Rob Havenstein named PFF’s most improved player from Rams in 2018
By Dan Parzych
PFF recently listed their most improved player from each team for the 2018 season, and Rob Havenstein took home the honors for the Los Angeles Rams.
Back in 2015, the Los Angeles Rams, who were in St. Louis at the time, decided to use a second-round pick on former Wisconsin star Rob Havenstein with the intention of providing a much-needed boost to the offensive line.
Even though it wasn’t entirely his fault, the offensive line of the Rams wasn’t exactly the most impressive unit in the world during Havenstein’s first two seasons, especially when Jared Goff went 0-7 as a rookie in 2016.
Luckily, Sean McVay made improving the offensive line one of his top priorities when he came on board before the 2017 season, highlighted by a free agency period in which Los Angeles earned one of the top offensive lineman available in Andrew Whitworth.
Right away, the presence of Whitworth not only provided the boot to the offensive line Los Angeles had been looking for, but also seemed to make the teammates around him better, including Havenstein.
While Whitworth has received most of the credit for the improvement with the offensive line over the last two years, Havenstein deserves recognition as well, and watching the Rams reward him with a four-year extension in 2018 will back that up.
From helping provide the necessary protection to Goff on top of paving the way for Todd Gurley in the ground game, Los Angeles realizes just how lucky they are to have Havenstein part of the picture for the offensive line.
To top it off, the folks at Pro Football Focus recently conducted a list of the most improved player on each team from the 2018 season, and in what shouldn’t come as a surprise at all, it was Havenstein who took home honors for the Rams.
Not that Los Angeles needed reassurance how special of a player Havenstein is, but it’s always a good feeling to see under the radar players earn this kind of recognition every once in a while, especially since offensive lineman don’t always earn the credit they deserve.
Once again, Havenstein’s presence will play a major role in helping the Rams earn a trip to the playoffs for a third year in a row after winning back-to-back NFC West titles.
And who knows, maybe this recognition by PFF will provide a little extra motivation on Havenstein’s end to elevate his game even more during the 2019 season while helping Los Angeles be in the best position possible to earn another trip to the Super Bowl.