Re: Are we a "defensive" team or "offensive" team?

Good question, dude. And one with multiple levels contained therein.

On Offense:

We need upgrades at OC, LG or LOT (depending on where they start Jackson), and RG is unproven. Bruss or Anchrum MAY be the answer at RG, but who knows? No Ram O is gonna thrive until that OL is fixed. Ironically, one FA or draft pick could fix the problem IF it’s the right FA or draft pick.

Our current TE corps is embarassingly short handed. Fortunately, this is a good TE class in this draft. One TE pick is a certainty and 2 picks are possible.

Rams need another good RB if only for depth rotation. Again, a good RB draft class. A 5th rounder?

McVay has gotta figure out a better way to maximize Allen Robinson. The AR usage and results last year exposed AR, Stafford, AND McVay. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see a WR drafted on Day 3.

Finally, McVay has got to pick up his play calling game this year. A little less 11 personnel and a lot more 12 sets. Plus, take what D gives you by running against weak run D’s and passing against weaker pass D’s, dammit! And run the ball more while you’re at it. Hopefully, LaFleur can get more passes to RB’s called this year, too.

All the above should be easily fixable this offseason. That’s the good news. The bad news is whether McVay is too stubborn to make necessary tweaks in his play calling. We’ll see.


On Defense:

I would love to have a different DC for reasons that I’ve already posted elsewhere but that doesn’t appear likely anymore.

So, what to do if Morris stays?

Job One is get him a solid Edge via trade (Burns), FA, or draft. If it’s the draft then use our 2nd.

Find a way to extend Gaines for reasons that I think are obvious. Not the least of which is that he really benefits AD.

Need to upgrade one outside CB. Could be developing Durant, FA, or draft pick. Speaking of developing secondary players, these new asst coaches to be hired for the secondary better be damned good. The development success of the previous ones was woeful. Probably why they were fired by McVay.

Safety needs to be upgraded. Not sure if Fuller is quite good enough, assuming that he can even stay healthy. I’m hopeful that Rams can and will be able to extend Scott but I fear that it’s less than 50-50. In any case, I fully expect Safety to be drafted and wouldn’t be surprised if it’s early on Day 3 if one they like is sitting there.

If Snead/McVay can pull all this off, and I think it’s very doable, then Morris’ job gets a whole helluva lot easier. Better pressure and better coverage combined allows his soft zone to be a lot more effective. An O putting up 28-30 points a game again is another key helpful factor.

Thoughts?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/2023 07:59AM by Rams43.