Tag: Bobby Evans

This stat shows how great Rams’ offensive line was vs. Bears

Jared Goff faced the lowest pressure rate of his career on Sunday.

Jared Goff has taken a beating this season, playing behind one of the worst offensive lines in football. Entering Week 11, he had been blitzed 121 times (5th-most in the NFL), hurried 35 times (8th) and hit 30 times (6th).

The poor play by the Rams’ offensive line has really held the offense back this year, but on Sunday night against the Bears, it had its best game of the season.

It just so happens that this performance by the O-line came with only one Week 1 starter at his usual position on the field: Andrew Whitworth.

Austin Blythe slid over to center in place of Brian Allen, Bobby Evans stepped in at right tackle for Rob Havenstein and Austin Corbett got the start at left guard. David Edwards lined up at right guard and Whitworth assumed his place at left tackle.

Goff was only pressured once on his 18 dropbacks, which is a pressure rate of 6%. That’s the lowest he’s faced in his career, which says a lot considering it came against Khalil Mack and the Bears’ defensive front.

That passing chart still isn’t pretty, but it’s good to see the offensive line playing better – especially under those circumstances. It helps that the Rams used more 12 personnel and put two tight ends on the field throughout the game, but the offensive line did a great job regardless.

They helped pave the way for Todd Gurley’s 97 yards rushing, and Goff also wasn’t sacked once. Evans did an especially good job at right tackle, while Edwards was equally good at right tackle. Corbett deserves some praise for taking over a starting role after about a month with the team, playing well in his first start.

This is a positive step for an offensive line that featured a lot of new faces, and it’s something for the team to build on.

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Rams to start rookie Bobby Evans at RT vs. Khalil Mack, Bears

The Rams are gambling by putting rookie Bobby Evans at RT against the Bears.

Rob Havenstein’s knee injury could not have come at a worse time for the Los Angeles Rams, and it’s going to be very easy to see why on Sunday night. With Havenstein out at a couple weeks, the Rams will be forced to replace him with an unproven player at right tackle.

That player will apparently be rookie Bobby Evans, who told Vincent Bonsignore of The Athletic that he’ll be the starter on Sunday against the Chicago Bears.

The Bears have one of the best defensive players in the NFL with Khalil Mack, and it just so happens that Mack typically lines up across from the right tackle. With Evans making his first career start, you can bet Bears defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano will be putting him across from Evans as much as possible.

That’s not exactly a recipe for success for the Rams. In fact, it’s the complete opposite. This has a chance to be a disaster for the Rams and Jared Goff. Mack is one of the best edge rushers in the league and makes even the best offensive tackles look foolish on a weekly basis.

It’s scary to think what he’s going to do against a rookie like Evans, who has played just three snaps in his NFL career. It doesn’t help that Evans looked terrible in the preseason lining up at everywhere from guard to tackle – and that was against second- and third-stringers.

The Rams could have opted to go with David Edwards at right tackle and plug Evans in at right guard. Or put Coleman Shelton at center and Austin Blythe back at right guard. None of the solutions to replacing Havenstein are good ones, but Edwards was exclusively a right tackle in college and has looked good in three starts this season at guard.

It’s understandable that the Rams would prefer not to move him from guard, but he’s a more experienced player and likely a better fit at right tackle than Evans is. Again, there’s no easy way to replace someone like Havenstein, but Evans could be in for a long night on Sunday.

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