LA Rams news: 2019 offensive line woes have a 2020 silver lining

Talent pipeline running full capacity

Many expected the LA Rams to load up on offensive line talent in the 2020 NFL Draft. Whether or not that would have been the correct draft strategy, it never seemed to have much of a chance to happen. After all, the Rams had a more urgent need at other positions and seemed to have ample depth at the offensive line to ensure competition for playing time leading up to the 2020 NFL season.

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Even had the Rams chosen to add an offensive tackle in the 2020 NFL Draft, the first pick at 52 ensured that the Rams would be picking well after other teams had picked the best talent off the board. In the end, the Rams would only have an option to develop a player on the roster for a 2021 starting role.  While the Rams added ten players in the past 24 months, only OT Tremayne Anchrum and C Cohl Cabral will be true rookies in 2020.  The Rams offensive line, with the exception of Andrew Whitworth, Austin Blythe, and Rob Havenstein, are incredibly young. Even the mid-season additions of Austin Corbett and Coleman Shelton are young and will improve as they mature.

One positive out of that experience is that those added players now begin the season with the Rams. That means the Rams have now added ten offensive linemen to the roster in the past two seasons: Joseph Noteboom, Brian Allen, and Jamil Demby drafted in 2018, David Edwards and Bobby Evans drafted, Chandler Brewer (UDFA) in 2019,  Austin Corbett and Coleman Shelton added mid-season in 2019, and Tremayne Anchrum (drafted) and Cohl Cabral (UDFA) added in 2020. Ten players over a 24-month window.

Ten players in a two-year window is a lot of young talent to coach up, train, and manage. While the LA Rams had only added two players late in the 2020 selection process, the team has added enough players for two deep competition at each offensive line position, beyond the team’s veteran players. Now, how healthy are they?