Rams made mistake of not investing more in offensive line

The pressure is on for the Los Angeles Rams entering Week 11 after another tough loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Los Angeles Rams are 5-4 and on the outside looking into the playoffs heading into Week 11.

Since the Rams started off the new season on a hot note with a 3-0 record, Los Angeles has gone 2-4 ever since.

Unfortunately, numerous injuries have come into play as far as some of the struggles with Los Angeles is concerned, especially on the offensive line.

With this in mind, it’s easy to understand some of the poor play on offense and with that as well, the quarterback play has been average at best.

Take this into consideration with the running back play being below-average as well, is it time to officially be concerned about the Rams with only seven games to go?

Jared Goff, Todd Gurley, and Brandin Cooks will take up about $70 million against the cap next season. And with the Rams being in “win-now mode” for the past few seasons, it’s tough not to wonder if some of these hefty contracts were a mistake.

Goff has not played that well this season, but the blame isn’t fully on him. No one on the offensive line has even played at an average level.

With the offensive line not playing well, and since Goff isn’t much of a dual-threat quarterback, his play is predicated on his offensive line.

It might be time to panic since his cap hit is $36 million next season and has a dead cap of over $51 million. In other words, the Rams might have made a colossal mistake signing him.

Gurley is cleraly not who he used to be and it pains me to say this, but the running back looks cooked. He doesn’t have the same burst and it’s hindering the offense.

It was a mistake re-signing Gurley to that hefty deal in 2018, and the Rams should maybe look to trading him during the offseason.

But unfortunately, with a cap hit of $17 million and $25 million in dead money, this is doubtful.

As for Cooks, the wideout has dealt with multiple concussions in the last season and a half with the Rams, which is a huge red flag along with the fact that his production isn’t worth the money that he’ll be making.

Similar to Gurley, trading Cooks in the offseason may seem like a long shot, but it never hurts to explore the possibility.

Down the road, Los Angeles will need money to re-sign other key players such as Jalen Ramsey, Cooper Kupp and, John Johnson along with taking advantage of the draft.

But as great as these players are, there is still a lack of depth from Los Angeles with the offensive line, and it could continue to be an issue beyond 2019.

No matter what it takes, Sean McVay needs to take control of this team, and make the proper adjustments with the offensive line sooner rather than later, or the Rams are going to be in a similar situation next season as well.