Here’s Merlin…
A starting edge is going to study film on his opponent for that week, and the focus of the staff is on the LT as well looking for tells and tendencies and also categorizing his weaknesses. So there is an enormous difference in looking good in spot start duty and even starting against a random couple opponents vs being the guy out of camp with each week's matchup prepping for you and your weaknesses. Starting LTs basically get much of the NFL's best edges and minds trying to dismantle their game every week and once they find the flaws it's relentless until you can counter them.
Boom had some decent moments but he got smoked in the predictable matchups, those being the edges who have power to their game. So I agree with you that he's not a bust. And I get why the Rams went with him for the season and all that. But there is still a lot of questions surrounding him. He is going to need to improve vs the power edges he will face and I know the guy works hard but these things are elements the team can only help him so much with.
For 2023 we're gonna have question marks at LT because of this. "Is Boom good enough" is the label for that one. Plus on top of that he has to stay healthy. And our resources are not deep this offseason for hedging that bet so no matter how we slice this one there will be some dice rolls going on.
