Rams' biggest stumbling block? Their offensive line

Whicker: Rams' biggest stumbling block? Their offensive line

By MARK WHICKER / STAFF COLUMNIST

Unless the Rams are using their head coaching interviews to ask how quickly this offensive line can be repealed and replaced, they might as well be playing gin rummy.

Perhaps you are only dimly aware of how poorly the Rams transported the football through enemy lines, or across yard lines. If so, try on these numbers:

• Next-to-last in the NFL in quarterback rating.

• Third-from-last in yards per pass attempt.

• Next to last in yards per rush.

• Last in third-down conversions.

• Last in touchdowns.

When the magic ran out for Case Keenum, we pleaded for the Rams to play Jared Goff. When Goff went winless and was lucky not to finish the season headless, we scratched our chins and said, “Hmmm, this offensive line has problems.”

“I watched them all year,” said Doug Smith, the center from the Eric Dickerson years, now an assistant coach at Orange Coast College. “I think they need more of a veteran presence, someone to provide some mentoring, like I got from guys like Tom Mack and Rich Saul.”

Perhaps. Rodger Saffold, who was the top lineman on the team according to Pro Football Focus, is a seven-year veteran, and center Tim Barnes has played five years. The others were second- and third-year players, including left tackle Greg Robinson, a former No. 2 overall pick who was benched for a time.

When the old Rams could do nothing else, they could always block. Jackie Slater had 211 NFL starts, Smith 160, Irv Pankey 122, Kent Hill 114 and Tom Newberry 143.

“When it was third-and-short we knew we were running behind Jackie,” Smith said. “Irv was that typical Penn State guy, highly intelligent and tough. Kent Hill could outrun some of the backs. I played with Dennis Harrah, too, and he’d be talking to himself during the games, telling himself to do it better. Me, I was more of a religious type. I was praying most of the time.”

Thanks to free agency, you can’t keep the band together. So the Rams either need an offensive line coach who doubles as an illusionist or a bunch of new players.

Because they gave up this year’s first- and third-round draft picks in the package for Goff, this will not be a turn-key process.

The Cowboys are the current template. They took left tackle Tyron Smith (USC) in 2011, center Travis Frederick in 2013 and Zack Martin in 2014, all in the first round. Now they can win with rookie quarterback Dak Prescott, who rarely needs Wisk to wash his jersey.

When A.J. Smith was putting together playoff teams in San Diego, he faced an OL makeover. He signed free agent left tackle Roman Oben and right tackle Mike Goff, used a third-round pick on center Nick Hardwick and a seventh on guard Shane Olivea. Then he took an ill-tempered defensive tackle and moved him to guard, and Kris Dielman became a Pro Bowl player. When Oben aged out, there was second-round pick Marcus McNeill.

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