The Rams would be wise to invest at premium position around Matthew Stafford in the 2026 NFL Draft, even if it means moving on from fan-favorite starters
Should the Rams try and replace one of their starting tackles in the draft?
The Los Angeles Rams, via their free agency approach, have completely opened up their pathways in the 2026 NFL Draft. They are truly in a position to take the best player available with their picks or even trade down, which is exactly the way they want it.
One of those possibilities is fixing their offensive tackle room. There’s an argument to be made that the Rams should replace one or both starting tackles, especially in a must-win Super Bowl season where every little bit counts.
This line of thinking has drawn the ire of Rams fans, pointing to the numbers specifically in defense of right tackle Warren McClendon Jr. Many fans have said they throw out mocks with an OT in the first round and even further hyperbole in defense of their starting duo, believing the Rams should look elsewhere.
I wouldn’t be so sure.
If the Rams are serious about protecting Stafford, they should follow through
Amazingly, the Rams have not invested a premium pick at offensive tackle since selecting Bobby Evans 97th overall back in the 2019 NFL Draft. That means, for six drafts, they haven’t made a single top-100 pick at the most important premium position on the offensive line.
In their defense, they had Rob Havenstein at right tackle for that entire timeline, but left tackle has been entirely reliant on Alaric Jackson since he won the job over Joe Noteboom in the 2023 season. The former UDFA has played nearly 3,500 snaps the last three seasons for the Rams, an astounding success for a player who was not drafted. However, every single season he has been the starter, the left tackle position has consistently been the leak for the Rams’ offensive line, ranking in the top-ten in the NFL every season in % of pressures allowed.
This was especially true last season, when a whopping 25% of all pressures came from their left tackle. Jackson’s 43 pressures allowed were 11th-most in the NFL, putting him in similar company to Elijah Wilkinson, DJ Glaze, and Dan Moore. He is upgradeable, but his recent extension has him under contract for at least one more season before the Rams can feasibly move on….pushing the conversation over to right tackle.
This image has made the rounds in defense of right tackle Warren McClendon. These are tremendous numbers, but like with every figure…there’s context that needs added. After all, Larry Borom and Jawaan Taylor had similarly low figures and were both released from their teams, while Tytus Howard was traded away. It’s not the end all be all.
From Weeks 5-15, McClendon rotated in at right tackle, starting seven games during that stretch. During that time, he only surrendered seven pressures, with four coming in his first action against the San Francisco 49ers. Those are impressive production numbers, regardless. However, they came against teams with admittedly poor pass rushes (the Jaguars’ Travon Walker only played 18 snaps, while Hines-Allen focused on Jackson) in games the Rams pretty much led from start to finish. They didn’t do a lot of true dropbacks (no quick game, play-action, RPOs) aside from the 23 against SF (when most of his production was allowed). McClendon averaged just 14 “true passing sets” a game during this stretch.
However, that wasn’t the case late in the season. From Week 16 to the NFC Conference Championship Game, McClendon averaged 23 “true passing sets” against teams the Rams couldn’t hide him from. He allowed 17 of his 24 pressures during this stretch and both of his sacks. When the competition picked up and the Rams couldn’t hide him as much, McClendon’s production skyrocketed. His 17 pressures allowed during that stretch were among the highest figures of any OT in the NFL, and his 1-on-1 sack total (three) and 1-on-1 pressure total (13) were both among the highest marks in the NFL, tying Bobby Hart in sacks allowed and narrowly beating out Josh Fryar’s 16 pressures. Additionally, his 3-second time to pressure was the fourth-quickest in the league among tackles with over 150 pass blocks in that stretch, just behind Pittsburgh’s Dylan Cook and New England’s Will Campbell (including that awful Super Bowl performance).
I defaulted to numbers here simply to illustrate that simple figures don’t tell the whole story. When the going got tough, McClendon’s numbers fell off. This is perfectly fine, he’s a former fifth-round pick in his first year as a starter, that’s to be expected. However, the Rams have to think broader here. 2026 is the last year of McClendon’s rookie contract, meaning this could be his last year in a Rams’ uniform.
He’s played less than 800 snaps with the Rams, and the results have been so-so. If they learned anything from the Joe Noteboom debacle, extending McClendon now would be foolish. However, that leaves the possibility that McClendon could hit free agency, and they could cut Jackson after next year, opening up both tackle spots after next season.
This brings us back to the 2026 NFL Draft. The Rams, sitting at 13th overall, are in prime position to take an upgrade at offensive tackle that they can lock in for the next four-to-five seasons at either tackle spot. The point of the offseason was to build up everything else around Stafford so that he didn’t have to do it alone, like last season was. Improving his pass protection so he takes as few hits as possible should be the next step in doing so, and none of the current players on the roster should stop them from doing so.