Joseph Noteboom injury adds even more pressure to Rams offensive line

The injuries continue to pile up for the Los Angeles Rams after Joseph Noteboom will miss the remainder of the 2019 season.

During the offseason, the Los Angeles Rams felt confident enough in moving on from Rodger Saffold in free agency to help pave the way for Joseph Noteboom on the offensive line.

Despite seeing limited action as a rookie in 2018, there was a reason why the Rams felt so confident in selecting the TCU product in the third round of the draft that year, especially since Noteboom would be taking a larger role in what was already a solid offensive line.

Unfortunately, some of the adjustments involving Noteboom and the rest of the offensive line have been an issue for Los Angeles so far in 2019, as the team’s most recent loss to the San Francisco 49ers will show that.

And if watching the offensive line struggle for the most part over the first six games wasn’t already frustrating enough, the Rams learned that Noteboom suffered a torn ACL and MCL in his right knee during Sunday’s loss to the Niners.

All of a sudden, the excitement surrounding Noteboom’s larger role with the offensive line will be pushed back until next season, as this injury adds even more pressure to an offensive line that has been struggling.

It was devastating enough to see Todd Gurley (quad) miss Sunday’s game on top of Aqib Talib (rib) being sent to IR on Monday, but the Noteboom injury may be the most difficult pill to swallow of all.

Dating back to when McVay was hired as the youngest head coach in NFL history, the Rams made it a priority to improve their offensive line after watching Jared Goff finish 0-7 as a rookie to make sure their quarterback received the proper protection moving forward.

Over the last two seasons, Los Angeles has been fortunate enough to have one of the top units in the league, and it’s been a major reason behind the team’s success on offense.

But if Rams fans need the perfect example of how different things have been in 2019, all they need to do is look at Week 6 in which Goff completed just 13 passes for 78 yards to show how rough it’s been with the offensive line.

Whether someone like Jamil Demby steps up or Los Angeles simply looks to make a trade before the deadline, it’s going to be difficult to replace Noteboom after his latest injury.

No matter what the Rams decide to do, there’s no question this latest injury surrounding Noteboom adds even more pressure to the offensive line moving forward, beginning on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons.