Jonah Jackson may not be what the Rams need him to be at center
The Los Angeles Rams suffered a frustrating loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 10. While there were a few silver linings, the loss was filled with plenty disappointing performances. One of those being free agent signing Jonah Jackson. Here is this week’s stock up, stock down.
Stock Down: OL Jonah Jackson
The Rams signed Jonah Jackson to help take their offensive line to another level. There was some thought that if this unit played to their best, this could be a top-5 offensive line. To say the least, that has not been the case. Jackson missed the majority of the offseason, leaving the Rams more confident to move Steve Avila back to left guard after practicing at center all summer. Jackson was moved to center and hadn’t played there since his sophomore year at Rutgers.
It may take time for the offensive line to gel, but Jackson was not good at center against the Lions after Beaux Limmer was a standout at that spot in recent weeks. It’s now or never time for Jackson. If he is going to be the Rams’ center, he is the second-highest paid player at that position in the NFL. He needs to play like it.
Stock Up: LB Christian Rozeboom and Omar Speights
Christian Rozeboom had a career-type day against the Dolphins on Monday Night football. He had an interception that should have set the Rams up for points. He nearly had another one as well later in the game. While it’s not perfect, Rozeboom’s deficiencies haven’t been as noticeable over the last few games.
On the other end, the Rams may be getting more confident in what Speights can do. While he only played seven defensive snaps against the Seahawks, he played in 39 snaps on Monday Night. It’s a small sample of just 66 snaps, but since taking over at linebacker for the Rams, Speights is the ninth-highest graded linebacker against the run via PFF and fifth-best linebacker overall.
Stock Down: RB Kyren Williams
Following this season, there will be a lot of talk about whether or not the Rams should sign Kyren Williams to an extension. This isn’t an argument for or against that, but the Rams need more from their starting running back.
Williams had the third-lowest rush EPA in Week 10 which was highlighted by a fumble in scoring range. He has 10 carries of 10 or more yards this season which ranks 29th among running backs. Williams is a key piece of the Rams offense, but the Dolphins defense is one that he should be able to take advantage of and for most of the game, he was ineffective.
Stock Up: EDGE Jared Verse
It’s going to get to a point pretty soon where it almost becomes boring to talk about how good Jared Verse is. The crazy part is that he is only a rookie. Verse was on the verge of taking over this game in primetime. He had a sack and forced a fumble. He also had six pressures against an offense that tends to get rid of the ball extremely quickly.
Verse is on the vere of stardom. This offseason the Rams needed to find a way to fill the void left by Aaron Donald. This is not to say that Verse is as good as Donald, but he’s filled that void in the sense that he’s a superstar on the defense.
Stock Down: Rams playoff chances
The Rams playoff chances took a nosedive following the loss to the Dolphins. To make the postseason, they can potentially lose one more game. Given how the tiebreakers have shaken out, it’s likely they would need help if they finish 10-7. Their clearest path to the playoffs is by winning the NFC West and they are now two games behind the Arizona Cardinals.
Their playoff odds are down to 29 percent following the loss to the Dolphins. Going on any sort of run would require some level of consistency and that’s just not something that they’ve been able to do this year. Anything is possible, but that just doesn’t seem like the case for this team.
