Continuity has been elusive for the Los Angeles Rams’ offensive line this season, undergoing several changes throughout the first half of the year due to injuries. Whether it was Steve Avila and Jonah Jackson going down, Rob Havenstein’s injuries, Alaric Jackson’s suspension or Logan Bruss’ struggles at left guard, the Rams have had to shuffle their O-line more than they’d like this season.
On Monday night against the Miami Dolphins, they might’ve made one too many changes.
Avila and Jackson were both activated off IR after missing the last seven and six games, respectively. Just as the offense is peaking, the line gets two of its Week 1 starters back after lengthy absences.
Exciting, right?
Yes and no. Avila slid in at left guard and after knocking off some rust early in the game, he finally settled in. The same can’t be said about Jackson. He never got comfortable at center and was part of the reason the Rams’ offense never got off the ground, either.
Sean McVay made the decision to bench sixth-round rookie Beaux Limmer in order to get Jackson on the field and it completely backfired. Limmer, who hasn’t allowed a sack all year and has given up just three QB hits, was playing well – much better than Jackson did on Monday night.
Jackson struggled in pass protection and his worst play of the night was a high snap that went through Matthew Stafford’s hand for a 13-yard loss. That happened from the Dolphins’ 28-yard line, and after two plays that gained 7 yards, the Rams were forced to settle for a 52-yard field goal. A false start, ironically by Limmer, before the snap on the FG pushed it back another 5 yards and Joshua Karty missed wide right from 57 yards.
It was only one play, but that bad snap by Jackson might’ve been the difference in winning or losing. Had the Rams at least gotten a field goal, they would’ve cut into the Dolphins’ lead and made it 10-9. Instead, Miami scored on the next drive to go up 17-6.
After the game, McVay explained the decision to bench Limmer and Justin Dedich in favor of Jackson and Avila.
“Both Steve and Jonah were ready to go,” he said. “Wanted to be able to see what that looked like. You never know exactly, but always try to do what we think is best. This will be some good film to look at and see, all right, what do we think is the best way to put guys in the right spots to give them the chance to be successful and ultimately our offense.”
When asked specifically about the performance of the offensive line, McVay acknowledged there was some poor play. He also mentioned the word “continuity,” which the Rams finally found in the last three games with Dedich at left guard and Limmer at center.
“It didn’t seem very – it seemed like, I want to be able to look at the tape, but there was a lot of things that were not in alignment with what we’re looking for,” he said. “That’s why you hear us talk about the importance of continuity. Got a lot of respect for that defense, they did a nice job. But there was too many things that it just seemed like we were off and never gave ourselves a chance. And it’s not exclusively on the line. As a whole, collectively, we’re all in this thing together and we’ll look at it and we’ve got to be able to improve and everything’s on the table.”
Those last few words – “everything’s on the table” – suggest Jackson may not be ensured of a starting job in Week 11. He probably shouldn’t be. If the Rams don’t want to bench their $51 million lineman, they should at least consider putting him back at left guard, the position they paid him to play, and sliding Avila over to center.
Because after watching that debacle on Monday night, it’s clear Jackson shouldn’t be the starting center.