Dynasty League Football Forum

They still have a good amount of draft capital, not having a 1st round pick is hardly the death sentence a lot of people seem to try and paint it as. OL especially you can find good value later in the draft, and they are a bit tight on the cap but still have enough to sign a quality free agent. This is where good scouting and personnel operations come into play, just need to find some less than obvious solutions.

This is an offensive passing league and I do believe McVay is a good offensive coach. I anticipate the Rams offense improving in 2020.

I feel blaming offensive struggles on the OL is a cop out, it's always easy to blame the OL. Most OL throughout the league is average. There is very poor OL play throughout the NFL nowadays.
I'm a Jets fan, and I watched LeVeon Bell look like he was running in quicksand all year and listen to people talk about how bad the Jets OL was. However, as soon as they gave Bilal Powell touches, he was ripping off successful runs and looked like a RB that had some juice.

As big as the Rams OL may have played a role in their poor 2019 offensive showing, I feel Gurley played a larger role. After watching him play this year, I don't think they were limiting his touches to keep Gurley healthy, their plan was to limit his touches due to his ineffectiveness.

Fixing the Rams run game is their biggest priority in the off-season for them to improve their offense, and fixing who they hand the ball off to should be their number 1 priority.

remedy29 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 05, 2020 8:01 pm This is an offensive passing league and I do believe McVay is a good offensive coach. I anticipate the Rams offense improving in 2020.

I feel blaming offensive struggles on the OL is a cop out, it's always easy to blame the OL. Most OL throughout the league is average. There is very poor OL play throughout the NFL nowadays.
I'm a Jets fan, and I watched LeVeon Bell look like he was running in quicksand all year and listen to people talk about how bad the Jets OL was. However, as soon as they gave Bilal Powell touches, he was ripping off successful runs and looked like a RB that had some juice.

As big as the Rams OL may have played a role in their poor 2019 offensive showing, I feel Gurley played a larger role. After watching him play this year, I don't think they were limiting his touches to keep Gurley healthy, their plan was to limit his touches due to his ineffectiveness.

Fixing the Rams run game is their biggest priority in the off-season for them to improve their offense, and fixing who they hand the ball off to should be their number 1 priority.

You mean the 3rd down back that averaged 3.9 yards per carry and 4.8 yards per catch?

remedy29 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 05, 2020 8:01 pm This is an offensive passing league and I do believe McVay is a good offensive coach. I anticipate the Rams offense improving in 2020.

I feel blaming offensive struggles on the OL is a cop out, it's always easy to blame the OL. Most OL throughout the league is average. There is very poor OL play throughout the NFL nowadays.
I'm a Jets fan, and I watched LeVeon Bell look like he was running in quicksand all year and listen to people talk about how bad the Jets OL was. However, as soon as they gave Bilal Powell touches, he was ripping off successful runs and looked like a RB that had some juice.

As big as the Rams OL may have played a role in their poor 2019 offensive showing, I feel Gurley played a larger role. After watching him play this year, I don't think they were limiting his touches to keep Gurley healthy, their plan was to limit his touches due to his ineffectiveness.

Fixing the Rams run game is their biggest priority in the off-season for them to improve their offense, and fixing who they hand the ball off to should be their number 1 priority.

It’s not a cop out though. Look at the injuries. Watch some Rams games again. The line was awful. It’s not just an excuse. It’s an observation that’s widely recognized. No one ran well behind that line either.

Examples of poor lines turned good once they got a high quality RB running the ball

Minnesota this year. Their offense is dynamic with Cook in the game. Without cook, Cousins looks lost and the OL plays bad. With Cook even Kirky Cousins can win a playoff game, which is Amazing!

Seattle had a terrible OL last year. Pete Carroll was considered a terrible coach by folks on this forum and he had to get fired. Carroll went on in game 3 to give Chris Carson 30+ rushing attempts and they have been pounding the ball with him the past seasons with great offensive success.

With most OL being average, it's very important to have a QB that can be mobile in the pocket, and that's the trend in the NFL now. With a pocket passer like Goff, it's even more important to have a high quality run game to be able to put up big offensive numbers. The Rams OL may have struggled this year, but Gurley looks like an average RB now, and that's a huge problem that the Rams need to fix.

remedy29 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 05, 2020 8:01 pmI'm a Jets fan, and I watched LeVeon Bell look like he was running in quicksand all year and listen to people talk about how bad the Jets OL was. However, as soon as they gave Bilal Powell touches, he was ripping off successful runs and looked like a RB that had some juice.

There's more to it. When Bell is on the field, the defense accounts for him more and stacks the box more. When Powell is on the field, they're happy backing off the line of scrimmage and letting / forcing the Jets to feed him the ball. It's not that Powell is better than Bell behind the same offensive line. It's that Bell is facing a different defensive scheme.

remedy29 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 06, 2020 4:59 pm Minnesota this year. Their offense is dynamic with Cook in the game. Without cook, Cousins looks lost and the OL plays bad. With Cook even Kirky Cousins can win a playoff game, which is Amazing!

Similar here to the comment above. The line doesn't play "bad" with Cook out. The defense schemes differently with Cook in, giving Cousins far more time and space to operate and forcing the defensive line to have to play against the potential run. The OL looks "better" with Cook in because the defense can't simply rush the passer all game long.

-----------------

Back to the Rams and their offensive line. A poor line needs a dynamic skill position player at QB and RB to off-set it. Bell is one, but Darnold isn't there yet. Cook is a player who can dominate even without an offensive line, and Cousins is good enough to capitalize on that. Seattle has both a dynamic QB and RB in Carson, thus allowing the offense to produce despite the line: the defense can't tee off on one.

This is where the Rams surprisingly if not shockingly fell apart. We all know that the line wouldn't be as good as last year and that the pinball numbers weren't likely to repeat. But, we mostly thought that Goff and Gurley were dynamic enough to off-set that. We also credited McVay as a strong enough coach to scheme for it. It seems, though, that none of those things were the case. McVay wasn't able to get around it for most of the season; Gurley was good -- even very good at times -- but not scary enough to force the defense to account for the run game; and Goff was essentially a disaster.

The crazy thing is that the Rams offense still has real talent. Three great WRs, talent at TE, and a good enough RB in Gurley -- not to mention McVay as a coach -- that they should be much better in 2020. For me, the biggest issue is Goff. I don't think that he's a particularly good QB. As long as that is case -- and as long as Gurley remains a good / very good but not elite RB -- then this offense will struggle without a markedly improved offensive line.

I'd be watching very closely to see what they do with the five guys in the trenches. If there is a notable improvement, then almost the entire Rams offense would be a buy-low. Without that improvement, however, I'd be fading these players in 2020 and maybe even looking to sell this off-season if there is still a Rams believer.

Oh, here we are thinking the o-line was the problem, when apparently it was the defense all along...

Wade Phillips getting fired doesn’t fill me with hope here. They were number 7 in the NFL in Yards per play given up, Number 9 in turnovers, number 4 in pressure percentage... They were even 8th in penalty yards. That’s all with 21st overall starting field position. Further, rumour is that he’s being replaced by Joe Barry and the biggest issue with that is that the team would be flipping from 3-4 to 4-3, which generally requires some personnel changes to accommodate and any draft capital and FA activity focused on that is not focused on the offensive line.

ericanadian wrote: ↑Mon Jan 06, 2020 5:54 pm Oh, here we are thinking the o-line was the problem, when apparently it was the defense all along...

Wade Phillips getting fired doesn’t fill me with hope here. They were number 7 in the NFL in Yards per play given up, Number 9 in turnovers, number 4 in pressure percentage... They were even 8th in penalty yards. That’s all with 21st overall starting field position. Further, rumour is that he’s being replaced by Joe Barry and the biggest issue with that is that the team would be flipping from 3-4 to 4-3, which generally requires some personnel changes to accommodate and any draft capital and FA activity focused on that is not focused on the offensive line.

gave up

55 points to the bucs
45 points to the ravens
44 points to the cowboys
an 8 and a half minute drive in the 4th qtr to mason rudolph of all people
two 3rd and 16 conversions against the whiners on the last drive of the game.

while wade did many good things with the rams the defense, this year had too many clunkers. his time had come. not sure who mcvay will hire but it won't be a retread i don't think. i'm betting he hires a young guy that he can work with to get the defense right.

Kurt G.O.A.T. wrote: ↑Tue Jan 07, 2020 4:52 am

ericanadian wrote: ↑Mon Jan 06, 2020 5:54 pm Oh, here we are thinking the o-line was the problem, when apparently it was the defense all along...

Wade Phillips getting fired doesn’t fill me with hope here. They were number 7 in the NFL in Yards per play given up, Number 9 in turnovers, number 4 in pressure percentage... They were even 8th in penalty yards. That’s all with 21st overall starting field position. Further, rumour is that he’s being replaced by Joe Barry and the biggest issue with that is that the team would be flipping from 3-4 to 4-3, which generally requires some personnel changes to accommodate and any draft capital and FA activity focused on that is not focused on the offensive line.

gave up

55 points to the bucs
45 points to the ravens
44 points to the cowboys
an 8 and a half minute drive in the 4th qtr to mason rudolph of all people
two 3rd and 16 conversions against the whiners on the last drive of the game.

while wade did many good things with the rams the defense, this year had too many clunkers. his time had come. not sure who mcvay will hire but it won't be a retread i don't think. i'm betting he hires a young guy that he can work with to get the defense right.

Baltimore & Tampa lit up a lot of teams, but I’m not really sure there’s enough talent on that defense to turn it around. Donald is elite. Ramsey is elite when motivated. Weddle is still pretty solid. After that, I’m not sure there is a lot of talent there.

ericanadian wrote: ↑Tue Jan 07, 2020 5:53 pm

Kurt G.O.A.T. wrote: ↑Tue Jan 07, 2020 4:52 am

ericanadian wrote: ↑Mon Jan 06, 2020 5:54 pm Oh, here we are thinking the o-line was the problem, when apparently it was the defense all along...

Wade Phillips getting fired doesn’t fill me with hope here. They were number 7 in the NFL in Yards per play given up, Number 9 in turnovers, number 4 in pressure percentage... They were even 8th in penalty yards. That’s all with 21st overall starting field position. Further, rumour is that he’s being replaced by Joe Barry and the biggest issue with that is that the team would be flipping from 3-4 to 4-3, which generally requires some personnel changes to accommodate and any draft capital and FA activity focused on that is not focused on the offensive line.

gave up

55 points to the bucs
45 points to the ravens
44 points to the cowboys
an 8 and a half minute drive in the 4th qtr to mason rudolph of all people
two 3rd and 16 conversions against the whiners on the last drive of the game.

while wade did many good things with the rams the defense, this year had too many clunkers. his time had come. not sure who mcvay will hire but it won't be a retread i don't think. i'm betting he hires a young guy that he can work with to get the defense right.

Baltimore & Tampa lit up a lot of teams, but I’m not really sure there’s enough talent on that defense to turn it around. Donald is elite. Ramsey is elite when motivated. Weddle is still pretty solid. After that, I’m not sure there is a lot of talent there.

I think Weddle is retiring.

Weddle be done.

remedy29 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 05, 2020 8:01 pm This is an offensive passing league and I do believe McVay is a good offensive coach. I anticipate the Rams offense improving in 2020.

I feel blaming offensive struggles on the OL is a cop out, it's always easy to blame the OL. Most OL throughout the league is average. There is very poor OL play throughout the NFL nowadays.
I'm a Jets fan, and I watched LeVeon Bell look like he was running in quicksand all year and listen to people talk about how bad the Jets OL was. However, as soon as they gave Bilal Powell touches, he was ripping off successful runs and looked like a RB that had some juice.

As big as the Rams OL may have played a role in their poor 2019 offensive showing, I feel Gurley played a larger role. After watching him play this year, I don't think they were limiting his touches to keep Gurley healthy, their plan was to limit his touches due to his ineffectiveness.

Fixing the Rams run game is their biggest priority in the off-season for them to improve their offense, and fixing who they hand the ball off to should be their number 1 priority.

The Rams have begun with their number 1 priority. That wasn't that hard to envision...

Vegas set their over/under at 9. That one stood out to me above the others at first glance. I'd take the under all day.

The Rams need to invest in the OL in the draft. That's why having Brown and Henderson right now is a good thing. They need to bring a 3rd back in, but I suspect their OL is a more pressing issue than RB, especially if they want to throw more. Goff is a pocket passer that needs protection to succeed.

Orenthal Shames wrote: ↑Sat Mar 21, 2020 3:37 pm Vegas set their over/under at 9. That one stood out to me above the others at first glance. I'd take the under all day.

100%. Worst I could see is a push. I could see them losing all 6 in that division...