The PD has more on LG Jacob Bell and his mysterious weight loss, which turns out not to be so mysterious at all. Give it a read. Based on the information in the article, Bell's injuries have taken more of a toll on his season than his weight. Makes sense.
There's another thought I have as to Bell's performance and it has a lot to do with the guy playing next to him at center. The Rams line is notoriously weak at center, whether you're talking about Nick Leckey or Brett Romberg, the team has a big hole there. That weak spot hurts the players around it, as teams can more effectively crash the pocket from the middle and concentrate on moving the better blockers on either side of the center. The Jets' Nick Mangold would be just an above average center without Alan Faneca playing next to him this season.
More Bell.
Am I the only one wary of the talk to move Bell to right tackle and try John Greco at center in the offseason? According to the article, Bell played tackle in college and was intended to be a tackle with the Titans. But you know how those things work out. I'd just leave well enough alone and let Bell reestablish himself at LG, where he played well enough to earn a $36 million free agent contract. And Greco, he played tackle in college and has been identified as guard at the NFL level. Center would come with a whole new learning curve, potentially stymieing his development.
Reading between the lines of this reported o-line shuffle a few things pop out. If Bell moves to RT and the Rams plan to draft an OT with what will likely be the second overall pick (again) in the draft, it would seem to indicate that both Alex Barron and Orlando Pace are not part of the plans for next season. First round picks, esp top five, don't usually sit on the bench in their rookie season, save for most QBs. Of course, they could just be planning to have Bell ready to slide in at RT is Pace gets injured and the top draft pick OT moves over to the left side.
Moving Bell to tackle and installing Greco at center also means that Richie Incognito probably is in the plans for 2009.