LA Rams: Are Jackson, Pircher, and Meredith unsung heroes of 2021 Draft?

The LA Rams did not draft a single offensive lineman in the 2021 NFL Draft. Instead, the team loaded up on offensive skill players and sprinkled in the occasional defensive athlete for good measure. At the time, it seemed quite odd, because the Rams roster is on route to detrain at the next offseason. Five offensive linemen are playing on contracts that expire in 2022. That’s over a third of the roster at one time.

And now, it appears that the LA Rams have just one year to find their next blindside anchor to their offensive line. You see, the venerable Rams offensive left tackle Andrew Whitworth is giving off all the vibes that this is his final season. At age 40 years old, he will be ready to call it quits and turn the page to a new chapter of his life. Great for him, not so great for the LA Rams offensive line.

While it is curious that the LA Rams face replacing six offensive linemen at the end of this year and did not draft one, more curious is the fact that when the matter was posed to LA Rams General Manager Les Snead, he did not hesitate to mention the fact that the Rams had signed up Iowa’s offensive tackle Alaric Jackson after the 2021 NFL Draft.  Now listed on the team roster under the name AJ Jackson, he is by rights suddenly a very important chess piece to the Rams.

We tried our hand at various offensive line configurations for the 2021 season, and even as our most probable iteration is indeed the version that the team seems to favor heading into the new year, there is plenty of discussion remaining to be had over who remains this year and next to backup what appears to be the exit of now two key starters, and three key backups.