Los Angeles Rams need more than the 2020 NFL Draft to improve O-line

1. The recent track record of second-round offensive linemen isn’t great

There have been some solid offensive linemen taken in the second round and beyond, but drafting a lineman in the second round is probably one of the riskiest things to do. While skill positions, such as receiver or safety, oftentimes excel out of the second round, second-round linemen tend to have a bigger drop off from their first-round counterparts.

In the last 10 years, there has been a grand total of five second-round offensive linemen that have been named to at least one Pro Bowl and one of them is already retired in Zane Beadles. The last Pro Bowl selection came in 2016 with Chicago’s Cody Whitehair.

Now, a lineman does not have to be a Pro Bowler to be productive and there were some productive picks from last year. Jawaan Taylor is a great example and will probably be a future Pro Bowler. Cody Ford and Dalton Risner were not bad in their rookie years, either.

However, Taylor, Ford and Risner were all drafted at least 10 spots higher than the Rams selection this year. There were some decent offensive linemen taken after the 52nd pick, but nothing spectacular.

There definitely are standouts out of the second round, and that cannot be ignored, but there are far more second-round offensive linemen that become busts rather than great assets. So while it is not a bad thing to take an offensive lineman in the second round, the Rams cannot fully bank on that selection.