There’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Los Angeles Rams right now after a disappointing 2019 campaign and an offseason of changes. Gone are Todd Gurley, Dante Fowler, Clay Matthews and Cory Littleton, which will thrust young and unproven players into the starting lineup.
Darrell Henderson, Ogbonnia Okoronkwo and Micah Kiser are among the players who will receive bigger roles next season, but predicting how each will perform is difficult. ESPN’s Mike Clay projects player stats for each team every year, and on Wednesday, he released his predictions for the Rams.
He expects an average season for Jared Goff with 4,300 yards, 23 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. For Henderson, he has the second-year back rushing for 779 yards and six touchdowns on just 189 attempts. Malcolm Brown is also expected to get a share of touches, with Clay projecting him to gain 513 yards on 126 attempts with another six touchdowns.
Sticking with LA, here are the 2020 Rams #ClayProjections pic.twitter.com/3UYLXIbeeE
— Mike Clay (@MikeClayNFL) April 8, 2020
At wide receiver, Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp and Brandin Cooks all top 800 yards receiving with Woods leading the way (1,025 yards). Tyler Higbee is in for a big year, according to Clay, with the ESPN analyst projecting him to catch 72 passes for 775 yards and six touchdowns.
On defense, Clay projects Donald to have around 11.6 sacks and 49 tackles, with Leonard Floyd, Ogbonnia Okoronkwo and Samson Ebukam each topping four sacks. It’s worth pointing out that Clay expects Darious Williams to play more than David Long Jr., which would be a surprise. At safety, there are no surprises with John Johnson and Taylor Rapp putting up big numbers, eclipsing 100 tackles each.
As for the Rams’ win probability, they have a 50% chance or better to win eight of their games with a projected total of 8.1 wins – 19th in the NFL. That’s not favorable for L.A., but it’s representative of the current status of the team.