Random Ramsdom: PFF confirmed where LA’s defense was ‘struggling’ last season

PFF put out a piece about a week ago and it broke down each NFL defense and more or less where they ranked. For the Los Angeles Rams (you can read more below) the defense overall wasn’t awful, but their coverage unit seemed to really struggle. I recall LA giving up a long third down to the Baltimore Ravens, and I remember the Detroit Lions scoring on a fourth down in the Wild Card loss. Can you imagine if LA’s coverage unit had just been even a tad better?

We’re onto a new year and hopefully the moves the Rams made will help, but we’ll just have to wait and see.

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Rams News: Stats Show Where LA Lacked On Defense Last Season (si.com)

“The Rams’ offense was a force to be reckoned with, ranking seventh in the league. While their defense may not have been led by superstar Aaron Donald, it was far from weak. To put their defensive performance in perspective, PFF’s algorithm divided teams into four clusters based on the 2023 season, and the Rams fell into the third cluster, indicating a strong run defense but average overall performance.

“The Rams defense performed well in 2023, ranking ninth with a 69.1 PFF grade. Their coverage unit struggled, however, en route to a 58.2 grade to rank 31st.”

- Amelia Probst, via PFF

The Rams’ defense wasn’t the worst, but it wasn’t the best. It will be challenging for them to be a solid defense. The Rams have a new defensive coordinator, Chris Shula, and they lost their best player, Donald.”

Clustering all 32 NFL defenses from the 2023 season (pff)

“We can better understand how NFL defenses performed in 2023, and how they may stack up in 2024, by clustering them using PFF grades and metrics from this past regular season. PFF has in previous years performed clustering on wide receivers and quarterbacks, and we most recently looked at clustering offenses.

Clustering is a mathematical technique used to group similar observations. The most common form is the k-means clustering algorithm, which completes its iterative process when each observation is in the cluster that best represents it. In other words, there is no other cluster whose center (or mean of all the variables) is closer to that observation than the one it currently belongs to.

The graphic below shows the clusters formed by the algorithm and how similar NFL defenses are based on the two most important variables (called components).”

Rams announce training camp schedule with 8 open practices at Loyola Marymount (ramswire)

“Practices on July 25, 27, 29 and 30 will begin at 4:40 p.m. PT, as will their final two practices on Aug. 1 and 3. The other two practices on July 26 and 31 will start at 11:40 p.m. PT.

There will be a fan zone open at camp, as well as a free play field where there will be “skills and drills” and flag football games. Food trucks and concession stands will also be onsite at LMU.”

Random Ramsdom Fandom: Colston Loveland draft introduction (By Ferragamo15 on Jun 23, 2024)

“Lost in a Maize

Tyler Higbee is the only TE that has at least 2,200 receiving yards with the Rams. Higbee has about 3,600 career receiving yards, 165% the total of Billy Truax in 2nd place. Jared Cook has twice as many career receiving yards as Higbee, but most of those yards were with other teams, not as a Ram. Tony Gonzalez has over 15,000 career yards, over 4 times as many yards as Higbee.

The Patriots have 5 TEs with at least 2,200 receiving yards and none of them are named Aaron Hernandez. Hunter Henry potentially could join that group, even though he was drafted by Chargers. Gronk and the great Ben Coates were so productive that those 2 TEs have as many receiving yards as the top 6 Rams TEs combined.

The Niners also have 5 TEs with at least 2,200 yards. Russ Francis barely missed the cut, because the bulk of his production was with the Patriots, so he was a whisker away from making the list for both of those clubs. Delanie Walker also isn’t on the list, because while he had a ton of yards in the NFL, almost all of his production was with the Titans, not as a Niner.

The Colts have 5 TEs with at least 2,200 yards, with 2 TEs barely missing the cut. Topping the list is the great John Mackey.

Even the Chicago Bears, not known as an accomplished passing or decorated QB franchise, has a better pedigree of receiving TEs than the Rams, topped by the great Mike Ditka.

When Tyler Higbee is probably the best TE in franchise history, that’s kind of depressing.

Background

Name: Colston Loveland. Turns 21-years-old in April of 2025. True Junior in 2024.

School: Michigan. Majoring in general studies.”