ICYMI, 5 significant LA Rams FA adds who the team should bring back

Free Agent III: Interior offensive lineman

IOL Oday Aboushi is more than meets the eye. A veteran interior offensive lineman who is now competing for his seventh NFL team in nine seasons, Aboushi is an interior offensive lineman who has fallen off the radar unnecessarily. There is so much to like about his style of play, but much of it gets lost in the pathetic way NFL offensive linemen are graded and evaluated in the absence of pure measurable statistics.

What do I mean? Aboushi has appeared in 13 games for the LA Rams and started four of those games. He has played in 339 offensive snaps. Per Pro Football Focus, he has committed two penalties during that time and allowed two quarterback sacks.  That is not bad for a guy who never played on the Rams’ offensive line until after the season started, never getting the benefit of training camp or preseason games to solidify the coordination and communication with the other offensive linemen.

You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch . . . er Oday Aboushi

Even with those qualifiers, PFF has graded him at 65.2 for the season so far.  For comparison purposes, Rob Havenstein has a grade of 72.9, while Alaric Jackson has been graded at 64.1 for his 2022 performance. So in terms of his performance, he is one of the better offensive linemen who has played for the Rams this season.

So what do I love about him? Well, for starters, when he is on the football field, he is not satisfied with blocking just one player. He keeps his head on a swivel, and when his guy is neutralized, he actively seeks the next defender to engage. That is huge because on two separate plays (reviewing the Broncos game) I noted the defender getting an inside advantage on the tackle, but Aboushi arrived in time to seal it up.

The other thing I love about this 6-foot-5 308-pound offensive lineman is the fact that he plays with a mean streak. You can tell just by the way he gets after the defender that he enjoys what he does. To be honest, I wish more Rams offensive linemen would not be satisfied with blocking one guy but would penetrate to the second and third levels to help spring a running back for big gains. If the Rams extend Aboushi, I would be quite happy.