5 OL questions LA Rams must answer before 2021 NFL Draft

Improve optics at right tackle

Who is competing with Rob Havenstein at right tackle? That’s a very good question. From what we observed in 2020, perhaps nobody was ever planned for the role. But that may not be a wise choice for the Rams this year. After all, 2019 was not so long ago, and Havenstein truly struggled in that season.

Rob Havenstein most certainly had a rebound season. He enjoyed a career-best regular season in 2018 of 1101 snaps giving up just two quarterback sacks and two penalties. But in the 2018 postseason, he was guilty of two penalties in just 208 snaps. That downturn seemed to carry over into the 2019 season when he allowed five quarterback sacks and committed eight penalties in just 616 offensive snaps.

2020 was a return to very good play. In 1,117 offensive snaps, he allowed four quarterback sacks and committed five infractions. That performance was good enough to earn a grade from Pro Football Focus of 80.0. But in the postseason he played 122 offensive snaps and allowed a quarterback sack. That dropped his performance back to a postseason grade of 72.7.

The LA Rams need to win. But if quarterback Jared Goff was a limiting factor when the going got tough, then so too does Havenstein create a glass ceiling for this offense. Should the Rams try former RT Bobby Evans in a starting role in 2021? There was an expectation that Evans might be given a shot to compete for the role in 2020.  Will that happen in 2021?  However the Rams structure their depth chart, it’s clear that the ‘needs more competition’ must encompass more than the quarterback position.