What is LA Rams’ Best “Succession Plan” for Left Tackle?
By Jay Blucher
LA Rams succession planning for Andrew Whitworth
Outside the world of sports, there’s a term called “succession planning.”
It’s a strategy for deciding and passing on leadership roles — such as the future ownership of a company. Also known as “replacement planning,” it’s having a plan in place beforehand that allows you to fill vacant positions that are key to your company’s operations, preparing for the future so that your organization doesn’t experience any hiccups when important team members leave the company.
Succession planning is important because, in its absence, you’re left scrambling when the inevitable happens.
And so while Whitworth signed a three-year extension that makes him a Ram until 2022, it is never too early to consider his (or any other player’s) succession plan. . . and there are zero guarantees in the cold-hearted business world of the NFL. Every player is one serious injury away from his career’s end.
In the NFL, Father Time cannot be cheated, or at least, not for long. .. and Whitworth is the oldest player on the Rams roster. His 2020 season was so incredible. It was as though he had discovered the fountain of eternal youth. In fact, we nicknamed him Los Ageless One.
His presence in the lineup brings a steadying, calming aura into the locker room and the huddle, and the Rams have now rushed him back from a mid-season injury that required surgery. Well, to be fair, he has been to the operating room twice now in the last year. The first time was after the 2019 season. The second time was the midpoint of the 2020 season. How many more surgeries can he handle?
Yes, the Rams need him. He is that voice of reason in troubling times. This was most apparent when he returned to the lineup and helped the Rams offense rally around greenhorn tenderfoot QB John Wolford (until an injury forced an ailing Jared Goff back into action.) Would the Rams have been as victorious if Whitworth was unable to return to the offensive line?