Deep dive analysis LA Rams offensive line and offensive struggles

Can’t see the Robinson for the Bobby Trees

There is a lot of vitriol and angst among some LA Rams fans towards newly acquired WR Allen Robinson. After all, he is their other starting wide receiver, but he is virtually invisible in this Rams offense. So it must be because he is ‘that bad,’ right? Well, hold onto that thought, because we’ve been down this road before, and with a fan favorite by the name of Robert Woods.

After four games in the LA Rams offense, wide receiver Robert Woods was targeted 25 times and caught 15 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns. Meanwhile, his teammate Cooper Kupp had already been targeted 46 times and had caught 28 passes for 431 yards and five touchdowns.

Until that point in his career, Woods and Kupp were virtual mirror images of one another, getting similar workloads and ending the season with relatively similar yards. Did Woods suddenly become ‘bad’? Or did the LA Rams offense suddenly change, and as a result Woods was rendered less important?

Woods/Robinson

So far this season with the Tennessee Titans, Robert Woods has caught 13 of 20 passes for 167 yards and one touchdown. After four weeks of play, he is leading the Titans receivers. If you plop Allen Robinson into that Titans offensive group, he compares quite favorably. The problem right now is that Robinson is being compared to Kupp, while Kupp is getting three times the workload as Robinson.

So far this season, Robinson has been targeted 18 times in four games, catching nine passes for 95 yards and a touchdown. Fans are quick to point the finger at Robinson. But if the passes are not coming his way, how can he keep his head in the game? Let’s reimagine this another way. What happens if you reduce Kupp’s targets to 18, just a third of the work he’s gotten so far?

Kupp would then be targetted 18 times and would have 14 catches for 134 yards and one touchdown. Now, compare that to Robinson’s 18 targets, 9 catches, and 95 yards with one touchdown.

I’m not suggesting that Robinson is not himself a factor. But how can we truly tell if It’s Robinson’s inability to catch the pass, poorly thrown passes, or Robinson’s inability to create separation? And why is that being cited as an issue? The LA Rams acquired Robinson because he was a receiver who made contested catches. Contested catches are made with little separation from coverage, so the protests about his style of play are a bit… bewildering.