How much have Rams improved after first wave of free agency?

Have the Rams improved in the first wave of free agency?

The Los Angeles Rams have been active when it comes to the first wave of free agency. General manager Les Snead and co. signed one of the best guards available in Jonah Jackson while also signing tight end Colby Parkinson and bringing back cornerback Darious Williams.

Of course, the question now turns to how much those moves have helped improve the Rams roster. Kevin Cole of Unexpected Points and formerly of PFF put together some data to quantify each team’s improvement. Per Cole, the model is based on the following,

“The index is built on the rigorously researched NFL Plus/Minus metric, which translates player values into intuitive, concrete and position-agnostic currency of points added or lost. The index is the point differential gain or loss each team during the offseason, beginning with the first signing of released players. The model behind the Improvement Index projects the numbers of snaps and per-play efficiency for each player in every facet of offensive and defensive play: passing, rushing, receiving, blocking, pass rush, run defense and coverage. The model incorporates player-and team-level assumptions based on each player’s prior performance, team coaching tendencies, forecasted opponents, and championship odds. These features help the model estimate the likely allocation of snaps among each position group and the likely points-added/lost per snap for each player based on that usage and historical trends.”

Currently, the Rams sit at 13th in the improvement index based on the moves that they’ve made so far in free agency.

It’s hard to gauge just how much of an impact that an offensive lineman like Jonah Jackson will have until they are on the field. Parkinson has only been the third tight end in Seattle, but should be able to provide an instant impact as a blocker. It’s also hard to say that Darious Williams isn’t a significant improvement over Derion Kendrick or even Ahkello Witherspoon.

The Rams still have areas that they need to improve, but it also doesn’t all need to be done in free agency. There are still some serious questions at edge rusher as well as at cornerback and safety. However, Los Angeles still has the draft and will have 11 selections to address those needs.

It’s important to remember that the Rams didn’t sign their first free agent until May 30 last year. That’s a significant difference from this year where the Rams had money to spend and have signed three outside players during the first wave of free agency.

Championship trophies aren’t won in March and despite being near the bottom of the improvement index last year, the Rams still ended up making the postseason. The moves that the Rams have made so far have certainly helped supplement the roster and should help them take the next step in their team-build.