Edwards-Allen-Blythe (E-A-B)

[Elmgrovegnome]

I see Allen's issues like Saffold's. If he has competent people next to him he does better. Allen had a better game, especially dealing with stuff to his left because Edwards was much better than Demby and so Allen wasn't mentally scrambling all game. That said, whether it be Blythe's ankle, strength or what, Allen is struggling more against stuff to his right.

Also, someone got this wrong because Vic Beasley IS a speed rusher. If you look at Atlanta's DL, it looks like they're running a hybrid 3-4 just by looking at the bodies because Beasley is like 245 as compared to the rest which are big bodies and at least 30 lbs heavier. And Hav had a MUCH better game. We didn't hear Beasley's name called once.

I dunno what what problem was or what the change was, but the OL was improved on Sunday. Not perfect, but improved. More importantly, it seems that it was improved in a way that can be sustained and improved upon further which is good news going forward...

I think Hav isn't looking forward to Khalil Mack in a few weeks, but that Bears offense is gonna make that game a 9-6 Rams win...

Well, it was the Falcons Dline. They haven't given anyone trouble this year. We won't see another true test until next year.

 

[hotanez]

Agreed Boni. And what do you think will happen when the Rams go that route? Evans? Brewer maybe?

I'm hoping for Brewer to get a chance

 

[BonifayRam]

Agreed Boni. And what do you think will happen when the Rams go that route? Evans? Brewer maybe?

Great crisp sunny wonderful morning here in NWFL Merlin to you! Here's my long version response to your question.

First your prediction on David Edwards was 100% correct by the way....if you recall I had some doubts about DE's ability to make the change from exterior OL'er to interior OL'er. However, you did not..... great call there.

Not sure Merlin on this Austin Blythe problem that has developed & degraded his ability to make successful blocks in pass or run blocking.

#1- I do not see changes before the bye. Kromer will give AB one more game to ponder his next step on this needed critical decision. Blythe's body is failing him but his sharp NFL brain is working just fine & he is aware of his shortcomings. I am sure conversations with Kromer & Dickerson about his physical degrading situation are ongoing.

#2- Four options @ RG for Kromer on MR53...Demby, Shelton, Corbett & Evans. Demby will be released as soon as Kromer makes his decision. Evans is now promoted & assigned the important swing OT reserve position. Evans not a good fit @ RG. Evans far more OT plus is main back up to LT Whitworth in most practices. Corbett is new to the Rams & Kromer's scheme. Shelton who is has a past history almost identical to Blythe would be a quick fix but not long term.

#3-Options not on the MR53 but are better long term answers. It requires roster changes, contract terminations & new contracts issued. From studying the 4 preseason games...by far the best long term RG prospect is UDFA Chandler Brewer. However, Jeremiah Kolone has more experience & time with Kromer in addition has the experience of making OL calls as a starting OC for Mike Martz in the XFL last season. Both would be upgrades to Kromer's OL reserve cadre in place of (as @bubbaramfan posted) Burnt Toast Demby.

Short version response: Shelton very quick short term answer. Corbett medium term answers. Brewer is the long term best answer.

 

[Merlin]

Short version response: Shelton very quick short term answer. Corbett medium term answers. Brewer is the long term best answer.

Shelton is an interesting one Boni. I just didn't notice him enough in preseason nor did I recall him from his drafting well enough to really have a feel for him. Reading up on him a bit this am I didn't realize he was profiled as a Center from his prep days. Of course the rap on him according to Miller as cited in that article was his strength, but yeah I find myself wondering what Kromer's plans for him are.

And it's kind of bad logic on my part, but re: Corbett my biggest reservation with him is that he didn't manage to win a job on a terrible Browns line. I never watch their games unless it's vs the Rams, and don't know his whole story there and whatnot. But the fact he's a Browns castoff is kind of a stain, or skid mark, if you will in my mind.

Re: Brewer now he is a guy I am familiar with because he played well in preseason. But the Rams must have some sort of reservations with him given his non-roster status. And Evans I suspect you are correct that they've got him stamped as OT reserve/swing now. It's pretty goddamn ugly man.

 

[BonifayRam]

Shelton is an interesting one Boni. I just didn't notice him enough in preseason nor did I recall him from his drafting well enough to really have a feel for him. Reading up on him a bit this am I didn't realize he was profiled as a Center from his prep days. Of course the rap on him according to Miller as cited in that article was his strength, but yeah I find myself wondering what Kromer's plans for him are.

And it's kind of bad logic on my part, but re: Corbett my biggest reservation with him is that he didn't manage to win a job on a terrible Browns line. I never watch their games unless it's vs the Rams, and don't know his whole story there and whatnot. But the fact he's a Browns castoff is kind of a stain, or skid mark, if you will in my mind.

Re: Brewer now he is a guy I am familiar with because he played well in preseason. But the Rams must have some sort of reservations with him given his non-roster status. And Evans I suspect you are correct that they've got him stamped as OT reserve/swing now. It's pretty goddamn ugly man.

On Austin Corbett ......here some of my thoughts presently on why he did not win a starting position on the Browns weak OL......started all of his college games @ LT. Corbett was thought to be a natural replacement for retired Joe Thomas. AC does not measure up physically to be an NFL LT/RT. The best Brown OL'er by a far degree is Joel Bitonio who just happens to start @ LG. AC flunked out @ RG in the Browns OL scheme.

The only start in his NCAA career that's not @ LT film came in the 2018 Senior Bowl game 2018. I am sure that Snead himself, his scouts & coaches came in close contact with AC. Liked what they saw then @ LG & center, not so much @ OT. However AC does show he can be a versatile OL'er & if nothing else very valuable as a top swing OG & center.

"Corbett played about half the game, lining up at right tackle throughout the 2nd quarter before switching to center for the 3rd. He also came in at left guard for the 2-minute drill in the 4th quarter. I viewed every snap of his in game, and focused on him during team drills after Pauline’s initial report. I wouldn’t go so far as to characterize his performance as “dominant,” however he was one of the better linemen in Mobile. His first half play at right tackle was just okay, carrying out his assignments but for a few hiccups. He handled top Senior Bowl standout Ogbonnia Okoronkwo better than others, but still struggled to contain Obo’s edge speed. His worst rep of the week came at RT during the game,"

It appears to me that AC is much better playing the left side than right. He has massive hands near 11 inches of grasping power. I believe that Kromer has plans for AC to be the top prospect in the 2020 OTA's/ Training Camp/ preseason & early regular season as his starting LG, while David Edwards is working the LT post for the rehabbing Joe Noteboom.

 

[Florida_Ram]

Snead will draft two OL'ers in the 2020 draft. A true highly talented RG who Kromer desires will be drafted on the 2nd day of the draft. Just in case anyone wants to know...this is how I see our future initial starting 2020 OL.

STARTERS
LT- Edwards 23/2
LG- Corbett 25/3
OC- Allen 25/3
RG- Brewer 23/2
RT- Havenstein 28/6

Reserves
Swing OT- Evans 23/2
Swing OG- Kolone 25/2
Center- Shelton 25/2

PUP
LT-Noteboom 25-3

Later on in the 2020 season Noteboom should be healthy enough to start @ LT. David Edwards will move back into the LG post with Austin Corbett moving back to be the top swing OG reserve.

The way the Rams blew it this year I highly doubt this is next years starting 5 on the O-Line. If you get this prediction correct I will praise you at the end of August in 2020.
LT- Edwards 23/2
LG- Corbett 25/3
OC- Allen 25/3
RG- Brewer 23/2
RT- Havenstein 28/6

Of course we need to see more snaps and see how he finishes the season but Edwards is getting big props and very well could be the LT for 2020. The season is almost half over and the Rams coaching staff is smarting themselves about how they projected this years starting O-Line.

It was a small sample size at LG for the Noteboom but enough to scare many of us fans from our living room TV perspectives. Before he got injured he looked 2 years away from being a starter at any position.

Even though Noteboom was out of position playing guard he didn't put anything on his resume to project himself as more than a backup at this point in his career.

He could bounce back in 2020 by earning the starting the LT position but very few people are betting on him after what he showed at guard this year. Kromer and company overvalued his talent this year and several fans on ROD were worried that the Rams overvalued their O-Line talent before the season started.

 

[den-the-coach]

The way the Rams blew it this year I highly doubt this is next years starting 5 on the O-Line. If you get this prediction correct I will praise you at the end of August in 2020.
LT- Edwards 23/2
LG- Corbett 25/3
OC- Allen 25/3
RG- Brewer 23/2
RT- Havenstein 28/6

I look forward to the praise my Ram Brother!

LT...Joe Noteboom...Hopefully 100% by September 2020.
LG...David Edwards...Proving his worth now, which will pay dividends later.
C...Tyler Biadasz...Rams draft the Wisconsin Center in Round Two and he's an Aaron Kromer type of guy with his Athleticism and has far more size at 6-3 318lbs than Brian Allen.
RG...Austin Corbett...I expect him to unseat Blythe after the bye and he'll be ready in 2020.
RT...Rob Havenstein....Big Rob will be more like 2018 in 2020.

Bobby Evans & Brian Allen for depth along with Cameron Shelton, however, they could add another experience tackle in case Noteboom is not totally back.

 

[Merlin]

Biadasz is one hell of a football name. You know what his nickname is gonna be and I think he might live up to it.

Either way the Rams are very likely to draft a Center I agree. Too early to tell whether it will be to start or for competition/depth but they badly need depth at the least.

 

[PressureD41]

https://www.drafttek.com/NFL-Draft-Scouting-Reports/Scouting-Report-Tyler-Biadasz.asp

 

[max]

Drafting a great interior OL would have the most impact of anything we could do with our 2nd round pick.

 

[Riverumbbq]

LT...Joe Noteboom...Hopefully 100% by September 2020.
LG...David Edwards...Proving his worth now, which will pay dividends later.
C...Tyler Biadasz...Rams draft the Wisconsin Center in Round Two and he's an Aaron Kromer type of guy with his Athleticism and has far more size at 6-3 318lbs than Brian Allen.
RG...Austin Corbett...I expect him to unseat Blythe after the bye and he'll be ready in 2020.
RT...Rob Havenstein....Big Rob will be more like 2018 in 2020.

Bobby Evans & Brian Allen for depth along with Cameron Shelton, however, they could add another experience tackle in case Noteboom is not totally back.

Sorry, but i'm not buying it. Biadasz is listed as a first rounder in just about every current mock i've seen outside of Walterfootball, and no Ram fan should take them seriously.

Stranger things have happened, of course, but I also doubt McVay & Kromer are ready to throw in the towel on their first year starter in Allen, that just doesn't seem to be their style. Even if the worst happens and Allen is relegated to a reserve role, the Rams have brought in a number of players who can compete for the interior positions, and we fans have had no means of observing these players at practice, outside of the pre-season. Shelton was brought in to back-up Allen when the cross-training among Demby & Kolone apparently broke down. Austin Corbett was brought in later, following 3 straight losses and a serious injury to Noteboom. Demby proved his inadequacy when filling in for the injured Blythe earlier, and then continued his ineffectiveness at LG. Snead acted quickly while trading for Corbett, a 2018 #33 overall draft pick. While Corbett was listed as Cleveland's back-up Center, he also played LG, so the speculation began immediately on where he'd best fit for the Rams. Meanwhile, Edwards stepped in at LG and found immediate success, at least better than Boom & Demby, so if he continues to stick at the position, Corbett may become the next man up at Center or OG should it prove necessary. McVay did announce that his intention was to bring him and our new ILB Kenny Young along slowly.

The Rams have plenty of inexperienced OL depth players on the team, we are just worried whether any of them have the right stuff based on our lack of visual confirmation. We don't know what we have at this point, and that's pretty frustrating in the middle of a season, although I do believe the entire Demby fiasco has created even more uncertainty among us fans. For some reason the one OG player who captured our imagination during pre-season, Chandler Brewer, can't seem to catch a break, and this may be because he's only an OG, and not cross-trained at center like Shelton, Corbett, & his fellow practice squader, Jere Kolone. It's not bodies we lack, it's information, we may very well already have what we need, although we won't know it until we see it. Grasping for expensive free agents and/or high draft picks feels warranted while we are so in the dark, but these new guys are all between 22 and 24 years old, we need to give them more than a minute to develop. jmo.

 

[den-the-coach]

Sorry, but i'm not buying it. Biadasz is listed as a first rounder in just about every current mock i've seen outside of Walterfootball, and no Ram fan should take them seriously.

It rare Centers go in round one, however, if Biadasz is gone then IMO, the Rams look at Darryl Williams of Mississippi State (They always loved that name), Lloyd Cushenberry of LSU or one of my favorites Cesar Ruiz of Michigan. IMO Center or Guard will be on their list unless Corbett replaces Blythe and Allen improves, but again IMO, Allen gets blown up too often at the point of attack.

Scouting Report: Cesar Ruiz
School: Michigan Position: Center Class: Junior Height: 6’4″ Weight: 319 Projected Draft Round: 3-5

Scouting Report:
A truly versatile interior lineman that can play either guard position and center. Has the longer arm length, height and frame that NFL teams are now looking for at center, especially as more and more shotgun is used. Most teams are looking for centers that don’t always need help to double team an elite defensive tackle, and that can be used as a driving force in the run game. A smart player that can move seamlessly to either guard spot, will get an early look in the draft.

Cesar Ruiz, C, Michigan

Cesar Ruiz NFL scouting report and prospect profile for the center prospect out of the University of Michigan for the 2020 NFL draft.

www.draftblaster.com

 

[BonifayRam]

It rare Centers go in round one, however, if Biadasz is gone then IMO, the Rams look at Darryl Williams of Mississippi State (They always loved that name), Lloyd Cushenberry of LSU or one of my favorites Cesar Ruiz of Michigan. IMO Center or Guard will be on their list unless Corbett replaces Blythe and Allen improves, but again IMO, Allen gets blown up too often at the point of attack.

That's is true but the fact that all teams have 2 OT posts & 2 OG posts to fill along with their reserves make that fact skewed. The last 2 drafts we have seen 3 centers taken in the first round & all of them are starting.

SIX of the current signed Ram OL'ers have had some center experience. Three were full time starters @ OC in College (Blythe/ Allen/ Shelton) Kolone started a few College games @ OC & was the starting OC for HC Mike Martz SD XFL last season. Corbett got all his OC experience during his 2018 Senior Bowl event. Where he has several series with the offense @ starting OC. Demby's experience camp in this yrs TC & preseason.

The only way that Austin Blythe is resigned by Snead for 2020 is if he is considered as a possible OC reserve but thats very slim chance due to the many offers he will get from other teams who need experience OL'ers, just like the Rams.

 

[SteveBrown]

LIKE this thread a lot....all the info is great.
I think Evans will start at guard next year.....for sure.....

 

[BonifayRam]

At the end of this season when starting LT Andrew Whitworth retires @ age of 38 & Austin Blythe's contract expires......leaving only one starting Ram OL with any real amount of experience Rob Havenstein with any real NFL experience.

Rams 2020 OL'er under contract:

OT Havenstein 66 gms / 66 starts
OT Noteboom 25 gms / 6 starts (Will be on the PUP list early 2020)
OC Allen 24 gms / 7 starts
OG/OC Corbett 14 gms / 1 start
OT/OG Edwards 7 gms /1 start
OG Demby 6 gms / 1 start
OC/OG Shelton 2 gms / ZERO
OT Evans 1 gm / ZERO
OG/OC Kolone 0 gm/ 0 gm
OG/OC Brewer 0 gm/ 0 gm

 

[Merlin]

My guess for the ROD next season's starting 5 competition :

LT Boom
LG Havenstein
C Allen
RG Scherff (Rams' big FA acquisition of the offseason)
RT Edwards

I think there's a good chance Scherff will be their guy in FA and he'll plug right in at RG where he's comfortable as a Timmerman-level addition who will settle things down on the interior. Hav at LG puts a vet on the other side of Allen to insulate him and assist Boom.

Rams will add a couple more linemen in the draft who can hopefully be in the depth mix. Definitely need Center depth, barring Shelton showing big development this season which is unlikely given snap availability. And I think they draft another OT midrounds who Kromer can move around he likes the rangy types who move well.

The interior OL above will not be pushed around. And Evans is their first guy off the bench and hopefully will show he's ready to start in camp.

 

[PressureD41]

Scherff would be sweet. Still say Hav is our RT, Edwards sticks at LG IMHO

 

[Riverumbbq]

Scherff would be sweet. Still say Hav is our RT, Edwards sticks at LG IMHO

Yeah, I can't see Havenstein at OG, that experiment failed once already. Hav got paid this year and he's not looking like the same player since, hopefully this is only a temporary setback and he'll get his act together fairly soon, he's still only 27. He could easily become a CAP casualty following the 2020 season.

Yes, Scherff would be sweet, and would settle the OL in a big way going forward. He seems like an ideal player for Washington to trade, just have to wonder whether they are overpricing a guy who may only have 8 more games with their franchise.

Edwards may not begin the 2020 season at LG if Noteboom is still rehabbing, so with as many interior line guys we have competing at RG, LG & C, along with Havenstein's shaky play at RT, it's pretty difficult for me to give him a set position just yet. Edwards appears to be that quality swing player we've wanted, so whether he's starting or the first man up, i'm happy he's in the mix. jmo.

 

[oldnotdead]

Forget next year, the need to make changes on the right side is immediate. Blythe has proven he's a liability in the run game and only slightly better in the pass game when they give him help. Havenstein is a complete liability in pass blocking and he's going to get Goff sent to IR if they don't replace him.

Edwards has stablized the LG position so now the leftside is decent. They have Coleman and Corbett they can play at RG. The real problem is RT. They need to get Bobby Evans up to speed during the bye. He can't possibly play worse than Havenstein who gives up pressures and sacks regularly.

If they don't make changes on the right side they have no chance to take the division. If they keep Rob at RT then they simply have to give him TE help on every passing down. IMO I put all this on Kromer because he's got to be seeing how badly that right side is playing. If he calls for a change I'm pretty damn sure McVay will go with it.

 

[Memento]

No way on Scherff. If I'm paying for offensive line help in free agency - which is not something I want to do, given that we have to pay Ramsey, Kupp, and Littleton, at least - it's got to be for Andrus Peat, who can actually play left tackle and gives us insurance in case Noteboom doesn't recover from his injury (and let's be honest: Noteboom's injury is severe enough that it could keep him on the PUP at the beginning of the year.)

In the meantime, I'd start Corbett at right guard and use Evans as a swing tackle; he's not ready to take a tackle spot at the moment, unless there's another injury.