3 players the Rams may have parted ways with far too prematurely

Get rid of him is often an outcry from LA Rams fans when a player fails to measure up to expectations. But that is not the right way to manage the Rams roster. Players cannot be shackled to fans' expectations. Their contributions to the teams are not easily detected or measured by fans. Rather, the spotlight is often a horrific measure of a player.

And the Rams coaches realize that fact.

But in the haste to 'get better' for the 2024 NFL season, the team appears to have exposed the 2024 season to regression. What does that mean? With the team prepared to build off their success from the 2023 NFL season's success, did the front inadvertently part ways with those unsung heroes who made that success possible in the first place?

While two games is hardly a sample size that allows for definitive conclusions, we certainly see signs that accompany a struggling team: Numerous injuries, no consistency in key NFL team units, and regression in almost all measurable NFL statistics.

Is this all an overreaction? Perhaps. But that is where the team is after two games. Statistically, there are few shining enclaves of excellence to build around. This is a team that is stumbling across the spectrum of NFL indicators. And that creates a challenge unto itself by limiting corrective actions due to the myriad of areas that need attention.

Clearly, the team has a lot to 'fix,' and that is going to take time. But after the success in 2023, how many of these early issue would be preventable had the team made different roster moves? Here are three players whose absences are already 'detectable' in just two games.

(3) - C Coleman Shelton

No, I'm not kidding. Despite the LA Rams' new-fangled offensive line, the team saw a chance to grab veteran Jonah Jackson, making Coleman Shelton suddenly expendable. But Shelton is doing an admirable job starting for the Chicago Bears right now. In fact, he has played 126 offensive snaps, allowed just one quarterback sack, and committed one penalty.

But that is not what the Rams miss right now.

Inevitably, the LA Rams running backs have only rushed for 100+ rushing yards in the game behind the run-blocking of Coleman Shelton. The pattern first appeared in 2021, as veteran RB Sony Michel managed to put up 100+ rushing yards, but only when Coleman Shelton was blocking at the center position. The pattern continued through the 2023 NFL season.

But in two games in 2024, the Rams have yet to get anywhere close to 100+ rushing yards from a single running back. And the only noticeable factor is the absence of Coleman Shelton at offensive center. Hmmm.

(2) - RB Royce Freeman

The homogeny of the current LA Rams running back corps is frightening. The group is comprise of four runners, all of whom stand 68 to 69 inches in height, and all of whom tip the scales from 192 to 214 pounds in weight. If the Rams find success with running back, then it falls to reason based on similary size and styles, all will succeed. But right now, the Rams ground attack is failing to put up sufficient yards.

But like a Nascar racer, the car is running on four tires that are identical to one another. So there is not true alternative to test the effectiveness of a power back. And the absence of a big bodied runner like veteran RB Royce Freeman means this team has nobody to hand the football to who can punish defenders. In 2023, Freeman carried the football 77 times for 319 yards and two touchdowns. While he was no Pro Bowler, he added a dimension to the offense that simply does not exist in 2024.

Freeman is a punishing runner who was quite effective for the team last season. Unfortunately, the pattern of the team with north-south running backs is to part ways after one season. And Royce Freeman merely extended that confusing tradition.

(1) - ILB Ernest Jones

Until the LA Rams hired Raheem Morris as the team's defensive coordinator, the team took little stock in the inside linebacker position. Under DC Morris's watch, the team drafted South Carolina ILB Ernest Jones to lead the defense, and even paired him up with All-Pro ILB Bobby Wagner for a season. Ernest Jones responded by being one of the team's most dependable defensive performers throughout 2023.

But the Rams lost DC Raheem Morris to become the new Head Coach of the Atlanta Falcons. His star pupil, inside linebacker Ernest Jones, would be traded away for a bag of chips and a six pack of housebrand soda before the 2024 NFL seasons began.

And I'm still confused by the willingness to trade him away.

Let's start with a basic defensive statistic. Ernest Jones has not missed a tackle for the Tennessee Titans in two games. The combination of Troy Reeder and Christian Rozeboom have already combined for three missed tackles in two games, That is already a rate of 10.3 percent of missed tackles. Yikes!

But neither Troy Reeder nor Christian Rozeboom show any ability to diagnose plays, stuff the run, or get tackles behind the line of scrimmage. In fact, neither player has a tackle for a loss. Ernest Jones already has two tackles for a loss.

Where the statistics have grown increasingly damning are rushing defense stats. The Rams allowed just 106.8 rushing yards per game in 2023, good enough for the 12th-best defense in 2023. In 2024, the Rams have been gashed for 197.0 rushing yards per game, plummeting the defense to 30th place among NFL teams. That is not the effect of losing DL Aaron Donald's retirement. That is the impact of losing one of the team's best run-stuffing tacklers on the defensive side of the football.

Hey, I get it. Troy Reeder and Christian Rozeboom are 'okay'. But there is a huge difference between an inside linebacker who rushes to the ball carrier and makes that tackle, and an inside linebacker who stands his ground and is drug for two or three more yards before dropping the ball carrier to the ground.

That difference is 90 rushing yards per game.

As always, thanks for reading.