4 roster moves where LA Rams zigged and should have zagged

The LA Rams have done quite a few roster moves: Whether free agent signings or outright trades with other NFL teams, that have left NFL fans and pundits gasping and wondering how the team managed it.  It’s a way of life now for the LA Rams and the fans that enthusiastically support the team. It’s nearly an expectation that, when the Rams’ roster weakens through injury, the front office will somehow find a way to patch the roster with a player who seems to be an upgrade.

I won’t pretend that I was not enthusiastic about the LA Rams’ addition of WR Allen Robinson, hopeful about the team drafting RB Kyren Williams, nervous about the team drafting WR Tutu Atwell, and downright sick to my stomach over the LA Rams trading away WR Robert Woods for nothing more than a six-pack and a pack of pretzels. But I was willing to swallow doubt and let events play out as they would.

The book has not been completely written on any of these players just yet. And to pretend that we know all about what may yet improve in the future is not something I want to suggest. But from the early poll results, the usual savvy LA Rams front office appears to be, at first blush, off their game.

LA Rams lost two key personnel execs to the Detroit Lions

That does not appear to be the case for the Detroit Lions, a team that had hired former Rams executive Brad Holmes to take over as the team’s GM. And he in turn added former Rams executive Ray Agnew as his assistant GM.  Since the Rams had lost their promising pair of personnel executives, the team appears to be slipping in terms of personnel choices.

So what do I mean? Well, the ability of the Rams to select the right player for the team like a stone mason chooses the right fieldstones to construct a stone farmhouse seems to be waning.  So too does that instinctual guide as to where to prune the roster no longer possesses the same surgical precision. And in the process, that ability of the Rams’ front office to deliver that right player exactly when needed seems to be out of synch this season.  What do I mean? Well, here are some examples:

Zig vs Zag Example IV

The first time that I personally was perplexed with the LA Rams’ decisions was when the team opted to trade away a player who, in my opinion, was the heart and soul of the Rams’ offense,  WR Robert Woods, for next to nothing. I understand that Bobby Trees was coming off a devastating injury, and entering his tenth season to boot, so the Data Analytics did not bode well for his ability to return to his former self.

Robert Woods was a perennial 1000-yard receiver for the LA Rams, that other go-to guy who helped the Rams balance out their passing game with his teammate WR Cooper Kupp. And it was Robert Woods who instilled the no-job-too-small mindset that forged the wide receiver corps into not only excellent route runners but placed them as excellent rushers as well as among the NFL elite in terms of blocking receivers.

Woods was the poster child for football fan purists

Woods brought that rare joy to the football fan purist, a player whose contribution to the team was not only receiving yards. He could be just as effective at running as jet sweep, or for blocking for a teammate to ensure the Rams passing game excelled, even though through the receptions and yards after the catch by another.

So when the Rams traded Robert Woods to the Tennessee Titans, the trade was a shock to fans. Yes, the Rams had signed free agent WR Allen Robinson (we’ll get to him next), but the return on Woods was a 2023 sixth-round pick. Now, compare that return to the investment into WR Tutu Atwell (second-round pick), TE/WR Jacob Harris (fourth-round pick), and WR Van Jefferson (second-round pick).

The Rams did allow Robert Woods to choose his next team, and that allowed him to have a say on landing with the Titans (4-2). But the need to trade Woods remains a mystery. There are times already when the Rams seem to have a true need for Robert Woods in this offense. He seemed to be that calm voice of reason.  And he mastered the short to intermediate routes that the Rams have been using this season due to offensive line injuries.

Zig vs Zag Example III

Before the LA Rams traded away WR Robert Woods, the team signed free-agent wide receiver Allen Robinson. Well, signing WR Allen Robinson was not the problem, and still isn’t. After all, the Rams front office presumed, based on the success of WR Odell Beckham Jr., that the Rams offense was taking a new direction of featuring physical contested-catch types of receivers. Allen Robinson fits that purchase order.

The problem with the Allen Robinson addition to the LA Rams roster is not getting him, but not throwing his way since he’d arrived.

There is plenty of rationalization as to why he is not getting targeted. Some say he is not getting open. But whenever I review game videos, he appears to be getting just as open, if not more open, than his teammates. Others claim that he is not catching passes that are thrown his way. But again, game footage reveals a different tale. Many of the balls thrown his way have been just out of reach.

Big plans, small production

So far this season, Allen Robinson has caught 17 of 29 passes for 170 yards and two touchdowns. In comparison, WR Ben Skowronek has caught 23 of 29 passes for 221 yards but no touchdowns. The Rams signed Robinson to be a WR1A in the Rams offense, or at least no less than a WR2. But the team is using him as a WR3 right now, and with the imminent return of WR Van Jefferson, his status will soon fall to a WR4 or even a WR5.

With all of the trade talk about RB Cam Akers, I have no idea why that has been no mention of Allen Robinson’s name being mentioned as a potential player on the trade market. With the Rams offense getting Van Jefferson back, still trying to work out a formula that works for Tutu Atwell, and voicing strong interest in re-signing free agent WR Odell Beckham Jr., there is not enough football to go around to everyone.

The Rams have shown little to no interest to involve Allen Robinson in the offense, and he is not the problem. The Rams could net a nice return if they would accept that fact and give another team, another offense, a chance to use him with more consistency.

Zig vs Zag Example II

When the LA Rams entered the 2022 NFL Draft, there were plenty of needs on the projected 2022 NFL roster. But Drafting RB Kyren Williams, rather than signing a solid FA veteran running back was a bit confusing. The Rams traded up to draft a player who is in many ways quite similar in build, style and unfortunately durability as their veteran running back Darrell Henderson.

The Rams opted not to offer RB Sony Michel a contract, and instead set a rushing attack this season behind RB Cam Akers, RB Henderson, and rookie Kyren Williams. So far, the Rams’ offense has yet to see any production out of the twice-injured Williams, the Rams have only gotten modest production out of Akers, and the Rams are averaging less than eight carries per game for Darrell Henderson Jr.

The Rams missed another OL upgrade

During the NFL Draft, we like to cite those players who the LA Rams ignored and who were still on the draft board at the time the team made that selection. One such player who was left is Chicago Bears OT Braxton Jones, a player who has earned a Pro Football Focus grade of 71.5 as a rookie, has seen 417 offensive snaps, been called for two penalties, and allowed four sacks. An offensive lineman certainly would be welcome right now.

Of course, hindsight is 20/20, right? Well, this is not the first time in which the Rams seem to focus on offensive weapons over the needs of the offensive line in the draft, as we will soon see.

I believe that the problem lies in the template used to select running backs does not fit how the Rams’ offense makes use of them. The Rams have shown a bias toward smallish versatile running backs. But when deployed in single-back formations, those smallish backs are simply not durable enough to break NFL-level tackles.  The offense could help with a blocking back, but that does not fit the Rams’ scheme either.

In the end, the Rams had the option to simply extend RB Sony Michel with an inexpensive contract. But the team opted for a rookie RB who we have yet to see perform.

Zig vs Zag Example I

Whatever it was that attracted the LA Rams about rookie wide receiver Tutu Atwell, I wish it would show up soon in a game setting. The decision to draft WR Tutu Atwell as a flourish to an already weaponized offense rather than the obvious need for an elite rookie IOL Creed Humphrey is something that is a true sore spot for Rams fans.

The LA Rams appear to have been enamored with Atwell’s lightning-fast speed. Unfortunately, like a lightning bolt, there is plenty of energy there that has yet to be safely harnessed. The Rams tried to deploy Atwell on special teams, but that experiment ended after Atwell did not live up to expectations. This year the Rams have tried to include Atwell in the team’s offense. So far, he has caught one of four passes for 54 yards and rushed once for nine yards.

And if not for the fact that the LA Rams truly needed an offensive center, and Creed Humphrey has been elite from the get-go, perhaps nothing would be said of the matter. But even now, Humphrey’s 2022 Pro Football Focus grade of 86.1 on 468 offensive snaps, two penalties, and zero quarterback sacks allowed is a neon sign that reminds Rams fans what might have been.

The Rams continue to struggle over offensive skill players

If there is a common theme, there seems to be a disconnect between the front office’s idea of what the Rams need versus what the Rams coaching staff actually uses on offense, particularly skill players. Almost like a child whose eyes are too big for their stomach, the Rams coaching staff seems to focus on getting shiny baubles without the practical applications of how to use those offensive weapons with any regularity.

Does the Rams’ front office make great moves too? Of course. Adding ILB Bobby Wagner continues to pay huge dividends. And I believe that the Rams’ ability to draft talented defensive backs this year will keep the secondary in great shape for years to come.

But when it comes to adding offensive weapons to the Rams roster, the team seems to be falling into a pattern of zigging when it should be zagging.