“I AM LEAVING: Defensive tackle Aaron Donald has announced his leaving the Los Angeles Rams due to…..
The Los Angeles Rams offensive line experienced quite the turnaround in the 2023 NFL season, helping Los Angeles make the playoffs next season. However, for the team to take another step forward this fall, more improvement is needed from the Rams offensive line.
There were some bright spots in 2023. Los Angeles ranked 14th in NFL offensive line rankings by Pro Football Focus, largely because they had the fifth-highest run-blocking grade (71.5) in the league. However, guard Kevin Dotson also had a breakout season while Steve Avila showed strong improvement late.
Still, general manager Les Snead knew more work was needed. For a team whose identity is being physical and first win on the ground, Los Angeles prioritized its interior offensive line. As a result, Snead brought in guard Jonah Jackson in a move that kicked Avila inside to guard.
Heading into the summer, the interior of the Rams offensive line projects to be the best it has been in years. However, some uncertainty on the outside has resulted in some disagreement from analysts regarding where Los Angeles lands in NFL offensive line rankings.
The Rams ranked 11th in PFN’s NFL offensive line rankings, with praise for the strength of the interior pocket but some concern about left tackle Alaric Jackson keeping Los Angeles behind the Chicago Bears for having one of the 10 best offensive lines in the NFL.
Dan Fornek of FTN Fantasy is far more bullish on the Rams offensive line. Los Angeles was ranked as having the fourth-best offensive line in football for the 2024 season, with Fornek highlighting the strong personnel fit of the Rams’ players in the new gap-blocking run scheme. While he is a bit concerned by the lack of depth on the offensive line, he does note that Joe Noteboom offers starting experience, which is valuable for a swing tackle.
Football Guys is much lower on the Rams’ front, putting them 19th in their NFL offensive line rankings heading into the 2024 season. It highlights the wide disparity in opinions on offensive lines, as PFN puts the Rams and Bears as top-11 units while Football Guys rates them as below-average offensive lines.
Considering the continuity on the Rams offensive line paired with the benefit of having Matthew Stafford under center all with another system in this now familiar blocking system, we tend to believe Los Angeles will have a top-12 offensive line in 2024. Depth is certainly a question, but that’s also an issue for a majority of teams in the NFL today.
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Yehovah Kelvin
