Rams New Look OL: Robinson at RT?

According to Alden Gonzalez of ESPN, the Rams are looking to move Greg Robinson to RT and kick Rob Havenstein into RG:

This could result in either sheer brilliance by the Rams, or pure stupidity. Let me explain.

First, Greg Robinson is in the last year of his contract. With how bad his play has been, it’s unlikely they pick up the 5th year option on his rookie deal, so like I said, that means he is only under contract for this current season. If Greg Robinson fails at RT (all the info thus far suggests he likely will), than the Rams are not only wasting Robinson’s time out at RT, but they will have likely stunted the growth of current RT Rob Havenstein as well. Why? Well, there’s not many 6’8 finesse RG’s in the league that succeed. Havenstein is probably best suited at RT, and as a rookie he was a very good player. In 2016 Havenstein, like the entire offense, struggled, but was still one of their better offensive lineman.

Greg Robinson was drafted 2nd overall by Les Snead and Jeff Fisher, and simply never panned out at LT. Moving him was inevitable, but it was thought that most likely he’d slide into guard, where he could use his sheer power and be protected by playing inside and not on an island. These days there really isn’t much difference in playing on the right side at tackle, you know, unless you think going against J.J Watt, Brandon Graham, Khalil Mack, Michael Bennett, Joey Bosa, Cameron Jordan, or Jason Pierre-Paul is easier than the competition at LT.

As for Havenstein, well, he was another high selection by Les Snead as a 2nd round pick out of Wisconsin. According to Alden Gonzalez, Les Snead had this to say about Havenstein at RG:

"He’s a very, very, very smart guy," Snead said of Havenstein. "Being inside, you have to be mentally agile in there, a lot more than you have to be at tackle. Things happen quicker, and there’s more options of who you block. Most of the time at tackle, it’s a very limited number of people based on what changes in a defense."

"Another thing with Rob," Snead said, "is if you do move him inside, if he ever does go back outside, a lot of times going from outside to inside things happen a little bit quicker in there. Then when they go back outside, it can be a little less stressful, and being versatile is always good."

After the performance of the offensive line last season, it may just be worth shaking it up as much as the coaching staff has.