What have we learned as LA Rams OTA Offseason Workouts conclude?
By Bret Stuter
Rams rotating players frequently at offensive and defensive lines
With OTAs, the line of scrimmage has certainly gotten a lot of attention from the team's front office on both sides of the football. As a result, the burden of getting everyone who has suited up for drills and practices creates long queues to participate. With 18 players cycling through on the five player defensive front, and 16 players cycling through on the five player offensive line, the team has a lot of rotations to go through simply to ensure that every individual gets a turn.
For the offensive linemen, that has been a bit accelerated with the team holding out veterans Jonah Jackson (LG) and Rob Havenstein (RT), which allows other players to get their share of the repetititons. But for the defensive front, the Rams currently have quite a few new faces joining quite a few young faces.
Even though the Rams are still mixing and matching their players, the picture of who the team will be starting in Week 1 is already starting to come into focus. With the exception of NT Bobby Brown III, the Rams defensive line will probably look like this:
Keep in mind that there are other players who deserve to be mentioned. At the outside linebacker position, the team welcomes back OLB Michael Hoecht, Nick Hampton and others who will compete for playing time. The team also has added feisty rookie Brennan Jackson who is almost guaranteed to push the entire group hard for playing time.
As far as defensive linemen, the team welcomes back Desjuan Johnson, as well as rookie Tyler Davis and a host of defensive linemen.
It's a cliche to point to the line of scrimmage and claim that is where the action will take place, but that is truly the case for the LA Rams, as more than a third of this team's 90-man roster will line up on the offensive line or defensive front. As a result, you can expect fierce battles for playing time and a roster spot throughout training camp.