Nick Foles not concerned with Rams' OL chaos, which is old hand to him – Yahoo Sports (blog)

EARTH CITY, Mo. — The St. Louis Rams are taking great pains to fix an offensive line that has required more than just a tuneup.

Have you ever heard of a team spending five draft picks (including a supplemental choice, Isaiah Battle) in a single year at the position?

Ever seen a team that is rotating its three prospective centers — Tim Barnes, Barrett Jones and Demetrius Rhaney — by giving each a full-day crack at the starting reps instead of rotating them in throughout practice?

It might seem like the Rams are desperate or needy, or in a stark situation, but for new quarterback Nick Foles this isn’t as bad as he’s seen.

[Yahoo Sports Fantasy Football: Sign up and join a league today!]

As a senior at Arizona in 2011, Foles lined up behind a group that coming into the season had no seniors, only one returning starter (a junior) and the rest freshmen and sophomores. Although Foles only was sacked 23 times to 560 pass attempts, it’s misleading because of the spread offense the Wildcats ran where the mission was the get rid of the ball quickly. 

Even with that scheme, Foles took a pounding and was forced to scramble more than the statuesque quarterback likely wanted to. He suffered rib, knee and hand injuries and the Wildcats finished 4-8 despite Foles’ toughness and gaudy passing stats. 

“We saw great tougheness from him in college,” then-Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg told Shutdown Corner, “and he showed that same toughness when we threw him in there in a tough spot.”

In Foles’ rookie season with a lost Philadelphia Eagles team that was floundering to a 4-12 finish, they turned to the rookie with seven games remaining in the season, and Foles once more was tenderized like a cheap cut of beef: 20 sacks and umpteen hits in 285 dropbacks. He had games with four, five and six sacks apiece and yet still finished with his best games in two of his final three starts. 

“I’ve always felt like there’s going to be change up front, and I’ve gotten used to that,” Foles told Shutdown Corner after Tuesday’s practice. “It’s my job to help get those guys ready to do their job so I can do mine. That way we’re working hand in hand.”

Consider the Eagles’ starting offensive line combinations with Foles under center last season. There were a whopping five different permutations in his nine starts in 2014:

“We had a ton of injuries last season,” Foles said. “We had to mix and match every week. So doing this here in training camp is really no different. You just have to rally around one other. There is a positive to it.”

A broken collarbone in Week 9, his final start for the Eagles, knocked him out for good. In the offseason, Chip Kelly shipped him — along with a draft-pick swap — for Sam Bradford in one of the more interesting offseason trades. Then the Rams went to work on the rest of the offense. No unit saw more change, though, than on the offensive line.

They drafted Rob Havenstein in Round 2 and Jamon Brown in Round 3, and those could be your starting right tackle and right guard, respectively, in Week 1 against — gulp — the Seattle Seahawks. At center, Barnes took the first-team reps on Tuesday, and Jones and Rhaney each will get their runs with the ones on ensuing days, keeping with the pattern that Jeff Fisher and the offensive coaches have set since the start of camp.

Does Foles have trouble adjusting to a new style of center exchange every day?

“I’ve been in that situation before,” he said. “You have to do what you have to do to find the right guy. All three [centers] are tough, know the offense and are battling for that spot. They have different styles, but it hasn’t affected me, the exchange, the calls. It’s been smooth.”

Left tackle Greg Robinson, the No. 2 pick in the draft, could be a star, but he had a slow-developing rookie season in which he was tried at guard and tackle. Now is his chance to harness his athletic ability and prove his worth. It’s likely, as of now that Rodger Saffold — who has played both tackle and guard spots — will be the left guard. That means all five spots could be different from one year ago.

Trying to slow down the Rams’ fearsome defensive front is a daily chore, and it reportedly was a bit ugly in OTAs. But the group held its own in Tuesday’s practice, especially in terms of pass blocking, as Robinson gave Robert Quinn a few nice battles. Saffold said he’s seen development occur, and he’s doing his part as the veteran member up front to offer any guidance he can.

“I see myself as the veteran guy, the glue up front,” Saffold said. “Most of these guys haven’t been here long. The good news is that they’re not afraid to ask for help. The rookies, we talk a lot with them, show them things and try to get it right before we get on the field. It’s a process.”

Brown has caught the staff’s eye. The 340-pound mauler comes from a pro-style system at Lousville and says he’s just trying to win a job and show the coaches he can make strides with each day and week, even with a different face on either side of him at any point.

“It’s tough, but it’s not like our expectations change based on who is playing at any given moment,” Brown said. “We still expect perfect execution no matter who is in there. The bar is set very high with the coaches, and I just want to live up to that. We have a high ceiling.”

Foles has commanded practices, team sources say, since the day he stepped on the field. Watching him in practice, you can see him visit with almost every group — the backs, the receivers, the O-linemen — after a given play or a drill and just keep the lines of communication.

“I see that as part of my job description,” Foles said. “That’s how I am. I am going to be aggressive in practice. I am going to test everything and everyone. Mistakes don’t bother me right now because I’d rather have mistakes happen here, on the practice field. When you correct those mistakes here, you build a relationship and a trust. That’s my big thing.”

And though Foles can come across as guarded around the media or in public, dry even, his communication skills open up when it’s just the players.

“He’s just extremely boisterous,” Saffold said. “He’s also a Philly guy, or he was. Maybe that’s it. He’s good with the guys, but he’s young himself — you forget that sometimes. He’s all over the place.”

Even defensive end Chris Long can’t help but notice the Foles effect.

“He’s a poised guy, and the offense really seems to gravitate to him,” Long said.

There are jobs to win and a pecking order to determine at wide receiver. Tight end requires more clarity and depth established. We’re still waiting for Todd Gurley to hit the field, which could require some patience. But no Rams unit on offense is being more closely watched than the offensive line, which will be extremely young and inexperienced no matter how it shakes out.

Foles, for one, believes the group will come together in time — even with a tough early schedule that starts with the defending NFC champion Seattle Seahawks and that aggressive front.

“They’re getting more comfortable, especially the rookies. Things are slowing down. They’re going against a darned good defensive line. Those linebackers and defensive linemen don’t hold back,” Foles said. “I’ll see the ‘Mike’ linebacker come on a wraparound blitz and the safeties rocking and rolling, and those guys pick it up. They’re making the mental and the physical adjustments we need to be successful.”

– – – – – – –

Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm

• Nick Foles
• St. Louis Rams
• offensive line

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.