Outside of LT Kolton Miller, Kobie Turner and company should be able to get after Aidan O’Connell
Not much has gone right for the Los Angeles Rams so far this season, as evidenced by their current 1-4 record. But one thing the team has certainly done well over the last two years is rebuild their depth along the defensive line.
Sunday’s Week 7 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders seems favorable for LA’s new fearsome foursome: Jared Verse, Kobie Turner, Braden Fiske, and Byron Young.
Why the Raiders’ OL might be in trouble:
According to Pro Football Focus (PFF) grading, Las Vegas’ offensive line is effectively one reliable player and then four significant question marks.
Left tackle Kolton Miller, who was considered an egregious reach when picked 15th overall back in 2018, has since defied his critics and is one of the NFL’s more reliable blindside protectors. Miller has allowed 14 pressures through six games, though four of those came against Myles Garrett and the Cleveland Browns. In his last two outing versus the Denver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers, Miller allowed two and zero pressures, respectively.
But unfortunately for Vegas, the rest of their offensive line has not fared as well as their veteran leader.
Jared Verse has the highest pressure rate among all rookies at all positions, at a whopping 24%.
Second place is Byron Murphy…all the way down at 15%.
That is an absolutely ENORMOUS gap between Verse and the rest of the class.
— Brett Kollmann (@BrettKollmann) October 18, 2024
Right tackle Thayer Munford, Jr is the next best of the bunch. He played in two full games and allowed just three pressures before suffering a knee injury. He sat out the next three games and is expected to return in this weekend’s matchup against the Rams and should retake his starting spot opposite Miller.
That’s unfortunate for LA because Munford is clearly better can rookie third round pick DJ Glaze who filled in for the nearly four full games Munford missed. Glaze allowed 11 pressures in replacement and committed three penalties.
Andre James is probably the third best lineman for the Raiders. He’s certainly outperformed his status as a 2019 undrafted free agent, but overall versus his peers as NFL starting centers he’s mostly been towards the bottom of the pack. In 2024 he’s PFF’s 27th rated center out of 29 players with more than 213 snaps. Last season he was comfortably in the top 10 and ranked seventh. He was 21st of 31 players back in 2022.
At guard the Raiders are likely to start second round rookie Jackson Powers-Johnson, a name Rams fans should be familiar with as a frequently mocked name from the draft process. Powers-Johnson has played the better part of the last three games for Las Vegas and allowed seven pressures while being flagged four times. He’s primarily playing on the left side of the line. On the right side, the Raiders are hopeful to start Dylan Parham; however, he’s missed practice on both Wednesday and Thursday and might not be able to return in time for Week 7. Either veteran Cody Whitehair or Jordan Meredith would become next man up if Parham cannot play.
Sunday is a big opportunity for Rams pass rushers
This is a matchup between two of the least mobile quarterbacks in the NFL. Matthew Stafford has yet to scramble a single time for the Rams, and his only rushing attempt was a kneel down. Aidan O’Connell hasn’t scrambled at any point over his first two seasons in the NFL.
A random but wild statistic: #Raiders QB Aidan O’Connell has not attempted a single quarterback scramble in the entire 442 snaps he’s played since entering the #NFL, via @NextGenStats
He’s the only QB to ever achieve this feat in the entire Next Gen Era. pic.twitter.com/opyVYymD5i
— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) October 18, 2024
That should have LA’s defensive line licking their chops, especially with the vulnerabilities in spots along the Vegas OL.
Despite sitting out last week on the bye, Jared Verse and Braden Fiske are still in first and second place of all rookies with 20 and 15 pressures, respectively. Kobie Turner is tied with Verse at 20 and Young has 15 alongside Fiske—which is a strong turnout by LA’s second-year defenders. For comparison, Chris Jones is the leading defender in the NFL out of those who have played only five games and he has 28 total pressures.
In terms of individual matchups, Verse has been playing on the right side of the defense for most of the season with Young on the left. However, in Week 3 against the San Francisco 49ers the two swapped in hopes of moving Verse away from stud LT Trent Williams. Could they do the same this week in order to avoid Miller?
The Raiders’ struggles along the interior suggest this could be a big game for Turner and Fiske. Turner’s had his best two games before the bye week and could turn the corner from what seemed to be an early sophomore slump. Fiske was dominant against the Chicago Bears—another team that has challenges in its interior line.
Winning on Sunday could help LA get back on track in advance of a more favorable stretch on their schedule. If they are going to beat the Raiders, a disruptive outing by the Rams defensive line and making life difficult for Vegas’ young quarterback would go a long way.
