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By: Cameron DaSilva | 3 hours ago
After parting ways with John Sullivan and Rodger Saffold left in free agency, the Los Angeles Rams were left with gaping holes at center and left guard. They knew who would replace those two veterans, but no one truly knew how Brian Allen and Joseph Noteboom would do as starters.
They hardly played last season as rookies, and Sean McVay opted to rest both players in the preseason. As a result, Sunday was their first real test in the NFL.
This was no small test, either. They had to face the likes of Kawann Short, Gerald McCoy and Dontari Poe up front. None of those three players recorded a single sack, however, and they didn’t get close to Jared Goff very often.
Suffice to say, McVay came away impressed with the way both young linemen played.
“I thought they were really productive,” McVay said. “I think, for the most part, when you look at it, it took us a little bit to get going offensively. But, once we settled in, I thought the removal that we got in the run game, I thought the way they protected, for the most part, was really a great job by those guys. It’s a formidable front. You look at the guys all across the board, they’ve got some really good players. For the guys to play the way that they did in both phases, we were very pleased with that. Looking forward to see if we can carry it on against another great front coming up against the Saints.”
As a center, Allen has more responsibility than Noteboom – or any other lineman, for that matter. He has to make calls at the line, identify blitzers, help set the protections and, well, snap the ball.
Those are aspects of the game that first-year starters sometimes struggle with early in their careers. It was an aspect of Sullivan’s game that really benefited the Rams, and Allen is hoping to make that transition seamless.
After one week, he’s on the right track.
“I thought he did a great job. For us to not have any pre-snap issues, on the road, in a hostile environment with us being able to mix up the cadence, we got a couple things where we got them to jump offsides on a big third-and-7, that got us to a third down-and-2. I thought he did a really nice job,” McVay said of Allen. “He and Jared, their rapport continues to grow. To be able to do it in a game that actually counts and being able to evaluate him, especially against caliber of players and structure of defenses that coach (Ron) Rivera was activating, we were really pleased with Brian. I would say we are proud of the performance, excited about it, but not surprised.”
Next up, Allen and the entire offensive line will have to deal with the Saints’ solid front, which is another tough matchup.
Sean McVay not surprised by how well Allen, Noteboom played Sunday
After parting ways with John Sullivan and Rodger Saffold left in free agency, the Los Angeles Rams were left with gaping holes at center and left guard. They knew who would replace those two veterans, but no one truly knew how Brian Allen and Joseph Noteboom would do…
theramswire.usatoday.com
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65215476/1173198863.jpg.0.jpg "Los Angeles Rams v Carolina Panthers")
