Santa left these Rams underperformers lumps of coal on Christmas morning

IV - ILB Troy Reeder

I suppose that you could argue that veteran inside linebacker Troy Reeder was simplying doing his job as he continued to cling to a starting role over undrafted rookie inside linebacker Omar Speights. But it's hard to look past the fact that the Rams were 2-4 with Reeder starting at inside linebacker, and the same team (for the most part) has played to a record of 7-2 with Omar Speights commanding the heart of the defense.

Yes, Reeder had 46 tackles in just six games, a pace that could be projected to 130 tackles over a 17-game regular season. But he consistently misses more than 11 percent of his tackles over the past two seasons, is not particularly effective at pass coverage, is not very effective at stuffing the run, recording just one tackle for a loss with 46 tackles, and hesitates to meet a running back in the lane. Worst of all, his skillset is nearly identical to that of ILB Christian Rozeboom.

I hate to hold a player's injury as a positive development, but if not for Reeder's injury, the Rams would never have promoted Omar Speights to start in this defense and nobody would truly know just how well rookie ILB Speights could play in 2024. Reeder is simply not a starting ILB in the NFL.

III- TE Davis Allen

It's challenging to see how several very promising players in 2023 have regressed in 2024, but we have another name to slide into that category. Second year tight end Davis Allen seemed to catch anything thrown in his vicinity last season, catching 10 of 11 regular season passes for 95 yards and a touchdown. So it was entirely logical to presume that he would be given a larger role, and could be regarded as challenging his teammates for a starting role in 2024.

Unfortunately, that never happened.

Much like veteran WR Demarcus Robinson, Davis Allen's ability to catch passes has regressed substantially in 2024. This year, he has caught just six of 12 passes for only 39 yards and no touchdowns. That happened in a year in which starting tight end Tyler Higbee missed 14 games, and not tight end on the roster truly stepped up to lay claim to the role. It's not even offensive snaps, as Allen has been afforded a much larger share of offensive plays, 279 offensive snaps in 2024 to 192 in 2023. When the Rams needed someone to step up at tight end, Allen didn't.