LA Rams training camp opens for OL as PFF’s 25th-ranked for 2020

The LA Rams training camp opens to some more positive news, as the offensive line is Pro Football Focus’s 25th ranked OL for 2020

There are many opinions about the success or failure of the LA Rams this year. The latest? A 2020 projection of the LA Rams offense, one that predicts the Rams offense will finish as the last place offense in the NFC West. While anything is possible, it required a great number of injuries and bad luck to bring about the Rams 9-7 finish a year ago. Is that truly the “new norm”?  I have my doubts.

So it’s time to find something positive about the Rams to talk about, something that we didn’t author. The Rams 2019 offensive line for example?  After all, the LA Rams had the 31st-ranked offensive line, and added one rookie from the seventh round and signed just one after the draft.  So, they are going it basically “as is”.  In the 2020 training camp for the offensive line, those players could use a bit of a boost.

On the rebound

So how about coming in as Pro Football Focus’s 25th ranked OL for 2020 (subscription may be required)? If that doesn’t sound very impressive, let’s pause for a recap.  The Rams finished as the 31st-ranked offensive line for 2019 and only added OL Tremayne Anchrum in the seventh-round of the 2020 NFL Draft, plus IOL Cohl Cabral after the draft. The offense remained one of the top passing offenses in the NFL, despite the 26th running attack.

New year, and the dawn of a new day.  All of the offensive linemen are back and are healthy. And the Rams offensive linemen, nine of whom had started NFL games last year, have quite the leg up on other teams. With so many versions of the offensive line that trotted onto the field a year ago, the guys enter this season with a pretty solid understanding of one another.

Top half finish

The Rams have a much higher ceiling than a 25th-ranking at offensive line.  So many teams invested heavily in new players and rookies, all of whom will take weeks to get their bearings this season. While that does not improve the Rams play, it does lower the quality of teams around the league.  The Rams hopes for a solid season is not based on hoping for the demise of 31 other teams.

Defenses found ways to exploit some of the Rams weaknesses in 2019, and continued to do so over the course of multiple games. Since the Rams were frantically trying to patch up offensive line holes caused by injuries, the team didn’t truly address the problems. The team finally started to turn the corner in December 2019, when the team switched to a two tight-end offense. Those 2019 lessons are baked into the 2020 playbook, plus some new wrinkles.

The Rams are not out for a participation award in 2020. They want to win.  With an improvement at the offensive line, that is very possible. Rosters change. Schedules change. Head coaches do not.  Rams head coach Sean McVay will have the Rams back on track this year. Pro Football Focus is simply the first to acknowledge it.