Game Thread: Week 14, New England Patriots @ Los Angeles Rams, Thursday, 12/10/20, 5:20 PM PST

[Jermaine133]

I just hope that he matures and stops partying on nights before games.

We keep hearing about that, are the rumors really true??

 

[Retroram52]

Some folks in the LA socialite nightlife claim they have witnessed Goff partying-hardy the night before a game but others say that it is all BS.

 

[Vitamike]

I think that year in the draft, I was clamoring for an OT or Center, basically an O-lineman. I thought Keenum would suffice when we drafted Goff. I didn't think much of Wentz either.

Just for the sake of memory lane on our 10-day stretch, here is a look at the 2016 opening day roster. A lot of dead weight and complete phonies talent-wise.

QB​

Case Keenum

Sean Mannion

Jared Goff

Here’s the thing about Jared Goff being “third string.” Should Case Keenum get injured, play horribly or some combination thereof would Sean Mannion actually take over in game action? Remember, Mannion played with the backup backups all preseason. He never actually got any reps with the top of the rest of the offensive depth chart, something we can’t say about Goff.

So while the depth chart might indicate Goff is “behind” Mannion, I’m not entirely sure that would be the case when it matters...

RB​

Todd Gurley

Benny Cunningham

Malcolm Brown

Chase Reynolds

Something we haven’t gotten too deep with is how much rest Todd Gurley is going to need. Here’s how he rotated last year, with the obvious footnote being that he was worked into the season resting the first two games:

Gurley: 456 snaps (47.60% of offensive snaps, 48.87% of RB snaps); 229 rushes (65.99% of RB rushes)
Cunningham: 282 snaps (29.44%, 30.23%); 37 rushes (10.66%)
Tre Mason: 182 snaps (19.00%, 19.51%); 75 rushes (21.61%)
Malcolm Brown: 9 snaps (0.94%, 0.96%); 4 rushes (1.15%)
Isaiah Pead: 3 snaps (0.31%, 0.32%); 2 rushes (0.58%)
Chase Reynolds: 1 snap (0.10%, 0.10%); 0 snaps (0.00%)


So there are two central questions here. One is does the 50% of snaps and 66% of rushes as the mark still hold as the target? Given that Gurley missed essentially 3.5 games last year, do those numbers go up assuming he’s available and healthy for all 16 regular season contests? Does his lack of exceptional passing game skills keep those numbers low on its own? The second question is on the rotation behind him. With Pead and Mason removed from the group, how much work do Cunningham and Brown get? Cunningham was clearly installed as a passing game role (see the discrepancy between the playing time he and Mason got and how many more carries Mason received).

WR​

Tavon Austin

Kenny Britt

Pharoh Cooper

Brian Quick

Nelson Spruce

Bradley Marquez

Mike Thomas

WR depth charts are always a bit funky since they’re not linear like most other positions. You’ve only got one QB on the field at a time. You’ve only got one RB most of the time in the NFL. But for WRs, you can go five-wide. The Rams went with the 11 formation (one running back, one tight end, three wide receivers) 50% of the time last year. So the real question is how much of the time that will mean a Austin-Britt-Cooper look. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Brian Quick get time in a three-man front.

Two things to note. One, injuries are playing a part in shaping the position depth chart right now. The Week 1 personnel will likely differ significantly from the Week 9 personnel following the bye. Two, we know Jeff Fisher has an aversion to playing rookies early on. So the Cooper-Spruce-Thomas trio will likely get more work after the bye than before it.

TE​

Lance Kendricks

Cory Harkey

Tyler Higbee

Temarrick Hemingway

The Cory Harkey slot messes this one up a bit since he plays an entirely different position than the other three. I’ll definitely be tracking the Kendricks-Higbee-Hemingway playing time matrix.

OL​

LT	Greg Robinson	Pace Murphy
LG	Rodger Saffold	Cody Wichmann
C	Tim Barnes	Demetrius Rhaney
RG	Jamon Brown	David Arkin
RT	Rob Havenstein	Andrew Donnal

This one’s a bit misleading since you’ve got some rotational ability. If I was breaking it out for each position with duplicate roles for the guys, it’d look like this:

LT	Greg Robinson	Rodger Saffold	Rob Havenstein	Andrew Donnal	Pace Murphy
LG	Rodger Saffold	Cody Wichmann	Demetrius Rhaney	David Arkin
C	Tim Barnes	Demetrius Rhaney	David Arkin
RG	Jamon Brown	Rodger Saffold	Cody Wichmann	Demetrius Rhaney	David Arkin
RT	Rob Havenstein	Rodger Saffold	Andrew Donnal	Pace Murphy

That’s how you get the lineup we saw for the preseason with Rob Havenstein out which kicked Rodger Saffold over to RT opening up for Wichmann at LG.

DL​

Same as the OL. Here’s the single listing:

LDE	William Hayes	Ethan Westbrooks	Matt Longacre
LDT	Aaron Donald	Dominique Easley
RDT	Michael Brockers
RDE	Robert Quinn	Eugene Sims

And the full:

LDE	William Hayes	Eugene Sims	Ethan Westbrooks	Matt Longacre
LDT	Aaron Donald	Dominique Easley
RDT	Michael Brockers	Dominique Easley
RDE	Robert Quinn	William Hayes	Eugene Sims	Ethan Westbrooks

Not a ton to worry about here. We know Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams likes to rotate here. The real question for me is how much rotation he’ll squeeze that rotation down since he’s only got eight defensive linemen to work with.

LB​

MLB	Alec Ogletree	Bryce Hager	Josh Forrest
OLB	Nic Grigsby	Cory Littleton

CB​

Trumaine Johnson

E.J. Gaines

Coty Sensabaugh

Lamarcus Joyner

Troy Hill

And this was the roster put together by the Drama Queen, mind you!!

Really shows you how far McSnead has turned the roster, and continue to do so. They work well together.

Your post also reminds me of my attendance at the draft party that year at LA live to see Goff drafted, that was a fun day, and Retro, as you may remember, I had a ticket for you to join me if you could have made it out here...

Too bad it was such sort notice, as it was for me since I got my two tickets from a Season Ticket holder lottery, that said I just burned that extra ticket with the short notice and work day, but for some reason..... I found a bunch of like minded folks there to party with that day!

Rams fans are the BEST!!!