Quote
LMU93
A good OL is typically "greater than the sum of its parts." I agree with your point that 'you don't need the best OL. You need an OL that lacks a turnstile.' 5 average OL with continuity will be an above average unit overall.
One of the areas I'm excited about is I think the Rams are setting themselves up to have much better depth than they had going into 2019. Last September I really feared the fact that not only two starters had zero starting experience (Noteboom and Allen) but their top three backups were Demby, Edwards and Evans. Now, Edwards and Evans showed up well once they started playing midseason but still, that was a major roll of the dice that hurt them overall in 2019.
Drafting a quality OL in the top 3 rounds could really bolster their long term future as well as immediate depth (regardless of if a rookie can beat out someone like Corbett week 1 or not).
I agree with most of that. You just need a solid OL that fits the scheme. They do have depth too--they drafted 5 OL in 2 years plus added a trade plus one UDFA (Brewer) might be promising. Drafting OL this year would be a great benefit, especially since you cannot count on AW and Blythe for 2021.
I do disagree though that starting newbies inside last year was this huge risk. Teams start newbie OL all the time, it's unavoidable. One analysis I draw on a lot has shown that teams average 3.5 new OL starters every 2 years. That's just an effect of the cap and free agency--OL continuity is just not a common thing anymore. Under those conditions you cannot avoid starting inexperienced newbies.
I have said this before but I am pretty adament about it. My theory is last year would have gone differently if they did not start the season with both OTs regressing. You can handle newbies inside if the OTs hold up and they didn't. This goes back to the OL is a sum of its parts. It's also a sum of its parts when it's playing subpar overall. Under those conditions it is hard for any one player to play well. You reach a point where it's not this guy or that guy, it's everything at once because they are out of sync as a unit.
...
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/09/2020 04:28AM by zn.
