As minicamp nears, Rams hold more questions than answers over OL status

When the Los Angeles Rams finished the 2024 NFL season, fans were concerned about the status and quality of the offensive line. After all, the Rams opened the season without the benefit of either starting tackle, who were and still are LT Alaric Jackson and RT Rob Havenstein. By the time the team had lost in Week 1, four offensive linemen were injured. The added injuries included both swing tackle Joe Noteboom and left guard turned center returned to guard Steve Avila.

The Rams allowed Noteboom to walk away in free agency. The team still has a healthy Steve Avila at left guard. But the 2025 NFL season is already growing eerily similar to that of the 2024 NFL season. How so? Veteran right tackle Rob Havenstein had some minor medical repairs in the offseason to clean up his shoulders. He is expected to return in time for the season, but he was unable to participate in OTAs.

Veteran left tackle Alaric Jackson is also now a huge question mark about his future availability. Jackson has reportedly been suffering from blood clots, the same medical condition that completely shut him down in the middle of the 2022 NFL season.

The team was willing to trade up frequently in the 2025 NFL Draft, often addressing positions on the Rams' roster that appeared to be just as deep, if not deeper, than they had been in the previous season, but failed to address either the cornerback or offensive tackle positions. It was not just fans who expected the team to bolster those positions, but many NFL draft analysts as well.

Except for signing free agent center Coleman Shelton, the Rams front office seemed content to trade away veteran IOL Jonah Jackson and allow both veteran offensive tackles Conor McDermott and Joe Noteboom to leave without any plans to bolster the ranks. Not only did the team not add offensive tackles by signing free agents, but it also made no effort to select rookies during the 2025 NFL Draft.

And yet, the same team that resisted the urge to invest in the offensive line before OTAs seems to have had a complete change of heart since OTAs have begun and concluded. The team has since added two veteran offensive tackles, David Quessenberry and DJ Humphries.

Confused? You have every right to be. After all, it's impossible to understand if the team is worse off, the same, or better off than at this point one year ago. Worse yet, until the pads go on and fans know who is and is not likely to suit up as starters for the Rams' offensive line for Week 1, many serious questions have no answers.

In the meantime, we can assemble some of the many questions currently facing the Rams 'offensive line and try to summarize what we know at this point.