Now that the dust has cleared from the number of moves the Los Angeles Rams made prior to the trade deadline, it has been revealed offensive lineman David Edwards will be filling in for left guard Joseph Noteboom in Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons.
Noteboom has been ruled out for the rest of the 2019 NFL season after tearing his ACL and MCL during the Week 6 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. After some serious readjustments were made to the roster since then, Edwards is now slated to make his first career start.
Edwards has not had much experience in the NFL, let alone at the guard position. Fortunately, he is optimistic about having to fill in this weekend.
The rookie is admittedly excited to take on such an integral role along the offensive line moving forward, via Stu Jackson of the team’s official website:
“Really excited,” Edwards said. “Feel confident in the preparation that I’m going to put in with the guys this week, that I’ll be ready to go on Sunday.”
Edwards added that his teammates are doing what they can to help smoothen the transition for him:
“All the guys have just been really great with me, giving me confidence that I’m going to battle for them, but learning and playing next to Whit is priceless,” Edwards said. “He took me aside (Wednesday) for a period of (individual drills) and we just worked on once specific block. So he’s been awesome, and all the other guys have been too.”
It is undoubtedly encouraging to see that Edwards is embracing the opportunity to potentially help make an immediate impact. He will need all the confidence he can get if he hopes to establish himself as a viable replacement for the rest of the season.
Edwards does not have much experience playing on the inside after spending his career at Wisconsin playing the right tackle position before he was selected by Los Angeles in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Regardless, it appears he was able to show enough promise throughout training camp and the preseason to give the coaching staff enough confidence to make him the permanent fixture this season.
The 22-year-old can take solace in the fact that he will be lining up alongside left tackle Andrew Whitworth to help him find his footing in his start. The onus will undoubtedly fall on Edwards to help revitalize a Rams offensive line that has experienced some major regression in the 2019 campaign.
