O Line

[BEASToftheEAST4]

With the much improved play of the offense as a whole—and more specifically the offensive line over the span of the last four weeks (minus the disaster against Baltimore), I think it brings up some real questions about the O line. 

-are they actually just playing that much better or has McVay made some adjustments to mask the lesser talent of the backups?

-who remains the weak link on the line?

-who, if anyone, has earned keeping the starting spot once the original starters return healthy?

-does their recent play remove the potential offseason need for OL help?

-does the current roster have our LT of the future for life after Whitworth? 

-would you consider dealing away a guy like Havenstein and sticking with Evans?

-is Blythe a better center than guard? Is he a better center than Allen?

 

Curious to hear everyone’s thoughts 

[JonStark]

9 minutes ago, BEASToftheEAST4 said:

With the much improved play of the offense as a whole—and more specifically the offensive line over the span of the last four weeks (minus the disaster against Baltimore), I think it brings up some real questions about the O line. 

-are they actually just playing that much better or has McVay made some adjustments to mask the lesser talent of the backups?

-who remains the weak link on the line?

-who, if anyone, has earned keeping the starting spot once the original starters return healthy?

-does their recent play remove the potential offseason need for OL help?

-does the current roster have our LT of the future for life after Whitworth? 

-would you consider dealing away a guy like Havenstein and sticking with Evans?

-is Blythe a better center than guard? Is he a better center than Allen?

 

Curious to hear everyone’s thoughts 

Not sure about all of those, but Bobby Evans better remain the starter for the rest of the season. 

And anyone is better than Brian Allen. 

[ChicagoRaider14]

34 minutes ago, BEASToftheEAST4 said:

With the much improved play of the offense as a whole—and more specifically the offensive line over the span of the last four weeks (minus the disaster against Baltimore), I think it brings up some real questions about the O line. 

-are they actually just playing that much better or has McVay made some adjustments to mask the lesser talent of the backups?

-who remains the weak link on the line?

-who, if anyone, has earned keeping the starting spot once the original starters return healthy?

-does their recent play remove the potential offseason need for OL help?

-does the current roster have our LT of the future for life after Whitworth? 

-would you consider dealing away a guy like Havenstein and sticking with Evans?

-is Blythe a better center than guard? Is he a better center than Allen?

 

Curious to hear everyone’s thoughts 

A lot of the patching on the offensive line has been due to a change in blocking schemes and passing concepts.

The WRs are running shorter routes, which allows for Goff to get the ball off to his WRs.

If anything, Goff has made the Offensive Line look better by getting rid of the ball quickly to his playmakers.

If you look at season stats, the line has been charged with 14/19 sacks this year. The 14 sacks is the 3rd most surrendered by an offensive line this year.

Goff has been pressured over 230+ times only getting sacked 19 times (8% sack rate). Further, the pressure rate is around 47% of his dropbacks.

Considering that information, Jared Goff has elevated the offensive line with his superior pocket presence and mental processing ability.

A top 15 QB with a bottom 5 line.

[BEASToftheEAST4]

19 minutes ago, ChicagoRaider14 said:

A lot of the patching on the offensive line has been due to a change in blocking schemes and passing concepts.

The WRs are running shorter routes, which allows for Goff to get the ball off to his WRs.

If anything, Goff has made the Offensive Line look better by getting rid of the ball quickly to his playmakers.

If you look at season stats, the line has been charged with 14/19 sacks this year. The 14 sacks is the 3rd most surrendered by an offensive line this year.

Goff has been pressured over 230+ times only getting sacked 19 times (8% sack rate). Further, the pressure rate is around 47% of his dropbacks.

Considering that information, Jared Goff has elevated the offensive line with his superior pocket presence and mental processing ability.

A top 15 QB with a bottom 5 line.

Yes that all holds true for the year, but this is more in reference to the guys who have been starting the last few games. So while yes, the line has surrendered that many sacks, the line has improved play in the last 4 games 

[ChicagoRaider14]

1 minute ago, BEASToftheEAST4 said:

Yes that all holds true for the year, but this is more in reference to the guys who have been starting the last few games. So while yes, the line has surrendered that many sacks, the line has improved play in the last 4 games 

Bobby Evans has given up 3 sacks on the season. He's been starting at RT over the past 4 games.

He's a good run blocker though.

[rocky_rams]

32 minutes ago, ChicagoRaider14 said:

A lot of the patching on the offensive line has been due to a change in blocking schemes and passing concepts.

The WRs are running shorter routes, which allows for Goff to get the ball off to his WRs.

If anything, Goff has made the Offensive Line look better by getting rid of the ball quickly to his playmakers.

If you look at season stats, the line has been charged with 14/19 sacks this year. The 14 sacks is the 3rd most surrendered by an offensive line this year.

Goff has been pressured over 230+ times only getting sacked 19 times (8% sack rate). Further, the pressure rate is around 47% of his dropbacks.

Considering that information, Jared Goff has elevated the offensive line with his superior pocket presence and mental processing ability.

A top 15 QB with a bottom 5 line.

Just become a Rams fan bro

[NVRamsFan]

1 hour ago, BEASToftheEAST4 said:

With the much improved play of the offense as a whole—and more specifically the offensive line over the span of the last four weeks (minus the disaster against Baltimore), I think it brings up some real questions about the O line. 

-are they actually just playing that much better or has McVay made some adjustments to mask the lesser talent of the backups? A bit of both IMO. 

-who remains the weak link on the line? Consistency might be the biggest weakness. They need to maintain this aside from that the young guys need to keep form up and Blythe as well. 

-who, if anyone, has earned keeping the starting spot once the original starters return healthy? This year? I don't think they make any changes. Hav will become the swing tackle when healthy. Next year Blythe and Whit are free agents. Do they bring both or one of them back? LT is a huge question this off season. I know most will but I'm not giving up yet on Allen though I will draft a guy mid rounds who can play C/G and let them compete. You might even bring back Blythe in addition to that. 

-does their recent play remove the potential offseason need for OL help? No you always draft for depth and contract attrition will take a starter away every few years anyways. Plus LT still is a need largely because we don't know when Noteboom comes back. Even if he does a 3rd round pick is good to use for a swing tackle IMO.

-does the current roster have our LT of the future for life after Whitworth? Noteboom is likely the best candidate if/when he gets healthy. Not sure about Edwards and I like Evans myself at RT. 

-would you consider dealing away a guy like Havenstein and sticking with Evans? Absolutely it frees up a little cap space and he's only signed thru 2022 but those base pays double for the last 2 years. 

-is Blythe a better center than guard? Is he a better center than Allen? He's played better this year at Center than Guard but last year it was the opposite. I think his experience has helped him be better this year than Allen but not sure that is true moving forward. We'll see what happens but depth and competition along the OLine is rarely a bad thing. 

 

Curious to hear everyone’s thoughts 

 

[StLunatic88]

I think youre getting too deep on the questions. No one on this team has earned to be guaranteed a starting spot for 2020

But on the other hand, its not like were going to be able to revamp the entire Line next offseason, we just dont have the resources to do that

[BEASToftheEAST4]

5 minutes ago, StLunatic88 said:

I think youre getting too deep on the questions. No one on this team has earned to be guaranteed a starting spot for 2020

But on the other hand, its not like were going to be able to revamp the entire Line next offseason, we just dont have the resources to do that

Likely so, and I understand that not each question is necessarily going to have an answer—especially considering how small of a sample size we’ve got with most of these guys. But I was just curious to see what everyone thought. I hadn’t seen too many mentions of people’s thoughts on the future of the o line

[Dr LBC]

7 hours ago, NVRamsFan said:

  9 hours ago, BEASToftheEAST4 said:

With the much improved play of the offense as a whole—and more specifically the offensive line over the span of the last four weeks (minus the disaster against Baltimore), I think it brings up some real questions about the O line. 

-are they actually just playing that much better or has McVay made some adjustments to mask the lesser talent of the backups? A bit of both IMO. 

-who remains the weak link on the line? Consistency might be the biggest weakness. They need to maintain this aside from that the young guys need to keep form up and Blythe as well. 

-who, if anyone, has earned keeping the starting spot once the original starters return healthy? This year? I don't think they make any changes. Hav will become the swing tackle when healthy. Next year Blythe and Whit are free agents. Do they bring both or one of them back? LT is a huge question this off season. I know most will but I'm not giving up yet on Allen though I will draft a guy mid rounds who can play C/G and let them compete. You might even bring back Blythe in addition to that. 

-does their recent play remove the potential offseason need for OL help? No you always draft for depth and contract attrition will take a starter away every few years anyways. Plus LT still is a need largely because we don't know when Noteboom comes back. Even if he does a 3rd round pick is good to use for a swing tackle IMO.

-does the current roster have our LT of the future for life after Whitworth? Noteboom is likely the best candidate if/when he gets healthy. Not sure about Edwards and I like Evans myself at RT. 

-would you consider dealing away a guy like Havenstein and sticking with Evans? Absolutely it frees up a little cap space and he's only signed thru 2022 but those base pays double for the last 2 years. 

-is Blythe a better center than guard? Is he a better center than Allen? He's played better this year at Center than Guard but last year it was the opposite. I think his experience has helped him be better this year than Allen but not sure that is true moving forward. We'll see what happens but depth and competition along the OLine is rarely a bad thing. 

 

Curious to hear everyone’s thoughts 

I mentioned this about Blythe in a different thread a couple months ago, he's someone who can be very dependable when he can just focus on his assignment and doesn't have to carry extra water for one of his other linemates.  With that in mind, I think it helps explain why he's shown out better as a C versus as a G; twofold: He's not having to carry extra water on Allen's account and as center, he's more often tasked with a "disrupt/jolt then assist" role.  Obviously we've seen an importance of continuity across the line this season, but whether he's brought back may well come down to opportunity cost (i.e. how reasonable is he going to be at the negotiating table?).  I view him similar to a player who mired in a second-team/utility IOL role, largely because the players ahead of him were regular Pro Bowlers or just-about-thereabouts (Dielman, Hardwick, Mike Goff), on the Chargers during the years they actually had a good OL, Scott Mruczkowski.  It's the sort of player you don't mind paying low-to-mid starter's money to as long as the guarantees don't tie you to the contract past 2 years - i.e. a bridge deal.

From what we saw before he went down injured, I feel fairly confident in saying Noteboom is a tackle, not a guard.  The aspects of guard play that he did well at are the ones that translate best to tackle (he was good pulling and getting dirty work done at the second level), but he lacks the sand in his shorts to play in a phonebooth.  Whether he's a long-term solution at LOT versus ROT or swing tackle, is still up in the air.  I'd expect him to get the first opportunity to replace Whitworth at LOT, barring us bringing in someone from the outside (akin to us going out and signing Clay and Weddle to replace departing FA's this past year).

Extreme fortune says both Evans and Edwards both become entrenched starters; reality likely leans more towards 1 of the 2 with the other being a dependable utility guy.  If I'm making an early bet on which is which, I'd favor Evans to be the one who entrenches himself, which isn't an awful thing because it does give us flexibility to either move Havenstein around (it's possible Edwards gets a crack at LG when Noteboom moves to LT and Havenstein is kicked to RG; which, yes, he's overpaid for a guard, but with Evans on a rookie deal, it's not the end of the world for at least a season if the continuity gives Goff piece of mind).

[rocky_rams]

I’d like for us to trade Havenstein 

[bertuzzi]

Just dont touch it, its fine right now lol.

[Dr LBC]

1 hour ago, rocky_rams said:

I’d like for us to trade Havenstein 

With his salary, it's unlikely... or at least, the return wouldn't be worth it.  Like I said, opportunity-cost.  I wouldn't be looking to trade him until either someone outright beat him out in camp for the starting positions and given his cap-hit, he's not returning but maybe an early Day 3 pick.  Unless there's a plan in place to actually do something specific with that cap-space, I wouldn't be cutting him or trading him just to do it.

[NVRamsFan]

2 hours ago, The LBC said:

With his salary, it's unlikely... or at least, the return wouldn't be worth it.  Like I said, opportunity-cost.  I wouldn't be looking to trade him until either someone outright beat him out in camp for the starting positions and given his cap-hit, he's not returning but maybe an early Day 3 pick.  Unless there's a plan in place to actually do something specific with that cap-space, I wouldn't be cutting him or trading him just to do it.

I'm with you and while I doubt we trade him for much value lets not forget our GM does pretty good with 5th and 6th round picks. Last years 5th round pick Edwards is our current RG. 2018 we took Obo and Kiser with Kiser slated to be our ILB to start the season next to Littleton and Obo has become a good rotational Edge. 2017 we had no 5th but the 4th was Reynolds and Ebukam while the 6th was Tanzel Smart another rotational guy (lets just forget for the sake of my argument the FB that never made the team :P). But yeah 3rd day picks are a crap shoot but Les has a pretty good recent track record with them so anything is possible. Dump a little bit of salary while going with a youth movement and adding a day 3 pick sounds just like a Les Snead special. 

[BEASToftheEAST4]

10 hours ago, The LBC said:

I mentioned this about Blythe in a different thread a couple months ago, he's someone who can be very dependable when he can just focus on his assignment and doesn't have to carry extra water for one of his other linemates.  With that in mind, I think it helps explain why he's shown out better as a C versus as a G; twofold: He's not having to carry extra water on Allen's account and as center, he's more often tasked with a "disrupt/jolt then assist" role.  Obviously we've seen an importance of continuity across the line this season, but whether he's brought back may well come down to opportunity cost (i.e. how reasonable is he going to be at the negotiating table?).  I view him similar to a player who mired in a second-team/utility IOL role, largely because the players ahead of him were regular Pro Bowlers or just-about-thereabouts (Dielman, Hardwick, Mike Goff), on the Chargers during the years they actually had a good OL, Scott Mruczkowski.  It's the sort of player you don't mind paying low-to-mid starter's money to as long as the guarantees don't tie you to the contract past 2 years - i.e. a bridge deal.

From what we saw before he went down injured, I feel fairly confident in saying Noteboom is a tackle, not a guard.  The aspects of guard play that he did well at are the ones that translate best to tackle (he was good pulling and getting dirty work done at the second level), but he lacks the sand in his shorts to play in a phonebooth.  Whether he's a long-term solution at LOT versus ROT or swing tackle, is still up in the air.  I'd expect him to get the first opportunity to replace Whitworth at LOT, barring us bringing in someone from the outside (akin to us going out and signing Clay and Weddle to replace departing FA's this past year).

Extreme fortune says both Evans and Edwards both become entrenched starters; reality likely leans more towards 1 of the 2 with the other being a dependable utility guy.  If I'm making an early bet on which is which, I'd favor Evans to be the one who entrenches himself, which isn't an awful thing because it does give us flexibility to either move Havenstein around (it's possible Edwards gets a crack at LG when Noteboom moves to LT and Havenstein is kicked to RG; which, yes, he's overpaid for a guard, but with Evans on a rookie deal, it's not the end of the world for at least a season if the continuity gives Goff piece of mind).

I agree with the notion that Noteboom is better suited at tackle than guard. But is that hunch enough to go into next season with him entrenched as the starter? I think we’d all be happy to see him turn out to be a viable starting LT but it’s a big gamble to assume he’ll be that guy. In the other hand, you’d hate to use a high draft pick on another LT for competition and then see Noteboom turn out good. With us likely having a bunch of needs in the off-season with so many expected departures/cap-casualties, this high picks needs to be properly utilized. Idk I think the coaching staff is really going to need to decide what they think of him and make some big decisions based off of that. 

 

Different topic, but what’s everyone’s thoughts on Austin Corbett? There hasn’t been much talk about him, though that’s usually a good sign for OL. He’s obviously a talented player with him being an early second round pick. It would be huge if he turns out to be at least a solid starter.