St. Louis Rams: A Super Early 53-Man Roster Projection

Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Offensive Line (9): Tim Barnes, Andrew Donnal, Demetrius Rhaney, Barrett Jones, Jamon Brown, Garrett Reynolds, Greg Robinson, Rodger Saffold, Rob Havenstein

Though the Rams came away from the first few days of free agency with barely enough linemen to play a game, they built up an incredible amount of youthful depth through the draft, so it will now be an intense battle for roster spots during training camp. That’s assuming the Rams don’t bring back right tackle Joe Barksdale or sign another veteran lineman; if they choose to move forward with the group they have right now, they’ll be fielding a group with three starters who have never started for more than a few games at a time.

With the group I have here, sixth-rounder Cody Wichmann (a likely practice squad candidate) and longtime backup Brandon Washington (probably maxed out after three full seasons in the Rams’ system) don’t make the team. Those two will definitely be given a shot, though; it’s certainly possible that they could beat out one of the Rams’ three centers, Barnes, Rhaney, or Jones, for a spot, and if one of them is good enough that the team feels the need to keep them, they could always make an adjustment to the roster makeup and keep 10 linemen. After all, the team had 12 offensive linemen on the active roster, plus practice squad tackle Sean Hooey, early in the 2013 season, and with their run-heavy approach, they need as much line depth as possible.

Next: Defensive Line