Scouting Report: Los Angeles Rams - Q&A with Analysis from Rams fans

Ahead of Sunday night vs. the Rams, previewing the game and asking questions with our rivals down in Los Angeles, the LA Rams.

Oct 18, 2020

Photo Credit: Brook Ward, all rights to image.

Episode 6 of our Q&A series for all of the 49ers opponents - this time, it is fanbase of the Los Angeles Rams that we get feedback from. Hearing other fans perspectives is humbling and also the most accurate way to get a perspective on the team we face tomorrow. Our questions are answered from the r/LosAngelesRams subreddit. Special thanks to everyone who participated, not just the people cited in responses below! Loved seeing all the interaction. Check out the original post here.

If you missed it, FTN did a advanced statistical analysis on the 49ers, explaining just what is wrong - with the run game, the passing game, the OL, the pass rush, and more. Check it out here.

And check out the latest Gander Across the Gridiron with predictions, odds, and summaries of all the remaining Week 6 matchups.

Who’s one player flying under the radar that’s posed for a breakout season? Similarly, who is the most overrated player?

u/Centurion87

[Micah] Kiser has been looking good. Had 16 tackles against the Eagles. Really a lot of our defenders have been looking good and flying under the radar doing it.
Jordan Fuller was on the verge of a breakout, unfortunately he’s now on IR.

u/EsquivelD

One player flying under the radar is our rookie safety Jordan Fuller, but unfortunately he’ll be out for a few games. Another player somewhat under the radar is Darrell Henderson who came into the season as the least talked about RB on our team, but has emerged as the most productive in our committee.

u/idolpriest

My choice for underrated is Darious Williams, dude is a ballhawk and a half.
Most overrated, probably Taylor Rapp, looked good his rookie year, then when asked to step up, he just could not do it.

It’s not often that rookie safeties stand out, but Jordan Fuller is fitting the bill. Thankfully, we won't be seeing him tomorrow night. But the Rams have drafted very well lately, and it could not come at a better time where they missed multiple 1st rounders.

A lot of NFL fans thought the Rams would fall into the abyss of cap hell with no picks and no cap space. Why has that not been the case?

u/EsquivelD

The team has drafted really well even without having a first rounder. The players we lose like Gurley, Cooks, Littleton, Weddle, and Fowler have been filled in admirably or at least somewhat decently by Henderson/Akers, Reynolds/Jefferson, Kiser, Fuller, and Okoronkwo. All low cost players drafted by the team after the first round.

u/Centurion87

Cap hell is still looming, but the Rams were able to sign Woods and I think Ramsey on the guarantee of a future lucrative contract a couple years down the road. I’m guessing they were willing to accept the terms because the Rams are a good chance for the playoffs and Super Bowl.
Frankly the Rams have done a good job managing cap space recently without losing key players.
We did lose Zuerlein which is quite a blow looking at our new kicker, however Zuerlein wasn’t exactly on the top of his game last season.

u/NastyNate0801

[In reply to others] Low cost free agency signings too. Leonard Floyd isn’t exactly breaking the bank. And Woods’ and Kupp’s contracts aren’t in the top tier. Goff’s APY has moved down a few spots over the last few years.

If anything, the Rams provide the 49ers with a semi-blueprint on how to handle tough offseasons. The 49ers, as you may recall, have a projected 11 starters hitting free agency next offseason, with minimal cap space. Maybe Shanahan looks to his buddy in LA for an example.

What weakness on your defense concerns you most when playing the Niners? Similarly, what weakness on the offense concerns you when playing the Niners?

u/Centurion87

My concern is our run D has been pretty weak this year. We looked good against the Football Team, but that’s not exactly a high bar.
Of course that’s all dependent on how the SF o-line plays and I have great confidence in our pass rush and secondary.

Centurion87 is correct - the Rams are the 28th ranked defense by DVOA. It is a weakness the 49ers must exploit to win this game, but the Rams DL nonetheless is elite, and the 49ers OL is allowing the highest run stuff percentage in the league.

If you could pick one player from the 49ers to “steal”, who would it be and why? Factor in team needs.

u/Centurion87

I’ll have to go with you and poach Bosa. In the past, Aaron Donald’s requirement of 2 or more linemen trying to hold him back should have created opportunities for other pass rushers that never really materialized.
A team with Bosa and Donald would be impossible to stop the pass rush.
Second pick would be Richard Sherman. A secondary with Ramsey and Sherman would be unfair.

u/EsquivelD

Warner easily. Add an elite linebacker like him onto our team and the defense evolves so much considering our weak run defense and poor tackling.

u/hack5amurai

I am going Kittle because I wanted him very badly in the draft and of course y'all got him in the 5th round. Higbee is really coming into his own but McVay loves TEs and I would love to see what he could do with him.

Defense is the theme, no George Kittle dominating the “steals" for the first time in this series. But for the Rams, they can't get enough. And while Micah Kiser is developing well at LB, Fred Warner would fill a massive need and do it at an elite level.

Jared Goff - just a year ago, he was called the most overpaid QB in the league. Those criticisms have faded, but what has Goff done this season and has he dispelled any doubts about him being the franchise QB the Rams need?

u/Kloper96

Goff doesn’t deserve the hate. Our O-line was terrible last year and with Gurley regressing due to his knee Goff was forced to throw a lot more. This year our O-line is doing amazing, and we have a run game again. Goff has taken a big step forward and is performing well even under pressure, been making a lot of smart decisions. He’s also quietly been having a good year and currently holds the highest yards per attempt (9.0) in the league while still holding the 4th highest completion percentage at 71.7%. So he’s throwing the ball farther on average than anyone else and completing a very high percent of those passes. He gets overlooked a lot because he doesn’t have too many TD passes because our running backs do a great job of punching it in when we are in the red zone.

u/Centurion87

Goff is a system QB. That’s not a bad thing, honestly most QBs are. Last year I feel too many people put the blame on Goff he didn’t look good, but he also had one of the worst o-lines in the league, a majorly regressing Gurley put a hamper on the run game, and McVay seemed to be far, far more conservative with his play calling than he had been since becoming HC.
This year, the biggest thing is we have a great o-line. Goff isn’t getting strip sacked every game, he has lots of time to throw, McVay is much more aggressive in his play calling, and the RBBC has done wonders for our run game.
Basically the offense has improved greatly from the ground up.

Supporting casts are key - look at Goff's 2016 draft counterpart, Carson Wentz. The difference in play is astounding, but it corresponds with the supporting cast. Goff's OL has gone from worst to not exactly first, but up there, and added with 3 good RBs and a top 3 playcaller in the league, he was bound to bounce back and he's done so in a big way.

Cam Akers - one of my favorite rookies, loved him in the draft and hated he went to a divisional rival. But this run game, we know that it’s extremely key to McVay’s scheme. How have Akers, Henderson, and Brown filled in the gap that Todd Gurley left?

u/Centurion87

All the RBs don’t hold a candle to prime Gurley. Unfortunately though Gurley looked terrible last year.
Personally I think it was obviously mainly the knees, but he had more issues than just that. He looked sluggish, he dropped a metric fuck ton of passes, and when he had the ball he looked like he didn’t want to be there. I believe he wasn’t happy with his under usage and wasn’t happy on the team anymore.
However, the RBBC has been working well. We have had one RB almost every game that was constantly able to get good yardage.

u/EsquivelD

They don’t have the gamebreaking ability that Gurley brought, but they’ve filled in admirably. Henderson is explosive, Akers is a tackle breaking machine, and Brown hasn’t been the greatest runner, but excellent in pass pro. Our run game has definitely been a strength and a breath of fresh air after watching the corpse of Todd Gurley last season.

Getting rid of injured Todd Gurley was almost addition by subtraction, and Henderson, Akers, and Brown have been part of a three-headed attack that has been one of the better running offenses in the league thus far. Akers especially has a ton of potential, get used to hearing his name 49ers fans.

Strongest and weakest position group on the team?

u/Centurion87

Our strongest group is the o-line. One of the best in the league which of course elevates the entire offense. A close second is our receiver corps. All of our receivers are good to great, even our Tight Ends have been getting in on the action quite a bit.
Weakest would I guess be the LBs, better this year, but compared to years prior that’s not saying a whole lot.

u/EsquivelD

Strongest is easily our WR. Both Kupp and Woods have great hands and our excellent after the catch. Reynolds and Jefferson have filled in nicely for Cooks, but they lack the deep end speed that Cooks brought. Overall though, this group is a big strength though. Our weakest is definitely at LB. Kiser and Young have been average at best for the most part and tackling has been suspect.

Clearly, the Rams strength comes not at the defense, but the offense. As noted earlier, the offense as a whole has taken a big step up. WRs and OL being good is bad news for a banged-up 49ers secondary and pass rush. While bad LBs normally means George Kittle is primed for a big game, this is where freak CB Jalen Ramsey comes into play - Ramsey is talented enough to play Kittle in man coverage, the Rams LBs catch a big break.

What should people expect from the Rams on Sunday, and for the rest of the season?

u/Centurion87

Against the 49ers, I expect plenty of blitzing to rush JG into bad throws. With offense, it’ll likely look the same as it has been this year. Short passes that break for big yardage and the occasional bomb to receivers schemed open in the back field. I’m expecting more passing due to your crippled defense and pass rush against a dominant o-line.
The rest of the season is hard to say. I expect to see different offensive schemes depending on who we play. That’s one of the many things I love about McVay’s play calling, he can present a different looking offense depending on the team they’re playing.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned watching our division play each other, it’s that nothing else in the season matters.
The lowly (at the times) Rams defeated the Legion of Boom. You guys were great last year and we sucked, but our second match up came down to a field goal. Something about our division games essentially makes them played in a vacuum compared to the rest of the season.
Either way, good luck to you guys tomorrow. I may be crucified on this sub for saying it, but the 49ers are one of the teams I like to see succeed. My childhood best friend’s dad was a Linebacker for them back in the day, and my late father in law was a mega fan. Unfortunately he passed from cancer before seeing them make the Super Bowl again.

All I know is: the Rams matchup extremely well vs. the 49ers. They have the greatest defensive player of the last decade, one of the few CBs on the planet who can guard someone like Kittle, and a great HC-QB pairing with weapons everywhere. They are built to battle a team like the 49ers. Tomorrow, we find out a lot more about what the 49ers are capable of.

Leave a like and comment to support us if you like the article and our content, or if you have criticism, or simply for discussion. Check out our best content, including Part 1 and Part 2 of an in-depth look into Jimmy Garoppolo, where we look at what his issues were last season, and a in-depth look into the Kittle vs. Kelce argument.

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