Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay proved he’s able to adapt his offense to his personnel as the team moved away from a pass-centric system to a more physical, run-first team during the 2023 season.
With the Rams boasting a much-improved offensive line, the team saw success running the football more and that identity shift influenced their moves in the offseason. Not only did they re-sign Kevin Dotson to resume his role at right guard, but they also signed Jonah Jackson in free agency to play left guard.
Jackson’s presence on the left side of the line moved Steve Avila to center, a position he played during his time at TCU. During this year’s OTAs, Avila seems motivated to learn the position ahead of the 2024 season, via Stu Jackson of TheRams.com:
“I started as early as I could, as soon I as I found out I was moving to center, to try to get everything packed up and ready for these OTAs,” Avila said. “I feel like I did a good job with that. As soon as we started going faster, everything started feeling a bit more natural. So we still got a long way to go, but I’m really excited for it.”
Avila also admitted that he’s trying to be patient with himself as he learns a new position, though he’s optimistic he’ll have a handle on things once the regular season arrives:
“Trying to understand what to do when you’re given certain looks and what to do when the defender does this,” Avila said. “And I know that just comes with time. I try to give myself grace because I know last year this time, I was like a deer in the headlights, and I was prepared by the season. So that’s what I have to go off of right now.”
Despite how versatile and talented Avila is, learning a new position takes time and it sounds like he and the rest of the team are being mindful of that. Knowing Avila, though, he’ll be ready to roll for Week 1.
Rams’ Kevin Dotson excited to play on interior with Steve Avila and Jonah Jackson
Kevin Dotson was a priority signing for Los Angeles right before free agency started given his effectiveness at right guard. Now, Dotson gets to line up alongside Jonah Jackson and Steve Avila on the interior and the veteran lineman expressed how excited he is to get to play next to them in 2024.
