Sean McVay has yet to reveal who his five starting offensive linemen will be in Week 1. We have a good idea of what it will look like, but it’s not as if this group is set in stone.
Alaric Jackson is likely to start at left tackle, with Steve Avila next to him at guard. Coleman Shelton is the presumed starting center, and Tremayne Anchrum Jr. looks like he’ll be the other guard. Rob Havenstein, of course, is the starting right tackle. But Brian Allen, Joe Noteboom and Kevin Dotson are all there in the mix, too.
Buy Rams TicketsRegardless of which direction the Rams go – be it, the group listed above or a different combination – Sean McVay will be confident in the starters and the three backups he’ll have available on Sunday.
“I think they’re good,” McVay said when asked about the chemistry up front. “I think we’re still working through that. What I do feel good about is you bring in a Kevin Dotson who’s got starting experience. You get a lot of different guys that have played at different spots, some of which have started in different spots. They’ve gotten really valuable and beneficial reps against two quality opponents and real practice settings and so we’re going to continue to use today and then Wednesday through Friday to really be able to kind of tailor in on our best five. What does that lineup look like and who do we feel like gives us the best chance to operate? But like anything else, we’ve got to have guys that are ready, and they could be one snap away and I do feel like with some of the shuffling that we’ve had to do, it has developed some depth. And whoever we decide on that final five is, you’ll feel good about those guys, but you also feel good about the three other guys that’ll be available with our eight offensive linemen that’ll be up and active on Sunday the 10th.”
It’s late into the offseason to still be deciding a starting offensive line after having all of camp and the preseason to sort that out, but it’s not going to make much of a difference if the Rams do take their time with this call. Matthew Stafford has played with just about all of them thanks to the frequent rotation Los Angeles has used in practice, so he’s gained rapport with most of his linemen – perhaps with the exception of the newcomer Dotson.
Stafford said recently that the frequent changes to the lineup don’t bother him, which is great to hear. As long as he’s kept upright, he won’t care if it’s five eighth-graders or five All-Pros blocking for him.
