Yeah, the Rams are top shelf in their FO, on D, and ST. But I want to just comment on their O in this post.
I re-watched the Raider game and here are my general takeaways that bode well for this season and beyond.
Someone put a helluva lot of thought into selecting this O bunch. “Fits” were considered heavily in the respective acquisition processes. Not just for the locker room, but for the projected player ability to implement McVay’s strategies.
Consider, in no particular order, the following:
An amazing OL now exists in the front. A mixture of seasoned vets and youth. With impressive depth through at least Noteboom, Blythe, and Allen. With this OL, McVay knows that he can either run or pass as he chooses. And so does his opponent. Lol.
We have an elite RB in Gurley. Possibly the league’s best. Would you trade Gurley straight up for ANY RB straight up? Me neither. Gurley is a terror to defend while running, pass receiving, or pass protecting. Truly a nightmare to defend.
We have 3 WR’s that excel in route running, great hands, blocking, and are all football smart. Two of them can consistently get behind the deep secondary. Geez, what more do we want?
Which brings me to the young Jared Goff. A QB that started to grow up before our very eyes last year under McVay. Smart, dedicated, calm, accurate, subtlely elusive in the pocket, already a master at play action and sweep fakes, can make all the throws... just missed on 4 passes to Woods and Cooks. Something to strike fear into the heart of opposing DC’s because they know he was only off by inches and that will only improve with more reps. And he excels with his ball security, a very valuable thing.
All of the above directed by this Sean McVay O prodigy. It’s possible that McVay has only scratched the surface of what can be done with such an above listed group of players. THAT’s gotta be a scary thought for our scheduled opponents.
But a couple of impressions are already evident.
This jet sweep has been raised to deadly status. Notice to the league was served with 4 different players gaining 6 or more yards every single time that Goff actually handed it off, one was a 19 yard Gurley TD! Then, when Goff faked the handoff the D found itself semi-paralyzed because it was partly out of position when forced to honor it. This will continue all season long and I don’t really know how the opposing D’s can ever fully defend it, given the quality of the players and QB involved. Tavon who?
As the announcers said on TV, McVay has designed an O where a run looks like a pass and a pass can look like a run presnap and even a second or so after the snap. Drives D’s nuts!
McVay has the flexibility to tailor his O to attack each week’s opponent at their weakest point. His O is far from one dimensional, IOW.
Another thing I admire about McVay. He doesn’t go into a shell and just run the ball to protect a modest lead late in the game. Oh, no. He keeps his boot on the neck of the opponent while calling some pass plays that result in clock killing 1st downs AND retaining possession of the ball. That late drive against the Raiders was a beautiful thing in itself, PLUS demonstrated his confidence in his players. The look on Gruden’s face could be described as grudging admiration, I think.
It’s early in the season, and the Ram O seemed kinda rusty for a while. But then we started seeing glimpses of what is in store from this O this season. And what other “wrinkles” has McVay yet to display? Can’t wait to find out.
In summary? It seems that Demoff, Snead, and McVay have done a magnificent job of assembling and developing, then deploying a remarkable group of O players that are going to entertain the heck out of us all season long.
And this post is just about the O. Don’t get me started on Wade’s D. Lol.
