LA Rams HC Sean McVay loves what he’s seeing in OTA so far

The LA Rams are in mile one of a cross country journey of several thousand miles (it seems), and so the rush to get instant first impressions is limited in what can truly be detected this early. But just like the long journey analogy, there are some things that can jump out at someone who is even casually observant.

These LA Rams have a huge advantage in 2021 over their 2020 experience, as a year ago, the NFL and NFLPA were just sitting down to hammer out acceptable protocols to enable a 2020 NFL season to take place. This year, those details have already been hammered out, the vaccine is available, and the NFL/NFLPA have instituted safeguards to ensure an action plan is automatically triggered in almost any scenario that could develop this year.

That means that everything left to work out and through for the safety and health of staff and players has been decided, and this year’s off-season effort comes back to football. That’s a huge step in the direction of NFL normalcy. It is certainly the right direction to put head coach Sean McVay in a better mood.

McVay’s mood

Here is Sean McVay’s press conference where he addresses the OTAs so far:

The Rams are loaded with a talented group of rookies, and Sean McVay is tickled with what he’s seen from the class of 2021. There is a great deal of athleticism among the rookies, a bit of ‘wow, did you see that?’ potential when they take the field and make football plays.

Los Angeles Rams

But the most significant segment of the conversation focused upon the LA Rams offensive line.

Do the Rams know what they are doing? The plan right now is to field Andrew Whitworth (LT), David Edwards (LG), Austin Corbett (OC), Bobby Evans (RG), and Rob Havenstein (RT). That’s the first iteration of this offensive line, but its weakest link is Evans at right guard for now. And the other concern is that this configuration fixes one spot on the offensive line by changing two spots, which will create twice as many questions and concerns.

Keep in mind that this is very early in the evaluation process, and any line of scrimmage moves can appear just fine in shorts and sneakers. But when the pads go on, how well will this offensive line perform? And if there is a weak link at right guard, will the Rams address that by swapping in another right guard, or will the team restore Corbett to that spot and rework their offensive center player?

How will it all come together? Well, stay tuned. the Rams certainly have a plan right now.