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Will the Los Angeles Rams have a healthier offensive line in 2023 than they had in 2022? That seems likely given that the Rams had one of the most-injured and inconsistent offensive lines in modern NFL history, as there are few places to go other than up, but that is no guarantee. And even if L.A.’s offensive line is healthy, is it better?
ESPN’s Mike Clay doesn’t think so. Or if he does, then he thinks that the Rams were easily 31st or 32nd last season and they did go up. By a single notch.
Clay ranked the L.A. Rams 30th in his offensive line rankings this week, only ahead of the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars. Clay lists the Rams projected starters, from left to right, as Joe Noteboom, Steve Avila, Brian Allen, Logan Bruss, and Rob Havenstein. The guards would be making their NFL debuts this year, while Allen played in only 372 snaps last year and Noteboom played in 325.
That’s out of about 1,020 offensive snaps. Rob Havenstein played in 1,018.
2023 NFL Offensive Line Unit Ranks and potential starters.
— Mike Clay (@MikeClayNFL) May 12, 2023
The Eagles remain elite...and the 49ers surprisingly low (Trent is a stud, but the rest of the line doesn't quite stack up) pic.twitter.com/tOibRAbK6Q
Despite L.A.’s low ranking in this chart, they aren’t far behind their NFC West opponents. The Seahawks rank 24th, the 49ers rank 25th, and the Cardinals rank 27th.
Will the Rams be able to take advantage? Not according to Clay... He has the Rams ranked 32nd in edge units.
Update!
— Mike Clay (@MikeClayNFL) May 13, 2023
Reminder that you can always find all 10 units and a consensus here: https://t.co/mFMxjMIepI pic.twitter.com/4ErXY71lWD
The Rams let David Edwards walk in free agency and they relied on Coleman Shelton for 719 snaps at guard, Matt Skura with 466 snaps at center, and Ty Nsekhe with 423 snaps at tackle. That’s a lot of 2022 snaps for players not expected to start for the Rams (only Shelton remains on the roster) in 2023. Oday Aboushi had 339 snaps at guard, more than even Noteboom at tackle.
L.A. also gave 314 snaps to Bobby Evans, now mercifully off of the roster.
Clay has ranked the Rams near the very bottom of every single position unit in the NFL with the exception of Aaron Donald’s and Matthew Stafford’s. He has them 23rd on offense overall, 32nd on defense, and 32nd overall. Obviously if Stafford were to miss any time or not be on the Rams, as he is situated behind a bottom-three OL potentially, then the offense could be 32nd.
Only time will tell.
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