LA Rams OL Coach Aaron Kromer allows team to dig deeper in NFL Draft

The LA Rams can choose to draft later round offensive linemen because OL Coach Aaron Kromer can coach them up into NFL caliber players with a better than the average success rate

The LA Rams have had a lot of success upfront on offense. That success had allowed the team to propel a young quarterback Jared Goff to among the elite passes of the NFL. That success allowed running back Todd Gurley to strike fear into NFL defenses throughout the league. And that success allowed the Rams to redefine the NFL passing game to a quick-strike multi-level threat that could move the chains regardless of down or distance. And that success has been possible due to LA Rams running game coordinator/offensive line coach Aaron Kromer.

But what’s past is past. The LA Rams face a true identity crisis as the team emerges from a down season in 2019, and has already taken up the yolk for making the 2020 season a success. To fans, success oftentimes carries a bit of nostalgia with it. A successful offseason is one that brings back productive veterans at market rates. And in some situations, that’s great.

Offensive line coach Aaron Kromer does not have the luxury of easing back with the belief that today’s starters will return the next football season at the same playing level.  Kromer must enter each new year as though the LA Rams will need to start the youngest and most inexperienced offensive linemen. And for 2019, that very much proved to be the case.

The team entered 2019 planning for a new left guard in second-year player Joseph Noteboom and center in a second-year player Brian Allen. Neither seemed prepared for their promotion, fell to injury which ended their season, forcing Kromer to send rookies David Edwards and Bobby Evans to the front lines. That was a test of the team’s resilience. While the team struggled at times, eventually the offensive line passed the test of injuries.

Test of success

But the true test, and the one the LA Rams must surely pass this off-season, is the ability to develop both young and undervalued players to step up to starting roles which will occur naturally.  And so it goes with the LA Rams offensive line, amidst a mini identity crisis for the 2020 season before the season even begins.

A crisis of too many and too little.  The LA Rams will carry eight offensive linemen into the 2020 season.  But from the moment the team re-signs left tackle Andrew Whitworth, the team will have too many linemen for the 2020 season, and the 2019 performance suggests that the team will have too few who excel at the starting role.

Who to invest time into? Who to part ways with, and who to retain? Sometimes the true test is not simply doing, but in knowing when to walk away. And so the Rams must decide the future of the offensive line, and in many ways the future of the team, in the 2020 off-season. That will fall most upon Coach Kromer.

It won’t all fall upon him today, or even on draft night. I would not be surprised if the Rams do use up to two selections to choose offensive line help in the 2020 NFL Draft if the talent is there. But the decisions won’t go away if we close our eyes.

Sorting through the roster

The LA Rams may have some question marks, but the team has a better picture of what the offensive line could look like in 2020. That’s important for the team heading into the 2020 NFL Draft.  Let’s examine what we know today

Left Tackle –   Andrew Whitworth (FA if signed), 2020 Draft pick (if selected) Joseph Noteboom
(if healthy), Chandler Brewer
Left Guard –   Austin Corbett, Jeremiah Kolone
Center –           Brian Allen (if healthy), Coleman Shelton (ERFA, if signed), Nate Trewyn
Right Guard – David Edwards, Jamil Demby,
Right Tackle – Rob Haventstein (if healthy), Bobby Evans

That’s 13 players. Many fans do not believe that it is enough to “fix the offensive line!” Perhaps, and perhaps not. But our votes do not truly count. The one person whose vote does matter is Kromer. And we’ll know how he has voted during the 2020 NFL Draft.

The LA Rams had to deal with a devastating string of injuries, and as a result, needed to trade a draft pick to the Cleveland Browns in 2019 for a serviceable offensive lineman in Austin Corbett. This year, the team should seek to unload some linemen for draft picks early, rather than risk cutting players who had game time experience last year, but find themselves released upon the 53-man roster cuts.

Great teams grow through attrition

The path to the NFL playoffs can take many shapes and forms. But the path to the NFL Superbowl requires a team to endure and persevere through hardships.  The Athletic.coms LA Rams correspondent had some sage wisdom he shared on twitter about Rams’ players who left for a bigger payday elsewhere

Which I both agree with, and makes me pose the question: Are players playing lights-out due to their Rams’ teammates?  In the end, are the players like Dante Fowler Jr., Michael Brockers, and Cory Littleton elevating the play of All-Pro DT Aaron Donald, or does Donald’s play elevate their game?

So it was in 2019 as the Rams were forced to cycle through their backups to plug holes in the offensive line.  Thanks to Kromer, the team found starters for the future in both David Edwards and Bobby Evans. The front office was able to land a starter with a fifth-round pick in Austin Corbett. And that same front office will need to weigh in on the matter of whether or not veteran right tackle Rob Havenstein fits the team’s youth movement on the offensive line going forward?

Dig Deep Draft

LA Rams head coach Sean McVay has not had a round one rookie added to his team since arriving in 2017. That streak continues through at least 2021. All the while, he hasn’t panicked. He takes who he has on the roster and wins. That win-with-whomever-we-have is not typical in the NFL. In fact, it’s truly only possible thanks to some quality position coaches on staff. Offensive line coach/Run game coordinator Aaron Kromer is atop that list.

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After all the smoke cleared, the team’s offensive line was made up of players who had never played together before, one of which was new to the LA Rams, and two of which were new to the NFL. And finished 9-7. This same OL coach has a new year to work with the 2020 starting unit. The team’s plans to bring back left tackle Andrew Whitworth does not solve the Rams’ issue at left tackle. It merely buys the team time to coach up his replacement. Realistically, the end product at the offensive line was patchwork and duct tape. Warm healthy bodies were “stuck in there” to see if they could hold their own.  They did.

In the 2020 NFL Draft, the LA Rams will not select 6 offensive linemen. In fact, the team may walk out with just one new player for Aaron Kromer to work with. But this will be enough.  Aaron Kromer is one of the best OL coaches in the NFL, and he has the chance to work with over a dozen offensive linemen this spring and summer.

The LA Rams likely will not use day two draft picks for the offensive line because quite frankly, they won’t need to do so. Kromer knows the type of player he can work with. Raw in talent, high in the upside, and undervalued by traditional NFL scouting methods. The David Edwards and Bobby Evans of the 2020 NFL Draft, whose draft profile will emphasize what they cannot do in the NFL, will be a testimony to what OL coach Kromer can do. The Rams offensive line may not have been a strength in 2019, but one thing is certain. The Rams offensive line will not be a weakness in 2020.