The Rams have had to shake up their offensive line after two weeks filled with injuries and a suspension.
While players like Beaux Limmer have benefited from opportunities, Matthew Stafford has had to bear the growing pains of such a process.
Stafford has worked closely with Limmer in the last two weeks following the injury to Steve Avila, essentially running him through a speed course of the proper checks, protections and assignments needed to be called out and understood by a center at the NFL level.
However, Stafford hasn’t had to hold Limmer’s hand with the rookie center quickly grasping and then implementing said lessons. When it comes to Limmer’s ability to identify protections, Stafford had positive things to say about the sixth-round rookie.
“I think the biggest thing is trying to lean on keeping it as simple as you possibly can [and] keep it in boxes for those guys,” Stafford said Wednesday. “He does that. I feel like it’s a little bit of everything. It’s a little bit of communication with me. It’s a little bit of [the] game plan. It’s a little bit of everything.”
Stafford also spoke about having such a drastic change with the center position and how Limmer has handled it so far.
“I think the biggest thing is, number one, getting snaps [and] getting used to that,” he added. “The worst thing you can do is sit there thinking about where the snap is going to be or how it goes. I think that’s the biggest thing and then just communication. Hopefully, he feels like he can lean on me to get us pointed in the right direction and then let him try to take things off of his plate. He’s played with some veteran guards on each side the last couple weeks so that helps, but I think he’s doing a really good job. As far as my work with him, it’s just trying to get us in and out of the right place, making sure he’s tied into why we’re doing certain things and then where we’re going to go with protections.”
A rookie center’s best friend is a veteran QB, which can help make up for the pitfalls that come with youth. As Stafford’s bond with Limmer continues to grow, Limmer himself should establish a voice in this league and for an offensive line in need of a shot caller, Limmer’s proving he’s well on the way to being that man.
