2016 Los Angeles Rams Roster Preview: Offensive Line

OT Greg Robinson: 10/10 chance of making the final roster

G Rodger Saffold: 10/10

OT Rob Havenstein: 10/10

G Jamon Brown: 9.75/10

G Garrett Reynolds: 9.5/10

C Tim Barnes: 9/10

G Cody Wichmann: 8/10

G Demetrius Rhaney: 8/10

OT Isaiah Battle: 6.5/10

C Eric Kush: 6/10

OT Andrew Donnal: 5/10

C Brian Folkerts: 5/10

OT Darrell Williams: 5/10

OT Jordan Swindle: 3/10

G David Arkin: 1/10

OT Pace Murphy: 1/10

The 2015 St. Louis Rams heavily invested in the offensive line in the 2015 NFL Draft and in the following undrafted free agency period. After taking four offensive linemen and adding another via the supplemental draft, the Rams are hoping that the unit starts to gel after a year of experience and allow for RB Todd Gurley and QB Jared Goff (or QB Case Keenum for the interim) to benefit from big running lanes and long protection times.

Roster Battle

Last year, the Rams kept ten linemen for the majority of the season on the 53-man roster until injury woes decimated the group. The group will look fairly similar to the group in the 2015 season.

The intrigue in this year’s roster battle is to see which of the 2015 draftees will take steps forward and which will not make the cut. Last year, a lot of the linemen had the safety of being a draft pick. This year, it won’t mean as much.

The Rams will likely not carry ten linemen like they did last year, indicating that a draft pick will likely not make the cut this year. OTs Andrew Donnal and Darrell Williams seem to be the least likely to make the squad from last year’s roster. Look for the Rams to make some hard decisions with this group at the end of training camp.

Expectations

Expectations should be high for this group this season. Considering the draft capital spent on players like 2014 NFL Draft #2 overall pick Greg Robinson (who is now fringing on Jason Smith territory), 2015 NFL Draft second-round pick Rob Havenstein and others, the Rams must see gains on their investments in 2016 for this team to improve on the offensive side of the ball.

In addition, health has been hard to come by with this group, especially with their highest-paid lineman, Rodger Saffold. Saffold is a good player when he plays, but that hasn’t been frequent enough in the last couple of years missing 28 games in the last four seasons.

Impact on Final Roster

Most teams in the NFL carry eight or nine offensive linemen throughout the season. Look for Rams Head Coach Fisher, a special teams/defense/anything-but-offense junkie, to keep only eight or nine linemen to open up a spot or two for his kind of special teams player.

Unless there is marked improvement from this group, Gurley will have a tough time carrying the load and Goff will have even a tougher time adjusting to the NFL.