just lose its most veteran member. It lost something arguably just as crucial to the undefinable, yet indisputably important chemistry of an offensive line.

The Chargers linemen lost their grillmaster.

Nothing about offensive line chemistry is scientific. For how often coaches talk about it or commentators reference it, chemistry up front remains mysterious and ever-changing. “It’s really hard to quantify,” says Chargers left tackle Russell Okung. “It’s not like there are metrics.” But when searching for common ground among comically large and constantly hungry men, a barbecue is a pretty good place to start.

Franklin was the choice host for linemen barbecues in San Diego. His backyard in Poway, north of downtown, was a grilling oasis, with its own “barbecue island,” not to mention a pool, a firepit, and a giant table perfect for large men to bond over smoky, char-grilled meat.

But now, Franklin and his barbecue island are gone, along with two other starters, King Dunlap and D.J. Fluker, and the Chargers find themselves starting from scratch to conjure chemistry up front. They’re not alone in that endeavor. The Rams opened camp this season breaking in two new starters, while switching the positions of two others. Only one starting lineman, Rodger Saffold, is in the same spot he occupied last season.

For both lines, an overhaul was certainly in order. Last year, the Rams and Chargers each ranked among the worst teams in the NFL up front, thanks to an unfortunate mix of injuries and incompetence. But while moves were made to bolster the line, rebuilding up front isn’t as simple as plugging in high-priced free agents. It takes nuance, trust, and a whole lot of repetition. Even then, things don’t always click.

“In the majority of sports, everyone is doing their own assignment,” says Matt Slauson, one of the Chargers’ two returning starters up front. “But on the O-line, you have five guys who have to move together as one. It takes time to build that.”

For years under former coach Jeff Fisher, the Rams strategy was to build chemistry through continuity up front, allowing young linemen to blossom into their positions. With Fisher’s firing, that formula was rightfully abandoned this offseason.

Instead, the Rams signed a new center and a new left tackle. With new offensive line coach Aaron Kromer in the fold as well, Kromer says his most important job is just figuring out how to “make all the pieces fit.”

Given the experience of the Rams’ two new offensive linemen, that shouldn’t be as difficult as in years past. When Andrew Whitworth and John Sullivan reported for camp last month, they boasted 19 years of NFL experience between them.

That first day, though, the two seasoned vets joked about still having opening-day jitters. “It felt like the first day of school,” Sullivan says.

Since, it’s been seamless. The rest of the Rams offensive line can’t stop raving about the impact Whitworth and Sullivan have had on chemistry.

“They’ve seen it like I’ve seen it,” Kromer says. “They just fit in right away. They’re already able to communicate at a higher level.”

As the only other veteran member of the Rams offensive line, no one is happier than Saffold, who understands better than most the constant state of flux the Rams line has been in recently. Last year, as injuries tore through the unit and other struggles wore them down, Saffold played nearly every position. Each week, he was the one answering for the Rams’ issues up front.

Now, things have never felt so settled, so soon. Saffold is rooming with Whitworth at camp. Their kids have already taken a trip together to Legoland. And Whitworth, whose other love is golf, has already offered to teach Saffold how to play. Saffold describes his relationship with the Rams new veteran linemen as “almost telepathic.”

That certainly bodes well for an offensive line that nearly got its young quarterback killed last season. Jared Goff was sacked 26 times in seven starts during his rookie season, a rate higher than any other quarterback in the NFL.

So Goff wasted no time this season trying to build the group’s bond. The first week the team was together, he treated the quarterbacks and linemen to a steak dinner at Mastro’s in Thousand Oaks. “He understands what’s at stake,” Whitworth says.

Still, there are kinks to be worked out, which only time together — and not a smorgasbord of meat — can fix. As they prepare to take on the Cowboys on Saturday, the Rams still haven’t solved the right side of their line. In the offseason, Rob Havenstein moved inside to right guard and Jamon Brown kicked out to right tackle — a move that seemed permanent, at the time. But the two young linemen have already switched back, begging questions of the Rams’ plans on that side.

Havenstein contends he’s more comfortable at right tackle. But he’s determined to fit in either spot. Even if it isn’t the simple.

“Not everything is going to be perfect all the time,” Rams right tackle Rob Havenstein says, “but it really comes down to knowing that the guy next to you is going to have your back, no matter what.”

Nowhere else in football are five lumbering giants expected to move in perfect concert. One lineman out of position can disrupt an entire line’s rhythm, and each individual mistake reflects poorly on the whole. At no other position is trust as paramount.