EARTH CITY, Mo. -- The St. Louis Rams don't start organized team activities until June 2, but with most of the offseason heavy lifting complete, the roster you see now likely has the vast majority of players who will be on it come the start of the regular season.
With that in mind, we'll spend the next week or so delving into each position group with some thoughts on who will start, who might be on the bubble and how the depth chart could shake out.
Position: Offensive line
Returning: Rodger Saffold, Greg Robinson, Tim Barnes, Barrett Jones, Demetrius Rhaney, Brandon Washington, Travis Bond, Steven Baker
Newcomers: Garrett Reynolds, Rob Havenstein, Jamon Brown, Andrew Donnal, Cody Wichmann, David Wang, Darrell Williams
Departures: Jake Long, Scott Wells, Joe Barksdale, Davin Joseph, Mike Person
Projected starter(s): Robinson, Saffold, Barnes, Brown, Havenstein
Battle to watch: There's no shortage of choices here given the amount of turnover on the offensive line, but the choice is clear: starting center. The Rams have three obvious candidates in Barnes, Jones and Rhaney. Barnes is the only one of the three with any sort of real playing time in the NFL though even that is limited to four starts and the bulk of another game as a replacement for Wells. He re-signed after the team didn't tender him as a restricted free agent. The Rams have invested two years in Jones, who hasn't been able to stay healthy but by all accounts is smart enough and up to speed on the playbook to step in and handle the mental side of things right away. Rhaney is more of an unknown after he arrived as a seventh-round pick last year and never got going because of an injury. The Rams like Jones' intelligence, Barnes' experience and Rhaney's toughness, which means this figures to be a wide-open competition as we head toward organized team activities and training camp. Barnes might be the current favorite on paper but keep a close eye on Jones and Rhaney as we proceed.
Outlook: There is no group on the roster that has undergone more change than the offensive line this offseason. Only Saffold was a starter on opening day in 2014 and though Robinson got his share of experience as the season went on, he's undoubtedly still a work in progress at left tackle. With center an unknown commodity, the Rams look like they're going to rely on a pair of rookies at the other guard spot and right tackle. Havenstein is all but set as Barksdale's replacement at right tackle and, as it stands, Brown looks like the favorite to win the other guard job. That plan could be put on hold if either struggles early on, though, as Reynolds could be a spot starter until Brown or Havenstein gets up to speed. The Rams could also theoretically still pursue a veteran like guard Justin Blalock. It's a move that still makes too much sense for the Rams not to do it, but there hasn't been any urgency on either side to make that happen. Beyond that, the Rams don't have much in the way of experience among the backups. Line coach Paul Boudreau has a big task in front of him to make all of the moving pieces fit together in a short period of time.
