No. 3: Managing Behind the Rams’ Suspect Offensive Line

The Rams don’t have a lot of weaknesses heading into 2018. Defensively, they boast arguably the best cornerback tandem in the league with Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib. And defensive tackles Ndamukong Suh and Aaron Donald? Yikes for opposing offensive lines.

Speaking of L.A.’s O-line, that might be an area of concern this season. Pro Football Focus ranked this unit 11th out of all 32 lines entering 2018, which is tops in the NFC West and still on the better side of things when evaluating the grand picture. But it’s old. Left tackle Andrew Whitworth turns 37 years old later in 2018, and center John Sullivan will turn 33 years old before the regular season begins.

It wouldn’t be a shock to see the Rams O-line take a step backwards this season, which could hurt both Todd Gurley and Jared Goff’s efforts.

To a point, perhaps.

Going back to the PFF data which, perhaps, is the best for analyzing a quarterback’s ability to deal with pressure, it might be a shock to some to learn Goff actually dealt with pressure better than Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers last year. The Atlanta Falcons’ Matt Ryan too. Toss in the Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger in there as well, if you’d like. Goff’s 74.1 passer rating while facing pressure was better than all those top-level quarterbacks.

So while it would be reasonable to assume L.A.’s O-line takes a step in the wrong direction this season, don’t expect it to be something by which Goff is set back.

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