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The Rams didn’t go into the offseason planning to make a change at center, but that’s how things have played out this month.
Head coach Sean McVay said before free agency that the team wanted to hold onto Coleman Shelton, but they wound up re-signing right guard Kevin Dotson and then struck a deal former Lion guard Jonah Jackson early in the negotiating window. At the league meetings this week, McVay said he “just assumed he was gonna go back to Detroit” and the different outcome led to another change up front.
Steve Avila started every game at left guard as a rookie, but he has experience at center from his time at TCU and will now be moving back to that spot for his second NFL season.
“He’s got an amazing athleticism for a big player,” McVay said, via the team’s website. “He’s got great contact balance, you can see his ability to take second-level angles of departure, fit second-level blocks, play in space. That was one of the things that I went back and evaluated. I think he’s got the natural ability to play on the left or the right side of the line, be another lefty center for us.”
McVay said he’s advised Avila to “take the incremental steps” needed to acclimate himself to the position and making sure that happens will be a significant part of the offseason work up front for the Rams.
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/sean-mcvay-steve-avila-natural-171753624.html
Author : ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports
Publish date : 2024-03-28 17:17:53
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