While the LA Rams are sorting out the ins and outs of recasting the offensive line for the 2024 NFL season, I cannot shake the hope that those changes will come with significant improvements this season. I don’t harbor a grudge against any 2022 NFL season starters. Nor do I believe that the 2023 version of the offensive line played anywhere short of spectacularly. It’s simply that if I want to build a house, I don’t believe that construction buildings with materials that cannot endure for long periods are the wisest choices.
The NFL is professional football, a game of incredibly athletic individuals who must earn the right to play through competition. Competition is baked into every move, every transaction, and every play of the sport. So embracing competition is not unloyal. Rather, it is an act that accelerates competitive play. To the victor, goes the spoils, and all that jazz.
So with what we’ve learned about the offensive line this offseason, the LA Rams know that the starting right tackle will be Rob Havenstein. But how well did left tackle Alaric Jackson play in what was his virtual rookie season at starting at the left tackle position? Did he merely earn one more year starting at left tackle? Or will the team give him a long-term contract based on what he does in 2024?:
We know that the interior offensive line is under contract for the next three seasons. That include newly signed free agent left guard Jonah Jackson, versatile second-year veteran Steve Avila, now playing center, and outstanding veteran right guard Kevin Dotson who clearly flourished in his role in 2023.
But so little was said about Alaric Jackson’s performance throughout the 2023 NFL season that even many Rams fans believed that left tackle was a primary need for this team in the 2024 NFL Draft. Since the team’s front office did not agree, why did they feel that the left tackle position was best left alone for 2024? Did the front office miss a glaring need in the roster?
