The Los Angeles Rams have found success over the past few seasons when it comes to scouting undrafted free agents. Last year, they found linebacker Omar Speights who ended up starting 10 games and made the Rams feel comfortable enough to move on from Ernest Jones. That doesn’t mention another contributor in Jaylen McCollough or past pickups such as Christian Rozeboom and Alaric Jackson.
When it comes to teams finding late-round or undrafted talent during the draft process, few, if any teams has done a better job than the Rams. That positive trend has seemingly continued heading into 2025. While undrafted free agents such as Brennan Presley and Nate Valcarcel certainly impressed in the Rams preseason opener, nobody caught more attention than interior offensive lineman Willie Lampkin.
The preseason can be a difficult time to evaluate as half of the players on the field likely won’t be on an NFL roster come September. While it can be easy to overrate what we see during the preseason, it’s also not something that can be completely written off either. It’s still part of the process and unfortunately it’s the only part that most fans get to see.
However, the preseason might be the most important part of the process for a player like Lampkin. One of the biggest question marks for Lampkin coming into the draft process was his size and more specifically his height. Lampkin is officially listed at 5’11, 290-pounds. While the 290-pounds isn’t necessarily a concern, there’s a reason there aren’t many offensive linemen under six feet tall. To say the least, Lampkin is an anomaly.
Still, throughout the week of Senior Bowl practices, Lampkin showed that he belonged. Brandon Thorn who is one of the best at evaluating offensive lineman said about Lampkin,
“Lampkin is an all-time outlier in terms of height and weight, but those traits are balanced out by his closer to average wingspan and big hands. Regardless of his measurables, Lampkin’s 2024 tape was objectively excellent, and he more than held his own at the Senior Bowl.”
In Thorn’s draft profile of Lampkin, he wrote,
“Lampkin is a leverage monster in the run game with a refined skill set and a keen understanding of how to stick on blocks. He can hold the point in the post on double teams, strain, and wall-off rush lanes when isolated on drive blocks and regularly intersects targets on pulls and climbs. Once latched, Lampkin is a chore to shed due to his tremendous ability to fit, clench, and take away space for defenders to operate.”
Despite showing out at the Senior Bowl, Lampkin was not given an invite to the NFL Combine. Despite being arguably a top-75 talent, teams didn’t take the risk during the draft and he went undrafted. The fact is, despite Lampkin showing otherwise, teams weren’t sure if he could hold up on the interior in the NFL. There was some thought that Lampkin may need to be moved into a Patrick Ricard type fullback role.
However, as he has since he began the draft process, Lampkin has continually proven his doubters wrong. Among interior offensive linemen with at least 32 snaps, Lampkin was the second-highest graded overall player via PFF with a grade of 94.1. Only Joe Huber of the Minnesota Vikings was better. He had the third-highest run-blocking grade and did not allow a single pressure in pass protection.
This is a player that the NFL had questions about coming in and while it was mostly against bottom-of-the-roster players, he still showed that he belonged. There is now tape out there showing that Lampkin can hold his own against bigger players.
That’s one reason why the Rams have to find a way to keep Lampkin on the roster. This was a player that nobody in the NFL thought was worth taking a chance on during the draft because of his size. Every single team, including the Rams to an extent, didn’t select him because he was a size anomaly. Now that he has good tape, it’s hard to see Lampkin sneaking through waivers if the Rams were to cut him. In a league that is desperate for good offensive line play and depth, a team with a need on the interior would most certainly jump on him.
This is also a player that has become one of the biggest stories in the media after his performance against the Cowboys. Lampkin was mentioned on the Pat McAfee show as part of his “All-Bruh Team”. Steve Palazzolo and Sam Monson of The 33rd Team listed Lampkin on their top-5 preseason rookie debut lists. That doesn’t even mention the clips circulating on social media showing Lampkin’s impact in the run game and serving pancakes to Cowboys’ defensive linemen.
Given the talent level and media publicity that Lampkin has received, this isn’t a player that the Rams are going to be able to quietly stash on the practice squad after roster cutdowns. In the NFL, teams can never have too many good offensive linemen, and Lampkin is a player worth keeping around to develop.
The decisions that the Rams are going to have to make on the offensive line will be difficult. This is a group in which the top-eight spots are pretty much locked up:
Starters: Alaric Jackson, Steve Avila, Coleman Shelton, Kevin Dotson, Rob Havenstein
Depth: DJ Humphries, Warren McClendon, Beaux Limmer
That leaves Lampkin competing with Dylan McMahon, KT Leveston, Justin Dedich, and David Quessenberry for one or two spots on the offensive line depending on how many the Rams keep. Leveston may have a clear path as the only player with guard-tackle versatility. However, McMahon also seems to be a player that the Rams like as he didn’t play in the preseason and was claimed off of waivers last year after being drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles.
Still, players like Dedich, Leveston, and McMahon may have a better chance of making it through waivers and landing back on the Rams practice squad. While unfortunate, Lampkin’s path to the roster also becomes easier initially in the case that Alaric Jackson begins the season on PUP/IR.
Throughout the Sean McVay and Les Snead era, the Rams scouting team hasn’t prioritized size when it comes to acquiring talent, especially in the draft process. It’s how the Rams ended up with Aaron Donald in 2014 and most of their offensive linemen are considered shorter than the norm. Saying Lampkin will succeed because Aaron Donald did is a poor comparison.
However, outside of height, Lampkin fits what the Rams have drafted on the interior. Lampkin actually fits somewhat comparably to what the Rams currently have in Coleman Shelton. Both are close to 290-pounds and Shelton’s official arm-length pre-draft was 31.5-inches, which is the same as Lampkin. Lampkin and Shelton also recorded very similar speed times which is especially notable in the 10-yard split which is a good indicator of their ability to quickly generate power and leverage.
Lampkin-Shelton RAS
Lampkin-Shelton RAS Comparison
Kent Lee Platte
It’s far too early to say whether or not Lampkin could be a future starter on the Rams offensive line, but at the very least he’s quality depth that has the ability to play all three interior positions. Limmer may be the current favorite to take over for Shelton at center, but Lampkin provides some good competition once that time arrives.
Over the past few seasons, this is a team that has had to rely on offensive line depth. Justin Dedich started three games last year at left guard in place of Avila. Lampkin is arguably an upgrade over Dedich and is good depth to have. Finding a way to keep Lampkin on the roster could end up paying dividends when it matters most.