The Los Angeles Rams are asking a rising star on their offensive line to switch positions this offseason after another key player left in free agency. The Rams will have a new-look offensive line this fall.
The Rams signed Jonah Jackson in free agency and kept Kevin Dotson. Those moves mean the Rams have a crowd at guard, with offensive lineman Steve Avila returning for his second season in Los Angeles.
Losing Coleman Shelton was not planned for by Sean McVay
According to the Rams website, head coach Sean McVay said one of those players will switch to center after a free agency surprise. The team wasn’t expecting center Coleman Shelton to void his contract and sign with the Chicago Bears this month. McVay also didn’t plan on adding Jackson:
“That was really never part of the plan until you realize, ‘Wow, Coleman Shelton voided his contract,'” McVay said at the NFL Annual Meeting. “We always wanted to get Coleman back. And then by nature of just kind of investing and spending some time evaluating the guard market, you re-sign Kevin (Dotson) ahead of the two-day negotiating period, and then you realize, okay, wow, I had always just assumed he (Jonah Jackson) was gonna go back to Detroit.”
The Los Angeles Rams will ask an OG to move to OT
With Jackson and Dotson penciled in a guard, McVay plans to switch Avila to center:
“And then you realize, wow, we might actually have the opportunity to acquire him as well. Hey, Kevin’s at right guard, Jonah played left guard, and oh, by the way, this stud rookie left guard that you had, he was an excellent center at TCU.”
Avila did player snaps at center during his college days at TCU. However, moving to center at the NFL level will be a challenging transition for the 2023 second-round pick. He played well at guard for the Rams in 2023 as he made the PFWA All-Rookie Team.
Steve Avila is nervous about the move
McVay said the left-handed center is nervous and excited about the move to center, but he’s willing to put in the work so he’s ready to lead the Rams in pass protection in Week 1:
“He’s like, ‘Man, I don’t know as much as Coleman.’ I said, ‘That’s okay! You don’t have to right now. Let’s just take incremental steps,'” McVay said. “He’s a guy that loves being in the building. And so, like I was talking about earlier, you don’t need to go from A to Z, let’s just take the incremental steps.
Fortunately for Avila, he’ll have the OTAs and training camp to learn his new gig instead of being pushed into the center position in midseason because of an injury.
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