Turf Show Times
With injuries and new faces, Rams OL coach Ryan Wendell must have 5 starters ready for Week 1
The Los Angeles Rams hired Ryan Wendell in 2023 to fix their most disastrous season at offensive line ever in 2022, and though he was still raw as a coach he did a phenomenal job that year. By the end of 2023, the Rams were being praised for having one of the best offensive lines and doing so on a budget.
But with this week’s news that the Rams could be without the recently-signed A.J. Jackson for an extended period of time due to blood clots, and signing D.J. Humphries as a wobbly form of insurance, Wendell’s getting a preview of what it must have been like to coach L.A.’s offensive line in 2022.
The Rams need Wendell to once again find the gems, coach up the journeymen, and put the five best players on the offensive line by Week 1’s tilt against the Houston Texans.
Perhaps this signing doesn’t have any impact on the season whatsoever, Humphries is not guaranteed to make the roster. But while the Rams had a chance to sign a tackle with NFL experience who might be able to hold the fort down right now, they took it.
The 31-year-old made his first and only Pro Bowl with the Cardinals in 2021, which led to a three-year, $66 million extension in 2022.
But a back injury caused him to miss half of that season. Humphries returned for 15 games in 2023, but tore his ACL on the last day of the year and that caused him to miss all but two games in 2024.
Humphries returned to make four appearances for the Chiefs in 2024, including two in the playoffs.
If Humphries is fully healed and ready to go health-wise, perhaps he’s good enough to get the job done. Wendell needs to find the old D.J. Humphries if Jackson is forced to miss an extended period time, which like Humphries, comes on the heels of a three-year extension.
Lucky for the Rams, this is not the first time that Wendell and Shelton have worked together.
In his first year on the job, Shelton was the Rams starter for 17 games. Shelton started 17 games for the Bears last season and now he’s back in L.A. as a replacement for the failed Jonah Jackson signing who was, ironically enough, traded to Chicago.
Shelton may not be an elite center, but can Wendell make him “good enough” again?
As a previous insurance policy, the Rams signed Quessenberry as a free agent. He started 17 games for the Titans in 2021 and the former sixth round pick — who Wendell knows from their time together on the Buffalo Bills in 2022 — could end up getting significant snaps now that Jackson is back on the mend.
