Both fascinating and alarming facts about the LA Rams 2023/2024 OL

What is the best way to measure the quality of the LA Rams offensive line?

There are a lot of ways to examine an NFL offensive line. You could look at how much money the team has invested in them. In 2024, overthecap.com projects the Rams offensive line to be the fifth most expensive offensive line in the NFL. That is quite the flip from 2020, when the team was content to spend the third-least amount on the offensive line.

Apparently, the powers that be have discovered that you get what you pay for.

Let's look at this another way. What about the effectiveness of the Rams offensive line in 2023? PlayerProfiler.com grouped the LA Rams offensive lines in the category of "Great, just not Elite." But the Rams share that category with eight other NFL teams, which places their 2023 performance between the third and 11th-best offensive line groups last season.

We know that the team improved along the way, and by all estimations finished the year far better than they began the year. So what about 2024? ProFootballNetwork tried to summarize that kaleidoscope of performance into a single ranking and placed the Rams slightly better than average. as the 12th-best projected offensive line in 2024.

I think that they may be about nine slots too low on that projection.

So let's look at this another way. What about Kent Lee Platte's Relative Athletic Score (RAS)? When he compiled the RAS of NFC offensive linemen in 2023, the Rams came in dead last (16th out of 16 teams). When expanded to all 32 teams, the Rams came in 31st out of 32 teams.

So who brought down their averages? For that answer, we have to go back to the author himself, and see how individual players ranked in his calculation:

To make your reading easier, I've created a data table to ease your review of individual players and their RAS scores. I've also added projected LG Jonah Jackson to the table to aid your ability to compare the two seasons' units.

In case you ask, the LA Rams also got some starts out of Joe Noteboom, whose RAS score was a rather impressive 8.50. If you factor in his data at right guard, then the Rams average for their five starting offensive linemen would come in at 6.05. That would move the team up in the rankings to just better than the Carolina Panthers.

While there may not be a direct cause and effect between relative athleticism and the effectiveness of an NFL offensive line, there is a correlation that is compelling enough to keep a player's RAS score in the corner of your eye. While I do not suspect that the team will add offensive linemen in the 2024 NFL Draft who are projected to start this year, we will continue to monitor this aspect.

RAS may not be tell-all attribute of a cohesive offensive line in the NFL, but it bears keeping an eye on.

Thanks for reading