Keagen Trost can challenge what Rams thought they knew about Warren McClendon

Los Angeles Rams offensive tackle Warren McClendon has only 15 career starts to his name. But after a sneakily stellar 2025 campaign filling in for the now-retired veteran RT Rob Havenstein, he has earned the right to enter 2026 as the projected starting right tackle for the Los Angeles Rams. Pencil him in alongside Alaric Jackson Jr. on the left side, and voila. Everything's all set. Right?

Not so fast, rookie Keagen Trost would like to counter. It's folly to consider too many positions as set in stone ahead of NFL training camp. While McClendon deserves the Rams' confidence, he is still relatively inexperienced. Trost, a third-round right tackle out of Missouri, can certainly put his foot in the door with a strong summer. 

Somehow, his name slipped through the cracks in Rams mock drafts. This is Pro Football Focus' top-rated tackle in all of college football we're talking about. Trost has the tools, maturity, and upside to at least give McClendon a run for his money.

Trost vs McClendon is Rams matchup to watch this summer

Trost isn't giving up any size to McClendon. He stands nearly 6-foot-5 and 311 pounds to McClendon's 6-foot-4 and 315. Although Trost, 25, is a bit older for a rookie, that doesn't hurt his floor. Draft age is more of a ceiling constraint, anyway. And Trost earned a "starting potential" grade as a prospect. While most likely to spend his rookie year as a reserve, he could push McClendon starting now. 

Trost began his college career at Morgan State, an FCS program, but by 2024 he had clawed his way to Wake Forest. He made a further jump last season by joining Missouri in the SEC. He went from a guy no college football fan had heard of to being the top-ranked tackle in the sport and a third-round pick for the Rams, the 91st overall in the 2026 draft. 

For the Tigers last year, Trost allowed only one sack in over eight hundred snaps, two quarterback hits, and six pressures. Elite in both pass protection and run-blocking, he led all tackles in the latter category with a PFF grade of 91.7. That's in addition to his No. 1 overall grade of 92.4. 

Entering the final year of his rookie deal, McClendon will have his hands full fending off Trost this summer. The former fifth-rounder out of Georgia has appeared in 36 games over three Rams seasons, but it was in 2025 that he really came into his own with Havenstein injured. Following the latter's retirement, McClendon remains first in line as Havenstein's replacement.

Even assuming that McClendon wins the starting job, the Horns have good reason to find out what Trost can do. There's no guarantee that McClendon will be back next season. Starting offensive tackles tend to be paid lavishly in free agency. Plus, the o-line already has enough uncertainty with the expiring contracts of guard Kevin Dotson and center Coleman Shelton. 

It would be reassuring to know that the roster has a future starter at the ready in Trost. 

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow