OL talk, 2020

alyoshamucci

Best draft for OTs Ive ever seen

Not that we want to have to depend on a rookie.

But that we can likely get a challenger for Noteboom in the 2nd or 3rd for the following year.

from PFF: 2020 NFL Draft Position Rankings: Interior Offensive Linemen

https://www.pff.com/news/draft-2020-nfl-draft-position-rankings-interior-offensive-linemen

This is the year to need offensive line help. While the tackle class is stacked with some elite talent, the interior class is lighter at the top but goes deeper in terms of quality. While tackle-to-guard converts are popular in the NFL for interior linemen, only two such players made our top 10, as this class is chocked full of true guards and centers.

from PFF: 2020 NFL Draft Position Rankings: Offensive Tackles

This is the class of offensive tackles that NFL teams have been champing at the bit for. Seemingly every team in the league could use an upgrade at one or more of their starting tackle spots. Expect the top-five names to come off boards very early come April as and for teams to continue to reach for that second tier throughout Day 2.

A composite post about Chandler Brewer, by RAMpant Defense, PHDram, & zn

I want to see Brewer after an NFL offseason. He may jump up in the depth chart. Based on his athleticism, i think he has potential. He’s 6’5″ 320 with big hands 10 1/8 and long arms 34″+. At his pro day, he did 34 reps and ran pretty well. At his best (if he reaches that level) he could be a both OGs + ROT type and he’s a good athlete for an OG/ROT. He played well in the preseason. During the season, he came in at RT when Evans got injured during the Niner game in SF, so he got his feet wet against a difficult team.

At Middle Tennessee State, he played his senior season while battling cancer. Check out this article: https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/03/27/draft-news-notes-rumors-chandler-brewer-middle-tennessee-state-cancer

dzrams

PFF has a metric that tracks the pass blocking efficiency for OLs.

In the last 6 games, the Rams OL ranked 22 out of 32.

In the last 4 and 5 games, they ranked 16/32.

In the last 3 games, they ranked 14/32.

So the way they were performing in pass blocking the last 20 – 25% of the season was middle of the road and trending towards becoming an above-average blocking OL.

Les Snead mentioned three ways for the Rams to replace Whitworth at LT down the line: Noteboom, Evans or a draft pick https://t.co/jjrJQLbNGB

— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) April 9, 2020

PARAM

What I saw?

Early on I saw an inexperienced OL despite having two experienced tackles. They played like I’d expect. I think the lack of reps in preseason hurt. At the time I believed that “they practice together all week so they’ll be fine” explanation. They weren’t. But I thought their play improved against TBay, Seattle and SF (for 1 series). We’ were sitting at 3-3 and should have been 4-2, maybe even 5-1 if the D stops Tampa.

Against TBay, Goff dropped back 68 times and was sacked just twice. Woods and Kupp had 22 receptions, 285 yards; Gurley, Cooks, Everett and Higbee had another 22 for 230 yards. But we only had 34 points as an offense because Goff threw 3 picks. Blame the O line? Sure, they weren’t there yet. But that should be plenty to win. They put up 29 against Seattle and drove the ball close enough to win it in the end. The pass blocking improved but the run blocking was slow to get stronger. Against SF we came out pounding the ball. 7 runs @ 8 yards per and then Noteboom went down on the second series. Later, a failed 3rd and 1, then 4th and 1 from the goal line in the first half, then a fumbled pitch to Henderson on the first play of the third turned that game (as well as the injury) .

Some people have said, it was an immediate improvement when Noteboom went down. I think that improvement was already happening despite the 3 game losing streak. It’s why it continued with the other 4 guys all still playing but with a rookie instead of JN. The next 3 games are against 1-5 Atlanta, 0-7 Cincinnati and BigBen-Less Pittsburgh. Did they look better? Yes. Did they play better? Sure. Not against a good D like the Steelers though. Of course two guys go down in that game so before they get to the Chicago game, they’re down to two more lineman. Whitworth and Blythe were the only two who started the season and Blythe missed a game early on, a win.

So the process started all over again. Not against stellar competition again but Edwards, Corbett and Evans got better the more they played. We got another reprieve and took advantage of it, going 3-1. But those first two games the OL didn’t look distinctly improved. Chicago where we scored 17 points, then Baltimore where we looked like a bad O line. But facing a quick 28-0 deficit can aid in that. Against Arizona and Seattle they looked better. I thought Evans played better, faster than the other two. And they got better as a unit, playing in 7 straight.

But looking back on the OL’s season it wasn’t good, mainly because of injuries and inexperience, breaking in two waves of O lineman. I thought Noteboom and Allen played better than they were credited. Inconsistent? Yes. Edwards got better but played longer (10). Havenstein and Allen played 9, Evans and Corbett 7 and Noteboom played alot less than 6 considering he went down on the second series of the SF game. The rollouts? They helped. They’ve been a part of the offense but not as much as they were last year. But we didn’t have 2 rookies and a so-called bust from Cleveland in 2019. So they were a bigger part of the offense once the youngsters appeared, wisely. What would have been wiser is if he’d have employed that before the injuries. Were they a very good line last year? No. Were they terrible? No. On the season it was terrible because we had to break in practically 5 guys from scratch, the bust with 1 start to his credit.

Forecast? So for 2020 we get experience back with Whitworth, Havenstein and Blythe. And we get less experience with Evans, Edwards, Corbett and Allen, even less with Noteboom, when they’re healthy but they’ve all been under fire. 3 vets and 5 guys with between 6 and 10 starts last season. Better than five first time starters including two rookies. Do I think the line is going to be better in 2020? Yes. They’re going to be more experienced too. That can’t hurt. I’m encouraged that the powers to be are encouraged. I hope Whitworth can start faster than last year. Havenstein too because it’s hard to give up on him as he’s 27 with 5 years experience. They’ve got Blythe, Edwards, Evans and Corbett plus the rookie Anchrum and Shelton, who saw time last year for 3 spots on the OL. Noteboom and Allen when they’re healthy. If they’re not ready it’s PUP for 6 weeks and then 5 weeks or less to practice. So if we have any issues, I hope it doesn’t occur until those two are ready.

Bottom line is this. That line, with 9 different starters played well enough to win 9 games. The line that starts this year hopefully finishes it but if there are problems I don’t think we’ll be in trouble nearly as much as last year. No greenhorns even at the backup positions. We have enough talent to win. Hell we won 9 games with that line discombobulated for at least 6 games. Hopeful? A little. Unreasonable? Absolutely not

PARAM

I saw no reason why they should have spent high draft capital on offensive lineman in the 2020 draft.

And no one is saying “because the Rams barely missed the playoffs” they had good O line play. The point is, they weren’t nearly as bad as the overplayed doom and gloom reviewers suggest.

On the other hand, some people have said, it was an immediate improvement when Noteboom went down. I think that improvement was already happening despite the 3 game losing streak. The O line had a lot of issues and IMHO, those issues were the result of injuries, replacements and a lack of continuity. But the offense averaged something like 27 PPG in the first 5 games. If the defense showed up against Tampa and Zeurlein makes a kick against Seattle, we’re 11-5.

Did they play better? Sure. Not against a good D like the Steelers though. Of course two guys go down in that game so before they get to the Chicago game, they’re down two more lineman. Whitworth and Blythe were the only two who started the season and Blythe missed a game early on, a win. So the process started all over again.

Not against stellar competition again but Edwards, Corbett and Evans got better the more they played. We got another reprieve and took advantage of it, going 3-1. But those first two games the OL didn’t look distinctly improved. Chicago where we scored 17 points, then Baltimore where we looked like a bad O line. But facing a quick 28-0 deficit can aid in that. Against Arizona and Seattle they looked better. I thought Evans played better, faster than the other two. And they got better as a unit, playing in 7 straight.

So there was improvement the longer the subs played together and that was over 7 games with a surrounding cast who were playing their 10th to 16th game. Hell, Edwards had 10 games to improve. The opening OL played 5 games and 1 series together with a surrounding cast playing the same.

In 6 of our 7 losses the defense allowed 35.7 PPG. In 3 of our 7 losses the offense scored 31.3 (34, 29 and 31). You can not lose 3 games when your offense is at 30 points. It’s totally unacceptable. So we can point to the O line and they had troubles….injuries, warts, what-have-you. But I can’t in good conscience say “our biggest issue in 2019 was our O line”.

Key point: they improved on the tail end of the season the longer the replacements played together. There is also the opponent factor. In the end, 3 different OL injuries, adjustments by the coaching staff, improvement by the replacements and we finish 9-7. It seems like it could have been much, much worse. Bottom line is this. That line, with 9 different starters played well enough to win 9 games. The line that starts this year hopefully finishes it but if there are problems I don’t think we’ll be in trouble nearly as much as last year. No greenhorns even at the backup positions. We have enough talent to win. Hell we won 9 games with that line discombobulated for at least 6 games. Hopeful? A little. Unreasonable? Absolutely not.

Some cast doubt on Kromer. Yes it would seem everywhere Kromer goes, they do have some excellent lineman already there, but they also immediately acquire good free agent lineman and they draft lineman who are successful under his tutelage. When he got to Chicago, they acquired Bushrod (from New Orleans, Kromer’s former stop) and drafted Long and Mills. In Buffalo they acquired Incognito, who despite being a good lineman, hadn’t played in 2014 after being suspended for the half the season in 2013. I don’t remember how many teams were lined up to sign him but Buffalo ended up with him. They also drafted Miller and acquired Jordan Mills from Chicago (Kromer’s former stop). That was a good OL. Led the league in rushing yards and ypc both years. Had a rookie and a 2nd year guy on those lines. In Los Angeles, they acquired Whitworth and Sullivan. It appears more than fortuitous that Kromer are the teams that make these important OL acquisitions soon after hiring him.

Random thoughts. (Or, Ram-dom thoughts.)

I count Brewer as possible top depth. He has an interesting resume. He seems to be a OG/ROT type.

I think Edwards and Evans are starters, the only question is whether Evans is at ROT or LOG. If Hav can’t come back, then he’s at ROT and the question just becomes who plays LOG, with Corbett probably in the lead.

If Hav can play then the OL is probably AW Evans Blythe Edwards Hav, and probably with Allen Corbett & NB (and as I said maybe Brewer too) as locks for depth.

This year the active game day roster is 47, which could mean keeping more linemen than usual. Actually it can be 48 if the rest of the game-day roster includes at least eight offensive linemen. That means, really, they get 3 active sideline lineman in addition to the starting 5 plus an extra player at a different position.

One other thing–they not only only drafted one lineman, they brought in only 1 UDFA lineman, which is unusual for them. Usually it’s more.

So it’s 15 OL coming to camp. That includes Anchrum & Coleman Shelton.

The 15 OL also includes a 2019 practice squader who flew under the radar last year–OC Nate Trewyn (6’4″, 313; Associated Press first-team Division III All American from University of Wisconsin-Whitewater; winner of the 2018 Remington Award as top center in Division III; UDFA with Tampa in 2019—Rams snatched him in November when Tampa promoted him to the active roster then waived him to put him back on the practice squad).

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More on Trewyn

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den-the-coach

Trewyn showed off his diverse skill-set throughout the workout in front of all 32 NFL teams, putting up 26 reps in the bench press, running 5.38 seconds in the 40-yard dash and 7.39 in the three-cone drill, jumping 28.5” in the vertical, 101” in the broad, and running the short shuttle in 6.69 seconds.

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from https://packerswire.usatoday.com/2019/04/16/packers-interested-in-wisconsin-whitewater-c-nate-trewyn/

Tony Pauline of Draft Analyst

“He’s a tough, wide-bodied blocker at the pivot who plays with terrific fundamentals,” Pauline wrote.

Trewyn earlier took part in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, where he turned in what Pauline refers to as an “impressive” practice week performance.

DOWNTOWN RAMS [DTR]@DowntownRams
The #Rams were reportedly close to pulling the trigger on OT Ezra Cleveland. Cleveland wouldn’t have started. So, the one high pick the #Rams almost made on the OL would have been for the future. That should tell you something about now.

The #Rams don’t need Warford. The Rams did not pass on OL because they knew Larry Warford was getting released unexpectedly. I invite you all to watch the improvement the OL made at the latter portion of the season. Don’t need OL. Havenstein being healthy is your addition.

Now, would Larry Warford be a good pickup? Of course. He’s a very good player. My point is that isn’t a NEED. We aren’t talking about the #Rams having a gaping hole on the OL. They have guys that can start. Now, if a LB at the skill level as Warford became available…

𝒥𝒾𝓂 𝐸𝓋𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓉𝓉@Jim_Everett
Believe we are talking latter part of the season? Right? Havenstein tried to play through an injury but eventually couldn’t do it. Forced two rookies into action & they showed they can ball. A sophomore bounce is expected & having Rob back at Hundred points symbol is Thumbs up.

IMHO, Line coach & run game coordinator, Aaron Kromer, BELIEVES in his guys that are currently on the roster. #BeingHealthyHelps #CoachedUp