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Jake Long: F
This grade was pretty set in stone when
Long's terrible first-quarter play in the preseason game at Cleveland
destroyed Sam Bradford's season. Showed flashes of his old
run-blocking dominance but struggled with edge pass rush speed all
season until week 7, when he blew out his knee for the second
straight season. Long looked so bad it seems evident he rushed back
from the first blown knee. It also seems evident that his free agent
signing was one of the worst the franchise has ever made, and it
seems very possible he’ll be playing elsewhere in 2015.
Greg Robinson: C-
Very up-and-down rookie season for
Robinson. Didn't get on the field until week 5, at left guard, and
made good impressions quickly against long-time Ram-killers Justin
Smith and Brandon Mebane. At LT, had some early technique problems
against much-smaller DEs and appeared to miss a number of assignments
throughout the season. Too many times a defender hit the Rams QB
completely unblocked while Robinson appeared to be just standing
around. He proved to be a real bulldozer of a run-blocker, though;
the Rams should have run behind him much more than they did.
Joseph Barksdale: D+
Barksdale was a major liability in pass
protection, struggling with edge pass rush speed every week and even
worse than he did last year. That was most apparent in Kansas City
when Justin Houston beat him with the same inside move every play.
Saving grace is that he generally did well as a run-blocker, helping
key the Rams' wrap plays. He is the unrestricted free agent the Rams
should try to sign first this offseason and simultaneously one they
would be advised not to break the bank for. He didn’t show the
progress in 2014 you would have hoped for to justify a contract above
average for the position.
Scott Wells: F
Scott Wells is a warrior. He fought a
weird illness in the offseason and played hurt most of the regular
season. The number of snaps he botched, though, was simply awful, and
he was spraying the ball around already even before his elbow injury.
Seems like he had one or two bad ones every game. You cannot have
your center costing you games because he can’t snap the damn ball
right. Shame on the Rams for putting Wells in this position when they
had two other centers on the roster. A big reason the Rams had no
middle running game, though, was that Wells simply wasn't able to
budge nose tackles very often. He also struggled with blitzes and
stunts. I respect Wells gutting it out through a lot of adversity,
but some of these problems were already starting last year when he
was healthier. He should have less than a 50% chance of returning
next season.
Davin Joseph: D-
Was consistently beaten in pass
protection and got Shaun Hill knocked out of the first game. Was
blown off the line of scrimmage a lot in the running game, sometimes
so badly he made the tackle himself. There was a number of times
where Joseph was pull-blocking, meaning he's running at a guy, and
still couldn't budge him. Did not handle blitzes or stunts well. Was
occasionally a dominant run-blocker, but was such a week-to-week
liability that it is a must the Rams replace him for 2015.
Rodger Saffold: C+
Saffold was the Rams' best offensive
lineman this year; I wish that was saying more. He was steady but got
beaten inside in pass pro a fair share of times. Gets credit for his
versatility and for fighting through several injuries, including a
shoulder injury that had to be surgically repaired in the offseason.
Tim Barnes: F
Was inoffensive enough as mainly a
goal-line jumbo tight end, but it’s possible part of the reason the
Rams kept rolling Wells out there was they didn’t feel they could
trust Barnes with the job. Barnes’ lightweight performances in
preseason justify that judgment. You just can't get pushed around at
center as much as he does. At least Wells holds his ground.
Mike Person: F
Injuries got him some playing time late
in the season, and he showed some ability as a pulling guard in
preseason, but Person has not proved much of a match for the superior
speed, strength and ability of NFL defensive starters. He wouldn’t
be an upgrade over Joseph.
Barrett Jones, Brandon Washington: F
As bad as the players in front of them
on the depth chart looked, it was pretty disappointing not to see
either of these young players, Jones in particular, grab the brass
ring and force their way into the lineup. The F may really belong to
Fisher for continuing to roll Wells out there, or to Brian
Schottenheimer for calling too much middle running for a line that
couldn’t block it. But Wells was so banged-up and awful, and Joseph
was just so awful, that somebody should have been able to beat
them out.
Looking ahead: The Rams have two set
starters in Saffold and Robinson and then have to answer a lot of
questions. They're reportedly far apart in current negotiations with
UFA Barksdale, who's not worth a big contract, and it's smart of the
Rams not to give him one. Assuming he's out the door, the Rams will
have to be very active in free agency and the draft to fill three
major offensive holes, all next to one another. Somehow I didn't
expect year four of the Fisher plan to involve rebuilding almost the
entire offensive line, but the future is now. Cutting Long and Wells
is supposed to gain the Rams about $12 million in cap room; make good
use of it. Barnes was not tendered as a restricted free agent. As a
man much wiser than me once said, gotta go to work.
RamView's plan: So much going on here.
In the draft, the Rams reportedly really like Brandon Scherff (Iowa),
who should be there at #10, along with Stanford tackle Andrus Peat,
but I wouldn't take either ahead of Marcus Mariota, Kevin White or
Amari Cooper. Here's my plan, for those in need of a big laugh:
1. Robinson to right tackle. He's a
perfect run mauler and won't be protecting Bradford's blind side. At
LT, he will most definitely get Bradford blindsided.
2. Saffold to left tackle. He's no
all-pro but he's credible there.
3. Though free agency hasn't exactly
landed the Rams any Hall-of-Fame centers (Wells, Jason Brown), that's
where I'd make my biggest splash and go hard after Chiefs UFA Rodney
Hudson. He'd be a rock in the middle the Rams just haven't had. He's
already one of the league's elite centers and he's just 25. If they
fail on Hudson, there are several very acceptable Plan B's in free
agency, including Stefen Wisniewski, Mike Pollak and Chris Myers.
There's little reason for the Rams not to get upgraded at center in
the next couple of days.
4. This is a very good draft for guards
from what I've seen, and I'm planning to draft a couple, though if
the Rams draft a guard and a tackle and leave Robinson and Saffold
where they currently are, that'll work. Top guards often don't get
drafted until the third round or later, so I'm hoping to pick up
someone like Laken Tomlinson (Duke) or Arie Kouandjio (Alabama) there
and get someone like Max Garcia (Florida) or John Miller (Louisville)
later.
The acquisitions replace Joseph, Wells
and Barnes. I'll give Jones one last shot to be the swing
guard/center, and if I can retain Long much, much more cheaply, he'll
be the third tackle/swing guard.
Shoot the moon: My plan is the “shoot
the moon” plan, but this is the area of the team where the Rams
have to shoot the moon if they're going to do it. Hudson will run $8
million a year or more, but I believe center's the position to make a
big free agency move.
Rams predictions: Robinson and Saffold
stay where they are. The Rams really like Saffold at guard.
Non-tendering Barnes tells me they're clearing the decks at center,
and I believe Wells will be replaced this week by a free agent,
though probably not Hudson. I'll predict Wisniewski. They'll
re-negotiate Long to stick around as a swing guard/tackle. I also
like Jim Thomas' or Nick Wagoner's (sorry I forgot my source) theory that they'll go after Justin Blalock, one of
Paul Boudreau's former players, to replace Joseph. Barksdale will get
overpaid elsewhere and be replaced by the Rams' first-round pick,
though Long may start the season.
-$-
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