The 2019 season was one filled with disappointment and underperforming for the Los Angeles Rams. Not only did they come up short of where they wanted to finish the year, but several players put together seasons that didn’t meet expectations.
Some were worse than others, of course, but these seven players must play better in 2020 in order for the Rams to get back to the postseason. Not surprisingly, it all starts with the quarterback.
QB Jared Goff
Goff plays the most important position in sports, so when he underperformed in 2019, he rightfully came under a lot of criticism. His struggles can’t continue into next season, otherwise the Rams will once again be watching the playoffs from home instead of hosting one at SoFi Stadium.
Goff’s yardage numbers were impressive (4,638), but that also came on the most attempts of any quarterback with a passer rating of only 86.5. His 22 touchdown passes ranked 16th, he was 14th in yards per attempt and threw the fourth-most interceptions.
He must play better overall by cutting down on the turnovers and improving on deep passes, which was an area of major concern in 2019.
WR Brandin Cooks
Cooks overcame multiple concussions this season and somehow only missed four games. To an extent, his subpar numbers weren’t his fault, but he also didn’t do much when given opportunities. He only caught 58.3% of his targets (2nd-lowest of career) and averaged 13.9 yards per catch after averaging at least 15 in each of the previous three years.
He’s supposed to open up the offense by being that deep threat Sean McVay covets, but that’s hard to do when you’re not catching passes downfield. Cooks’ 583 yards left plenty to be desired and while he can’t be expected to post 1,000 yards like he did in the past four years, given the talent around him, he should have better numbers in 2020 – if he’s back with the Rams, that is.
RB Todd Gurley
Yes, Gurley put up 1,000 yards from scrimmage. And yes, he was hindered by a limited workload. However, he also averaged 3.8 yards per carry (37th in NFL) and 6.7 yards per reception (149th in NFL, seventh-worst). In other words, he wasn’t very efficient and didn’t create many big plays for the Rams; his longest rush was 25 yards and his longest reception was 23 yards.
The Rams must do a better job of including him as a receiver and getting him more involved on offense if he truly is healthy, but if there are limitations to his game now due to the knee injury, Los Angeles would be wise to give Darrell Henderson the ball more often.
RT Rob Havenstein
Havenstein was a mess in 2019. Before injuring his knee, which effectively ended his season in Week 10. He was unreliable in pass protection and while he did have some success as a run blocker, he simply wasn’t consistent enough – especially for what he’s being paid.
If Havenstein returns to his perch at right tackle and plays the way he did in 2018, it will solve a big problem on the offensive line and allow the Rams to focus on the other four spots – all of which come with question marks of their own. But if he continues to regress, it’s going to be another season of shifting players around up front.
The Rams can’t afford for Havenstein to have another bad season at right tackle.
CB Jalen Ramsey
Ramsey made the Pro Bowl, and he played relatively well in the second half of the season, but it wasn’t the Ramsey-esque play fans were used to seeing from him in Jacksonville. For what the Rams gave up and will pay him at some point, Ramsey must play like an All-Pro in the secondary next season.
Put it this way: Two Rams corners finished in the top 25 of PFF’s cornerback rankings, and Ramsey wasn’t one of them. He has to be the Rams’ best corner on the team in 2020 in order for this trade to pay off.
OL Brian Allen and Joseph Noteboom
It remains to be seen if or where Allen and Noteboom will be playing in 2020, but if they can both step up and become quality starters next season, it’ll be a huge boost to the offensive line. Whether Noteboom is at left guard or left tackle, he has to play better than he did in 2019 before injuring his knee.
As for Allen, he could very well be sent to the bench if the Rams re-sign Austin Blythe and keep him at center. But ideally, they’ll be able to play Allen at center and Blythe at guard. The Rams bet big on Allen and Noteboom in 2019, and they might have to do so again next season. We’ll see if it pays off this time around.
