Rams will replace Joe Noteboom internally, look outside for OL depth

Cameron DaSilva

[theramswire.usatoday.com]

If you were hoping Les Snead would swing a trade for All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams, you might be disappointed. With Joseph Noteboom tearing his ACL and MCL on Sunday, it appeared to open the door for a trade at left guard, with Williams being an obvious candidate.

That almost certainly won’t be the case, though, according to Sean McVay. The Rams coach said at his press conference Monday that the team will replace Noteboom internally with someone already on the roster, rather than exploring trades or free agents. The likeliest candidates to fill in for Noteboom are Jamil Demby and rookie David Edwards.

That doesn’t mean the Rams won’t look externally for offensive line depth, though.

“Yeah, that’s something we will discuss – look outside. We will see if there are guys available to maybe add some depth, but we will fill the starting spot from inside. Jamil’s had a chance to play a lot of snaps, David Edwards is a guy that we have a lot of confidence in. Those are things that we are going to work through and we will figure it out as the week continues on.”

The Rams aren’t opposed to acquiring some offensive line help, but that’ll only be for veteran depth. In other words, don’t expect them to add a big-name offensive guard to replace Noteboom, unless things go completely off the rails in the next few weeks with Demby or Edwards filling in.

“Those are things that Les and I would discuss,” McVay said of possibly adding someone before the Oct. 29 trade deadline. “If we felt like it was somebody in that the short term, but then also you have a long-term perspective on that would help us, those are things that we’re always looking into. He does a great job of kind of having a pulse for the entirety of the league and guys that might be available. When I say that, I don’t think we’re looking outside to fill that void immediately. We’re looking really potentially outside for guys that would come in and bring maybe veteran depth, but not to come in and play. I think we’ve got the expectation that we can fill the starting spot from within our building and that’s the plan that we do have. We’re continuing to look at, all right what are those things around the league? What does it look like? We’ll always explore those options.”

Demby stepped in for Austin Blythe earlier this season when he was injured, and now he’ll have a chance to start once again. He played well in Noteboom’s place on Sunday, but that was in limited action.

It remains to be seen if the Rams will go with Demby or Edwards on Sunday against the Falcons, but a decision should be made soon.