Beaux Limmer leaves Rams with difficult decision, but starting offensive line is clear

Should the Rams keep rookie Beaux Limmer in the starting lineup?

The Los Angeles Rams offensive line is slowly getting healthier. While right tackle Rob Havenstein will miss Monday Night’s game with an injury, free agent signing Jonah Jackson should be ready to play against the Miami Dolphins. Steve Avila’s status is more of a question mark, but the door is open for him to play.

It won’t be long before we see the Rams offensive line fully healthy for the first time this season. While it is very good that the offensive line will be healthy, it also leaves the Rams in a difficult spot with a tough decision.

Through the first eight games of the season, one of the better performing players on the offensive line has been rookie Beaux Limmer. In two of the last three games, the Rams rookie has not given up a pressure from the center position. Additionally, since Week 5, he is one of four centers in the NFL to allow two or fewer pressures over that time period. In Week 9 against the Seattle Seahawks, Limmer allowed the lowest pressure rate by a rookie offensive lineman.

In Limmer, the Rams have seemingly found another draft steal in the sixth-round. The rookie center has played like one of the better young center in the NFL and he has continued to grow an improve every week. The issue is, unfortunately there are only five spots on the offensive line.

As the Rams get healthier along the offensive line and both Jackson and Avila return to the lineup, it does leave the team with an interesting decision to make. Limmer has played well and has done nothing to lose his spot. If anything, his performance would suggest that he should have earned a starting role.

On most teams that would be the case and the Rams would likely find a way to keep Limmer in the lineup. That’s what they did with Alaric Jackson prior to 2023 when Joe Noteboom entered the season as the team’s starting left tackle, but could not stay healthy. It’s also what they did in 2019 when David Edwards played well at left guard in place of the injured Joe Noteboom.

The Rams have shown in the past that if a player should be in the starting lineup and makes the team better, that player will be on the field. Again, using Noteboom as the example, he was the 13th-highest paid left tackle last season. Instead, the Rams opted for the undrafted free agent making $946,000.

However, there shouldn’t be any controversy over who the Rams starting offensive line is if all five players are healthy. When all five players are healthy, that group is still:

• LT: Alaric Jackson
• LG: Jonah Jackson
• C: Steve Avila
• RG: Kevin Dotson
• RT: Rob Havenstein

The Rams could opt to play Jackson at center and Avila at left guard, but the point here is that the starting interior trio will be Jackson, Avila, and Dotson. Jackson wasn’t paid as a top-5 left guard in free agency to sit on the bench. Avila played well enough last year on the interior and was drafted in the second round. Whether at left guard or center, Avila will be in the starting lineup. He remains a building block on the offensive line.

At the very least, the pressure is on for Jonah Jackson over the second half of the season. He hasn’t been healthy and he will need to show that he can be relied on as someone who can consistently be in the starting lineup. The Rams have tried to keep Jackson in bubble wrap this season. They didn’t let him participate in OTAs due to an injury he suffered last year and then he immediately got hurt in training camp. After missing all of training camp, the Rams waited until Week 1 when he once again got hurt.

Jackson will need to play and he needs to show that he can play well. While the Rams did sign him to a three-year contract, there is no commitment to him after this season. All of Jackson’s guaranteed money comes in year one. After this season, his contract is not guaranteed. The Rams can cut Jackson and take on only $11.3-million in dead cap while saving money. If he is on the roster on the third day of the 2025 league year, he will earn a guarantee on his base salary for the season. The Rams can cut him before then and come out almost unscathed. It becomes even more possible to move on after year two.

Over the Cap

It’s hard to blame the Rams for signing Jackson. The vision was clearly there given what he showed at time with the Detroit Lions. Still, given how well Avila played at left guard last year an argument can be made that they should have gone with drafting a center anyway and only bringing back Dotson. The money saved then could have been used on a cornerback or linebacker. It’s all hindsight now, but there was a path in which the Rams didn’t have to sign Jackson.

Over the first half of the season, Limmer has shown that he can be the center of the future if the Rams want to move Avila back to left guard. The larger point is that the Rams have depth on the interior of the offensive line. Limmer is currently a depth piece, but has shown that he is a quality starter. That’s a good depth player to have available.

Limmer may be the Rams starting center in 2025 or even 2026. However, for 2024 he is a depth piece and has played admirably in that role. The Rams signed Jonah Jackson for a reason and have yet to see him on the field for a large stretch. If he doesn’t perform, the option is there to move on from him at the end of the year. For now though, he is a starter alongside Avila which is how the Rams envisioned it when they signed him.