After reaching Super Bowl LIII last February, the Los Angeles Rams regressed and became just an average team in 2019. The offense wasn’t close to what it was in 2018, while the defense found absolutely no consistency.
It isn’t all doom and gloom for the Rams, though. There are still plenty of reasons to be optimistic for the 2020 season, even after they went just 9-7 this past year.
The Rams have the potential to be a Super Bowl contender next season if their top players perform up to expectations, and if the front office is able to replace potential departures in free agency.
Here are five reasons for hope for the Rams in 2020.
Jared Goff showed he can be a top QB in 2018
There were a number of factors that led to Goff’s disappointing 2019 season. His offensive line was constantly undergoing changes due to injury and it struggled all year long. The Rams’ running game was almost non-existent, partly due to Todd Gurley’s reduced workload and his ineffectiveness in most games.
Goff, himself, deserves plenty of blame for the way he played, too, but he’s also shown he can be a top quarterback before. In 2018, he was an MVP candidate until the Rams’ Week 12 bye, after which he regressed. In the first 11 games of that season, he threw 26 touchdown passes and six interceptions with a passer rating of 113.5.
If he returns to that level of play in 2020, the Rams will look more like the team that made it to the Super Bowl than the one that missed the playoffs. A lot of their success hinges on Goff, and while his 2019 campaign was concerning, his 2018 season is reason for hope.
Jalen Ramsey and Aaron Donald are defensive cornerstones
When it comes to two-player tandems on defense, the Rams might have the best in the NFL. Donald is undeniably the top interior defender in the NFL, while Ramsey is among the league’s elite cornerbacks. Having two players of their caliber is a huge advantage for the Rams, especially with the defense potentially losing a few starters in Cory Littleton, Michael Brockers and Dante Fowler Jr.
The best way to build a top defense is by having a shutdown cornerback and a consistent pass rusher. Los Angeles has both, which is a recipe for success on that side of the ball. Even if Fowler and Littleton leave, Donald and Ramsey will remain as cornerstones of the defense. They make everyone around them better.
Sean McVay is learning to adapt
This past season was McVay’s most difficult as a head coach. The Rams faced a great deal of adversity, from injuries to midseason trades to the uncertainty surrounding Todd Gurley. McVay did his best to adapt to the circumstances, though you could argue he should’ve done it sooner than he did.
Toward the end of the season, McVay called more bootlegs and rollouts to protect Goff from pressure and help out the makeshift offensive line. He also used more 12 personnel, getting two tight ends on the field at once. The offense still wasn’t as consistent or explosive as it was in 2018, but it found a rhythm late in the year – specifically Goff.
McVay will come back in 2020 with a better game plan and a more diverse offense. He likely won’t be as reliant on 11 personnel as he has been, which teams have found ways to combat. The Rams are in good hands with McVay.
Rams’ pass catchers are as good as any in the NFL
Between Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, Brandin Cooks, Tyler Higbee and Gerald Everett, the Rams may have the best corps of pass catchers in the league. Kupp is a top slot receiver, Woods is vastly underrated as an all-around receiver and Cooks should bounce back from a letdown in 2019 that was partly due to him suffering two concussions.
Higbee’s emergence in December adds another wrinkle to the offense, too. He became Goff’s favorite target late in the year, gaining big yardage after the catch and working well on off-script plays. Everett missed part of the season with a knee injury, but he shouldn’t be forgotten about, either.
With a great cast of receivers around Goff, the Rams offense should perform at a higher level next season if everyone stays relatively healthy.
Offensive linemen have one more year of experience
Though the Rams allowed the fewest sacks in the NFL this past season, the offensive line did not perform well as a whole. Goff was under pressure frequently, and the running lanes opened up for Gurley were few and far between.
The line could lose Andrew Whitworth and Austin Blythe in free agency, but the rest of the unit will have an added year of experience in 2020 than it did last season. David Edwards was thrust into a starting role at guard despite never playing there before, and he performed well. Bobby Evans took over at right tackle when Rob Havenstein got hurt, and while he got a lot of help on the edge, he wasn’t a complete disaster.
Brian Allen and Joseph Noteboom missed most of the season with injuries, but they should come back even better in 2020 after getting their first taste as starters in the NFL. It’ll still take a lot for the Rams to have one of the best lines in football next season, but at the very least, it shouldn’t be any worse than it was.
