At the last minute, the Rams switched Steve Avila back to left guard. Should we be concerned?
One of the biggest storylines of the 2024 offseason for the Los Angeles Rams was that Steve Avila was moving from left guard to center. The Rams signed Jonah Jackson in free agency to play left guard, giving Avila that freedom to move back to his more natural position that he played at TCU.
Of course, there was going to be an adjustment period and a learning curve. That comes with every position in the NFL. However, that’s even more so the case at center in the Rams offense. While the quarterback is still in charge of some of the protection calls, much of that falls on the center due to the quarterback also needing to dictate motion pre-snap. In an ideal world in the McVay offense, the quarterback is able to handle all of the motion calls while the center handles protection.
Just as the clock was about to strike midnight before Week 1, the Rams made the surprising decision to move Avila back to guard and announced that it would be Jackson playing center. The odd part about this move isn’t just that the Rams are doing this less than two weeks before the start of the season, that they are moving Avila back to left guard, or that they are moving Jackson to center after signing him to play guard. It’s a combination of all three that make the entire situation strange.
The big question is of course, why now?
Part of the issue here is that the Rams have been playing musical chairs along the offensive line for a majority of the offseason. Jonah Jackson has hardly practiced all summer, Alaric Jackson missed time due to injury as well as Rob Havenstein on the right side. Even if the Rams had wanted to experiment with Jackson at center, they wouldn’t have been able to until last week when Jackson returned to practice.
Still, it does seem strange after paying Jackson as one of the highest paid guards in the NFL. At an average of $17M per year, Jackson would be the second-highest paid center behind only Creed Humphrey. In fact, there is a $3.5M gap between Jackson and Frank Ragnow in third. Meanwhile, Jackson was signed as the third-highest paid left guard.
That makes Jackson the second-highest paid center despite not playing more than 100 snaps at the position since 2017 when he was at Rutgers. This isn’t to say that Jackson can’t play center, only that the timing of it is weird.
Jackson’s PFF Grade in 2017 at Rutgers was a 67.8 which would have put him at 50th among centers. Coming out of the draft, Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller noted Jackson as, “a versatile prospect who could play any of the interior positions as needed.” NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein had Jackson as a guard/center prospect.
While the Rams seemed open to the idea of moving Avila back to left guard, earlier in August it sounded as if they wanted to do what they could to keep him at center. Said McVay,
“However long Jonah (Jackson) is out, if we deem that whoever can plug in that center gives us a better opportunity for him to play at guard, then that’s what we’ll do. We’ll find the best five. It’s really important…I think we want to be able to pick and choose, but we want to keep (Steve Avila) at center. If we have to move him to guard, that’s not something we’re afraid to do either.”
The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue added, “It’s clear the Rams will NOT move Steve Avila from center unless there’s an emergency.”
If that’s the case, what constitutes as an emergency? Things can of course change as the NFL landscape is always changing. Again, it is worth nothing that the Rams have had to navigate injuries along the offensive line all offseason. That doesn’t mention Alaric Jackson’s suspension that will put him out for the first two weeks.
It’s possible that the Rams feel more comfortable with Avila playing next to Noteboom than Jackson. This could also be a case of the Rams only having to change one player on the offensive line as opposed to two if Jackson does go down in the first two weeks. With Noteboom at left tackle, the Rams are thin at guard depth whereas Beaux Limmer could step in at center. Still, it seems odd to put a player in a position that they haven’t played regularly since 2017.
Where this does become interesting is if the switch is permanent. There is a legitimate reason to put Jackson at center now. With the lack of guard depth in combination with the emergence of Limmer, it makes sense to put Jackson at center so that only one change needs to be made on the offensive line if he suffers an injury. For example, if Jackson were to go down, the Rams would slot Limmer in at center rather than having to move Avila to left guard in addition to Limmer at center.
However, when Alaric Jackson returns, Noteboom would be able to provide depth at left guard. If the concern is still that Jackson could get injured due to his history, that seems like something that should have been known prior to signing him to a top-3 contract in free agency.
The Rams have made this type of l ate move before. Back in 2021, the Rams trained Austin Corbett at center all offseason only for Brian Allen to be named the starting center right before the season. Allen ended up playing at a high level and the late move paid off. However, even that move was made in early August. The decision to move Jackson to center comes with a little over a week before Week 1.
With the move coming this late in the process, it is also worth wondering how Avila’s transition was going. Had Avila been playing at a high level for the Rams not to have any concern, it wouldn’t make sense to move him. It’s very possible that this is a combination of Avila’s switch not going as smoothly as hoped as well as the Rams feeling better about him playing next to Noteboom. When Alaric Jackson does return from suspension, it will be interesting to see if Avila goes back to center or if the Rams keep things as is.
Avila performed well at left guard last season. For the Rams, the goal has always been to play the best starting five on the offensive line. While Jackson hasn’t played center since 2017, his experience combined with Avila’s ability at left guard is enough to warrant the switch.
Throughout the offseason, the Rams offensive line has gone through a lot of shuffling and haven’t necessarily been able to settle in and create continuity. Making the change now doesn’t necessarily have an effect on that. With that said, it’s still interesting that it’s happening this late in the process and something to keep on eye on for Sunday Night.
