The Los Angeles Rams made changes to their offensive line this season after a disastrous 2022 campaign. They let David Edwards leave in free agency, benched Brian Allen and Joe Noteboom, traded for Kevin Dotson, drafted Steve Avila and promoted Alaric Jackson to the starting lineup, which left Rob Havenstein as the only returning starter who played the same position as last season.
The results have been mixed, however, despite undoubtedly being better than last year’s group. According to Pro Football Focus, the Rams’ pass-blocking grade of 47.8 ranks 30th in the NFL, though their run-blocking grade (64.9) is the 12th-best.
PFF ranked every offensive line through eight weeks this season and the Rams came in at No. 26.
- Right tackle Rob Havenstein missed the Rams’ Week 8 loss to the Cowboys with a calf injury and was replaced by Joseph Noteboom at right tackle.
- The Rams gave up 15 total pressures on just 35 dropbacks and, as a result, recorded the fifth-lowest pass-blocking efficiency rating in the league in Week 8.
Best player: Kevin Dotson
- Dotson’s 85.3 overall grade leads all guards in the NFL this season.
On a positive note, Dotson has been a fantastic addition at right guard. As PFF mentioned above, he’s the highest-graded guard in the NFL this year, which makes the Rams look smart for acquiring him from the Steelers just before the season began.
Jackson has been up-and-down at left tackle, Avila has looked like a stud at left guard and Havenstein is as consistent as they come at right tackle. The hope is that Havenstein doesn’t miss a second straight game with a calf injury, but his status remains up in the air for Week 9.
The Rams can’t do much to improve their offensive line at this point in the season but at least the schedule lightens up a little bit moving forward after facing some excellent defensive fronts already this year.
