LA Rams OL putting horns ahead of tail this season

The LA Rams offensive line may be feverishly working on a mix and match exercise in their 2023 Rams training camp so far, but I find that as refreshing as a breath of spring air. In my view, the entire purpose of training camp is to afford NFL players the opportunity to compete for their role and ranking on the team's depth chart.

Unfortunately, that has not been the way the Rams offensive line has worked in the recent past.

After the team lost center Austin Blythe to free agency in 2021, the team made decisions about which player would start on the offensive line long before pads went on. The problem? Exclusively giving all the offensive snaps to Austin Corbett as the presumed starting center was tossed out the window when the pads went on. You see, the plan was to start Corbett at center, and Bobby Evans at right guard. If you recall, that didn't fly.

While it did not prevent the Rams from winning Super Bowl LVI, the Rams offensive line lost valuable time when it was forced to reconfigure the starters and regroup in time to start the season. Hopefully, that won't happen this year.

Rams are putting horns ahead of tails

This year, everything 'feels' quite different. Whether or not the results will be improved will remain unconfirmed until the season is well underway. But if there is a cadence, a smell of rain in the air, then the approach that LA Rams offensive line coach Ryan Wendell is wafting the sweet scent of success already.

And curiously, we are not the only ones who are catching that smell in the summer breeze.

It's clear that the LA Rams offensive linemen take their jobs, and responsibilities, quite seriously. And after a hugely disappointing 2022 NFL season, they all want to get back on the horse and right past mistakes.

But there is a process that has a better chance of success. Getting the right players into the right position surrounded by the right teammates will take time. This year, OL Coach Ryan Wendell appears to be willing to vet the group, experiment with rotating in different players, and witness the results firsthand.

This is not some faux competition that was decided long before players stepped onto training camp. This season, competition feels quite 'real,' and I'm already feeling good about the outcome. Everybody in the Rams organization wants the best offensive line possible this season. Finally, it appears that the Rams are putting in the work to discover exactly what that best offensive line will be.