Wagoner: Rams were 24th in 2015 health rankings

Rams were 24th in Football Outsiders’ 2015 health rankings

Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/28173/rams-were-24th-in-football-outsiders-health-rankings-in-2015

For those who watched the Los Angeles (then St. Louis) Rams in 2015, there’s no doubt that injuries hit them fast and hard over the course of the season.

Key contributors like linebacker Alec Ogletree, defensive end Robert Quinn, safety T.J. McDonald, guards Rodger Saffold and Jamon Brown and cornerback E.J. Gaines all suffered season-ending ailments at some point during the year. Others, such as end Chris Long, right tackle Rob Havenstein, cornerback Janoris Jenkins, quarterback Case Keenum and running back Todd Gurley missed time because of minor or previous injuries.

So, how did the Rams’ run of bad injury luck compare to the rest of the NFL? That’s precisely what the folks at Football Outsiders attempted to point out in their annual rankings of health for all 32 teams.

Football Outsiders uses a metric they call “adjusted games lost.” According to their website, the formula attempts to quantify injuries based on the importance of the player lost — starters, replacement starters and important reserves like a nickel cornerback are valued more — and injured players who play through those injuries and how that might alter the player’s performance.

Under the Football Outsiders formula, the Rams ranked No. 24 in the NFL in adjusted games lost with 80.3, which means they were in the bottom third of the league in terms of relative health in 2015. For comparisons sake, the Rams were 13th in 2014 with 64.1 adjusted games lost.

The New York Giants finished last in the NFL (138.7) for the third consecutive season, and the Cincinnati Bengals were the league’s healthiest team at just 28.2 adjust games lost.

As always, injury luck plays an important part in winning games. If the Rams are to turn the corner in 2016, they will need more of it than they had last season.