Vincent Bonsignore@VinnyBonsignore
Is it hard to build a Super Bowl contending team while paying a quarterback big money? The Rams salary cap guru doesn’t think so. He cited example after example of championship teams built around highly paid QB’s.

me: that’s here –> http://theramshuddle.com/topic/vb-interviews-pastoors-long-pretty-must-read-ish/

==

Myles Simmons@MylesASimmons
#LARams K Greg Zuerlein today: “We’re good. Got the kicks in, feel good, feel confident, so now I just have to go execute on Sunday.”

Los Angeles Rams@RamsNFL
McVay: Kupp is out for #LAvsSF, everyone else is good to go

Todd Gurley’s last 9 games:

• 1,461 scrimmage yds
• 19 scrimmage TD

Projected over 16 games:

• 2,597 scrimmage yds
• 34 scrimmage TD

NFL single-season records:

• 2,509 scrimmage yds
(Chris Johnson, 2009)

• 31 scrimmage TD
(LaDainian Tomlinson, 2006)#Rams @TG3II #MVP

— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) October 19, 2018

Max

I listened to Dan Orlovsky talk about Goff yesterday. He said media gets all caught up in the combine measurements, size, strength, speed, athleticism, and all those funky tests. Then he said a lot of these QBs look great in the drills, they can throw the ball a mile, but they can’t play QB in the NFL. He said Goff is the opposite. You look at him, and physically there’s not much to look at, but he can make amazingly accurate throws from crazy positions. He talked about that TD to Kupp where Goff’s body was set to throw the ball left and he threads the needle to the right side of the end zone. Maybe 5 guys in the world can make that throw.

CraigMatson

Reynolds is more of a big play type receiver and might not have the choppy feet to run the slot too well. Really soft in his routes .

He’s got a lot of work to do before he becomes a competitive receiver at this level.

It’s unfortunate we lost Mike Thomas And Pharoah.

It would have been interesting to see how they would play if given a start.

All Rams offensive linemen benefit from practice rest policy, not just the ‘old’ guys

Rich Hammond

link: https://www.sgvtribune.com/2018/10/17/all-rams-offensive-linemen-benefit-from-practice-rest-policy-not-just-the-old-guys/

THOUSAND OAKS – Anyone over 30 can relate. Sometimes the back gets a bit stiff, the knees a little creaky, and that midweek workout doesn’t seem prudent. The Rams’ offensive linemen can relate.

It’s a rarity when all five starters practice on the same day. At most, it happens once per week. On surface level, it’s preventative, so that minor, nagging injuries don’t turn into long-term problems, but in last Sunday’s victory at Denver, the Rams displayed another benefit: increased experience and versatility for backups.

“There’s a rhyme and reason to that,” center John Sullivan said. “Part of it is, inevitably, people are going to come out. Injuries are a part of the game, and you want everybody who potentially has to play to get reps. The expectation is that no matter who goes out, who comes in, who is playing what spot, there is going to be no fall-off whatsoever and we’re going to execute like the Rams offense.”

That mindset continued this week. Coach Sean McVay audibled Wednesday and changed his usual 70-minute full practice to a shorter walk-through session, in a nod to the tough game against the Broncos and the fact that the Rams will play a third consecutive road game Sunday afternoon at San Francisco.

The Rams likely will be extra-careful with Rodger Saffold, their highly effective left guard, who left the Denver game in the fourth quarter with a knee injury. It’s not yet known in Saffold will practice this week, but McVay said Saffold remains on track to play against the 49ers.
“He’s making good progress,” McVay said, “and we anticipate him being able to go, but you always want to be smart with guys like that. The priority is making sure that he’s as healthy as possible.”

That’s the mindset the Rams take every week, when it comes to their linemen and practice. It’s a strategy that can raise eyebrows at times, when players aren’t on the field, but it often pays dividends during games.

When Saffold left the game at Denver, right guard Austin Blythe moved to left guard, and Jamon Brown, a full-time starter at right guard last season, came off the bench to reclaim that spot. The Rams rushed for 79 yards after the reorganization.

The Rams even ran a handful of plays without All-Pro left tackle Andrew Whitworth. For a small stretch of a tight game, rookie Joe Noteboom took that spot and played next to the recently moved Blythe.

Why didn’t the Rams flinch? Because this is nothing new. Saffold (age 30), Sullivan (33) and Whitworth (36) each regularly sit out at least one of the Rams’ three full practices each week. Line coach Aaron Kromer believes in cross-training, in all scenarios, but the Rams’ rest schedule allows more players to practice in bigger roles.

Noteboom often is the first-team left tackle. Brown gets significant work, even though he lost his starting job to Blythe after an early-season NFL suspension Blythe gets work at both guard spots and at center.

That’s why, when Saffold went down, the transition was barely noticeable. It seemed obvious that Blythe would slide over to the left side, and Brown would play next to right tackle Rob Havenstein, as they did for all of the 2018 season.

“I don’t know if it was communicated so much as unspoken,” Blythe said, “that you’re expected to be versatile and if things happen, you’ve got to be ready to switch. For the most part, I think guard is guard.”

The Rams had pass-protection issues at times against a strong Denver defensive front, but they were stellar in run blocking, as Todd Gurley rushed for a career-high 208 yards. That was just fine with the Rams’ line, which seemed to enjoy the grunt work on a frigid afternoon.

“You ride the hot hand, right?” Sullivan said. “No matter what, we’re going to execute the plays that are called. We trust Sean and that’s never going to change. I’m not going to say that, at times, we weren’t lobbying to keep running that thing, because that’s an offensive lineman’s game.”

From off der net: a negative take on Ogbonnia Okoronkwo

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ramsman34

OKORONKWO

I have watched his college film as best I can. His “moves” – especially the outside spin -will not work in the NFL. They take too long to develop. He lacks strength and power at the point of attack. Is he quick enough to win with speed? Not at this level. He is developmental at best. I doubt he makes the roster unless it is injury driven. He is at least a year away from being an effective to dominant pass rusher. Decent OTs will negate him fairly easily.

That said, there is a way to use his initial quicks and instincts to get him unblocked and open up clean shots at the QB. If he out grades Longacre or Ebukam in that regard, there is potential for situational use for him. But, it will cost a spot on the 46. And, he will be a liability in the run defense.

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chunkmeister

Coach Wade (at press conference) says he has barely even seen Obo. He acknowledged he has been at practice…..but he hasn’t really seen him. So he really must just be working with the position coaches on his technique….and isn’t getting any snaps in practice. That being the case…..no way he plays this week, unless he gets time with special teams.

They will probably take at least 15 days to get him up to speed….then another 5 days to see if they want to activate him for games.

Vincent Bonsignore@VinnyBonsignore
I asked Ogbonnia Okoronkwo what he feels he can add: “Given the opportunity I’m bringing speed off the edge. I’m going to bring explosiveness and juice off the edge. I bring big-play ability, that’s what I do. I live for those 3rd down moments when you’ve got to make a play.”

Gary Klein@LATimesklein
LA scoring: Rams RB Todd Gurley leads NFL with 70 points, Chargers RB Melvin Gordon is fourth with 58. Only two non-kickers in top 13.

Todd Gurley was “thinking more of the party life” when it was announced Rams were moving to LA, but now he is happy to be part of a sports landscape with the Dodgers and LeBron and the Lakers.

Gurley: No other city I would want to be in….The Dodgers are doing good, 1 game away from going to the World Series back to back. When you see stuff like that it’s just more like inspiration. You want that feeling… It’s exciting to be able to play in the same city as LeBron.

J.B. Long@JB_Long
“There’s a lot of (holding penalties) that aren’t getting called that should be. But if they flagged (opponents for holding Aaron Donald) every single play, the pace of play would be *a little slow*.” -Sean McVay #LARams

Most TDs in First 50 #NFL Games
(Last 30 Years) @ESPNStatsInfo

Larry Johnson – 52
Arian Foster – 49
Barry Sanders – 48
@TG3II – 46
Terrell Davis – 46

Lindsey Thiry@LindseyThiry
Talking to Todd Gurley every week, it always stands out how much he deflects from his own personal accomplishments and gives credit to the offensive line and the entire team. It’s actually difficult to get him to talk about himself.

Rookie OLB Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, selected in the 5th round from Oklahoma, has begun practicing with the team after spending the first 6 weeks on the PUP list because of a broken foot suffered during the offseason program. The Rams have 3 weeks to decide to activate Okoronkwo or place him on IR. Sean McVay said that Okoronkwo would have to earn a spot. “We have a lot of confidence in what he put on tape,” McVay said. “It’s a reason why we wanted to be able to get him here, but haven’t seen him play a lot of football – really, any football for that matter. Looking forward to just seeing him compete. See how he fits in and if it’s something that we feel like helps our team.”

According to the numbers from the pure stats post above, Gurley has run 129 times and 123 are with Goff under center.

Turn that around and there’s also this:

Over the last three weeks, the Los Angeles Rams have thrown 39 passes from under center, all of which came off play action. In six games this year, they have only thrown seven straight dropback passes from under center, with six of them coming in Week 3 against the Los Angeles Chargers

That’s from the October 17 article posted here: http://theramshuddle.com/topic/benoit-rams-new-wrinkle-and-why-the-nfc-west-might-already-be-won/#post-92487

They run Gurley with Goff under center a huge majority of the time, then most of the passes with Goff under center are play action.

Yep the 2 things reinforce each other.

Part of Denver’s defensive strategy in fact was not only to load up for the pass not the run, but also to just ignore play action—they looked for the pass first.

Meanwhile everyone knows Gurley will run most of the time with Goff under center and his YPC (4.8) is still 6th among backs with 70 or more carries for the season.

They got to cut TG back though. He has more carries than any NFL back, and that has to be cut down some.

from The Eight Best Players of the 2018 NFL Season So Far
At this point in the schedule, the MVP race is far too close to call. So instead of trying to predict who’ll wind up taking home the hardware, we’re celebrating the players who have defined the first six weeks of the season.

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2018/10/18/17994272/best-nfl-players-2018-todd-gurley-drew-brees-adam-thielen-philip-rivers

Todd Gurley, RB, Rams

The Case: As I mentioned in Monday’s Starting 11, Gurley is on pace for 2,320 yards from scrimmage and 29 touchdowns. If he pulls that off, he’d be just the second player to do it since the merger (the other being LaDainian Tomlinson in 2006, the year he won the MVP award). For the second straight season, Gurley has been the most dangerous player on arguably the league’s best offense.

Sean McVay has crafted an offensive identity centered around Gurley—he masks certain play designs, making them look identical to others. The play-action passes look like runs. The runs look like play-action passes.

McVay’s scheme is completely unpredictable, and it only functions that way because Gurley can do everything you could ask of a running back. His skills as a receiver and dominance on screen passes ensure that when he’s in the game, any play on McVay’s call sheet is on the table.

And the Rams have taken full advantage. Gurley faces eight or more rushers in the box on 10.08 percent of his carries, the seventh-lowest rate in the league. On the surface, that doesn’t make any sense. Why the hell would the league’s best running back face light boxes on nine out of every 10 runs?

The answer is that the Rams use 11 personnel on nearly 93 percent of their running plays, and opponents are forced to respond with sub-package defenses. Then Gurley responds in kind by gashing them all game.

Saying that McVay does all he can to accentuate Gurley’s talent isn’t meant to take anything away from what Gurley’s been doing this season. The only time a player should be dinged for the damage he does in a great system is when another player could come in and produce at the same level—which is certainly not the case with Gurley.

There might be one other back in the league who could destroy defenses under McVay the way that Gurley has, but that’s it. We’ve all seen the wrong coaching staff steal the joy of peak Todd Gurley by slamming him into the line on every play. Let’s all just be thankful McVay got to him when he did, because he’s turned Gurley into the MVP frontrunner.

The Clip:

Former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz did a great job of breaking down this concept on Twitter earlier this week(see below). When the Rams use jet motion, it holds the opposing linebackers just long enough for L.A.’s linemen to execute blocks that wouldn’t be possible with a normal inside zone run. With Gurley carrying the ball and the big boys picking off players at the second level, just say goodnight.

The @RamsNFL have 170 rushing attempts (out of 183 total) from 11 personnel (3WR,TE,RB). They avg 153 y/g and 5.4 per attempt. That’s ridiculous… here’s an example of why it’s so successful. You have the C blocking the nickel. I love watching this run game. pic.twitter.com/11fsSFUDnM

— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) October 16, 2018

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fancy-stats/wp/2018/10/18/nfl-week-7-ats-picks-the-rams-play-action-will-be-too-much-for-the-49ers-defense-to-stop/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e49bf182f957

Los Angeles Rams (-9.5) at San Francisco 49ers
Pick: Los Angeles Rams -9.5

Last Sunday, the Green Bay Packers utilized play-action passes to the left side of the field with great success. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers used it to connect with Marquez Valdes-Scantling on the team’s opening play, a 60-yard catch, and again later in the first quarter, a 54-yard gain to tight end Jimmy Graham.

No passer is using play-action more often than Rams quarterback Jared Goff in 2018 (39 percent of plays) and his passer rating on these snaps is 124.4, which includes a 4-to-0 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

5 things to know about Rams-49ers in Week 7 https://t.co/l4qf5XzBzJ via @theramswire

— RamsNewsNow (@RamsNewsNow) October 18, 2018

phoenixrising

I heard that many college coaches are closely watching McVay’s game plans. That’s a bit of a role reversal.

Matt Waldman’s RSP NFL Lens RB Todd Gurley (Rams): Footwork and Movement https://t.co/bldfZxg4Di pic.twitter.com/IhspedGnv9

— Matt Waldman (@MattWaldman) October 18, 2018