I agree with you. Limmer is a find for a 6th round pick. They'd be in deep trouble if they didn't have him.
That said, I think Jackson comes back before Avila. I'd like to see what the line looks like with both starters back.
Couple things here re: Jackson and his return.
First I am not sure he's got what you want at Center. What we paid for is his mobility at guard. The Rams swapping him to Center after looking at Avila there through camp insinuates to me that in some combination the two of them in those roles were not good enough. Who was most at fault I have no idea, since these guys don't play in preseason. But I suspect it was Avila struggling with the calls and overall underwhelming at the pivot. Also it is possible Avila of last season is something they think is better than what Jackson was showing at LG. So Jackson sliding to Center was a very bad indicator, as we discussed at that time, in spite of the Rams spin on how it was about supporting the LT.
One interesting wrinkle here is who returns first. And whoever it is undoubtedly slides into LG because our play there has not been up to snuff. But once they both return, I am confident Avila takes LG. Jackson, since at this point the pass pro with Limmer has been subpar, will get a run at the pivot, but the Rams will have a floor of expectation that he must exceed otherwise Limmer will regain the job. Can Jackson run the calls without being an additional burden on the QB? We will see.
Secondly OL is a unit where the sum of the five can exceed their individual ability. This has always been the case with OL when you get five dudes playing on one sheet of music with consistency. Reading the situation and reacting as one unit is extremely powerful but it is hard to get to that level. I keep pointing out how the Rams even in their Super Bowl seasons under McVay had half a season of their lines gelling before they finally emerged in the stretch run as one unit. And I blame this on lack of game snaps in preseason. Whether I am right or wrong on that doesn't really matter, either, because for this OL every time you move dudes around you set back that arrival date where they play on one sheet of music. So we're about to see hopefully a master class in that by the Rams. And if not, then we may not see this group get it together until they are out of it.
