The Los Angeles Rams produced one of the NFL’s best offensive lines last season.
Apparently, that did not leave much of an impression on the league.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler surveyed NFL executives, coaches and scouts to determine the top 10 offensive tackles entering 2026. The rankings also included an honorable-mention section and seven additional players who received at least one vote.
Neither Alaric Jackson nor Warren McClendon Jr. appeared anywhere.
Leaving both of them out requires overlooking two of the league’s highest-graded tackles from 2025 and a Los Angeles running game that consistently created room before its backs encountered contact.
Jackson and McClendon Jr. player needed to crack the top 10 for the Rams to have a complaint.
Failing to receive a single vote is where the list becomes difficult to defend.
Alaric Jackson Has the Stronger Traditional Snub Case
Alaric Jackson has started 51 games since joining the Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2021.
His career has moved well beyond the point where a strong season can be dismissed as a small sample.
Jackson earned an 82.9 overall grade from Pro Football Focus in 2025, ranking 11th among 89 qualifying offensive tackles. His 84.3 run-blocking grade ranked 10th, while his 74.8 pass-blocking grade placed 26th.
Those numbers do not make Jackson an obvious top-five tackle, but they should at least make him part of the conversation.
ESPN’s expanded list reached well beyond 10 players. Rashawn Slater landed in the honorable-mention category, while Spencer Brown, Armand Membou, Brian O’Neill, Bernhard Raimann, Ronnie Stanley, Kolton Miller and Jake Matthews received votes.
Jackson could not get one.
Perhaps evaluators still see him as a strong run blocker with rectification needed as a pass protector. Reputation also might matters in this survey, and Jackson lacks the Pro Bowl selections or first-round pedigree carried by several players ahead of him.
Production should eventually carry some weight.
Jackson played 1,050 offensive snaps and protected Matthew Stafford’s blind side throughout a season in which the Rams finished second in pressure rate allowed at 23.8% and second in clean-pocket rate at 76.2%, according to FTN Fantasy’s offensive line analysis.
Warren McClendon Made His Case in Fewer Snaps
Warren McClendon Jr. isn’t the same as Jackson particularly because he played much less.
While he doesn’t have the starting experience, McClendon Jr. does have a 2025 grade that placed him ahead of almost every tackle in football.
McClendon earned an 83.5 overall PFF grade, ranking seventh among 89 qualifying tackles. His 86.7 run-blocking grade ranked fifth, while his 73.9 pass-blocking mark ranked 30th.
But McClendon played 667 snaps while taking over for Rob Havenstein, giving voters less evidence than they had for established starters who have performed across several seasons.
The former fifth-round pick became an important part of a line that ranked first in adjusted line yards at 5.50 and posted the NFL’s second-lowest stuff rate at 12%, via the previously noted FTN page.
Los Angeles regularly won at the line of scrimmage, and McClendon’s individual grades reflected that success.
PFF grades are not definitive, particularly for offensive linemen. Scheme, assignments and the quality of defenders faced can complicate every comparison.
Still, ranking seventh at the position over 667 snaps should create some level of recognition.
The Rams enter 2026 with one of the league’s highest-rated offensive lines. Their two tackles finished 11th and seventh in PFF’s overall grades last season.
Even so, ESPN’s voters found room for 18 other names.
Los Angeles Rams Standouts Snubbed From NFL Rankings