LA Rams special teams have nowhere to go but up in 2024, and they will.

Where did the Rams Special Teams rank in 2023?

While he does not elaborate on the rankings of all 32 teams in each category, we know that the LA Rams are named on his list several times, and not in a positive light. The team is listed in:

• Category 1 - Kickoff returns - Rams last (16.1 yards) vs NFL average 22.6 yards
• Category 4 - Punt Coverage - Rams last (15.5 yards) vs NFL average 9.6 yards
• Category 17 - Points allowed - Rams last (14.0 points) vs NFL average 3.4 points
• Category 19 - Opponent blocked kicks - Rams tied last (3 blocked kicks) vs NFL average 1 blocked kick

It is a foregone conclusion that any team that shows up dead last in more than three measured categories in a seasonal ranking without showing up first in any category will invariably show up at or near the bottom of the league rankings.

Let's examine how the Rams Special teams were ranked by Lineups.com for 2023. While Lineups does not aggregate statistic measures into a composite index for ranking, it does provide raw data scores in each of the following 17 categories to sort and rank individually. To help, I have listed the Rams score and ranking for each category:

1. Field goal percentage - 74.4% | 30th
2. Field goal attempts - 2.5 attempts | 1st
3. Field goals made - 1.9 made | 10th
4. Extra Point attempts - 2.2 attempts | 13th
5. Extra Point made - 1.9 made | 18th
6. Opponent Field goal attempts - 2.2 | 25th
7. Opponent Field goals made - 1.8 | 19th
8. Opponent extra point attempts - 1.9 | 13th
9. Opponent extra point made - 1.7 | 9th
10. Opponent punts - 3.8 | 21st
11. Opponent punt return yards - 29.1 | 31st
12. Opponent Kick returns - 0.6 | 8th
13. Opponent Kick return yards - 17.4 yards | 10th
14. Punt return - 1.6 yards | 23rd
15. Kickoff return - O.5 yards | 32nd
16. Punt average- 49.2 | 8th
17. Punt Net average - 44.3 yards | 3rd

As you can see, it's a bit of a mixed back for the team's special teams performances. But it also illustrates the challenge for the team's ST Coordinator Chase Blackburn. If you note areas where the Rams performed poorly, you would note that the team struggled heavily in punt coverage and kickoff returns. While we know that the Rams struggled at field goal percentage, the team was not the worst in the NFL, there is no way to discern how much that category handicapped the Rams special team ranking in 2023.

Some categories were quite embarassing. Yet, other categories were quite promising. And perhaps on an even better note, all poorly performing categories can be addressed and fixed for the 2024 NFL season. But first, let's examine how special teams fell so far so quickly.