Coleman Shelton

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snackdaddy

snackdaddy

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I notice quite a few fans don't seem to like Shelton as our center. Not sure why. Now I'm certainly not any kind of lineman evaluator. I look at the line as a whole. Over the course of a game. Over the course of a season. What I saw was a very good offensive line. 5 guys in sync with each other. And Coleman was one fifth of that equation.

If Coleman is the weak link as some would say, why did McVay want him? My guess is stability. Coleman may not be a road grader. Might get pushed back in the pocket by bigger lineman. But whatever he's doing he's getting the job done over 17 games. He's another quarterback who sees things the other guys may not see. Don't be surprised if they bring him back next year. He won't cost much.
 
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He’s not a dominant center, however, getting him back in the lineup made an immediate improvement and he’s probably a huge reason Stafford was able to stay clean. There will always be a player that’s under appreciated for no reason: it’s just Sheltons turn right now.
 
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snackdaddy said:
I notice quite a few fans don't seem to like Shelton as our center. Not sure why. Now I'm certainly not any kind of lineman evaluator. I look at the line as a whole. Over the course of a game. Over the course of a season. What I saw was a very good offensive line. 5 guys in sync with each other. And Coleman was one fifth of that equation.

If Coleman is the weak link as some would say, why did McVay want him? My guess is stability. Coleman may not be a road grader. Might get pushed back in the pocket by bigger lineman. But whatever he's doing he's getting the job done over 17 games. He's another quarterback who sees things the other guys may not see. Don't be surprised if they bring him back next year. He won't cost much.
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If interested, there is a thread on page 39 of the Rams / NFL Talk ROD forum.

It's from March 10, 2025, and it's titled "Coleman Shelton Signs with Rams". It's 17 pages, with 322 replies.

Lets you know how many posters felt at the time the Rams brought Shelton back.
 
His calls made the line better. No doubt about it. He's good enough in the eyes of McVay and his staff, which is what matters here as well.

But I'm among those who would like a better Center.
 
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I think it's consensus that he is not the most physical center - certainly not as strong as his young back-up that he replaced. But he is smart and I'm guessing gives us another set of knowing eyes on offense. He makes the entire line better and gives Staff a pre-snap hint as to what may be coming.
 
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RamFan503 said:
I think it's consensus that he is not the most physical center - certainly not as strong as his young back-up that he replaced. But he is smart and I'm guessing gives us another set of knowing eyes on offense. He makes the entire line better and gives Staff a pre-snap hint as to what may be coming.
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His above-the-neck makes him above average. I'm guessing by now he knows exactly what McVay and Stafford need everybody to know up front in every situation.
 
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620 drop backs; 23 sacks. That's a percentage of 3.7%. Not too shabby. Shelton is the guy who makes the calls and gives everybody their assignment. 3.7% or 1.4 sacks per game. Better than not too shabby, IMHO. 465 rushing attempts and a 4.6 avg. along with 17 TDs and 126 first downs. #1 Offense in 2025. Well, I guess if we gotta point to somebody in a negative manner, might as well be the under valued Coleman Shelton! There are some fans who want (and even sometimes expect) an All Pro at every position (I exaggerate of course but you get the point).
 
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Merlin said:
His calls made the line better. No doubt about it. He's good enough in the eyes of McVay and his staff, which is what matters here as well.

But I'm among those who would like a better Center.
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What does "better" mean for a center in our offense? He gets some credit for the overall performance, and the tricky thing is, we don't really know how good a center is from the mental aspect. We can more easily see coverage busts without knowing the play call from the secondary than we can know exactly what benefit Shelton brings from the mental aspect.

My perspective is, he may not be the best individual blocker, but he clearly makes the rest of the offensive line better, which means there are very few centers I would trade him for given how good our line was last year.
 
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Wasn't it mentioned that Stafford was comfortable with Shelton because it took pressure off him on line calls? I'll go with that.
 
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FrantikRam said:
What does "better" mean for a center in our offense?
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"Better" in my book would be a Center who doesn't need to be protected by the OGs next to him. Who doesn't require help vs a strong NT.

Of course the metric that matters most is can we win a title with him anchoring our line. I'd say that is probably a yes, if this team stays healthy at key positions. We won the last one with Allen at Center after all. But time will tell.
 
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The one position on the offense I think should be upgraded and it shouldn't be hard. He's not bad but he's not good just a JAG imo. Maybe next year we pick my draft crush at 32 :D
 
Shelton probably doesn't get the cred he deserves. The QB and Center have to be operating at an ESP level of communication especially in hostile stadiums on the road. We are lucky to have Shelton.
 
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FrantikRam said:
What does "better" mean for a center in our offense? He gets some credit for the overall performance, and the tricky thing is, we don't really know how good a center is from the mental aspect. We can more easily see coverage busts without knowing the play call from the secondary than we can know exactly what benefit Shelton brings from the mental aspect.

My perspective is, he may not be the best individual blocker, but he clearly makes the rest of the offensive line better, which means there are very few centers I would trade him for given how good our line was last year.
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Still nothing wrong with saying we appreciate Shelton but want someone better. This same convo has been talked about with our RBs too (wanting a homerun threat). In all honesty, we should always want better than what we have at damn near every position.. Doesn't mean we are going to get it though lol. I laugh at folks if they happen to be bothered by that notion. Shelton is our starting center until McVay says he isn't so to me I'm just like, that would be nice to have a better center with physicality and then I just go on about my day.
 
Ram65 said:
Wasn't it mentioned that Stafford was comfortable with Shelton because it took pressure off him on line calls? I'll go with that.
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Man who the fuck does Stafford think he is? You pay a guy and all of a sudden this asshole thinks he can call the shots......


I'm obviously kidding :laugh4:
 
Merlin said:
We won the last one with Allen at Center after all. But time will tell.
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The centers from the last 10 Superbowls?

Jalen Sundell, Cam Jurgens, Creed Humphries (back to back; belly to belly), Brian Allen, Ryan Jensen, Austin Reiter, David Andrews (2016 & 2018) Jason Kelce. Everybody knows about Jason Kelce but the last SB he won was 9 years ago. Does everybody know about Creed Humphrey, or is it mostly Chiefs fans, Ram fans and Sooner fans? Center is important, of course, but......so is RT, LT........QB, CB......what's a position that when you are weak there, you can still win a Superbowl?
 
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PARAM said:
The centers from the last 10 Superbowls?

Jalen Sundell, Cam Jurgens, Creed Humphries (back to back; belly to belly), Brian Allen, Ryan Jensen, Austin Reiter, David Andrews (2016 & 2018) Jason Kelce. Everybody knows about Jason Kelce but the last SB he won was 9 years ago. Does everybody know about Creed Humphrey, or is it mostly Chiefs fans, Ram fans and Sooner fans? Center is important, of course, but......so is RT, LT........QB, CB......what's a position that when you are weak there, you can still win a Superbowl?
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You already listed one position :) Brian Allen started our SB win.
 
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Merlin said:
"Better" in my book would be a Center who doesn't need to be protected by the OGs next to him. Who doesn't require help vs a strong NT.

Of course the metric that matters most is can we win a title with him anchoring our line. I'd say that is probably a yes, if this team stays healthy at key positions. We won the last one with Allen at Center after all. But time will tell.
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That’s my question. I think Shelton is a smart experienced OC but how much help from the OGs does he need. He is physically overmatched against the better NTs.
 
PARAM said:
The centers from the last 10 Superbowls?

Jalen Sundell, Cam Jurgens, Creed Humphries (back to back; belly to belly), Brian Allen, Ryan Jensen, Austin Reiter, David Andrews (2016 & 2018) Jason Kelce. Everybody knows about Jason Kelce but the last SB he won was 9 years ago. Does everybody know about Creed Humphrey, or is it mostly Chiefs fans, Ram fans and Sooner fans? Center is important, of course, but......so is RT, LT........QB, CB......what's a position that when you are weak there, you can still win a Superbowl?
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Center is the least paid position on the OL across the league for a reason but people want this dominant center when bang for your buck it doesn't add as much to EPA as other positions on the team (let alone the least important OL position). Since centers rarely block anyone 1 on 1 and their job is to make line calls and assist block the guards, teams often just use less athletic, smaller but more intelligent guys there.

Can you do cool things with a dominant center, absolutely! Same with a dominant LB. But it's not as important as other positions.

I am interested to see Dedich get a little more time at center this preseason FWIW.
 
dang said:
That’s my question. I think Shelton is a smart experienced OC but how much help from the OGs does he need. He is physically overmatched against the better NTs.
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Shelton doesn't get help from OGs, he helps the OGs. As do most centers.

Most NTs are not lining up directly over him and those that are slanted to take the gap on either side of him (more likely) are still mostly blocked by OGs with a secondary block from him. Centers in the NFL today do not get help from OGs (nor was this that big a thing in the past). They help OGs.

Teams just don't play 0 tech anymore with their nose which is directly over center and with less teams playing base D teams just don't really two gap anymore.

This issue of blocking a NT head on is a thing but it's really a minor issue blown way out of proportion by one poster. Of course, I'm open to being convinced otherwise if someone can show me examples of this not only happening more than a handful of times in the season or it happening in such a way as to derail downs regularly on drives.
 
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