Aaron Neary suspension puts more pressure on Rams offensive line

With the pressure the Los Angeles Rams were already feeling on the offensive line, the Aaron Neary suspension is the last thing the team needs to be dealing with.

Between moving on from John Sullivan to losing Rodger Saffold in free agency, the Los Angeles Rams knew their offensive line would be going through some adjustments heading into the 2019 season after all of the success from the previous two years.

Unfortunately, it looks like the Rams could be going through another adjustment depth wise after the weekend got off to a rough start with the news surrounding Aaron Neary.

Turns out, Leary will be suspended for the first four games of the 2019 season as a result of violating the league’s policy and program of substance abuse, which Los Angeles obviously didn’t want to hear.

While the argument can be made this news would be more devastating if Neary were an actual starter instead of a backup guard, this just adds to some of the previous concerns the Rams were already dealing with in regards to their offensive line.

Despite the expectations for players such as Joseph Noteboom taking on a larger role in 2019, Los Angeles knows there are no guarantees when it comes to the transition being smooth, meaning it was important to have reliable depth just in case.

Neary hasn’t exactly been the most reliable player in the NFL since his lone appearance in a game came during the 2017 season when the Rams rested all their starters during the regular-season finale.

But also, keep in mind that Los Angeles wouldn’t be wasting their time with Neary on the roster if they didn’t believe he could be a valuable backup option to the offensive line, so this suspension is even more frustrating to deal with.

Looking ahead at September, the first month of regular season action was already going to be a difficult challenge for the Rams, whether it was opening up on the road against the Carolina Panthers or hosting the New Orleans Saints in Week 2.

Even if the argument can be made that Neary wouldn’t have seen any action over the first four games, just having the option made the situation with the offensive line a little better since now someone will need to step up in his absence.