Ironclad reasons not to sleep on the LA Rams offensive line in 2024

As the LA Rams pivoted from the 2023 to the 2024 season, there were plenty of question marks hovering over the team. While the defensive front and secondary were huge enigmas, the biggest concern and trouble spot for the team was the offensive line. After all, the team faced 60 percent of the starting group with expiring contracts, plus the challenge another three players who had contributed in key rotational roles in the past.

It was a 2024 NFL Free Agency market that would hold long-lasting impacts for the team.

As the drama unfolded for the team, it was clear that the front office was not approaching this year's roster in the same fashion as previous years. Perhaps it was due to the success that the team enjoyed with a minor investment into the offensive line. Perhaps it was the restoration of a rushing attack powered by second-year running back Kyren Williams.

Whatever the change of heart, many LA Rams fans had hoped for the day when the team would take the offensive line far more seriously. Until 2023, it seemed almost as though the group was a necessary evil, a group of players who could be grown from raw Day 3 draft prospects into NFL starters with the right patience and coaching.

But 2022 provided the bushel of injuries that shredded the concept. Rams backup players were nowhere near ready to step up for the team as their teammates fell to injury. And the lower quality of play created more opportunities for other players to suffer injuries. By season's end, the team had exhausted all financial reserves, had signed countless new veteran free agents, and found itself with an offensive line that no longer had any semblance of a cohesive group.

Something had to change, and it did.

2023 OL investments were Step 1

The LA Rams offensive line was in a shambles after the 2022 NFL season. While similar to the same challenges after 2019, the 2022 season was even more damaging because it not only tore through the starters, but exposed the team's backups as not possessing the quality necessary to step up when starters fell to injury.

GM Les Snead did not miss what happened in 2022, and led his personnel department to take action to see that similar circumstances did not take place in 2023. To open the 2023 NFL Draft, the team added the top interior offensive lineman on their draft board by selecting former TCU IOL Steve Avila. Avila was uniquely qualified in that he was the first interior offensive lineman to be selected, ensuring that the team had their top choice. But he was also experienced at both guard and center positions, a versatility that would pay huge dividends for the team.

The Rams also added offensive tackle Warren McClendon from Georgia. While raw, he brought NCAA Championship experience with him. Even without a likely chance to start, McClendon was a vital addition to replenish the team's depleted ranks from 2022.

What the 2023 NFL Draft did do very well is repave the group with an essential infusion of young talent. The wear and tear on the group, culminating in a devastating outbreak of injuries in 2022, had depleted the team of robust depth and developmental prospects.

2024 moves are Step 2

While the team created the foundation in 2023 to resuscitate an injury-ravaged offensive line, the team had more work on the to-do list. The team had gotten bigger and more powerful with new additions to the offensive front, but there were still some concerns about the starting group, as well as about the depth chart from last season.

Complicating matters even more, the team faced the expiration of contracts of three 2023 starting offensive linemen. Not only did the front office face the challenge or either extending or replacing three staring offensive linemen in one off-season, but also the matter of creating a deeper and more capable depth of all positions on the offensive line.

What I loved about the team's strategy is the multi-faceted approach taken. The team extended players, tapped the 2024 NFL Free Agency market for one of the top-tier offensive linemen available, and iced the cake by drafting two very capable offensive linemen to push the starters and add respectable depth to the group.

The LA Rams offensive line skyrocketed to a fifth-best ranking in 2023 as per playerprofiler.com. The author of that article even admits to missing the group's cohesion and performance by a mile in pre-season projections. Not, FTN Fantasy projects the Rams' offensive line to be even more effective this season, ranking the group as high as the fourth-ranked group in the NFL in 2024.

I believe they will end up even better. Here's why:

2023 season took time to get traction

The keys to a great offensive line in the NFL are continuity, communication, chemistry, and cohesion. While the offensive line had all of the right building blocks las season, it took some time before the group was able to put the right iteration onto the football field.

The Rams did not start veteran IOL Kevin Dotson, the veteran acquired via trade from the Pittsburgh Steelers, until Week 4 of the 2023 NFL season. The team did not get starting left tackle Alaric Jackson back onto the football field until Week 5. In Week 6, both center Coleman Shelton and right tackle Rob Havenstein were shaken up, and had to let backups Brian Allen and Warren McClendon Jr. finish out the game.

As if that was not enough, Havenstein was injured again, and was forced to sit out Weeks 8, 9, and 15 as well. It was not until the team regrouped over the BYE week on Week 10 that the offensive line seemed to get healthy and began to pull together. Of course, that contributed greatly to the team's winning streak of seven games to close out the last eight games of the season.

But keep in mind that the offensive line faced more challenges than making the acquaintances of new teammates. The team welcomed a new OL Coach in Ryan Wendell, and with the new coach came a new perspective and philosophy to the approach taken by the offensive linemen. Wholesale changes are not instantaneously effective. Training camp and drills gives the basic foundations, but the team needed real world applications to master the techniques.

That will not be the case this season.

How did Rams lure Jonah Jackson to sign with this team?

The Detroit Lions wanted to extend veteran left guard Jonah Jackson, but the lure of Jackson's reunion with former Lions starting quarterback Matthew Stafford certainly made an impression on the veteran interior offensive lineman. Of course, it didn't hurt the Rams chances of signing the first-time NFL free agent by Stafford's nearly flawless NFL Playoff performance on the road in front of a hostile crowd against the Detroit Lions.

Jonah Jackson is a 6-foot-4, 311-pound offensive guard who has just completed playing and starting four seasons with the Detroit Lions, and agreed to sign with the LA Rams in the offseason. While indepth research may reveal that his best season was 2022, a year that he committed four penalties and did not allow a single sack, he is an ideal fit for the Rams offensive line this season.

But pass blocking is just half of what Jonah Jackson delivers on the football field. In many ways, he is an even better run blocker, oftentimes seen pulling and racing upfield to lead a running play and keep nearby defenders from making a play on the running back.

Jackson is a solid young offensive linemen who is entering the prime of his NFL career. He sought a chance to compete with veteran QB Matthew Stafford once more. But the lesson of Kevin Dotson's spike in performance after joining the Rams in 2023 was not lost on Jonah Jackson. You could hear in the interview above that he is looking forward to a chance to put on a career season for the Rams this year.

Why extending Kevin Dotson and Alaric Jackson were vital for 2024

The LA Rams offensive line was not picture-perfect in 2023. But the worst outings for the groups occurred very early in the season, and more specifically in Week 3. In that contest against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Rams offensive front allowed six quarterback sacks, and could not get anything going in the run game.

In that game, left tackle Alaric Jackson left in the first half due to a thigh injury. Right guard Joe Noteboom left in the third quarter with a knee injury and did not return. Prior to that pair of injuries, the Rams had allowed just one quarterback sack.

The Rams had plenty of options for players this offseason, including targeting some of the top offensive linemen in the 2024 NFL Draft. The team chose to stick with the team's offensive linemen from 2023, and tweak the roster a bit in terms of reinforcing the depth at key positions.

With the loss in the offseason of both Coleman Shelton and Brian Allen, the team needed to address the center position. But by extending both Kevin Dotson and Alaric Jackson, the Rams rewarded two players who were entrusted with starting rolls on the offensive line, and performed better than expected.

The means to improving the offensive line again lies in finding the ideal blending of returning players and new faces. In 2023, the Rams reworked almost their entire offensive line with amazing results. This season, the team's continuity at the offensive line group should allow the offense to gel even better.

Steve Avila's versatility is the catalyst this season

It's pretty amazing to sit back and realize that the LA Rams drafted the first interior lineman prospect in the 2023 NFL Draft by selecting former TCU rookie prospect Steve Avila with the 36th overall pick in Round 2. The benefits of selecting first form that position group included getting a very versatile offensive lineman who can play at either guard position as well as center.

When Avila arrived to the Rams roster in 2023, there were questions as to how the team might use him. Curiously, he started his rookie season as the team's left guard, filling the huge vacancy created by the expired contract of veteran offensive lineman David Edwards.

But with Avila at left guard, the team started journeyman center Coleman Shelton. Now, Shelton had a curious knack for the Rams, as whenever he started at center, and only when he started at center, the Rams had a chance of getting 100+ yards out of a running back in the game. It was a pattern that existed for several years.

With Shelton no longer blocking for his running back, and racing downfield to clobber secondary defenders, you may wonder if the Rams rushers can remain just as effective. If the starting center was any other guy, your concerns would be justified. With second-year offensive lineman Steve Avila at center, you have little to worry about.

Avila stands 6-foot-3 and tips the scales at 332 pounds. Even in just his rookie season, he played all offensive snaps and allowed just two quarterback sacks for the entire season. Best of all, he was never content to be free, as he sought a defender to block on every play. I don't think that the Rams promotion of Avila to center was random chance. Clearly, the coaches liked what they saw out of Avila in 2023, and want to see much more of it in 2024.

Why Jonah Jackson is the coup de grâce of Rams OL upgrade

In almost every surge to the top under HC Sean McVay's reign, the LA Rams front office has made that last tweak to the roster to push the team over the top. In 2018, it was the addition of veteran RB C.J. Anderson. In 2021, it was the additions of both OLB Von Miller and WR Odell Beckham Jr. Now, it 2024, veteran left guard Jonah Jackson has been added to the roster.

The Rams offensive line, once the dust settled in 2023, began to find its place and rhythm at blocking effectively last season. But even with their best, they seemed to need a bit more oomph to be competitive in the NFL Playoffs. After all the dominance by the running game in the games that led up to the post-season, the team only managed to rush for 68 yards when the team needed it most.

That just won't do.

Big runs need two elements to succeed in the NFL. The offensive line must create running lanes consistently for running backs. And the team must have at least one offensive lineman who is agile, fast, and can lead the convoy down the field to the endzone. With the addition of LG Jonah Jackson, the Rams can check off both boxes.

I am by no means calling for the team to revert to the Ground Chuck mindset of running the football and letting the defense cook as the primary strategy for success. But I do believe that the team's offensive line could easily become the best unit in the NFL in 2024. Stay tuned.

And as always, thanks for reading.