Patience, not money, fixes LA Rams offensive line woes

Aaron Kromer is one of the NFL’s best, for good reason

What truly failed for the LA Rams in 2019 is the sheer volume of injuries. That offensive line never had the time to hit bedrock – the point where mutual familiarity allows the line to improve their play. Each week meant a new set of five players had to relearn their teammates.

Running game coordinator and offensive line coach Aaron Kromer is one of the best offensive line coaches in the NFL.  But as good as he is, he needs time to work with his linemen. And he needs familiarity with their performance to highlight where he needs to coach them up. In 2019, he had the benefit of neither with the stream of new faces on the roster.

It didn’t help that the Rams schedule included some of the toughest teams in the NFL. It was all Kromer could do to select which players would start, and help them with a quick and dirty coach-up each week to prepare them to line up with unfamiliar teammates against an unfamiliar opponent to run unfamiliar plays from an unfamilar playbook.

Now, we are NOT suggesting that the team ignores the offensive line this off-season: either in free agency nor the 2020 NFL Draft.  But in the era of “mock draft” online simulators, and Monday morning GMs, it becomes far too easy for fans to simply commit to each and every marquis free agent – regardless of fit.  Likewise, it’s far too simple to second guess draft selections with no first hand knowledge of the team’s analytics, needs, or draft board.