5 reasons LA Rams offensive line goes from rags to riches

Reason 2 – Who to coach up?

How do you draft to improve the team without a clear handle on who of the linemen can step up, and who cannot?   Draft picks are valuable commodities, and the Rams must decide among the coaching staff which players need more time, and which players have peaked in terms of their ability to play better.

Those are incredibly difficult discussions to hold among a coaching staff where the majority of players in the discussion have started a partial NFL season.  Assuming the Rams fall back to their most senior status on the team, the coaches will favor starting Andrew Whitworth at left tackle, Austin Corbett at left guard, Brian Allen (if he is healthy enough) at the center, David Edwards at right guard, and Rob Havenstein at right tackle.

So that’s settled. Or is it?

Joe Noteboom struggled in 2019, but he was a college left tackle. Should he become Andrew Whitworth’s heir apparent?  Do the Rams want to count on Brian Allen at the center position, knowing he is returning from a knee injury? Shouldn’t the team give the opportunity to a healthy Coleman Shelton?  The offensive line has so many moving parts that position competitions must be fierce but quick.