Patience, not money, fixes LA Rams offensive line woes

The LA Rams offensive line played poorly and injured often in 2019. But patience, not money, will prove more important for the long term fix

The LA Rams offense was not a complete train wreck in 2019. But the offensive production plummeted from the year before. Did the Rams simply face stiffer defenses? Did injuries play a bigger role in the decline? And ultimately, does it mean the team needs to blow up the offensive line and start completely over? Or is this the time for restraint and patience? Where do we begin?

To begin with, the LA Rams offensive line for Super Bowl 53 was left tackle Andrew Whitworth, left guard Rodger Saffold, center John Sullivan, right guard Austin Blythe and right tackle Rob Havenstein.  But the team lost Saffold to the Tennessee Titans in free agency, and declined to bring back Sullivan in 2019.  For an offensive line which played practically two entire seasons intact, these changes were more significant than anyone could imagine.

New season new offensive line

After the 2019 training camp, the Rams started the 2019 season projecting these starters on the offensive line:  Left tackle – Andrew Whitworth, left guard Joseph Noteboom (second year player, replacing free agent Safford), center Brian Allen (replacing Sullivan), right guard Austin Blythe, and right tackle Rob Havenstein.  Even without any injury pressure, the Rams entered 2019 with two new offensive linemen, and a schedule which brought the Rams to face the best of the NFL.

Both Allen and Noteboom felt ready to crack the Rams starting lineup. But the team failed to recognize placing two “rookies” side by side meant a significant adjustment period for everyone on that offensive line.  Both Allen and Noteboom put in the hours to learn NFL offenses and defenses as they played behind Safford and Sullivan.  But there is a huge difference in studying film and applying that knowledge real time.

OL Dominoes begin to fall the wrong way

Despite significant changes to the offensive line anticipated for 2019, the Rams failed to reinforce the squad effectively via the 2019 NFL Draft.  The team did draft versatile Oklahoma OT Bobby Evans at 97 and Wisconsin OT David Edwards at 169. But was it too little, and too late?

Not a recipe for success by any means, but it was a plan nonetheless.  Inevitably, signs of trouble developed early for this offensive line.  Backup OL Aaron Neary was suspended for the first four games due to violating the NFL substance abuse policy.  Things began to go downhill rapidly from there.

Keep in mind that the LA Rams, as all teams, enter the season with just 53 players on the active roster. Of those players, the team must mete out who stays based on anticipated rotations, specialty packages, and sheer depth.  So any team with repeated injuries to one area of the team will soon burn through their backups and be forced to call up players from the practice squad, as well as sign players from other team’s practice squads.

Unfortunately, that is what happened to Los Angeles in 2019.

Rams traumatic OL timeline

The Rams opened the 2019 season with three victories, two of which were on the road to the east coast.  But the team endured injury to right guard Austin Blythe (ankle) and tight end Tyler Higbee (chest) in the victory over the New Orleans Saints.

Suddenly, the Rams fell into a three game losing streak, memorable in that the Rams began to abandon their run first offense. LG Joe Noteboom was carted off the field with an ACL/MCL injury and was out for the season. Rookie guard David Edwards joined the starting lineup.

Help would soon be on the way.  The Rams acted quickly and traded a 2021 fifth round draft pick to the Cleveland Browns for backup interior offensive lineman Austin Corbett.  Corbett took over the roster spot of Noteboom, who was moved to injured reserve.

Not enough help

Edwards held up well in a road win against the Atlanta Falcons and at home against the Cincinnati Bengals. But the Rams offensive line suffered another blow in a road loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers when center Brian Allen suffered an MCL injury and was also now out for the season.

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Right tackle Rob Havenstein was also injured , and was replaced by rookie OT Bobby Evans. By the ninth game of the season, both new OL starters were out for the season.  By the tenth game of the season, the Rams offensive had become T Whitworth, G Blythe, C Austin Corbett (just acquired), G David Edwards (rookie) and T Bobby Evans (rookie).

The wheels fell off when the Rams were blown out by the Baltimore Ravens. From that point on for the remainder of the season, the Rams failed to overcome the lead held by the Minnesota Vikings for the sixth and final wild card spot.

Eventually, the Rams would line up Whitworth at left tackle, Corbett at left guard, Blythe at center, Edwards at right guard, and Havenstein at right tackle.  While the team’s lineup changed rapidly all season, the offensive line play improved dramatically as the season wore down to a close.

Changes likely to occur

The Rams offensive line must be a focus for the team’s front office this off-season. Two more offensive linemen from that Super Bowl team are headed for free agency: left tackle Andrew Whitworth and right guard/center Austin Blythe. Based on the teams approach to center John Sullivan, it’s a toss-up as to whether or not the team will make an effort to retain either player on  the roster.  If that is the case, the team will be left with just right tackle Rob Havenstein as the lone remnant from that season, just two years ago.

The team has plenty of talent on their offensive line.  The team drafted two offensive linemen in 2019: right tackle Bobby Evans and project starting right guard David Edwards.  Both saw playing time in 2019, which will accelerate their progress in the 2020 training camp.

Youth movement for team already here

Add to that list backup center Shelton Coleman, who may be ready to compete for starting time in 2020. We know that starting center Brian Allen is returning to health in 2020, as is starting left guard Joe Noteboom.  Guard Austin Corbett will likely compete for  the left guard role, and right tackle will be handled by Havenstein.

Left tackle will definitely be where the hottest competition occurs in training camp. Keep your eye on undrafted free agency Chandler Brewer. With chemotherapy behind him, and all the debilitating effects, Brewer will be ready to compete full force in 2020 for playing time.  And of course, the Rams could target a free agent for the projected left tackle vacancy.

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.

Abundant young talent

The Rams are by no means devoid of young talented players.  In fact, the team recently announced signing nine players to reserve future contracts.  Amidst the nine signees are offensive guard Jeremiah Kolone and center Nate Trewyn.

Right now, the Rams have more young offensive linemen than veterans. That means the team will be committing plenty of coaching resources and effort to coach them up to NFL ready this off-season.  Some of the young players will experience their first LA Rams training camp with the team in 2020. Others will have the benefit of some playing time in 2019 to make real progress this off-season.  The second year for many linemen is where is all begins to “click”.

But no one, neither veteran nor rookie, will have played at Sofi stadium before. That unto itself will be a huge motivator for fans and players alike. With the new stadium comes an unprecidented home field advantage.

We’re all fans, aiming blindly at what the team needs to do to improve the team in reaction to what went wrong.  Sometimes, the best fix is patience. Young players need time and playing time to truly develop.  It doesn’t help that the Rams are likely to swap out four of five staring linemen from the Super Bowl team just two years after the fact.  Perhaps the wiser path here is to slow down on the rapid changes to the O -line, pause and take a deep breath, and limit moves to those which are both necessary and have greatest chance of improving the team.  Otherwise, the team is just panicking and risks making the difficult situation even worse.