When Joe Noteboom was selected in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams, fans were curious to see if he would be the eventual successor to Andrew Whitworth at left tackle. But with Whitworth still playing at an elite level at 40 years old, Noteboom operates as a swing tackle behind Whitworth and Rob Havenstein.
Noteboom has been asked to step into the starting offense multiple times this season, whether it be due to injuries or issues with COVID-19. While Noteboom has impressed in his stints on the field, Les Snead recently went on the “Coach McVay Show” to inform J.B. Long and D’Marco Farr that multiple teams attempted to trade for Noteboom before.
“Internally, we’ve felt confident in what Joe does. And just to give everyone a little bit of insight, Joe’s one of those players where a lot of teams tried to trade for him,” Snead said. “They looked out our lineup and looked at how Joe’s maybe the third tackle and we always said no, that wouldn’t be a worthwhile trade based on the upcoming season and the attrition that goes into (it).”
Noteboom made a spot start for the Rams back in Week 8 when Whitworth was sidelined with a knee injury. And with Havenstein being placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list ahead of this past week’s game with the Arizona Cardinals, Noteboom made the start at right tackle.
The TCU product has become a valuable offensive lineman for the Rams as he’s capable of playing nearly every spot besides center in the trenches. His versatility was likely something that intrigued the teams that expressed interest in trading for him.
While it remains to be seen if Noteboom evolves into a full-time starter for the Rams, it’s clear that Snead and the other members of the organization value what he adds to the offensive line right now – and possibly beyond this season, even though he’ll be a free agent in March.
“Jacked for Joe and hopefully the good news is that we drafted him to be a part of the Rams for a while,” Snead said. “We felt like he had a chance to develop into a very productive offensive tackle in this league and we’d like to keep that marriage going.”