 IMPROVE THE OL? BY RAMMED FOR LIFE (Feb 10) |
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[It
is the offseason. The Rams have a new coach and a championship to defend. There is plenty
of optimisim in the air, but there will also be plenty of speculation about which way the
Rams will go in free agency and the draft and plenty of different opinions regarding team
strengths and weaknesses. Where can they improve and how? Here Rammed For Life argues that
the Rams should upgrade the offensive line. ZN] 1. The Lesson of the Playoffs. Whether we like to admit it or not, we are looking at a very different sort of schedule next year. Yes, a tougher one. And we won't be sneaking up on anyone. I believe that we must improve to thrive in that situation. To borrow a line from a fellow Minnesotan, "He that's not busy bein' born is busy dyin'." Think about the playoffs as a whole. What area of the team suffered the most in comparison with the cakewalk regular year? The OL! Did the secondary, about which we agonized all year, hurt us in the playoffs? Nope. Even against MN they played tough until garbage time. Did the run D hurt us? Well, almost--in the superbowl. But it was exhausted, since it played the whole 2nd half except for about 10 plays. Pass O? Forget about it. In what area did we struggle the most against TB and TENN? The OL. We couldn't run at all. And we gave up a LOT of pressure on Kurt. Next year, we play KC, TB, and NY. Good Defenses. We also play MN which will still have an O and will look to upgrade the DL. We will want to run against them more than we did in the playoffs. If we want to ROLL next year, we must upgrade the OL. Could we use more depth and weight at DL? Sure. I would welcome that. But the OL is the one area (besides kickers) that I feel a distinct need to improve. Watch a tape of the superbowl, paying attention to the OL's play against TENN's D front. They whipped us over and over. And over. Warner did an incredible job of getting the ball off. An average QB would have been sacked 6 times. Miller is no better than adequate. He cannot handle speed. And Nutten lacks power. We need upgrades there. Our OL played a pretty lame game! I watched for blitzing and cheating against the run and short pass. In the 1st half, the Titans had 8 in the box very commonly. By the second half, though, they were 7 up almost exclusively. Well, of course, Ike and Torry were lighting them up. But they also realized they could get plenty of pressure from the front 4 with very little blitzing. Fact is EVERY RAM OLMAN was overwhelmed and driven backwards at times. Including Pace. Indeed, Pace had a weak game. That DE gave him serious trouble a number of times. The one sack came thru Pace and in that same drive--ironically, the TD drive--Pace was whipped for a near sack another time. Timmerman got whipped. Nutten got whipped. Grutt was overwhelmed at times. Miller played no where near the game people credit him with. (At the same time, he was no where near as bad the first time, as people say.) 2. Here's What I Think. Now, Pace is an anchor for a decade or more. I have no worries about him. About the others ... Timmerman is a very, very good OLman. But he is not a great OLman. He has a ceiling. It is fairly high, but it is there. He does make mistakes at times and can be overwhelmed at times. Still, he is not out of place in the Pro Bowl. He is the classic case of the Pro Bowler who is not really a genuine consensus 1st team All Pro type. Miller is strong, tough, and slow. We can live with him there. But I would like to see an upgrade. Timmerman, Nutten, and Grutt pull very well and block upfield great. When we are doing that stuff. But Grutt and Nutten can be overwhelmed. And they don't get a great push against a good DL. I hope Spikes provides a built-in upgrade at LG. He drive blocks more explosively, perhaps, than any of our other OGs. This is perhaps the weakest starting position on the team except perhaps for TE. I would like a power upgrade at OC. Grutt is smart, tough, and wily. But he is not that strong. Can Tucker provide an upgrade? I suppose that, if Spikes comes through, Grutt can do pretty well with strength on either side. I have said I would like a more athletic ROT. We can live with Miller, but I would like to see us to better. 3. I Suppose I Should Mention TE. Conwell is a VAST blocking upgrade over RW. But he is a limited receiver. Williams---I cannot COUNT how many big runs were called back because Williams was called for holding. Now some of it is not his fault. He has long, long arms and he wears white long sleeves. (Maybe he should try sleeves of a color that blends in?) I think many of the calls were phantom calls. Doesn't matter, though. He gets the calls. Over and over. And Roland Williams HURT the running game last year. (Plus Williams CANNOT get yards after the catch. Those swing passes to him were horrible calls, because he will NEVER turn a 1 yard pass into a 10 yard 1st down.) I could get enthused over a good TE in the draft or as a FA. 4. Conclusions. We NEED improved blocking at TE and LOG. A better pass blocking ROT would help. And we could use more strength at C, though of these positions, that may be the lowest priority. Against a tougher schedule next year, upgrades on the OL may be the key to keeping things rolling! |
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