Rams add more offensive line depth in fifth round with David Edwards

The Rams trust their offensive line coach to develop middle round talent into quality starters. Here is why OT David Edwards fits with that strategy.

The Los Angeles Rams have a lot of faith in their offensive line coach, Aaron Kromer.

Kromer has shown the ability to take underperforming talent on the offensive line and develop it into quality starting unit.

Consider the production Kromer got out of Austin Blythe last year, or the improvement that we have seen from Rob Havenstein, and it’s easy to understand the trust Los Angeles has in their coach.

Thanks to this level of trust, this leads the Rams to feel comfortable waiting later in drafts to focus on offensive line while using higher picks to address other areas.

Take into consideration as well what Rams beat writer Vinny Binsignore said leading up to the first round, and this is yet another example of the confidence in Kromer.

This is exactly what we are seeing in the draft after the Rams used the 97th pick to take offensive tackle Bobby Evans out of Oklahoma followed by David Edwards at No. 169 out of Wisconsin.

Once again, Edwards is another scrappy big man for Kromer to mold into a quality blocker to put the Rams offensive line in much better position heading into the 2019 season.

Edwards was second team All-Big Ten this year, and has played his entire career at right tackle, so he lacks the versatility of Evans, although that doesn’t mean the Rams won’t use him at different spots on the offensive line.

Edwards is large, strong, and efficient. However, criticisms of him are that he is a bit sloppy, over leaning into blocks and struggles to generate power from his legs.

This may be due  to a neck injury that Edwards suffered and fought through. But luckily for Edwards, he has grown and improved over the last few seasons.

If Edwards gets fully healthy, he may regain some power. Edwards projects to a developmental tackle in the NFL, which sounds like clay for Kromer to work with.

Some other things to consider is that he is a former quarterback in high school, and recruited as a three-star quarterback to Wisconsin before bulking up and shifting to tackle.

Again, this shows the Rams propensity to select intelligent players who know the game well. The Rams have previously seen good luck with right tackles out of Wisconsin, with Rob Havenstein also a former Badger.

Los Angeles has compiled a list of intelligent blue collar style workers so far this draft. They still have yet to address edge, and with a couple picks left, it will be interesting to see what the Rams end up doing.