Countdown to Camp is a series that breaks down the Rams’ roster by position group as the team prepares for its first open training camp practice. The first chapter focuses on the offensive line.
The Rams added to their size this offseason as they prepare to transition to a larger, more physical offensive line in 2023. According to offensive line/defensive line expert Brandon Thorn, who publishes the Trench Warfare Newsletter, they will begin training camp as the third-heaviest unit in the NFL in 2024 based on their projected starters.
I’m finishing up processing all of the new data for the 2024 OL Almanac and wanted to give you an early peek at some of the findings. This will be updated after the preseason, much like last year, once the lineups have been set.
Heaviest OL units: 1. Bengals.
2. Eagles (with Steen at RG, would be 1 if Becton).
— Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL), July 3, 2024
The Rams re-signed restricted free agent Alaric Jackson (signed a one-year tender), last season’s starting left tackle, as well as breakout right guard Kevin Dotson to a three-year deal. They also signed former Lions guard Jonah Jackson to a three-year contract in free agency, causing Steve Avila to shift from left guard to center position. Rob Havenstein, the team’s captain and starting right tackle last season, is also returning.
Here’s how it projected the first five measurements over the line:
A. Jackson: 6’7″, 345 pounds.
J. Jackson: 6-4, 315.
Avila: 6-3, 338.
Dotson: 6-4, 330.
Havenstein: 6–8, 323
Last year, with four of those five starting on the offensive line, Los Angeles had the seventh-highest total yardage average (359.3). More crucially, it improved from 27th in rushing yards per game in 2022 to 11th in 2023, with an average increase of 22.6 yards. The improvement up front was evident not only in the run game, but also in the pass game, as a larger, more physical unit tied for the sixth-fewest sacks allowed last season after the 2022 edition – shuffling through 12 different combinations through the first 13 games due to injury – allowed the third-highest.
That unit has now moved Avila to center and added Jonah Jackson.
“We’ve had some cross tape throughout the season, so I was able to see the work that they do,” Jackson said after signing with the Rams on March 14. “That’s a powerful group. I graduated the same year as Dotson, so I’ve known him since college, and watching him, Steve, Alaric, and Rob is a great group. Kind of like what we had in Detroit. There’s something great there, and I’m eager to be a part of it.”
Jackson is the most intriguing piece of this heavier and slightly-reconfigured offensive line, and he arrived in Los Angeles with some schematic carryover from what Detroit did, namely in the run.
“The gap scheme and the duo just in general is probably our bread and butter in Detroit and glad it’s the bread and butter over here,” Jackson added on March 14, 2018. “So it’s not going to be too hard of a transition and things like that are right up my alley.”
An offensive line of that size and physicality should benefit not only the run game and the pass game, but also the offense as a whole in terms of situational advantage, such as short yardage and the ability to control the clock late in games with a lead.
It will be exciting to see this squad in action when the pads go on during training camp.
