Rams offensive line shaping up well amid injuries, changes

DENVER — Bad news: A Rams starting offensive lineman got hurt.

Good news: It created an opportunity for Cody Wichmann to prove himself.

Bad news: Wichmann has to do it, daily, against Aaron Donald.

So what is it like to line up and practice against Donald, one of the NFL’s premier defensive tackles?

“He’s a great player,” Wichmann said this week. “I’m thankful, not only that he’s on our team because of his skill set, but I’m thankful that I get to practice against him every day. It’s going to make me and my fellow offensive linemen much better football players.”

Offensive linemen, by nature, don’t attract much attention, but the Rams’ unit has been a surprising highlight heading into Saturday’s preseason game at Denver. Despite the injury to starting right tackle Rob Havenstein, and some mild personnel shuffling, the Rams’ Donald-tested front line is thriving.

Havenstein has been out with a foot injury, and his status for the Sept. 12 season opener remains in doubt. So, Rodger Saffold has moved to right tackle and Wichmann has stepped in at left guard.

The line, also with left tackle Greg Robinson, center Tim Baes and right guard Jamon Brown, performed well in both of the Rams’ initial preseason games.

In victories over Dallas and Kansas City, the Rams averaged 139.0 rushing yards per game and 5.1 yards per carry, which ranked them in the top five in the NFL in both categories.

Certainly the sample size is small, but consider that Todd Gurley, the third-leading rusher in the NFL last season, sat out the first game and had only four carries in the second game.

“We’re running the football, we’re finishing down field, we’re not making a lot of mistakes,” head coach Jeff Fisher said. “Now, we haven’t necessarily been really challenged from a scheme standpoint, but that’s taken place out here on the practice field. They’re getting challenged by our defense.”

Running backs Benny Cunningham, Malcolm Brown and Aaron Green have looked good in games and, as usual in these situations, the offensive line generally got less credit than it deserved.

It’s not an oveight development. In 2015, Gurley was the third-leading rusher in the NFL and Rams backs ran for 4.6 yards per carry, the fifth-highest average in the league.

The Rams also allowed the fewest sacks in the NFL (18), a stat skewed a bit by the fact they also attempted the third-fewest passes in the league (473).

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The line did well despite significant injuries. During a game in November, the Rams had to play without Saffold, Havenstein, Brown, Andrew Donnal and Darrell Williams. That gave Wichmann, a 2015 sixth-round draft pick, a chance to play, and he started seven games and eaed solid reviews.

Now, if Havenstein is unavailable for the start of the season, the Rams feel comfortable with Wichmann.

“We’ve been throwing a lot of guys in there in a lot of different positions,” Wichmann said, “but I think as a unit we’re becoming closer and closer. I’m really excited for this group. There’s a lot of people who can play. There’s a lot of competition and it’s been fun so far.”

The biggest challenge has been for Saffold, who is on the move again. Saffold started his NFL career (in 2010) as a left tackle, and has bounced around among every position but center.

With Havenstein out, Saffold was the natural choice to bounce from guard to tackle, but Saffold said has been working after training-camp practices on his footwork in order to stay sharp. Soon, Havenstein will retu and Saffold will retu to guard and have to utilize a different skill set.

“At tackle, you have to be more calm and let things come to you,” Saffold said, “because you are the edge and they have to come through you to get to the quarterback. As far as left guard goes, everything is immediate and really fast. You have to be aggressive. You can’t just leave your hands up there. You have to have more of a heavy punch.”

The Rams’ preseason success will get a major test against the Denver defense, which not only led the NFL in sacks (52) last season but also allowed the fewest rushing yards per carry (3.3).

“They just came off a huge year, winning the Super Bowl,” Wichmann said, “so you can’t ask for better competition. They’re at the highest level and they’re up to the highest standard in the NFL. It’s going to be a great challenge and it’s going to be exciting to see how our group matches up.”

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