Rams OL developments this off-season

You know what to do next @RamsNFL pic.twitter.com/0iBuuCrYsn

— Rams Tapes 🥶 (@RamsTapes) February 24, 2024

I really want the Rams to hold on to Dotson. Played so well and if the Rams really want to contend for the Super Bowl, I don't see how he's not part of it. https://t.co/rzozpn8tZb

— Zac (@ZacMaier) February 28, 2024

Oregon’s Jackson Powers-Johnson talked about what he thinks makes him the best center in this class.

“Just my enthusiastic play and my physicality. I’m a bigger center and I think I move pretty good. Just being a physical, nasty center.” pic.twitter.com/nkls3yjBwI

— Blaine Grisak 💭 (@bgrisakTST) March 2, 2024

from Rodrigue, in NFL Scouting Combine: One thing we learned about all 32 teams in Indy: https://theathletic.com/5311636/2024/03/04/nfl-scouting-combine-what-we-learned/?source=targeted_email&campaign=9201234&userId=603890

Los Angeles Rams

Is continuity on the offensive line the Rams’ priority entering free agency? The front office — spearheaded by comments from GM Les Snead on Wednesday — is conveying that message, saying they are in constant communication with representation for starting center Coleman Shelton, who voided the final year of his deal and will be a free agent, and starting right guard Kevin Dotson. Both players are expected to at least hit the legal tampering period portion of free agency, and if the Rams can’t get something done with either or both players, their draft needs along the offensive line become more urgent. However, scouts and analysts in Indianapolis have raved about the strength of this offensive line class, particularly at center and tackle. Either way, expect the Rams to invest here. — Jourdan Rodrigue

How many NFL starting centers will come from the 2024 draft class?

If the over/under is 4.5, I'm taking the over. JPJ, Barton, Frazier, Van Pran, Bortolini, Nourzad, Limmer. A few more promising options on day 3.

AWESOME year to draft a center. pic.twitter.com/CGnQgzcAUJ

— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) March 7, 2024

zn wrote:

Blaine Grisak @bgrisakTST Per @Schultz_Report, the Rams are putting an original round tender on OT Alaric Jackson for $3.2M. Surprised it’s not a second round tender that would have cost $4.8M.

ME: that might not be accurate?

***

This became very relevant today…

When Rams drafted Avila, it was his versatility that sold him during the pre-draft process, especially at the Senior Bowl.

This may have always been the plan. Now with Jonah Jackson signing, he likely moves over to center. https://t.co/i7cViXy4CJ

— Blaine Grisak 💭 (@bgrisakTST) March 11, 2024

Rodrigue: In O-line moves, the Rams recommitted to their wall and the maul

Jourdan Rodrigue

https://theathletic.com/5333667/2024/03/12/la-rams-offensive-line-commitment/?source=emp_shared_article

Nothing like a little “proof of concept” to encourage total buy-in, eh?

Monday, the Los Angeles Rams agreed to a three-year deal with left guard Jonah Jackson, worth up to $51 million with $34 million guaranteed, multiple league sources said. The move came just days after the Rams extended starting right guard Kevin Dotson on a three-year deal, worth up to $48 million with $32 million guaranteed. Jackson’s deal can become official at the start of the new league year March 13.

In 2023, the Rams made a conscious effort — between the decisions of the front office and the scheme deployed by coach Sean McVay — to overhaul and reinvest in their protection of quarterback Matthew Stafford and their run game.

That couldn’t just be a one-year commitment, and it had to start up front.

Alaric Jackson, who is 6 feet 7 and 330 pounds, took over full time at left tackle after an injury-addled failed experiment with previous starter Joe Noteboom. They drafted 6-foot-3, 332-pound Steve Avila at pick No. 36 last spring, and he played 100 percent of the offensive snaps there. Alaric Jackson is expecting to be tendered, a league source said, though the team has yet to decide which value of tender he will receive (a range between $3 million and $6.8 million for one year).

Jonah Jackson is 6 feet 4 and 311 pounds. Dotson is 6 feet 4 and 321 pounds.

To borrow a phrase from a controversial general manager I once covered, those are bona fide hog mollies.

But what the Rams are now doing schematically with their pass protection and run game matters as much as the overall size of their offensive line; in fact, the two are interconnected.

Since he took over as the Rams’ coach in 2017, McVay deployed a mid- and outside-zone run scheme that aimed to stretch defenses horizontally. In marriage with sound play action, quarterbacks in his system (and others who shared the same philosophy) could attack downfield as a defense worked to account for that horizontal space off of those run fakes. Because guards and centers were also asked to move horizontally, linemen outside of the typical prototypes could be identified with less investment — so, with lower-priced deals and with non-first-round draft picks — because they were often smaller and faster.

But McVay’s run game became increasingly one-dimensional after the departure of Todd Gurley in 2019. The Rams went from the top of the NFL in production there to near the bottom. In 2021, he pivoted to Stafford, a quarterback who was less dependent on play action and able to supplement dimension in the pass game with shotgun and pure dropback concepts. Still, the Rams’ offense had the reputation around the league of a “finesse” group — a stellar pass game, but lacking the teeth that usually come from a gut-busting ground attack.

In 2022, Stafford was hit more times through nine active games than any other quarterback in the McVay era. Those 63 hits (29 of them sacks), and the hits to the ground, sent Stafford to the concussion protocol twice and resulted in a bruised spinal cord that ended his season. The offense went three-and-out at nearly a 40 percent rate, the worst in McVay’s tenure. The offensive line, minus right tackle Rob Havenstein (6 foot 8, 330 pounds), was decimated with injuries, but even a healthy group would have raised questions.

So in spring and summer 2023, McVay committed to adjusting his scheme to feature more gap- and man-blocking concepts — a favorite run became “duo” — with plenty of motion and sifting from tight ends and receivers (they still ran mid- and outside-zone as well, mixing horizontal stretch with downhill power), and GM Les Snead committed to the type of personnel up front it would take to run the more physical plays.

Enter Avila, who was the top second-day prospect on the Rams’ draft board last spring. The Rams also fast-tracked second-year running back Kyren Williams into the lead role and traded previous starter Cam Akers, then added reserve back Ronnie Rivers — both Rivers and Williams excelled in the early iterations of the gap runs McVay installed in training camp.

The Rams also invested in their coaching of the offensive line, hiring former longtime Patriots center Ryan Wendell as the new position coach, promoting assistants Zak Kromer and Nick Jones and adding famed coach Mike Munchak in a consulting role. Though Jones joined former Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris in Atlanta as the latter took over as head coach, Los Angeles remains hopeful Munchak will return to consult another year.

Then the Rams corrected previous errors. Noteboom received a contract extension after left tackle Andrew Whitworth retired in 2022, but instead of taking that spot over full time, Noteboom had horrible injury luck in 2022 and 2023. Eventually, he was beaten out at left tackle by Alaric Jackson in 2023. The Rams could have forced a player on a contract such as Noteboom’s into the right guard spot (and almost did), but instead traded for Dotson. Noteboom became a “sixth man” swing player. Noteboom’s $15 million cap number is now far too high for a backup. Sources briefed on the matter say he will either take a restructure, or be cut and test his market in free agency. Center Brian Allen, who was also extended alongside Noteboom but who also had terrible injury luck and was eventually surpassed as a starter, was released before free agency.

Stafford got leaner entering 2023. The Rams moved his pocket more frequently than they had in 2021-22 and Stafford even ran the ball a little himself. The offense returned to top-10 status and lifted a gutted defensive roster that needed time and support to develop on the cheap. The Rams won 10 games, finished eighth in the NFL in Expected Points Added per Rush, tied for fourth in EPA/play and tied for sixth in EPA/pass attempt (according to TruMedia). Stafford was sacked 34 times, tied for sixth lowest in 2023.

To reiterate: The Rams’ functional, financial and schematic offensive line overhaul couldn’t just be a one-year promise after the rock bottom that was 2022. Alaric Jackson’s tender will extend him for a year, and he is extension-eligible if he plays well for a consecutive season. Avila, Jonah Jackson and Dotson are all contractually aligned for at least the next three seasons, and because Avila is on his rookie deal, the Rams will essentially pay their three interior offensive linemen about $35 million per year. Havenstein has two years left on his current contract with a $14.7 million cap hit in 2024, ranking No. 12 among right tackles ahead of the start of free agency.

Jonah Jackson’s signing, according to team sources, indicates a shift for Avila inside to center. The Rams were in communication with previous starting center Coleman Shelton’s representation before and as free agency’s legal tampering window began, they said publicly, after Shelton decided to void the final year on his contract to test his market. Shelton’s market did begin to develop as the Rams kept a close eye on it, and though they were open about wanting to keep him, they also weren’t going to delay on moving with urgency to sign a player of Jackson’s caliber especially if all it meant was moving Avila to center.

Avila played center at a high level while at TCU and is an excellent communicator. His move, and the addition of Jackson, means the interior of Stafford’s pocket will now be protected by nearly 1,000 pounds. The exterior is protected by two sequoia trees, if sequoia trees could punch you in the mouth.

After 2022, the Rams talked a big game about reinvesting in their offensive line, protecting their veteran quarterback, overhauling their run game and getting more physical. They backed that up with sound scheme and big people — committing to a wall, and a run game that can maul.

from https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-2024-nfl-free-agency-one-positive-takeaway-all-32-nfl-teams#LAR

LOS ANGELES RAMS: THE OFFENSIVE LINE APPEARS TO BE SET

The Rams’ offensive line played surprisingly well in 2023. The team ranked fifth in the NFL in run-blocking grade. Their pass blocking vastly improved after a poor start and ranked seventh in the NFL after Week 5. Retaining right guard Kevin Dotson is a huge win, and adding Detroit’s Jonah Jackson is a better move than the surface-level numbers would suggest.

Jackson has been one of the league’s best blockers in man run schemes. The Rams lead the league in man running plays over the past two years as Sean McVay has leaned away from his usual zone tactics. Jackson also likely pushes Steve Avila to center, where he played the majority of his snaps in college. Jackson is a better fit with the Rams than any other team in the NFL.