Injuries have forced some strange circumstances on the St. Louis Rams offensive line. Both starting offensive tackels are injured, and probably done for the season. The starting center, Jason Brown, was benched a couple weeks ago, and now the backups are starting to succumb to injury. This week, those new realities could result in some familiar faces in unfamiliar places.
After losing backup offensive tackle Mark LeVoir in the second quarter of last week's game against the Seahawks. That thurst Kevin Hughes into action, making him the primary blind side protector for Sam Bradford, just a day after being part of the Rams practice squad. Needless to say, he struggled against Chris Clemons.
After today's practice, Head Coach Steve Spagnuolo told the media that he would like to get Jason Brown back in the game plan. Apparently, he must have learned his lesson, whatever that was. He also threw out the possibility of moving a guard out to play tackle.
Brown can play both guard and center. What Spagnuolo is most likely talking about is moving Jacob Bell to a tackle spot, replacing him with Brown. It isn't the craziest idea. Before Jason Smith went down with his third concussion, there was some talk from armchair pundits about moving Smith to guard and Bell to tackle. Bell is an athletic pass blocker and works well in space. Bell started 15 games as a tackle at Miami University (Ohio). Brown started all 16 games of the 2007 season at guard for the Ravens before moving over to center the next year.
Given the choice between experience and a lack thereof, this might be the Rams last best option for getting through the season and keeping Sam Bradford in one piece.