A few things I’m now pretty sure of…

[majrleaged]

Start Alaric Jackson at LT from the get-go. It will give the line some consistency. Let Noteboom heal while giving AJ a chance to prove himself. They can always go back to Boom. No reason to rush him in there. JMO

Didn't Jackson get injured. Nothing says he can stay healthy. For me, I don't care who starts as long as he is the best at that position. No bullshit about contract and such. Then when whoever it is gets injured we have more quality behind him.

 

[nighttrain]

Didn't Jackson get injured. Nothing says he can stay healthy. For me, I don't care who starts as long as he is the best at that position. No bullshit about contract and such. Then when whoever it is gets injured we have more quality behind him.

Jackson had blood clotting problems, now on meds he's fine.
train

 

[Loyal]

If there is one thing that we can rely on along the offensive line is the unreliability of Boom & Allen. I would love to see them play most of the year and hope they do, but I have a feeling that Jackson & Shelton will be the men in blue, when the dust settles.

Me too. I don't hate Boom, but he's an often injured. one-trick pony. IF Boom makes it through training camp and preseason without being injured and is named the starter, Jackson better train like he expects to start every week.

They seem to love Allen but the dude is, like you said, unreliable. Maybe one day we could have a solid, fairly young Oline, like the Rams Oline in the 80's.

 

[Memento]

Noteboom is projected to be able to practice in TC. Apparently, he's been on the field just not an active participant in the practices. The Rams extended him for a reason, i.e. he's much better than the fans on this board think. The problem last year was his health like everyone else on the OL. But in reality the question is moot because if Joe isn't healthy than Jackson will simply step in and he has shown he's very good as well.

This team will win at least 10 games this season. I think 11 wins is entirely possible if they stay healthy. The offense is going to be very good simply because the OL will give Stafford time and allow the RBs to balance the attack. The defense will be better because they will have a better front with good play on the edges. The starting CBs look like Durant and Hodges-Tomlinson on the boundaries and they look to play 3 safeties in their base zone on passing downs. I could see them on early downs aligning:

DE Hoecht
NT Brown
DT Donald
JACK Young

WIL Mathis
MIKE Jones
SAM Hampton

CB Durant, Hodges-Tomlinson
Safety Lake, Yeast

On passing downs sub Murchison or Turner for Brown, sub Fuller for Mathis or Jones.

I disagree with your starters because Hoecht will be an edge rusher, not a 5-tech. And I wouldn’t pencil in Byron Young just yet: one of Daniel Hardy or Kier Thomas will get the first crack at the job (and if I’m positive, I think Hardy wins it; he has the athleticism.) 5-tech will likely go to Jonah Williams or Earnest Brown IV.

I can’t see Jones ceding a spot on third downs; he’s our best coverage linebacker. Hampton seems like a solid option as an edge, but Mathis will need to do a hell of a lot to impress me; he faltered badly at Nebraska. More like Hoecht, Hardy, Thomas, Young and Hampton take those edge spots.

Fuller will earn a starting safety spot and the coveted green dot; he’s a huge leader on this team. Yeast, Lake, Taylor, and one of Quindell Johnson or Rashad Torrence will compete for the remaining safety spots.

Cornerback will be intereting. I don’t know if I’d put Durant and THT on the outside; that’s too small for my liking - although I admit that they’re probably our most talented corners. I’d probably put Rochell on the boundary and THT in the slot/STAR, but I could see it going the other way.

Agreed with subbing in Murchison, and honestly, I think I’d keep him if AD retires early; he really impressed me in his brief appearance.

 

[den-the-coach]

Maybe one day we could have a solid, fairly young Oline, like the Rams Oline in the 80's.

The Rams had great offensive lines in the 70's & 80's and I thought it was just the way things were supposed to be that the Rams just always had an outstanding OL. Then along came a man named Steve Loney.

 

[RamFanWA]

In no particular order…

Boom, if healthy, will be starting LOT come September. They’re committed to him contractually and he’s among ‘best 5’ of Boom, Jackson, Avila, Bruss or Anchrum or McClendon at RG, and Hav.

Allen, despite his knee will not only be kept but probably start until his inevitable injury.

This will be Higbee’s last year as a Ram. I think McVay has finally decided to develop TE prominently into his O. Probably will draft a pass catching TE next year, too.

The battle for WR’s 3 through 6 will be fierce. Impossible to handicap at this point.

Rams overall Edge play will be superior to the ‘22 version, even though Floyd is now gone. This will make Morris’ job a lot easier.

Wagner will be missed but not by all that much. Jones will fill in nicely.

Both Durant and Tomlinson will start at CB. Not sure exactly where Morris will deploy them, but they will be on the field and be ballhawks.

Kendrick will be a reserve despite Morris’ happy coachspeak. Rams can do better. They MUST do better.

I think our ST are gonna shine. The Blackburn hire is looking like a HR.

This assistant coach corps will prove to be one of McVay’s best, maybe even best ever overall.

I’m so optimistic about this revived OL that I think both Stafford and Akers could have career years. I think McVay has learned his lesson about importance of strong OL and will never again allow it to slip behind.

If McVay can pull all this together and somehow win 9 games I think he might be in the conversation for COTY.

Thoughts?

I am a sucker for optimism...
I'll let ya know how I feel in mid-October....

 

[dang]

Good stuff! Though I'd say it's 50/50 Allen is on the roster week 1 of NFL season. Allen and Shelton will be kept through training camp to onboard the 2nd and 3rd team olines but Shelton has a good shot of beating him out and Avila can backup center in a pinch so Allen may very well get the cut over another olineman who can offer more position flexibility and has a more developmental runway.

What is the net cap savings if Allen is cut? Traded?

 

[WestCoastRam]

What is the net cap savings if Allen is cut? Traded?

No clue, but I don't think it's prohibitive to cut him and I think cutting him will have more to do with having position flexibility elsewhere on the line and keeping young talent. Allen only plays center and if Shelton beats him out and Avila can backup in a pinch, Allen's usefulness drops to almost zero.

There's a chance that Allen could run with the starting center job but in a perfect world, Shelton takes it as he's the more physically talented player.

 

[Allen2McVay]

What is the net cap savings if Allen is cut? Traded?

According to OTC, Zero Savings if cut.

 

[Tano]

That's the way they want it. The youth this year is next years veterans.

Oh I am okay with the route they are going now but this year is going to be really iffy with the youth on the defensive side.

 

[den-the-coach]

Oh I am okay with the route they are going now but this year is going to be really iffy with the youth on the defensive side.

Yeah, I could see a slow start because of schedule, but I also believe the young Offensive Line could improve week over week including the run game propelling the Rams to close strong with an assist from the young defense.

This year I am actually going to watch each game take some notes as I expect certain players to continue to grow each week like TE Hunter Long, CB Shaun Jolly, WR Tutu Atwell & OLB Bryan Young. My hope when the dust settles our Los Angeles stand at 9-8 with many things to build on and throw in a talented coaching staff assembled by Sean McVay, who also proves he is committed to chase perfection with the hope of capturing excellence.

 

[Tano]

Yeah, I could see a slow start because of schedule, but I also believe the young Offensive Line could improve week over week including the run game propelling the Rams to close strong with an assist from the young defense.

This year I am actually going to watch each game take some notes as I expect certain players to continue to grow each week like TE Hunter Long, CB Shaun Jolly, WR Tutu Atwell & OLB Bryan Young. My hope when the dust settles our Los Angeles stand at 9-8 with many things to build on and throw in a talented coaching staff assembled by Sean McVay, who also proves he is committed to chase perfection with the hope of capturing excellence.

I can see that if we have a reasonable number of injuries on our defensive side.

The two key players that can't be injured on the defensive side are Aaron and Ernest. If either one goes down for a long period of time, we are in deep trouble.