3 reasons why Rams 12-personnel can break Tutu Atwell loose in Week 5

(2) - Rams OL needs some help at blocking

I celebrated using two tight ends in the offensive planning against the San Francisco 49ers because it was unexpected and effective. That is even though the 49ers defense has a pretty solid group of linebackers, the unit that would see the most playing time as soon as the team began to send two tight ends onto the football field. The team sometimes has to ignore what the opponent might do, and simply rally behind their strongest group of players.

What I love most about two tight ends is how that configuration amplifies the strength of this offense. Here's what I mean:

Even as the team has both staring offensive tackles back and playing, this offensive line has been a kaleidoscope of iterations so far this season. While the Rams current offensive line of Alaric Jackson, Logan Bruss, Beaux Limmer, Kevin Dotson, and Rob Havenstein have finally been stacking up playing together in consecutive games, they are still learning how to optimize playing together.

And that means that additional help at blocking is always a good idea.

Just check out the grades for the Rams two tight ends playing against the stingy 49ers defense in Week 3. You can see that both Hunter Long and Colby Parkinson were hugely effective at blocking:

That is more than mere coincidence. While the Rams boast the blocking ability of their wide receivers, I fear that the team's reliance on 200 pound players blocking 250+ pound defenders has become too common. The Rams should use that level of blocking sparingly, not as a bread-and-butter staple of this offense.

After all, it comes back to the depth chart. If the team is carrying so many tight ends, why are they on the roster?