Glover remains key piece on Rams' D-line

Pro football players don’t come any classier than Rams 12-year veteran DT La’Roi Glover, who added to his reputation along those lines this offseason by filling a longtime goal — earning a bachelor’s degree in public administration. Having recently turned 34 and entering the final year of his current contract with the Rams, Glover has begun seriously considering life after football, his sights set squarely on a second career in sports broadcasting. But coming off a season in which he registered six sacks, tops among Rams’ linemen, it’s worth wondering just how much the Rams are counting on the six-time Pro Bowler this coming season.

The way we hear it, Glover remains the starter in the “three-technique” hole but, in a perfect world, “they would like to play him less and less,” according to one longtime Rams insider. “The problem is that they would also like backup Claude Wroten to play more and more, but up to now, Wroten just hasn’t developed enough.” As Glover proved last year, he still offers plenty of juice as an inside pass rusher, even though he often got steamrolled by bigger pulling guards in run situations. Glover also continues to offer tremendous leadership for the likes of Wroten and fellow first-round draft picks Adam Carriker and Chris Long, and the consensus seems to be that he remains a valued keeper, until further notice. “The Rams signed Glover to in effect replace (free-agent departee) Ryan Pickett, who a lot of people close to the team thought they should have hung on to,” the team insider told PFW. “As a result, management has gone out of its way to stay in Glover's corner.”

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