Rams tweets etc. … 10/16 – 10/17

Q: Witherspoon been a stud all season. What an underrated signing. Seemed like all 3 safety’s, Yeast and Lake in particular were excellent in firing downfield and squeezing some of those underneath passing windows. Those 2 seems to be getting better at playing that style.

Jourdan Rodrigue
I am really impressed with those three safeties, they can move them all over the field which is the point as they’re playing way more C3 disguises now, and using the dime and 2ILB “base” looks more as well.

Fun backstory – McVay was so paranoid about showing anybody that crash motion (my phrase) with Higbee that he didn’t install it until Seattle week…when practices are totally closed to public and even media only sees individuals. It is a really creative concept – teams can’t tell pre-snap what type of run it will be because Higbee starts on the back side of the formation.

Q: One question: I thought when McVay suggested they got talked out of some of their running plays, he was alluding to the Card defensive looks, which is what you wrote. But after giving it some thought, I was wondering if he might have been referring to coaches upstairs. Is there any chance he was talking about his staff?

Jourdan Rodrigue
I am almost certain he was referring to the looks – they were shifting their front a lot and not thinking they, or anyone other than what he and Stafford are seeing, is literally “talking” him out of anything. Could be wrong but almost positive was slang for the pre-snap looks and shifts they had not seen on tape

Blaine Grisak@bgrisakTST
Rams OL PFF Grades in Week 6:

Alaric Jackson: 51.8 RBLK | 75.8 PBLK
Steve Avila: 51.7 | 69.2
Coleman Shelton: 57.3 | 77.4
Kevin Dotson: 83.7 | 73.8
Rob Havenstein: 84.1 | 74.9

10 total pressures. Dotson was the 2nd-highest graded offensive lineman in the NFL for the week.

PFF LA Rams@PFF_Rams
Byron Young: 87.3 PFF grade vs the Cardinals ??

1st among ALL rookies in Week 6

(minimum 25 snaps)

.

from https://www.turfshowtimes.com/2023/10/16/23919360/rams-cardinals-pff-grades-aaron-donald-matthew-stafford

Top five offensive grades:

1 – Matthew Stafford, QB: 90.0
Stafford earned an “elite” mark in this game and completed 15 of 24 passes for 226 yards and a touchdown. He had two other potential scores dropped by rookie WR Puka Nacua and TE Tyler Higbee.

Overall, the veteran had four big-time throws against Arizona which was his second-highest output of the season. He led the NFL in such throws coming into this game and should hold onto his top spot. Stafford had no turnover-worthy plays and had a clean effort. His adjusted completion percentage of 84.2 was by far the highest he’s had this year.

2 – Cooper Kupp, WR: 87.0
Kupp caught 7 passes for 148 yards and a touchdown while accounting for nearly two-thirds of the team’s receiving production. It was a dominant effort for the star receiver and his chemistry with Stafford was on display in this one.

3 – Kevin Dotson, RG: 86.1
Dotson has been a top guard in the NFL so far this season and currently ranks 12th of 83 players that have at least 83 snaps under their belt. The Rams acquired him just before the start of the season without giving up much in the way of draft capital. Joe Noteboom—who entered the season as the starting RG—should be fully healthy soon but LA should stay the course and keep Doston in the lineup.

4 – Kyren Williams, RB: 84.8
Williams had 20 carries for 158 yards (7.9 average) and a touchdown. He was not as active in the passing game as we are used to seeing from him.

Still, it was an impressive day for the second-year back and he ran as physically as we’ve ever seen from him—including an angry run at the goal line where he stiff armed a defender in the backfield and then ran through a pack of three Cardinals to break the plane.

5 – Rob Havenstein, RT: 82.7
The right side of the line fared well in run blocking. Havenstein has been very reliable for Los Angeles and usually only runs into trouble when facing the more elite pass rushers in the NFL. This was certainly one of his stronger performances.

Other notes on offense:

Interestingly, it was a stark drop in the grading between the fifth-highest player and the next in Tutu Atwell (62.7). Coleman Shelton and the left side of the offensive line fared well in pass blocking grades—all were 69.2 or better—bet did not grade out well in run blocking despite Williams racking up 158 yards and averaging 7.9 yards per carry.

Top five defensive grades:

1 – Byron Young, OLB: 87.3
Young had five total pressures including a strip sack on Josh Dobbs. He was also active in the run game and recorded four stops.

This was probably the most complete effort we’ve seen from the rookie. He’s flashed at times as a pass rusher, but he was consistently disruptive in this game.

2 – Aaron Donald, DE: 85.2
Donald led the defense with seven total pressures, though his run grade (84.9) finished notably higher than his pass rushing mark (74.9). The star defensive end had three stops. Donald ranks fifth in the NFL in total pressures on the season and is behind only Maxx Crosby, Aidan Hutchinson, Bryce Huff, and Chase Young.

3 – Ernest Jones, MLB: 82.5
The man in the middle of LA’s defense had an active day with 10 tackles and an impressive run defense grade of 90.7. Jones was targeted twice in coverage and allowed just one completion for nine yards (14 came after the catch point).

4 – Cobie Durant, SCB: 81.4
Durant has struggled at times this season, but this was his strongest came yet in the 2023 campaign. He was targeted only twice in coverage and allowed a single reception for 17 yards with two pass breakups. The second-year corner has a slight frame and can sometimes have issues tackling, but he graded out well with a mark of 82.1.

5 – Jordan Fuller, DB: 80.0
Fuller was targeted six times and allowed only two catches for 13 yards and a passer rating of 42.4. He also had five tackles and aligned in the box on 12 plays—so he was involved in the game as more than a deep coverage player.

Other notes on defense:

Three other members of the defensive line also had a strong effort. Rookie DT Kobie Turner had an overall grade of 77.6 (sixth). DE Jonah Williams (76.8; seventh) had a key sack that took the Cardinals out of field goal position. Michael Hoecht (74.7; eighth) was tied with Young with five total pressures and hit the quarterback twice. He was targeted twice in coverage—which has been a complaint by fans—and allowed two receptions for 21 yards (20 after the catch).

pic.twitter.com/vab5y6AWwz

— Computer Cowboy (@benbbaldwin) October 16, 2023

Jourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
“All the credit to Sean, just coming out there and trusting us,” veteran RT Rob Havenstein said. “A chance to get out there and set your pads, truly, and not really let what they were doing affect what we wanted to do. I think that was illustrated in that first (Q3) drive.”

Underdog NFL@Underdog__NFL
Cooper Kupp’s ranks among WRs since his Week 5 debut:

22 targets (4th)
15 receptions (4th)
266 receiving yards (4th)

Blaine Grisak@bgrisakTST
Byron Young had five pressures against the Cardinals. It’s his third game this season with five or more pressures.

Leads rookies at EDGe in pressures this season.

JAKE ELLENBOGEN@JKBOGEN
Byron Young has been everything the #Rams NEEDED him to be coming into this year. Through 6 games:

1st in pressures among all rookie EDGE
2nd in sacks among all rookie EDGE
2nd in pass rush productivity among all rookie EDGE
3rd in pass rush win rate among all rookie EDGE
T-8th in true pass set pressures
10th in tackles for EDGE
12th in defensive stops for EDGE
15th in EDGE pressures
.
Ramsoholic@ShayTweetedThat
The second highest rated GUARD in football ? Kevin Dotson

Blaine Grisak@bgrisakTST
Rams GM Les Snead deserves so much credit for the Kevin Dotson trade. An underrated move like the Austin Corbett trade, but has been extremely impactful.

Over the past three weeks, Dotson has been the 5th-highest graded OL in the NFL.

The Dotson trade has made the right side of the Rams offensive line one of the best in the NFL.

Over the past three weeks…

Dotson: 5th-highest graded OL via PFF
Havenstein: 7th-highest graded OL via PFF

Brandon Thorn@BrandonThornNFL
Best rookie OL so far this season: Rams LG Steve Avila

The highest-graded edge defenders in Week 6 pic.twitter.com/C8FczJA93u

— PFF (@PFF) October 17, 2023

D'Marco and I both got a kick out of seeing RT Rob Havenstein give the @AndrewWhitworth hand signal to "run it again" in Sunday's second half.

Apparently, the @RamsNFL head coach enjoyed it, too. Enough to call Big Whit after the game. 😂 pic.twitter.com/3ZwsLo17CD

— J.B. Long (@JB_Long) October 17, 2023