With injuries and new faces, Rams OL coach Ryan Wendell must have 5 starters ready for Week 1
The Los Angeles Rams hired Ryan Wendell in 2023 to fix their most disastrous season at offensive line ever in 2022, and though he was still raw as a coach he did a phenomenal job that year. By the end of 2023, the Rams were being praised for having one of the best offensive lines and doing so on a budget.
But with this week’s news that the Rams could be without the recently-signed A.J. Jackson for an extended period of time due to blood clots, and signing D.J. Humphries as a wobbly form of insurance, Wendell’s getting a preview of what it must have been like to coach L.A.’s offensive line in 2022.
The Rams need Wendell to once again find the gems, coach up the journeymen, and put the five best players on the offensive line by Week 1’s tilt against the Houston Texans.
New Faces
LT – D.J. Humphries
Perhaps this signing doesn’t have any impact on the season whatsoever, Humphries is not guaranteed to make the roster. But while the Rams had a chance to sign a tackle with NFL experience who might be able to hold the fort down right now, they took it.
The 31-year-old made his first and only Pro Bowl with the Cardinals in 2021, which led to a three-year, $66 million extension in 2022.
But a back injury caused him to miss half of that season. Humphries returned for 15 games in 2023, but tore his ACL on the last day of the year and that caused him to miss all but two games in 2024.
Humphries returned to make four appearances for the Chiefs in 2024, including two in the playoffs.
If Humphries is fully healed and ready to go health-wise, perhaps he’s good enough to get the job done. Wendell needs to find the old D.J. Humphries if Jackson is forced to miss an extended period time, which like Humphries, comes on the heels of a three-year extension.
C – Coleman Shelton
Lucky for the Rams, this is not the first time that Wendell and Shelton have worked together.
In his first year on the job, Shelton was the Rams starter for 17 games. Shelton started 17 games for the Bears last season and now he’s back in L.A. as a replacement for the failed Jonah Jackson signing who was, ironically enough, traded to Chicago.
Every pass block new #Bears center Coleman Shelton had in the Rams game against Dallas last season. pic.twitter.com/4Pgv92RfGB
— ImBearingDown (@ImBearingDown) March 14, 2024
Shelton may not be an elite center, but can Wendell make him “good enough” again?
T David Quessenberry
As a previous insurance policy, the Rams signed Quessenberry as a free agent. He started 17 games for the Titans in 2021 and the former sixth round pick — who Wendell knows from their time together on the Buffalo Bills in 2022 — could end up getting significant snaps now that Jackson is back on the mend.
OT David Quessenberry has signed a 1-year deal with the Los Angeles Rams after 2 years in MIN.
The 176th pick of the 2013 draft has played in 84 games between HOU, TEN, BUF, & MIN, starting 30. He won the 2017 George Halas Award after surviving Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. #RamsHouse pic.twitter.com/rrvpmYpuTL
— NASCAR & NFL Signings (@signingnews95) May 29, 2025
Returning Starters
RG Kevin Dotson
He’s the best offensive lineman on the Rams and that journey started with Wendell in 2023. L.A. didn’t have to give up much to acquire Dotson just before the 2023 season and Wendell helped turn him into one of the best guards in the NFL in short order.
LG Steve Avila
Avila and Wendell have worked together since the Rams drafted Avila in the second round of the 2023 draft. Although Avila has bounced around from guard to center to guard more than the team would have liked, perhaps Shelton will solidify his place at left guard.
If Avila has a breakout season, it will go miles towards aiding any deficiencies that the team might have at left tackle and center.
RT Rob Havenstein
Going into his 11th season, the former second round pick has sat out of nine games in the past two years. Now that Jackson could miss time to start the season it is even more imperative that L.A. has Havenstein healthy on the right side. Perhaps Humphries could even be double insurance.
DEPTH
C Beaux Limmer
Despite being on the bench now, Limmer played in 917 snaps last season, third-most on the entire offense.
T Warren McClendon
He played in over 300 snaps last season, so McClendon has an opportunity to still win a backup role at tackle over Humphries and Quessenberry.
G Justin Dedich
The undrafted free agent out of USC played in over 200 snaps as a rookie last season.
OL Dylan McMahon
A sixth round pick of the Eagles in 2024, McMahon made one start for the Rams last season. It’s a compliment to be drafted by the Eagles, so what went wrong in Philly and can he turn it around with a full offseason under Wendell?
T A.J. Arcuri
The seventh round pick in 2022 has not seen the field many times in the past three years. Can Acuri finally solidify a place on the roster or are these latest signings an indication of the end of the road?
OL KT Leveston
The 2024 seventh round pick hasn’t seen the field yet.
UNDRAFTED FREE AGENTS: G Wyatt Bowles, T Trey Wedig, G Ben Dooley, C Willie Lampkin
Jackson was himself an undrafted free agent. Could someone like Lampkin surprise in camp and earn a larger role than expected?