LA Rams 2019 Fantasy Football performance confirms offense needs work

The LA Rams had dominated offensive statistics since the arrival of head coach Sean McVay. But 2019 fantasy football rankings confirm what we suspected. The Rams offense needs work in 2020

The LA Rams certainly had a down year in 2019. More than a 9-7 record, the team had games where the team truly did not seem to even compete.  Prior to last season, the Rams boasted a full-throttle offense and a defense just good enough to keep the Rams on the winning track.  But the offense sputtered in 2019, and flaws in the defense showed through.

Fantasy football takes the bias out of the statistics and the results.  Good players do well. Bad players do not.  There is no grading on the curve for dropped passes, screwy plays, or even unusual circumstances. It’s rote production, and the lookback on the LA Rams fantasy football performance for 2019 confirms what we had suspected.

Despite a season where he passed for over 4,600 yards 22 touchdowns and 16 interceptions, quarterback Jared Goff was just the 13th rated NFL quarterback in 2019. Keep in mind he is the highest paid quarterback heading into 2020, by a significant margin.   Similarly, running back Todd Gurley fell out of fantasy football’s top ten at running back.

While the Rams receiving corps seems to be in good shape with wide receivers Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods, the Rams traded for and then paid WR Brandin Cooks a huge contract loaded with guaranteed money.  In return, Cooks had arguably his worst season. He had 42 receptions for 583 yards and just two touchdowns.  Even worse, he caught just 58.3 percent of the passes thrown his way, a full ten percent less than the previous season. That is not a good look for a player who “just got paid”.

In retrospect, Goff’s extension in 2019, and Gurley’s and Cook’s extension in 2018 have not yielded the hoped-for-results from the players.  Since signing to huge guaranteed contracts, all three players have struggled to replicate their historic production.

Of course, the consensus remains that the team’s offensive woes are directly and solely the responsibility of a poorly performing offensive line in 2019.  But the Rams have one of the least compensated offensive lines in the entire NFL. Players who signed on the dotted line for the most lucrative contracts in the NFL at their respective position must now earn that money.

The Rams are not failing on offense because the offensive line is failing to do their part.  Rams skill players signed contracts to perform on par with the best in the NFL.  To date, only defensive tackle Aaron Donald is a man of his word.