Is the LA Rams offensive line already better off than it was a year ago?

The LA Rams offensive line entering 2022 was believed to be sufficient for the demands of that season. It wasn’t. But the LA Rams front office worked hard to restaff the offensive line, to the point that even now, before the 2023 NFL Draft, the offensive line is arguably in better standing than it was a year ago.

Okay, put your eyes back in their sockets and unclench your fists. Here is what I mean. There is a false perception that the LA Rams have ignored the offensive line for years and years. While the team has not prioritized offensive linemen in past to the expectation of Rams fans, the team has drafted offensive linemen in the past:

Rams OL Draft (and UDFA) additions under HC Sean McVay

2018 – OT Joseph Noteboom, OC Brian Allen, OL Jamil Demby
2019 – OL David Edwards, OL Bobby Evans
2020 – OL Tremayne Anchrum Jr.
2021- UDFA Alaric Jackson (had a draft grade of Round 5)
2022 – IOL Logan Bruss, OT A.J. Arcuri

Over the past five seasons, the Rams have added nine offensive linemen to the roster via the NFL Draft (or signing undrafted rookies after the draft). But that is not how this LA Rams front office exclusively operates. The Rams’ front office does not await the next draft to patch holes in the Rams’ roster.

The Rams have added additional offensive linemen in any number of other ways. In fact, the Rams have added eight additional offensive linemen to the Rams roster without the use of the NFL draft completely.  We’ll touch base on that on the next slide.  But for now, let’s sit back and see exactly how the Rams have addressed offensive line deficiencies over the years:

Time waits for no NFL GM

The irony is not lost on me. The same fans who praised LA Rams GM Les Snead for the masterful job that he did in generating and restocking the LA Rams roster, including the offensive line, in 2022 were the ones who cursed him under their breath or even called him out for neglecting the offensive line.

The reality is that the Rams’ front office employs an almost ‘Just in Time’ method of stockpiling players on the roster. Translated, that means that the Rams’ front office springs into action immediately to restock positions on the roster that suffer injuries. But in those rare circumstances such as the injuries to impact the Rams’ offensive line in 2022, the front office cannot restock the roster quickly enough to give the Rams positional coaches enough lead time to coordinate and coach up the new arrivals.

So who were the new arrivals to Rams OL in 2022?

Not only did the Rams add veteran Cole Turner in 2022, but the Rams have also added the following players over the years:

As fans continue to lobby for the Rams to ‘fix the offensive line,’ how do they categorize all of the players added to the Rams roster to keep the team afloat this past season?

The Rams are not keen on committing to new additions for the long term. But the Rams’ front office did add OT Ty Nsekhe, IOL Oday Aboushi, and IOL Matt Skura to the active roster for 2022. The team also added veteran OL Cole Turner to the team’s practice squad and signed OT Zach Thomas off the Chicago Bears practice squad. Thomas’ current contract extends into the 2023 NFL season.

Pivot, project, positive progress

So we have shown that the Rams have continued to add talent to the offensive line, albeit not always in the traditional sense of the NFL Draft or the NFL Free Agent market. How many players do you think the Rams added last season? Jot down what you think that answer is, and we’ll give you the answer at the end of this slide.

Let’s now pivot to the 2023 Rams roster, and project how the team is set up for the new season.

Since the start of the 2022 NFL season, the LA Rams have lost:

I:   OL Bobby Evans who was waived
II:  OL David Edwards, whose contract will expire at the end of the 2022 NFL season.
III: And the Rams could be losing Coleman Shelton, who is entering Year 2 of his contract which is now reportedly a player-option year.

So, who have the LA Rams added since this time a year ago?

Check out all the plusses to the Rams’ offensive line

I:   IOL Logan Bruss, who was drafted in 2022, but who suffered a season-ending injury
II:  A.J. Arcuri, who was drafted in 2022, played 70 offensive snaps in 2022
III: OT Zach Robinson, who was signed off the Chicago Bears practice squad
IV: For now, Shelton is presumed to be returning to the team in 2023
V:  The LA Rams had a chance to get close looks at OT Ty Nsekhe, IOL Matt Skura, and IOL Oday Aboushi in live NFL action, as well as IOL Cole Turner, who was on the team’s practice squad in 2022.
VI: The Rams got another year of OT Max Pircher on the practice squad. He is not entering his third year with the Rams
VII: The Rams got playing time out of backup offensive linemen: Chandler Brewer (227 snaps), Tremayne Anchrum Jr. (2 snaps), Alaric Jackson (422 snaps), and Jeremiah Kolone (188 snaps)

That’s a lot of activity, but the positive additions to the Rams roster at the offensive line clearly outweigh the negative subtractions to the team. In 2022, the Rams added seven offensive linemen. Like who? Logan Bruss and A.J. Arcuri were added via the 2022 NFL Draft. The Rams signed veteran OL Cole Turner to the practice squad. The Rams signed veterans OT Ty Nsekhe, IOL Matt Skura, and IOL Oday Aboushi to one-year contracts. And the Rams signed OT Zachary Thomas to a two-year contract off the Chicago Bears practice squad. Did you guess seven? Were you able to name them all?

Fix the offensive line

The comments sections of almost every article posted right now invariably have multiple remarks to the effect of ‘Fix the offensive line,’ as a response to almost every topic. And to the casual fans, the LA Rams offensive line is indeed a mystery right now. But if you’ve read this far, you can see what has taken place by the team in terms of restocking the offensive line already.

To help clarify even further, let’s break down the gains and losses to the Rams’ offensive line from 2022:

Losses (2): David Edwards, Bobby Evans
Gains (2): Logan Bruss, Zach Thomas
TBD: Ty Nsekhe, Matt Skura, Oday Aboushi, Cole Turner, Coleman Shelton

Right now, it all appears to be a ‘push,’ doesn’t it? But that’s before considering the vast amount of experience afforded to the team’s depth players, as well as the opportunity to get live video footage on a number of free agents who could be extended into 2023 at a reasonable cost. And all of this is before the Rams make a single selection in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Don’t look for wholesale changes

Fix the offensive line? That is not something that the front office does in the offseason. It’s a constant maintenance, a process that the Rams do not rely upon performing upon the arrival of the annual NFL Draft to achieve.

The LA Rams waived Bobby Evans. And David Edwards, due to his health concerns, is almost a certainty not to be re-signed.  If there is such a thing as addition by subtraction, then the LA Rams could be placed in that category simply with those two losses.

Should the Rams draft offensive linemen? A valid argument could be made to address both the offensive center and the left tackle position, based on the experiences from 2022. But those needs have arisen from lessons learned, not some sudden drop in the talent available to the Rams’ offensive line.

The Rams have their new offensive coordinator. Now the team must hire the ever-important offensive line coach. After that, the Rams will assess and address the offensive line. Will the team draft an offensive lineman? Perhaps. But with 10 draft picks, I will be shocked if the team selects more than two offensive linemen in the draft.

I like some of the players who were signed in 2022. I think that Ty Nsekhe and perhaps Oday Aboushi could be extended into 2023 at an affordable price. Should that happen, then the team could get away with drafting just one offensive lineman in the 2023 NFL Draft. How do you feel the Rams should address the offensive line this offseason?