LA Rams made these 7 ‘right calls’ over the offensive line

III – Trade for IOL Corbett

If it’s the darkest before the dawn, then the moment the LA Rams determined that they needed to trade for an interior offensive lineman to shore up their depth chart must certainly have been their darkest hour. The Rams were getting crushed on the offensive line. Joseph Noteboom fell to injury. Austin Blythe fell to injury. Then Brian Allen fell to injury.  Trading for IOL Austin Corbett from the Cleveland Browns was an act of desperation. It cost the Rams a fifth-round draft pick, a price that certainly was inflated thanks to the desperation of the situation.

The Rams immediately promoted Corbett to a starting role on the offensive line. Starting on a line he had shared no offseason with. Starting on an offensive line he had no training camp with, no preseason with. He was starting with four other offensive linemen he barely had met before suiting up and getting pushed onto a football field. And through it all, he held his own.

Patch for 2019, solution for 2020

The LA Rams needed a boost to the interior offensive line and Austin Corbett delivered. The Rams strategy for offensive linemen seems to be drafting offensive tackles and then coaching some of those players into a role as an interior offensive lineman. While that strategy can work over a long period of time, it struggles when the team needs to produce interior offensive linemen over a short time frame, or even instantly.

Getting Corbett from the Browns bench and onto the Rams starting roster was simply a roster patch for 2019. But even without the benefit of working with the Rams in the offseason, Corbett was able to finish out the season as one of the Rams better players, all the while in the position to train with the group and perform even better in 2020.