McVay: Signing Jonah Jackson, moving Steve Avila to center ‘came together last minute’
Things don’t always go according to plan in the offseason so teams are forced to adapt and adjust. That’s what the Los Angeles Rams did when Coleman Shelton decided to void his contract and become a free agency.
The Rams still wanted to bring him back but he left to join the Bears and the team had just spent $48 million on right guard Kevin Dotson. So they began looking elsewhere and saw Jonah Jackson on the market.
Sean McVay told reporters at the annual league meetings this week that the Rams’ plan to sign Jackson and move Steve Avila to center came together at the last minute.
“Hey, Kevin’s at right guard, Jonah played left guard, and oh by the way, this stud rookie left guard that you had, he was an excellent center at TCU,” McVay said, via Stu Jackson of the team’s site. “And when you want to try to be able to improve and push the envelope with the interior parts of the offensive line, it really wasn’t part of the plan until you realize, wow, we might be able to get Jonah Jackson, and if we did that, even went back and started watching – and this all came together last minute – TCU, and you say, you know what, he did a great job at center, there’s a lot of work.”
McVay said moving Avila to center “was never really part of the plan” until Shelton became a free agent, so the Rams planned to keep him at left guard – a position Avila played every single snap at last season.
Now, though, Jackson steps in as the starting left guard, Avila moves to center and Dotson remains the starting right guard. That’s a massive trio on the interior of the offensive line, one that should do a better job of keeping Matthew Stafford upright and clearing running lanes for Kyren Williams.
Jackson may have been pricey ($51 million for three years), but he should be an upgrade for the Rams after letting Shelton walk.
