Projecting Rams’ offensive line

[1maGoh]

How was the OL coming out of the gate last season? Looking at the stats of say the first 5 games they gave up a huge number of sacks and were a big reason for one of the worst run games in the league.

The o line started getting injuries in game 1. Brady gets a pass for a crap season because he had 2 lineman down. Morris gets a passfor an entire season on defense because 2 CBs when down for a few games. But for some reason the Rams o line was just supposed to perform to standard with injuries pulling up starting game 1? We got schooled in game 1. But it was one game. Sometimes shit happens in one game and it isn't indicative of the entire season. So we had 1 bad game and then so many injuries you can't draw any reasonable conclusions.

Also, looks like I can reply without issues again! I'm very excited about that.

 

[El Chapo Jr]

Geez dudes Shelton is under contract. He's not a FA until next year. They signed him because he can start anywhere on the interior OL.

Thomas has the feet and speed to pull in a power run attack. He's a prototypical RG with excellent length giving him a very good play radius. I can see him starting at RG.

Did you listen to Mayfield after his first game? He gave a ton of credit to Allen with the play calls and protections. Center is the hardest OL position to play. Allen is above average which most fans don't see. Shelton Coleman is as well and both are under contract this year. So IMO Allen starts at Center, with Shelton starting at LG and backup Center.

The Rams look to be in good shape at LT. If Noteboom is healthy I see him as a starter. Jackson is the perfect swing player who can play anywhere on the OL except center. I see him projected to start at RT next year. If McVay had guts he would start him at RT this year. They can't cut Havenstein this year but let him play as an expensive backup until next year then cut his swinging gate ass. You Havenstein supporters should go back and watch the Raider game last year. Havenstein was at his absolute worst and without a doubt the worst OL on an OL of backups. Go ahead and watch that game and say Rob is a starter in the NFL. Nsekhe is older and a backup but he's better than Havenstein. Go ahead watch that game and say Rob is a good starter with a straight face.

They should re-sign Toner and use him in a backup role.

LT Noteboom
LG Shelton
C Allen
RG Thomas
RT Jackson

Gameday actives: OT Nsekhe, Bruss, Brewer Roster backups: Havenstein, Cole Toner

This Is a good OL if coached up properly. I do believe my friend the former OL coach that the unprecedented injuries on the OL was because of poor technique. McVay also thinks so and is why Carberry was fired early.

Bruss can practice at LG because if Allen gets hurt again Shelton slides over to Center then it will be up to Bruss or Brewer.

Brian Allen is an injury waiting to happen. Poor guy has shit for knees. Best ability is availability.

 

[El Chapo Jr]

To me the head scratching take is having Creed in 2022 would have made a world of difference. Having him on the Rams offense in 2022 with multiple guards on either side of him, multiple LTs, multiple QBs and WRs, Creed's impact would have made a world of difference???

Going forward into 2023 and beyond? Sure. But we don't even know who the C is going to be and they haven't yet had a disasterous campaign, to be able to say that "missed pick" had an affect in 2023.

Furthermore, he's a terrific C (Creed) but nobody knew that he'd be who he is.....they can say they did but I'm not ready to accept it for more than a guess. It would be more acceptable to believe that if they offered a record of never being wrong about another draft pick who was a "sure thing".

Did those same fans believe Clowney was going to be an all world HOFer? Or Aaron Curry? Or Carson Wentz? It would be helpful to see their takes on those and other draft picks.

I've heard fans say, "it's not hindsight. Anybody with more than pedestrian knowledge of football could see he was going to be a stud." Well, then show me you've never said that about a dud and I will bow to you.

I banged the table....don't tell my wife hahaha.....for Creed Humphrey so yeah, I thought he'd be a good ass player. Now I wasn't on this board but I thought Chance Warmack from Alabama would legit be a top notch guard when he was drafted by Tennessee and boy was I fucking wrong. No bowing required. We all get some right and some wrong. In my case my tingling nuts are about 69.69% right usually.

 

[PARAM]

The o line started getting injuries in game 1.

Yeah, it was one bad game and all five played 100% of the snaps. Then after the game, Allen was out. Then Anchrum went down 2 plays into week 2. Then Edwards missed game 3. Then Shelton went down in week 4.

Like you said........how can anybody realistically evaluate our O line?

The most accurate and truthful evaluation is they got schooled in week 1 by a favorite for the SB and were never healthy again.

But for some reason the Rams o line was just supposed to perform to standard with injuries pulling up starting game 1?

Quite right.

 

[dang]

Yeah, it was one bad game and all five played 100% of the snaps. Then after the game, Allen was out. Then Anchrum went down 2 plays into week 2. Then Edwards missed game 3. Then Shelton went down in week 4.

Like you said........how can anybody realistically evaluate our O line?

The most accurate and truthful evaluation is they got schooled in week 1 by a favorite for the SB and were never healthy again.

Quite right.

So Note and Allen can be serviceable linemen but: 1. They don’t move the needle towards a great offense
2. They can’t stay healthy
Isn’t it time to find very good/great, healthy replacements?

 

[Allen2McVay]

They can’t stay healthy
Isn’t it time to find very good/great, healthy replacements?

Totally legit point. Not disagreeing.

Just saying that finding and being able to afford ‘good/great healthy replacements’ is difficult.

32 teams … five OL starters per team … that’s 160 offensive linemen … there are not 160 good starting O-Linemen in the NFL in my opinion.

I think back to last year at this time. Reveling in the Super Bowl victory that was a couple of weeks old. The new League Year was just a couple weeks away (like now); and I was concerned about the Rams’ O-Line.

You guys remember?

5 of the Rams top 7 OL were headed out the door. Whitworth was retiring. Allen and Corbett were free agent starters and the two top reserves (Noteboom and Shelton) were also about to hit free agency. That left only Havenstein and Edwards from the top-seven OL.

And, the Rams were over the cap (also, like now).

The Rams were able to keep three of the four pending free agents, including the only LT. Of course, I agree that Noteboom has been injury prone. Can’t deny that. Also can’t deny that he played really well in the Divisional Round in Tampa.

Of course, Allen is a teeny, tiny Center and has also been injury prone. But, also can’t deny that he was durable in the Championship Season. And Shelton was considered a viable back-up center, and potential starter at RG.

When the Rams were able to bring that many guys, I felt kind of lucky and relieved. I mean, who was out there that the Rams could afford? Personally, I kept posting about G/C James Daniels who was a Bears’ free agent that would sign a reasonable contract with Pittsburgh. I was a big fan when he came out of Iowa, and thought he would be perfect at RG, and insurance at Center.

And, the Rams used their first pick on a Guard they thought might be a Day 1 starter.

At the time, I thought the Rams did about as well as they could have given limited assets.

Well, unfortunately the assets (cap space and draft choices) seem limited again right now.

 

[Soul Surfer]

We still have to remember that two the most important things on an offensive line are continuity and veteran leadership.
A draft pick will not give you either nor give you confidence from the other offensive lineman.
I'm all for getting an OC/Guard in one of the two early rounds but you're going to need to give that player time to develop and give the team time to develop confidence in him.
I seriously doubt they'll go the free agent route due to cap limitations.
We're just going to have to go with the five best we have early in the season and hope Bruss earned and learned something on IR that shows up in Camp.
*Re-sign Nsekhe to go with Alaric Jackson at left tackle.

*Re-sign Coleman Shelton to go with Brian Allen.

*Let the guards fight it out in Camp.

Keep the nine best on the roster and send who you can to the practice squad.

I think they're going to keep it this simple.

 

[BonifayRam]

Nobody knows where Joe Tippmann is valued, ​

will Rams pick center of the future?​

The most polarizing offensive line prospect of the draft

By Kenneth Arthur@KennethArthuRS Mar 1, 2023,

When will Rams pick center of the future?

The most polarizing offensive line prospect of the draft

www.turfshowtimes.com

In this week’s “defer to the expert” segment of the 2023 NFL Draft and what the Los Angeles Rams will do in April, I’m going to highlight the fascinating range of opinions on Wisconsin center Joe Tippmann. In their 2023 draft guide, ProFootballFocus grades out Tippmann as a day two prospect and their number three overall offensive lineman in the class.

The Wisconsin center redshirted in 2019 and played just 11 snaps at right guard in 2020 before assuming the starting role in the middle of the Badgers’ offensive line in 2021. There were some rocky moments early in the season, but he finished the year with an 85.1 PFF grade, which ranked sixth in the nation. His performance dropped a little in 2022, with his 78.4 PFF grade ranking 13th at the position, but he did finish the season strong with no pressures allowed over his final four games.

How Tippmann performs at this weekend’s NFL Scouting Combine could matter, but as usual, the Rams did not send Les Snead or Sean McVay to get a closer look. It’s becoming more and more evident that teams do not care that much how prospects perform in these tests and drills—it’s for fans and media more so than the good teams—and that the combine only serves as a chance for medical evaluations to happen all at one time and in one place.

For prospects like Tippman, his film will say everything and it seems like that’s where there fails to be a consensus on his value.


View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1628591524345704450


As TST resident draft expert Ferragamo15 highlighted in another excellent fanpost this week, Tippman’s draft range goes all the way from top-30 to the seventh round.

On Daniel Jeremiah’s initial top 50 list of prospects, Tippmann was ranked 27th overall. JMS didn’t land anywhere on that top 50 board. On Lance Zierlein’s board for Combine participants, Tippmann is the 45th highest graded prospect, higher than players such as Vorhees, Avila and Wypler. His grade is virtually tied with that of Cody Mauch, who is the 37th ranked prospect. At that ranking, if the Rams wanted Tippmann, they likely would need to draft him at slot 36.
On ESPN’s board, Tippmann is the 234th ranked prospect, which would be in the 7th round. The Fanspeak draft simulator has 6 different boards available. On 3 of those boards, Tippmann is ranked as a 4th to late 5th round prospect. On the other 3 boards, he’s ranked as a 2nd to 3rd round prospect.

Another TST resident draft expert, Venie Randy Soares, highlighted Tippman in the 2023 draft’s center class:

Well-built athletic specimen, with proportionate length. Named to 2022 Feldman’s Freaks list for athleticism and strength. 22 years old and lacks game experience, only two years and 23 starts. Here’s your mauler who drives defenders off the ball with leverage and natural power. For a tall player, he keeps his knees bent and pad level square and low to create the bulldozer leverage. Tippmann has the speed to pull around the corner and the footwork for reach, seal, and cut off blocks. He has much room for improvement, young, tall prospects need to keep working on footwork and keeping low leverage. Pro’s will test his anchor and lateral movement skills. If he blows up the NFL Combine, it may take a Round 2 pick to own him. He has that much of an upside.

It’s really a matter of whether or not Snead and McVay, out of character, decide that this is the year that L.A. needs to pick a center or an interior offensive lineman on day two. That’s not what the Rams tend to do and even though they did pick another Wisconsin interior offensive lineman in 2022—guard Logan Bruss—that was all the down at pick 104.

Will Tippmann last that long? That’s a question that nobody has the answer to right now.

 

[Merlin]

Tippman had @Loyal the moment he saw that hairdo.

 

[Loyal]

Tippman had @Loyal the moment he saw that hairdo.

He's got that Humphrey vibe, goin' on!