Rams will need all the help they can get to avoid starting year 0-3
The stakes are high for the Los Angeles Rams this weekend as they host their NFC West division rival San Francisco 49ers.
Taking down the 49ers won’t be an easy feat. San Francisco again figures to be one of the most talented and complete teams in the NFC conference while the Rams are severely depleted due to a rash of injuries. A win would stop the bleeding and build positive momentum ahead of a winnable Week 4 matchup against the Chicago Bears. A loss could put LA is a deep hole that’s nearly impossible to climb out of in time to shake up the playoff picture.
As Sean McVay likes to say, “big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games.”
Who could step up this weekend and will the Rams to an all-important victory? Let us know who comes to mind in the comments, and I’ll give you two names I thought of.
Alaric Jackson, LT
LA’s left tackle was suspended for the first two games of the season, and it’s been a turnstile at the position in his absence. Joe Noteboom made it about half a game before he injured his ankle and ended up on injured reserve. AJ Arcuri struggled through the remainder of the matchup versus the Detroit Lions. Second-year lineman Warren McClendon shifted from starting at right tackle to the left side in Week 2 when Rob Havenstein returned. McClendon, by all accounts, was the weakest link on the OL versus the Arizona Cardinals.
A starting offensive line of the following five individuals should be good enough to at least hold water and allow the Rams offense to be functional—which is still a higher bar than how they’ve performed to start the year:
LT – Alaric Jackson
LG – Logan Bruss (first career start)
C – Beaux Limmer (rookie)
RG – Kevin Dotson (playing through injury)
RT – Rob Havenstein
Perhaps the most important part of Jackson’s return is that he’s recently been a road grader in the run game. For a rushing attack that’s managed only 75 yards from Kyren Williams and 28 yard from Blake Corum through two full games, that could be an important element of getting back on track against San Francisco.
These are Jackson’s Pro Football Focus (PFF) rushing grades over his last six regular season starts:
Week 12 at Arizona Cardinals: 86.1
Week 13 vs Cleveland Browns: 71.8
Week 14 at Baltimore Ravens: 52.7
Week 15 vs Washington Commanders: 80.5
Week 16 vs New Orleans Saints: 70.4
Week 18 vs San Francisco 49ers: 64.6
The Rams current (healthy) starting linemen in 2024 have a run blocking grade below 60 so far, and Jackson could be a key addition in opening running lanes for Williams and Corum. We’ll see if he can be a difference maker in his first game back from suspension.
Jared Verse. OLB
It’s still early, but it sure seems like the Rams hit a home run with their only first round pick since 2016. I have to keep reminding myself not to get too excited about Jared Verse and temper expectations. He’s only played two games.
Amongst EDGE rushers, Verse is already in PFF’s top 10 in pass rush win rate whether you look at his unadjusted pass rushes or those in true pass sets.
Nasty swim by Rams DE 8 Jared Verse on Cardinals LT 70 Paris Johnson pic.twitter.com/c3b7YfgOIp
— Russell Brown (@RussNFLDraft) September 17, 2024
His unadjusted win rate is 24.3% and ranks fifth behind Aidan Hutchinson (41.2%), Trey Hendrickson (29.2%), Yaya Diaby (28.6%), and Marcus Davenport (26.7%). He’s just ahead of the Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett who’s at 22.6%. That’s incredibly promising company to be mentioned in.
Production on true pass sets will be a more stable indicator in terms of predicting future outcomes. Verse fares a little worse amongst his peers but at a higher rate overall at 33.3% when you carve out designed rollouts, play action, outlier times to throw, etc. He’s posted the seventh-highest pass rush win rate on true pass sets, which introduced Jonathon Cooper (36.8%) and Josh Uche (36.8%) in front of him. Carl Granderson and Von Miller would also now be tied with Verse. It’s worth mentioning that the sample size this early in the season related to true pass sets is very small and could be subject to large swings week to week as more data is collected.
By my eye, the next closest rookie would be Braiden McGregor of the New York Jets who was an undrafted free agent and ranks 39th at 16.7%. Second rounder Chris Braswell of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is at 47 and tied with the Indianapolis Colts Laiatu Latu at 14.3%. Latu was the first defensive player taken in this spring’s NFL Draft.
Jared Verse’s third run stuff on the day.
Rest of Rams’ defense … well …. let’s say “not as good” pic.twitter.com/VTxLxFff7m
— ᑭᖇO ᖴOOTᗷᗩᒪᒪ ᒍOᑌᖇᑎᗩᒪ (@NFL_Journal) September 16, 2024
But it’s not just his pass rushing efforts that stand out with Verse—he’s also winning in the run game. Verse has posted an 83.0 run defense grade from PFF, which ranks third behind Joey Bosa (92.3) and TJ Watt (83.7). Behind them are the likes of Maxx Crosby (82.6), Nick Bosa (79.0), Khalil Mack (76.7) and Micah Parsons (73.1).
It’s been a damn fine start to Jared Verse’s career. Can he take over the game this weekend versus the 49ers and grow into a household name across the NFL?
