4 reasons why LA Rams may not fire underperforming ST Coordinator Chase Blackburn

If you had to point to one of the three phases of the LA Rams team that did not perform well in 2023, you would likely point to the Rams special teams as the phase of the team that completely underperformed this past season. Overall, the Rams special teams did not feel special at all. While the team had an artillery gun for a punter, the team's coverage would often allow huge returns that all but negated the punt. And the Rams kicker(s) were so undependable, that even when they have flawless games, nobody really took note.

FYI, did you realize that K Brett Maher had a flawless three of three field goal performance in the Wild Card Round of the 2024 NFL Playoffs? Immediately after that game, a strong chorus line of fans surfaced on social media, decrying the Rams kicker situation, and calling for an immediate dismissal of Rams Special Teams Coordinator, Chase Blackburn.

There is never a shortage of opinions when it comes to certain coaches or coordinators on the LA Rams coaching staff. The LA Rams, once blessed with one of the best special team groups in the NFL, have fallen on hard times in that category of late. Since 2017, the year that the LA Rams hired HC Sean McVay, the Rams have had four different Special Teams Coordinators. They are:

To move on from ST Coordinator Chase Blackburn is resetting the Rams coaching staff again, something that Rams HC Sean McVay is not necessarily warm and fuzzy about right now. A coaching staff, in many ways, is an assemblage of coaches who not only get immediate results on a football field but who cohesively work well enough together to make a difference in the team's overall development.

And LA Rams HC Sean McVay himself has stated that he is not looking to make any coaching changes:

How can it be so? Did the Rams not experience the same 2023 NFL season that we all witnessed? And then there is the annual Special Teams rankings by Rich Gosselin, which firmly ranked the Special Teams play by the LA Rams for the 2023 NFL season as the worst in the NFL.

Ah, but as Radio Commentator Paul Harvey used to say: "And now, the rest of the story . . . "

Why would Rams be okay with ST Coordinator Chase Blackburn for 2024 or beyond?

1. Reason IV: Rams front office failed to sign a veteran kicker
2. Reason III: Blackburn hand picked P Ethan Evans
3. Reason II: Rams blew up their special teams in 2023
4. Reason I: Champagne ideas on a beer budget

Reason IV: Rams front office failed to sign a veteran kicker

What we plainly see on the football field is the end result of the efforts made by the LA Rams front office, the coaching staff, and the players. But what we as fans fail to see without a great deal of work includes all of the contributing factors for the performance and production on the football field. And those contributing factors can produce a huge range of performances.

The LA Rams entered the 2023 NFL season with no clear plan for the placekicker role. As we all may recall, the LA Rams rifled through four placekickers in 2020 before the team finally found their fifth and final kicker for the second half of that season in K Matt Gay. Gay remained with the team through 2022 but was wooed away from the Rams roster after his contract expired by the huge sack of cash offered by the Indianapolis Colts.

Curiously, the Colts may have buyer's remorse now, as Gay did not live up to his 'highest paid kicker in the NFL,' contract in 2023. Meanwhile, the Rams offseason shopping for placekickers to compete for the 2023 NFL season did not include a veteran NFL kicker at all. Instead, the Rams signed two top-tier rookie kickers after the 2023 NFL Draft: North Carolina State's Christopher Dunn, and Oklahoma State's Tanner Brown.

Dunn was released pretty quickly in the 2023 offseason. But rather than add a veteran kicker to ensure competition, the Rams stuck with Tanner Brown exclusively, cutting him after the preseason. Was it a mistake to do so? Well, the timing of that front office fiasco was poorly timed, as all 32 NFL teams had secured their starting kicker by that time.

The team ended up signing kicker Brett Maher to the team's practice squad to start the season.

Oddly enough, the Rams have since re-signed kicker Tanner Brown to compete for a role in 2024. Oddly enough, the Rams also re-signed kicker Brett Maher after replacing him with K Lucas Havrisik. Who was calling the shots in terms of the Rams roster? If not ST Coordinator Chase Blackburn, then it is difficult to fault him for such a hokey-pokey strategy.

Reason III: Blackburn hand picked P Ethan Evans

The LA Rams drafted punter Ethan Evans in Round 7 of the 2023 NFL Draft with the 223rd overall pick. While that is about where you would expect the LA Rams, or any NFL team for that matter, to draft a punter, the performance of former Wingate punter Ethan Evans has certainly been a bright spot in an otherwise dismal performance of special teams in 2023.

What I love about the fact that the Rams drafted punter Ethan Evans in Round 7 in the 2023 is the innovative way that this team has used his powerful leg. Not only does Evans punt for the LA Rams, but he also handles kickoffs as well. In terms of sheer punting ability, Rams rookie punter Ethan Evans ended the 2023 NFL season as the 10th best punter in the NFL, averaging 49.2 yards per punt.

Where the Rams struggled with Evans was hang time, as he often punted the ball so quickly to the opponent's returner that the Rams would lose premium field position. Evans's net punting of 39.1 yards per punt was no better than the 34th-ranked punter in the NFL, and the difference of 10.1 yards from the gross to net punt is a huge challenge to be corrected in 2024.

In fact, Evans punts were returned 32 times in 2023, for a total of 495 yards, two touchdowns, and one blocked punt.

But what caused that lack of blocking and punt coverage? And, can it be corrected with ample coaching?

I think it can and will be fixed in 2024. As we all know, Evans arrived fairly raw to the NFL in 2023, as all rookie punters do. While he focused on leg strength in his first NFL season, he will undoubtedly focus on hang time in 2024. So, what is an acceptable hang time? LA Rams rookie punter Ethan Evans was clocked at a 4.43-second hang time. For a 45-yard punt, the hang time ought to be 4.7 seconds. But the best NFL punters strive for a hang time that exceeds 5.0 seconds.

Ethan Evans will be a good one. But like many rookies, he needs time to get there.

Reason II: Rams blew up their special teams in 2023

When the LA Rams failed to match the Indianapolis Colts offer for former Rams Pro Bowl placekicker Matt Gay, fans had to realize that the path taken by the team would be chaotic for the special teams unit in 2023. And across the board, Rams fans were most often disappointed by special teams' play that seemed anything but special.

But is that as much a fault of newly hired ST Coordinator Chase Blackburn? Or is that simply that organization's repercussions of a strategy that wiped out every special team's veteran player? We have learned time and time again that much of the success in the NFL is more than just raw talent. The NFL's top teams have continuity in their front office, coaching staff, and players.

For the LA Rams, it was not only a brand new season. The entire special team's program had to be reinvented. The LA Rams special teams apex was that of the 2017 and 2018 NFL seasons. But scroll back to the first slide. Those were the sixth and seventh seasons for then-Rams ST Coordinator John Fassel. It's unfair to pit the performance of a new ST Coordinator to one who has had years of working with the LA Rams organization.

The Rams had to start at ground zero in 2023. The Rams had to find and develop a rookie kicker, punter, and long snapper, and even find a return specialist or two simultaneously. Even rookie long snapper Alex Ward had to be replaced mid-season after injury sent him to Injured Reserve for the final four games of the season.

But the most important reason for the Rams to bring back ST Coordinator Chase Blackburn may be the simplest reason of all. The team spent next to nothing on the group in 2023:

Reason I: Champagne ideas on a beer budget

What is the price of success? For the LA Rams, the price of a successful special teams unit was just $1.0 million. At least, that is the report as per Spotrac.com as to how much salary the LA Rams invest in the position in 2023. That is just 40 percent of the $2.5 million spent on the special teams unit of the Detroit Lions, the 31st cheapest ST group in the NFL

LA Rams have been irate over the Rams' poor performance on special teams all season. But with the Rams spending pennies to other NFL teams spending dollars, what could you realistically expect? In essence, the reasons for a poorly productive special team unit in 2023 may have been due to decisions that were far above Chase Blackburn's pay grade.

A review of positional spending by NFL teams in 2023 as compiled by Spotrac.com reveals that the LA Rams dedicated just $1.9 million towards the special teams specialists in 2023. That is no better than the 29th least amount spent by NFL teams and is a key and compelling argument that it was not a matter of mismanaging the resources committed to special teams by the Rams.

The phrase: "You get what you pay for." comes to mind.

The Rams front office drafted rookie punter Ethan Evans in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL Draft. The Rams signed two kickers and a long snapper after the draft, Even punt return/kick return specialist Austin Trammell was a practice squad player in 2022. In essence, the Rams basically gave Blackburn no access to meaningful resources and expected him to spin gold out of wool.

Clearly, that did not happen.

I'm not lobbying one way or the other in terms of ST Coordinator Chase Blackburn's ongoing relationship with the LA Rams. But I am trying to assess the situation objectively, as I ask myself this question: Did Blackburn fail to develop the resources entrusted to him? Or did the LA Rams front office fail to provide him with sufficient resources to get the job done? From what I can tell from the evidence presented in this article, I am more inclined to believe that the Rams, and not ST Coordinator Chase Blackburn, who is ultimately responsible for a poor performance in 2023.