Despite OL depth, 1st joint practice despair ignites new Rams rumors

While the LA Rams hoped to have enough roster depth to carry them through the 2024 NFL season, perhaps we were a bith ambition and overly aggressive in our hopes. It seems that the team cannot trust their roster depth to even carry them as far as the first 2024 preseason game. That is certainly not what many of us expected.

And that is concerning.

While the team has been hit with a minor epidemic of OL injuries that are so far just minor in nature, the aggregate effect in terms of giving the coaching staff major headaches has been quite pronounced. And it only took one joint practice session against the Los Angeles Chargers to illustrate just how far the team must climb from where they are to where they want to be.

So far, the Rams offensive line seems to be the epicenter of concern for the offense right now. And that makes sense, as without great blocking, this team will struggle to run and pass the football. If that happens this season, the team will fall short of expectations. Let's run down the list of injuries so far. Keep in mind that all OL injuries are week-to-week:

• Left tackle - Alaric Jackson (ankle) - Currently Joe Noteboom
• Left guard - Jonah Jackson (shoulder) - Currently Zach Thomas
• Center - Steve Avila - uninjured, but starting in a new position
• Right guard - Kevin Dotson - uninjured
• Right tackle - Rob Havenstein - foot/ankle - Currently Warren McClendon

While still quite early, the Rams seemingly were less than satisfied with the results of their first joint practice. How can I tell? Well, just one day later, Rams rumors over the team hosting veteran offensive tackle Conor McDermott for a visit:

So what do we know about him?

Conor McDermott is a 6-foot-8, 310-pound offensive tackle free agent who was originally drafted by the New England Patriots in Round 6 of the 2017 NFL Draft. He is entering his eighth NFL season, having played two seasons with the Buffalo Bills, 3.5 seasons with the New York Jets, and 1.5 seasons back with the team that originally drafted him, the New England Patriots.

Over seven seasons, he has appeared in 55 games and started in 17 of those contests. While he has struggled to stick on any single team. Per Pro Football Focus, his annual grades have been respectable. In 227 offensive snaps in 2023, he committed three penalties while allowing two sacks. He appeared in six games with five starts in 2023.

His career has frequently positioned him as a right offensive tackle, indicating that the team's trust in Warren McClendon to handle a starting role is waning. The team's interest in McDermott at this point in time could suggest that Havenstein may not be projected to be ready to compete in Week 1 as originally hoped.

Stay tuned, as this could be a rapidly developing story.

Thanks for reading.