Will LA Rams claim recently waived center Drake Jackson?

The LA Rams tried to claim an offensive center from the NFL waiver wire to no avail earlier this season. The player at the time was Lamont Gaillard who was waived by the Arizona Cardinals, and he was a popular player as multiple teams laid a claim to him. He eventually ended up being claimed by the Cincinnati Bengals, a team with a higher priority than the LA Rams.

Now, another team has waived an offensive center. He will likely be quite intriguing to the other 31 NFL teams as well. This time the team was the Detriot Lions. This time the player was a surprisingly impressive undrafted free agent rookie Drake Jackson, a player who has been creating plenty of positive buzz recently.

Jackson was the top-rated undrafted center from the 2021 NFL Draft, and he’s been generating a lot of positive reports about his play so far with the Detroit Lions. Some think he belongs on an NFL roster, and he may yet get that chance. The Lions are pretty well set at the offensive center position, having just agreed to a multi-year deal to retain Frank Ragnow. The Lions also just returned backup Evan Brown to the active roster.

At one point, the Detroit Free Press believed that Drake Jackson had a good chance of making the roster. Not just the practice squad, the 53-man roster. Wow. While Jackson did get a lot of positive press, it simply comes down to a numbers game. The Lions are thick at the position, so Jackson was expendable.

The LA Rams? Not so much at an offensive center position. And they have inroads with Lions GM Brad Holmes, so the front office would likely have a great chance to get the skinny on the outbound Jackson. Right now, the LA Rams need more prospects to develop. Even if the organization is warm and fuzzy about the depth for the 2021 NFL season, the roster takes a huge hit as up to six offensive linemen march off into the sunset in 2022. Drake Jackson could be a huge part of the solution for next season if acquired now.

Will the Rams pull the trigger? They might. Of course, we’ve seen before that the Rams can attempt to claim a player and still lose out. Oh, and here’s a fun fact: If the Rams successfully add Drake Jackson, he will be the fourth Jackson on the roster. The Rams already have AJ Jackson, DeSean Jackson, and Trishton Jackson.  Drake would be number four.