5 events causing LA Rams finish last in NFC West

Reason 2 – LA Rams running game never hits its stride

The LA Rams not only invested their most valuable draft pick of 2020 into their running game, but the team has emphasized running in both the 2019 and 2020 NFL Drafts.  That has resulted in the Rams offense boasting two talented running backs on the roster, both very talented, fresh legs, and something to prove to the NFL. But the Rams had rookie Darrell Henderson on the roster in 2019 and saw almost no production from him all season.  In fact, the Rams running game fell to 26th in the NFL last year.

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Can adding Florida State rookie running back Cam Akers fix everything? Likely not, but if the LA Rams end the season at 6-10, the addition of Akers can have no positive impact for the team whatsoever. That means that the Rams, a team that only managed 93.7 yards per game on the ground in 2019, must fall to some pedestrian level of under 90 yards per game average in 2020.

Running it into the ground

Not only must the LA Rams’ running game fail miserably, but the Rams must continue attempting to establish the running game all season.  That means that the team will be falling behind by double digits quite frequently, will fail to get anything going on the ground, and will have wasted the talents of two young talented running backs. Is this even possible?

Actually, it could happen, however remotely. If the LA Rams offensive line fails to improve, and the offense simply emphasizes a pass-first mentality over the uncertainty of young running backs, the team could literally skew the run-pass play ratio from 2019 even further to that of passing plays.  But even head coach Sean McVay was disappointed in his ability to level the offensive play calls, and will likely depend on new offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell to keep his playcalling honest.  So even if the Rams rushers are ineffective, the Rams will need to continue to run ineffectively to hit the 6-10 record projected for them.