[CanuckRightWinger]

Well Elvis, I'll tell you this....
if McSnead do not send Goff & a big load of Ram Draft treasure to Detroit for Matthew Stafford, we never even sniff the Lombardi last February.

Unfortunately your 2022 OL heroes like Allen and Edwards et al are toiling at PassPro so damn effectively, so as to get that Matthew SBLVIWinnerForUs Stafford guy fooking maimed...

oh yeah, and they also run block like at a 31st-32nd clip in the NFL so far in 2022.

Other than that, our 2022 Ram OL is aces!

Now there are always detractors here to these here posts that point out the occasional misjudgement that McSnead may commit, but those folks usually bring up (at least lately):

-Ram injuries, because only the LA Rams suffer those, right...other NFL teams are immune;
-McSnead's 2017-2021 winning record (and inherent infallibility...except for 2019 );
-how we should all just STFU because we won SBLVI (um, didn't McVay himself say 2022 was a whole new season?);
-guys who notice and post about McSnead's rare boo-boos are somehow mentally damaged...y'know either Alzheimers or they trot out some lowbrow story of an old drunken uncle pissing himself on the porch after dinner......always a charming tale to pass along at a Rams Talk Forum.

In this case though, you brought up none-of-the-above.....
no, no....you bring up how OC Austin Blythe, who last toiled for McSnead in 2020 with 100% of the snaps for $4,067,260, and now is starting on Seattle's 2022 OL, also at 100% of snaps, for $4.0 Mil (per spotrac), where the SheHawks are averaging 26.1 PPG (5th in NFL )to our 17.3 PPG (27th )so far in 2022.

So what are you saying?
Blythe is better than Kolone? I agree.
Blythe is better than Allen? I dunno, maybe. Seattle's O is sure superior to ours so far in 2022.
Blythe is more durable than Allen? Clearly. Brian Allen gets injured every year with us.
The Rams braintrust was smart to let Blythe walk? I dunno.....were they?

Do let me know what the Austin Blythe reference was all about eh?

Seriously...
In the meantime, let's remember that McSnead themselves do NOT see themselves at infallible okay .....THAT'S WHY SNEAD HAS HIS "BOBBY WAGNER RULE"....IE. because Les Snead himself knows he fucked up in the 2012 Draft.

I wrote earlier about how a flawed 1979 Rams squad, backed into the Playoffs 9-7, with its strong D and low-scoring O, yet ended up leading 19-17 in the 4th Quarter at SBXIV. Maybe this 2022 Los Ramos squad is going to find that kind of puck-luck magic this season.
We'll see.

[PARAM]

Rams just won the SB with Brian Allen at center and David Edwards at left guard. If only they'd kept Saffold and Sullivan who know what they might've accomplished?

Odd how the Rams win a Superbowl with Brian Allen in the center of the OL and to some, it’s a fluke. One point being made is they couldn’t run the ball in the 2021 postseason. And yet so much is made of the Rams losing Rodger Saffold and John Sullivan in 2019. That vaunted Rams OL played well for 2 years but in the most crucial game during those 2 years, they failed. Hell, in the NFC Championship Game Goff pulled their asses out of the fire. But in SB53 the Rams ran the ball 18 times for 62 yards (3.4 ypc). They were also sacked 4 times and pressured many more. However, Rodger & Co. are held high, the pinnacle of a stellar Rams OL. The fact the Rams couldn’t run the ball in the 2021 postseason is the black mark for that OL.

Injuries? "They happen to every team!" Very true. But to what degree? How many OL’s have been as decimated as the Rams 2022 group and not missed a beat? I can’t think of any. Rodger Saffold missed 17 games his first 4 years and like Brian Allen and Joe Noteboom, was also thought of as “injury prone”. But in years 8 and 9 he was healthy and is now held up as an example of a tough lineman. Hell, with Noteboom starting at LT, the Rams offense put up the most points of their 2021 postseason. How'd that happen if he's such a downgrade? Never let the facts get in the way of a good rant!!! Particularly one that has been expressed ad nauseum since 2019. IIRC, back then, it was all Kromer’s fault (not Snead or McVay’s) as he held the influence over who the Rams drafted and played. Apparently, now, the 2021 OL was only "good" because of Stafford!

Hey, I get it. The Rams lose and fingers have to be pointed somewhere. It's got to be somebody's fault. Fans need to have a release, express their disappointment. A problem arises when they believe their ranting and over a 4 year period bring it up as if it's established fact.

Fact: Our O line is banged up. Severely. Are they untalented? "Sure, just look at that Buffalo game!!!" Well we're going to have to use a patchwork O line the rest of the year. Let's hope they gain some continuity and our playcaller schemes past some of their shortcomings. Or we'll hear more of that easy excuse, "they didn't plan well on the OL, something they've ignored for years!!!"

Here's the tale of the Rams 2022 OL:

Game 1: Noteboom, Edwards, Allen*, Shelton, Havenstein (L)
Game 2: Noteboom, Edwards, Shelton, Anchrum*, Havenstein (W)
Game 3: Noteboom, Edwards*, Shelton, Jackson, Havenstein (W)
Game 4: Noteboom, Evans, Shelton*, Jackson, Havenstein (L)
Game 5: Noteboom, Edwards*, Kolone, Jackson, Havenstein (L)
Game 6: Noteboom*, Evans, Kolone, Jackson, Havenstein (W)

bye week.....no injuries!!!

Game 7: Jackson, ???????, (Allen?????), ????????, Havenstein

* indicates injured during the game. We've had 1 lineman go down every game. 6 games, 6 different line combos, 6 injuries . Yeah, they should have planned better!!!

[Elvis]

Well Elvis, I'll tell you this....
if McSnead do not send Goff & a big load of Ram Draft treasure to Detroit for Matthew Stafford

Exactly my point. While some of you obsess over the middle of the line, Snead and McVay were busy getting the QB position right.

You can win a SB with a lot of different Oline construction but you really have to get your QB right.

Like i've said before Brian Allen and Mike Gruttadauria have SB rings whereas a perennial pro bowler and Ram great like Rich Saul does not...

[Hacksaw]

Losing Whit was huge but losing Corbett isn't to far behind.

[PARAM]

Exactly my point. While some of you obsess over the middle of the line, Snead and McVay were busy getting the QB position right.

You can win a SB with a lot of different Oline construction but you really have to get your QB right.

Like i've said before Brian Allen and Mike Gruttadauria have SB rings whereas a perennial pro bowler and Ram great like Rich Saul does not...

Haven't the Cleveland Browns had one of the best OLs in football the last 4 or 5 years? How'd that work for them with Mayfield and Brissett? Hell if you include the other skill players on offense they've been loaded. And they have 1 postseason win (over Pittsburgh, when Big Ben had like 17 turnovers).

[Elvis]

Complete failure by Snead and Co. to not have a starting caliber 3rd string center on the roster to open the season. (I'd expect Kolone back on the PS BTW).

[snackdaddy]

I knew nothing about Skura and Aboushi before they became a Rams player. I never knew how much experience those guys have. Skura has started 65 games and Aboushi 47 games according to the NFL player site.

I do like the idea of getting guys with experience for the depth rather than guys whose first game was this year. I'd feel better about those guys having to step in for injuries than guys like Kolone. Or even Evans who may have experience but we know he sucks at it.

[max]

The solution isn’t to bring in a bust like Flowers. Continuity would be a good start, if we could manage to get through a few games without losing another OL to injury.

True, we've got enough bad players on our OL already. We do need to keep our mediocre talent healthy so we don't get Stafford broken into little pieces.

But we really don't have a good solution for this year. That train has sailed.

[CanuckRightWinger]

So Elvis....you're telling the guy who referred to Jared LeadershipMoleculeofJimmyCarter Goff with constant disdain...
that I was "obsessed" with OLine and somehow missed the bus on replacing Goff??!!!
Yeah....right.
Nice attempt at a spin.

I've been Matthew Stafford's biggest supporter.....even taking on the ArmPunt detractor from Pennsylvania last November when I opined that our biggest problem wasn't Matthew Stafford, but rather lousy Run Defense by Raheem's guys that was killing us in TOP in those 3 November losses. Look it up.

But here's the point.....we could have Tom Brady in his prime, but if your Ace QB gets knocked out for the season, your season is fucked.....ask Bill Billicheck about how his 2008 season worked out for him!

Like I've written before....we are damn lucky to have Matthew Stafford with his baseball catcher genetics as our QB..... who can dislocate his shoulder, pop it back in, score a TD, and tells the trainer to rub some dirt on it (kinda like most hockey goalies up here actually). Damn lucky....given all the hits he's taken this season behind that OL.

Is nobody else here worried about the pounding our 34 year old QB is taking, and that maybe one of these hits Stafford takes is gonna result in a bone (or a spleen) sticking out somewhere through our QB's epidermis?? I fret about that because if Stafford goes down.....so do our 2022 Playoff aspirations.

My point earlier was that we had a talent-drain when we were missing Saffold and Sullivan on the OL, and we sucked in 2019, missed the playoffs, and Jared SuddenlySkiddish Goff got shellshocked and took over from Sam Bradford as the Rams AllTime Captain Checkdown.
So when we are missing the superior talents (to Saffold & Sully) of an Andrew FutureHOFer Whitworth and an Austin NewBigContract Corbett for 2022......should not the idea of beefing up the OL (with some outside talent ) have occurred to somebody collecting those seven figures of Kroenke's money?? You know, that 2019 deja vu thang??!!

.....and no, a #104 Draft Pick rookie from Wisconsin, was not the calibre of new infused OL talent I was envisaging to replace two 2nd Round studs like Whit and Corbett. IE. I didn't see that as enough new OL talent to offset the loss of Whit/Corbett.....
and then when Bruss goes down for the season, McSnead still didn't make any significant OL move to counter that Bruss loss.
Perplexing to me.

There's an old line in business:
IF YOU CANNOT MEASURE IT, YOU CANNOT MANAGE IT.

We are 3-3, averaging 17.3 PPG (less against the better Defenses), are playing Dink'n'Dunk football, and will need our D to play like the 1985 Bears to ring-up enough W's to make the Playoffs IMO.
Hey, I'm still optimistic for 2022, as I keep reminicing about Ray Malavasi's 9-7 squad in 1979.....and how far up the foodchain they managed to get on January 20, 1980 in Pasadena.

But I am not so optimistic as some of the Praeterian Guards here about how Brian Allen's return is going to suddenly firm up the 2022 Ram Offensive output.
Hey, I hope I'm wrong, and Allen's return propels us to a 180 yard rushing result versus the 49ers next week.....but somehow, I'm not feeling it.

Finally, uber ironic how Mr. ArmPunt is belittling "Ram fan finger-pointing" when 11 months ago he was all zeroed-in on Stafford.
You just cannot make this stuff up, eh!

[Elvis]

So Elvis....you're telling the guy who referred to Jared LeadershipMoleculeofJimmyCarter Goff with constant disdain...
that I was "obsessed" with OLine and somehow missed the bus on replacing Goff??!!!
Yeah....right.
Nice attempt at a spin.

Now this is spin. I never said you missed the bus on Goff. Talk about making shit up.

I am saying you're overvaluing the interior line and i would say the last 5 years have proven that. So did the GSOT.

You're bemoaning the loss of Saffold and Sullivan while the Rams are out winning the SB with Allen and Edwards. I mean it's pretty self evident, isn't it?

Get your coaching and QB right. The rest, including the Oline, can be done in a lot of different ways.

That's the part i think you're missing...