Under Boras, Groh, Rams Adjust Offensive Scheme

Under Boras, Groh, Rams Adjust Offensive Scheme

Myles Simmons

http://www.therams.com/news-and-events/article-1/Under-Boras-Groh-Rams-Adjust-Offensive-Scheme/7603f111-2408-41f0-a317-3510b5422f2c

The Rams have completed their offseason program, one that saw plenty of changes to the club’s offense. There are the obvious adjustments — a No. 1 overall pick at quarterback among them. But there are also some questions that likely will not have complete answers until a few weeks into the regular season.


The most obvious — what does the Los Angeles’ revamped offense look like?

It’s no secret the Rams needed to upgrade the unit after finishing No. 32 in both total and passing offense in 2015. With strides made in the last quarter of the season, Rob Boras remains in place, now as the full-time offensive coordinator. But in order to foster more improvement, the Rams also brought in Mike Groh from Chicago to be the team’s passing-game coordinator.

“I think a simple explanation is exactly how it sounds,” Groh said of his role during OTAs. “I was brought in to help refine and to add some ideas in the passing game to an existing offense — an offense that’s had success running the football.

“Obviously, there are a lot of pieces here,” Groh continued. “But we needed to complete some things throwing the ball, improving in that area. And so coach has kind of put me in charge of doing that in conjunction of working with Rob and through Rob as the offensive coordinator, and trying to put this whole thing together.”

As Groh put it, the Rams’ offensive situation may be unconventional, but, so far, it’s working because of the good-natured relationships between the coaches.

“Most teams and organizations don’t have a specific passing-game coordinator. But it’s been a lot of fun. The responsibility of it has been fun for me,” Groh said. “Working with Rob has been a lot of fun — getting to know him, getting to know our players, and putting the two systems together, and blending the two systems together so we can be successful on Sundays and win a lot of games.”

“Mike Groh has been very impressive,” Boras said. “I had spent six years in Chicago and had a number of friends who were still within the organization. And their recommendations were outstanding. Mike’s a teacher. Mike’s demanding.”

Groh has worked in a number of offensive systems, most recently those utilized with the Bears under former head coach Marc Trestman and former offensive coordinator Adam Gase. Part of the expectation is that Groh will be able to import and incorporate many of those ideas into the Rams’ offensive system.

“Mike has been successful everywhere he’s been — whether it’s been in Chicago with the players, Alabama, back at Virginia,” Boras said. “He has his belief system. He was able to bring some new ideas for our pass game. And it’s been real fun as the wide receivers coach and the pass-game coordinator — the role that he’s filling — [for me] to sit in the back of his meetings and, again, to watch a guy teach and coach his players.”

Of course, with reigning AP Offensive Rookie of the Year Todd Gurley, Los Angeles’ offense will still revolve around the run game. But there is an ongoing concerted effort to make sure the Rams will not become too one dimensional.

“We’ve got probably the premier running back in the league, [so] we’re going to run the football. We’re going to protect the football,” Boras said. “But we also understand you have to be explosive to score points in this league. And we have explosive players. So we’re going to have to find a way to generate that both through the air as well as handing Todd the ball in the run game.”

“We’re going to get the ball spread around a little bit more,” head coach Jeff Fisher said. “It’s going to all focus off the run game. But we’re going to be able to … hand it off to Todd. And if someone says, ‘We’re not going to let you do that,’ then we’re going to spread it around.”

Players noted varying degrees of difference in the offense during OTAs, with some describing subtle adjustments and others noting more wholesale changes.

“You know, there are some tweaks. A lot of it is similar,” quarterback Case Keenum said. “The verbiage is a little bit different, so there’s some studying to go there. There’s always little nuances within routes, whether it’s stems or different adjustments into different coverages. And I think those are important, especially right now during OTAs, to get those details down.”

“Just lining up everywhere — I think that’s the main thing for me, is just kind of getting used to the offense because before, I was mainly the wide tight end. Now, I could be anywhere,” tight end Lance Kendricks said. “So for me, it’s a big challenge, but it’s also going to be fun — just being able to do a little bit of everything. It’s going to really challenge my game because going from run blocking to playing out wide is just two different things. But I’m up for the challenge.”

Retaining Boras as offensive coordinator does foster a sense of continuity that should be helpful as the Rams head into training camp.

“For me, not much [has been different] because I’m so used to him and just him being in the room,” Kendricks said. “It’s not overwhelming at all. It’s just kind of a sigh of relief, almost. It takes the pressure off of us as a tight end unit, because we know what to expect from him, personally. So it’s kind of fun.”

“I love coach Boras,” Gurley said. “He’s just so relaxed. He’s like, ‘Don’t let me tell you where to run. You just do what you do.’ He’s definitely a good coach. He’s got great concepts. Love the things he’s doing. Great communicator. He gets feedback of what I see on the field or what I actually like, so that’s always good for a coach to do to be able to work with the players. So, I’m definitely excited to have him.”

And so while we really won’t know what the offense looks like for another couple months, we do know that under Boras and Groh, the team is focused on signifiant, tangible improvement.

“We finished last in offense, so we can only go up from here,” Kendricks said. “I think we’ve all just got to raise our level of expectations.”

If the offense raises its level of execution as well, it will provide a good path for the Rams to make the 2016 season successful.