Pro Football Focus: Top St. Louis Rams Performers From Week 3

Pro Football Focus Grading: Top St. Louis Rams Performers From Week 3

by Nathan Kearns

http://ramblinfan.com/2014/09/23/pro-football-focus-grading-top-st-louis-rams-performers-week-3/

With Overreaction Monday in the rearview and two weeks until the St. Louis Rams next regular season game, there will be plenty of time to evaluate the team and where they stand within an NFC West that appears to be on the verge of “turning over” this season. However, before we can move to the future, it is important to understand the past. Sadly, that includes Sunday’s heartbreaking loss to the Dallas Cowboys, where the St. Louis Rams dropped a 21-0 lead, eventually coming out on the losing side of a 34-31 final score. While the negatives will certainly sit at the forefront, there were a number of individuals that performed well on Sunday.

With that in mind, we turn our attention to Pro Football Focus, one of the most reputable sites for advanced statistics and players grading in the NFL.

Like with any semi-subjective form of analysis, the experts at the site are certainly not “perfect” in their weekly evaluations of players. However, taken with a grain of salt, their grades are about as close to “fair and objective” as you’ll find anywhere in the world of NFL personnel analysis.

So, using their Week 3 evaluations as a reasonable metric for performance, how did some of the “key” St. Louis Rams units fair against the Cowboys?

Top Offensive “Skill” Player: Zac Stacy (+2.9)

Zac Stacy performed well on Sunday as the leader of the Rams newly unveiled three-headed running back rotation. He took 12 carries for 67 yards, forcing four missed tackles on way to a highly-respectable 5.7 yards per attempt average. For the first time this season, Stacy looked to be in ’13 form, aided by some outstanding blocking from Jake Long and Rodger Saffold on the left side of the offensive line.

Lance Kendricks was technically the highest graded player at a “skill position,’ but receiving his exemplary marks primarily as a blocker in the run game. However, Kendricks did manage a season-high six receptions for 29 yards, including his first touchdown grab of the season.

Top Offensive Lineman: Joe Barksdale (+4.4)

Once again, the Rams ’13 “diamond in the rough” graded out tops on the offensive line, besting admirable performances from both Jake Long and Rodger Saffold. According to Pro Football Focus, Barksdale not only grades out atop the St. Louis Rams offensive tackles this year, but No.1 overall at his position through Week 3; sporting the No.1 overall run blocking grade and No.9 overall pass blocking grade. Not bad, Joe. Not bad.

Top Defensive Lineman: William Hayes and Kendall Langford (+1.5)

In a three-way tie for the top overall defensive grade of Week 3, Hayes and Langford took the cake for the St. Louis Rams defensive line. After somewhat struggling last week in his first replacement start for Chris Long, Hayes came out with a vengeance against Dallas, playing very well on the edge for the Rams. Langford was the “closer” in the middle of the field on Sunday, with DeMarco Murray grading out -4.4 when rushing over the opposing center and/or right guard.

Aaron Donald, for the first time this year , did not come away with the top Rams grade, but still holds the No.5 overall spot among all interior defensive linemen this season.

Top “Back-Seven” Defender: Janoris Jenkins (+1.5)

Janoris Jenkins was truly the Most Valuable Player for the St. Louis Rams on Sunday, being tasked with shading one of the most talented offensive weapons in the league, and coming out the victor. In 28 coverage snaps, Jenkins allowed only four receptions for 18 total yards, all while managing six tackles and three defensive stops. More impressively, the “Jackrabbit” baited his first interception the season, running it back for an easy defensive touchdown to put the Rams up 21-0 early in the game. Jenkins has been as “lockdown” as any man-to-man, outside cornerback in the league this season. Let’s hope he can keep it up.