LA Rams OL coach Kevin Carberry proves adept Kromer successor

Whitworth, Noteboom out plus Allen injured – Jackson in, Shelton in

In Week 16, the LA Rams offensive line was reconfigured multiple times. It was not a great situation, to begin with. The LA Rams had to recover and prepare to play a road game against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday after competing on Tuesday.

Complicating matters even further, the LA Rams had both Andrew Whitworth and Joseph Noteboom unavailable, as both tested positive and were on the team’s Reserve/COVID-19 list. Noteboom is an ideal Plan B option for the Rams offensive line this year. While he is not perfect, he does give the Rams enough in both the run and pass blocking to give the coaching staff confidence in opening up the entire playbook.

Shelton, Jackson step up

That was most certainly not the case when Noteboom also tested positive for COVID-19 and was assigned to the Reserve/COVID-19 list. Now the Rams needed to go with Plan C. That plan required that the team send left guard David Edwards to left tackle, and insert back center Coleman Shelton in at left guard. While that worked out well enough, starting offensive center Brian Allen suffered another knee injury.

Carberry had to resort to Plan D. That meant that Shelton would go to the center position, Edwards would return to the left guard, and AJ Jackson would come in at left tackle.

The LA Rams would play the entire game with a patchwork offensive line against the fiercest pass rush in the NFL. And yet, the Vikings would get no quarterback sacks the entire game. Instead, running back Sony Michel would put up his best game of the season. Not bad for a cobbled offensive line, eh?