LA Rams: 3 offensive vets who explode in debut on Sunday Night Football

Center

The LA Rams certainly did no favors for veteran Brian Allen as the team directed practically all of the offensive snaps at the starting center role to teammate Austin Corbett. But when the pads finally went on, and the Rams coaching staff saw the results, there was a mad scramble to reconfigure the offensive front. The result was moving OT Bobby Evans to the bench, Austin Corbett back to right guard, and Brian Allen was promoted to starting center.

Now, Allen has to prove he deserves the role.

We talked about the outlook of the LA Rams offensive line this year, and asked the question about how well it will hold up.  In that article, you’ll find a good interview with Brian Allen, and the new ‘tude that he has this year. He no longer has the feel of a guy who is a deer caught in the headlights. Now, he gives off the aura of the guy who steals lunch money from other kids. And that’s a very good thing to have at the offensive center.

But the challenges that were clearly on display in 2019 were not just someone who seemed over his head. Allen struggled to diagnose and call proper blocking responsibilities on pre-play reads. He was too light and got pushed back into the quarterback on pass blocking, and his angles and leverage on run blocking offered no real push to give the running backs any open lanes.

Allen has bulked up. Reports out of training camp confirmed that he has a bigger wider base to absorb a pass rush. But I have no reports or evidence that he has upgraded his run blocking nor that he can effectively see and call out the correct blocking scheme. But since that is an open question, he could answer it in a big way against the Chicago Bears. Allen worked very hard to get to this point. Somehow, I believe he will not fall short and will deliver a solid opener for the Rams.