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It’s evident when listening to Steve Avila talk that he’s a confident young man. It’s also easy to see what the Rams liked about him in the draft, enough to select him 36th overall in the second round.
Avila may be a rookie who’s only in his first week of OTAs, but he’s finding the transition to the NFL pretty seamless. During his first press conference of OTAs on Tuesday, Avila was asked whether it’s been overwhelming so far.
He doesn’t feel that way, telling reporters that the jump from high school to college was tougher for him.
“Not really. I know for me, the transition from high school to college was tough, but I feel like you kind of get a taste of how things are a little bit. So this transition was a lot easier. It’s actually my first time being away from home, but again, it’s California. It’s a great place, so it’s been awesome.”
Avila, who grew up in Dallas before attending TCU, is adjusting to life away from home now that he’s living in California – at least for the next few weeks before the team breaks for the summer before training camp. It doesn’t seem to bother him, though, and he’s enjoyed learning as much as he has thus far.
“There’s a lot of younger guys in there too – I’m talking younger, like under 30 – but they all know what they’re doing,” Avila said of the veterans on the team. “Taking in all the coaching I can and it’s definitely a bunch of camaraderie going around. Got a good group of people. I’m learning stuff every day so I know especially being a rookie and how they do things, so it’s all fun.”
The Rams’ offensive line group is especially young, with 31-year-old Rob Havenstein being the eldest. Only Havenstein, Joe Noteboom, Brian Allen and Coleman Shelton are not on their rookie contracts, so it’s a young and competitive group that Avila is joining.
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