How Record OL Injuries Doomed Rams Title Defense

NFL Offseason - There are a number of reasons why the Los Angeles Rams collapsed in 2022 after winning Super Bowl LVI at the end of the 2021 season. A cascade of offensive line injuries may have played the biggest role. An incredible 14 different players started at least one game on the Rams offensive line. They dropped from first to 13th in ESPN's Pass Block Win Rate, which played a part in the concussion which knocked Matthew Stafford out for the last third of the season. And the Rams far surpassed the previous record for adjusted games lost on the offensive line, which had been held by the 2020 Philadelphia Eagles.

The Rams were just one team to set a record for injuries at a position in 2022, as you'll see below. The Denver Broncos also set a new mark for wide receiver injuries, which played a major part in the underwhelming performance of their offense.

Last week, we examined adjusted games lost at the team level. Today, we'll switch perspectives to evaluate the impact of injuries on each position. Note that adjusted games lost totals include the cancelled Week 17 game between Buffalo and Cincinnati but do not include the postseason, so AGL numbers might be a little lower than expected for teams that were missing starters in the playoffs (for example, Miami and Baltimore at quarterback).

Offense

Quarterbacks

You already know which team lost the most AGL to quarterback injuries in 2022: San Francisco. Original starter Trey Lance missed 15 games with a broken right ankle while his replacement Jimmy Garoppolo went down with a foot injury in Week 13. Even Brock Purdy was questionable for two weeks (Weeks 15-16) with injuries to his oblique and ribs. The resulting total was 20.6 AGL. This is the third-highest quarterback AGL we've measured behind the 2005 Jets (26.7) and the 2008 Chiefs (24.0).

Two other teams lost at least 10 AGL to quarterback injuries: Carolina (11.0) and the Los Angeles Rams (10.9). For Carolina, starting quarterback Sam Darnold spent the first nine weeks of the season on injured reserve with a high ankle sprain. Replacement Baker Mayfield missed two games with a left ankle injury of his own. We did not count third-round rookie Matt Corral as a possible starter but he also was out for the entire season with a foot injury. For Los Angeles, Matt Stafford missed almost half the year with concussion symptoms, while his backup John Wolford was questionable and then out for three weeks with a neck injury.

Other notable impacted teams and players:

• Arizona (7.6): Kyler Murray (hamstring/knee, 4.6) and Colt McCoy (knee/neck/concussion, 3.0)
• Baltimore (5.9): Lamar Jackson (knee, 5.3)
• New York Jets (5.6): Zach Wilson (knee, 3.3) and Mike White (ribs, 2.3)
• Washington (5.1): Carson Wentz (finger, 5.0)

Running Backs

It was a very light year for running back injuries and only three running backs put up more than 10 AGL on their own. Denver led the league with 13.6 AGL at the position, almost entirely due to the torn ACL that cost Javonte Williams 13 games. That number would have ranked only seventh in running back AGL for 2021. Seattle was second at 12.9 AGL, due mostly to Rashaad Penny's severe left ankle sprain which cost him 12 games. San Francisco was third at 12.2 AGL, as Elijah Mitchell missed seven games with a torn MCL in his right knee and then five more games with a torn MCL in his left knee. And the New York Jets' 11.3 AGL for running backs was primarily the torn ACL and meniscus which cost Breece Hall 10 games.

Baltimore (9.7) and Atlanta (8.3) were the top teams which had significant AGL from more than just one running back. Baltimore got 5.9 AGL from J.K. Dobbins (knee) and 3.8 AGL from Gus Edwards (knee/hamstring). Atlanta had 4.3 AGL from Cordarrelle Patterson (knee) and 4.0 AGL from Damien Williams (ribs). Williams was out for a much longer period of time, but we counted him specifically for the four weeks where he would have played a significant role while Patterson was unable to take the field.

Other notable impacted teams and players:

• Washington (5.4): Brian Robinson (gunshot wound, 5.1)
• Indianapolis (5.1): Jonathan Taylor (ankle, 5.1)
• Houston (4.0): Dameon Pierce (ankle, 4.0) 

Wide Receivers

This is where we really had some problems in 2022, as three teams had more wide receiver AGL last season than any team had two years ago. The Denver Broncos, in particular, got whacked in their wide receiver room with a total of 36.8 AGL. It started when third receiver Tim Patrick (17.0) tore his right ACL in training camp. His replacement, KJ Hamler (10.5), missed over half the season with hamstring and knee injuries. Jerry Jeudy (2.9) missed two games with a left ankle injury. Courtland Sutton (2.6) missed two games with a hamstring injury. And Kendall Hinton (3.8), who was the third receiver by the end of the year, missed three games with a hamstring injury and then a chest injury. Denver's wide receiver AGL was a new all-time record, surpassing the 36.2 AGL that the 2017 Chicago Bears had at the wide receiver position.

Houston was second with 29.0 AGL although this includes an "injury" that might be controversial. Obviously, acute promyelocytic leukemia is a non-football injury and not anything you can connect to the Houston Texans training staff, but we counted Metchie's lost season as 17.0 AGL because it is very likely the second-round pick would have been an important situational player and probably a starter for the Texans all year. The Texans also had big AGL numbers from Nico Collins (6.3), who suffered a groin injury and then a foot injury, and Brandin Cooks (4.1), who spent three weeks on the injury report with a wrist issue and then technically had a calf injury but may have had a stronger case of the "I don't feel like playing for this franchise any longer" flu.

The New York Giants were third with 25.0 AGL, although good luck going through the Giants roster week by week and trying to determine who counts as a "starter" or a "new starter" or an important "situational" player. We easily could have come up with a higher number for the Giants if we had counted more weeks of rookie Wen'Dale Robinson; he barely played in Week 1, missed four weeks with a knee injury, came back, was in and out of the lineup, then had another knee injury. We ended up counting him as a reserve except for Week 11 when he started in place of other injured receivers. One definite starter, however, was Sterling Shepard (14.0), who lost most of the 2022 season to a torn ACL. Other Giants receivers who earned AGL included Kadarius Toney (5.3), who lost most of the first half of the year to a hamstring injury before he was traded to Kansas City, and Kenny Golladay (4.3), who we counted as a starter when he lost Weeks 5-8 to a knee injury but did not count as a starter when he was clearly benched in the second half of the season.

Other notable impacted teams and players:

• Los Angeles Rams (23.9): Cooper Kupp (ankle, 8.3), Van Jefferson (knee, 6.3), Allen Robinson (foot, 6.3), and Ben Skowronek (calf, 3.0)
• New Orleans (22.8): Michael Thomas (foot, 14.3) and Jarvis Landry (ankle, 6.9)—Deonte Harty also missed most of the year with a foot injury but did not count as important enough for AGL.
• Detroit (21.0): Jameson Williams (knee, 11.0), DJ Chark (ankle, 5.1), and Josh Reynolds (knee/ankle/back, 3.4)
• Arizona (18.6): Rondale Moore (hamstring, 9.6) and Marquise Brown (foot/illness/groin/wrist, 5.9)
• Green Bay (17.5): Randall Cobb (ankle/illness, 4.3), Sammy Watkins (hamstring, 4.0), Romeo Doubs (ankle, 3.3), and Christian Watson (hamstring/concussion/hip, 3.2)
• Baltimore (16.7): Rashod Bateman (foot, 11.5) and Devin Duvernay (foot, 3.3)
• Dallas (15.5): James Washington (foot, 12.0) and Michael Gallup (knee, 2.6)

Obviously, there's an argument that Detroit knew that Jameson Williams would miss most of the season when they drafted him in the first round, so does that really count as AGL from an expected starter? We figured that there's no question that Williams would have been a starting receiver if he had been healthy all year, and he will be a starting receiver this coming season so it helps to count his AGL to suggest that the Lions receivers will bounce back in health in 2023.

Four teams were below 0.5 AGL for wide receivers: Minnesota (0.1), Philadelphia (0.2), Atlanta (0.3), and Pittsburgh (0.4).

Tight Ends

Cincinnati was the clear leader in tight end AGL, with their total of 18.5 AGL coming out twice as high as any other team. The Bengals use a lot of two-tight end sets, and second tight end Drew Sample lost most of the season to a knee injury. Hayden Hurst (3.2) was on and off the injury list all year with groin and calf injuries, eventually missing three games in December.

Other notable impacted teams and players:

• Minnesota (9.0): Irv Smith (ankle, 9.0)
• Las Vegas (7.9): Darren Waller (hamstring, 6.3)
• Arizona (7.3): Zach Ertz (calf/knee, 7.3)
• Atlanta (7.3): Kyle Pitts (hamstring/knee, 7.3)
• Denver (7.0): Greg Dulcich (hamstring, 7.0)

Offensive Line

There were far more offensive line injuries than usual in 2022. In fact, there were more offensive line AGL leaguewide in 2022 than in any other season we've measured. In 2021, no team had more than 40 AGL at offensive line. Last year, five different teams had at least 40 AGL for this position group. We have to start with the Los Angeles Rams, who destroyed the previous record for offensive line AGL by one team in a given season.

The offensive line collapse was a huge part of the overall collapse of the Rams in 2022. The Rams were already trying to get over the retirement of left tackle Andrew Whitworth, the anchor of their Super Bowl championship line from the year before. His replacement, Joe Noteboom (11.3), missed half the year with a torn Achilles. Noteboom's replacement, Alaric Jackson (9.0), missed the second half of the season due to blood clot problems. But the left tackle issue was nothing compared to the complications at center and right guard. In the preseason, there was a camp battle at right guard between Logan Bruss (12.0) and Coleman Shelton (4.0)—until Bruss tore his ACL. That made Shelton the Week 1 starter. Then center Brian Allen (11.1) had a knee injury in Week 1. Shelton slid over to center, which would have made Bruss the new starter at right guard, except Bruss was hurt. So instead, we go to RG3, Tremayne Anchrum (11.0). That didn't last long, because Anchrum broke his fibula in Week 3. Meanwhile, Shelton, now playing center, hurt his ankle and missed four games. So even when Allen came back, Bruss would have been playing, and if not Bruss, Anchrum would have been playing, so they both count for those weeks in AGL. And then Allen went out again, missing two games with a thumb injury and three with a calf injury. Eventually, the Rams ended up with Chandler Brewer (2.0) playing right guard, except he hurt his knee too. We haven't even mentioned left guard David Edwards (10.0), who missed much of the season with concussion issues. It was a colossal mess.

The New York Jets also came close to surpassing the previous record for offensive line AGL. The Jets also showed the cascade effect of multiple injuries at the same position, particularly offensive tackle. The starting tackles were originally supposed to be George Fant and Mekhi Becton. Becton (17.0) fractured his kneecap in training camp and was out for the year. Fant (9.9) lost eight games to a knee injury at midseason. The Becton injury required the Jets to sign Duane Brown (6.2), who missed the first month and spent the whole season on the injury report with shoulder issues. Fant's injury handed a starting job to rookie Max Mitchell (10.0), who then missed Weeks 5-9 with a knee injury and the final five weeks with an undisclosed injury. The Jets also lost starting guard Alijah Vera-Tucker for 10 weeks with a triceps injury.

Tampa Bay, third with 47.4 AGL on the offensive line, lost both starting left guard Aaron Stinnie (17.0) and starting center Ryan Jensen (17.0) for the entire regular season with knee injuries. Stinnie's replacement, rookie Luke Goedeke (4.3), then lost five weeks with a foot injury. The Bucs also had 4.6 AGL from left tackle Donovan Smith due to elbow and foot injuries and 2.9 AGL from right tackle Tristan Wirfs due to knee and ankle injuries.

Next up for offensive line injuries was Detroit with 45.1 AGL. The Lions lost their top two options at right guard for the entire season, both with back injuries: Halapoulivaati Vaitai (17.0) and Tommy Kraemer (17.0). Left guard Jonah Jackson (4.6) had a finger injury and then a concussion. Center Frank Ragnow (3.1) was on the injury report all year with foot problems and his backup, Evan Brown (3.1), missed time with an ankle injury.

The Arizona Cardinals were the final team over 40 AGL on the offensive line, as they finished with 42.0 AGL. Center Rodney Hudson (12.5) missed most of the year with a knee injury. So did left guard Justin Pugh (11.9). Left tackle D.J. Humphries (8.1) had back problems for the second half of the season, eventually going on injured reserve. Will Hernandez (chest, 4.0) and Pugh's replacement Max Garcia (toe/shoulder, 3.6) also contributed to Arizona's high total of offensive line AGL.

Other notable impacted teams and players:

• Chicago (37.9): Dakota Dozier (knee, 17.0), Lucas Patrick (toe, 10.0), and Cody Whitehair (knee, 5.0)
• Denver (35.8): Garett Bolles (leg, 12.0), Lloyd Cushenberry (groin, 9.0), and Billy Turner (knee, 6.6)
• Washington (33.7): Chase Roullier (knee, 15.0), Roullier's replacement Wes Schweitzer (concussion, 9.0), and Tyler Larsen (back/shoulder/Achilles, 4.4)

Pittsburgh (0.5) and Indianapolis (1.5) were the only teams below 3.0 AGL for offensive linemen.

Defense

This year for the first time, we separated out edge rushers in our AGL count instead of having them mixed in with either interior defensive linemen or off-ball linebackers.

Interior Defensive Line

The San Francisco 49ers had the most impactful injuries on the interior defensive line, leading the league with 22.5 AGL. The opening day starters were Javon Kinlaw (10.6), who lost much of the season to a knee injury, and Arik Armstead (7.9), who missed several games and was on the injury report all year due to a foot injury. Kevin Givens (4.0) also missed the final four games of the year with a knee injury, although he returned for the postseason.

The next three teams in defensive line injuries were virtually tied, with the Cardinals at 16.8 AGL and the Rams and Ravens both at 16.6 AGL. Of course, this is where we can talk about how we need to create an AGL system which adjusts for the quality of the players missing time. There are injuries, and then there are injuries to Aaron freakin' Donald.

Most of the Arizona defensive line AGL came from Rashard Lawrence (12.3), who first suffered a hand injury and then went on injured reserve due to his shoulder. Zach Allen (4.3) also missed four games with a hand injury and was questionable in Week 14 with illness, though he did play. The Rams lost games on the interior defensive line due to Donald (6.3) and his high ankle sprain as well as A'Shawn Robinson (7.3) and a torn meniscus. The Ravens primarily get AGL due to a torn biceps in Week 3 for nose tackle Michael Pierce (14.0).

Other notable impacted teams and players:

• Kansas City (12.4): Tershawn Wharton (knee, 12.0)
• Los Angeles Chargers (10.9): Austin Johnson (knee, 9.0)
• Cincinnati (10.6): D.J. Reader (knee, 6.0) and Josh Tupou (calf, 4.6)

Edge Rushers

This is one of the places where the Tennessee Titans really racked up the adjusted games lost, without needing any adjusting. Their best edge rusher, Harold Landry, tore his ACL in the preseason and missed the whole year for 17.0 AGL. Bud Dupree (6.4), the other starter, had hip issues most of the season and then missed the final two games with a pectoral injury. Denico Autry (5.0), who plays both interior and edge rusher, missed Weeks 12-15 with a knee injury, and we counted him here.

The Colts and Eagles come next, with 17.2 and 17.1 AGL respectively. Tyquan Lewis (10.0) of the Colts was not a starter but he was an important situational pass-rusher and he missed Week 5 with a concussion before tearing his left patellar tendon in Week 8. Both starters were also hurt, with Kwity Paye (4.6) suffering two separate ankle injuries and Yannick Ngakoue (2.6) dealing with a back injury and then missing the final two games after he was hit in the throat duing Week 16's loss to the Chargers. Philadelphia's AGL is primarily the season-ending torn ACL that Derek Barnett (16.0) suffered in the opening day win over the Lions.

The Buffalo Bills were fourth in AGL to edge rushers. Of course, you know about Von Miller (6.0) and his torn ACL, which is a good opportunity to remind readers that these numbers do not include the postseason. Jordan Phillips (4.9), an important situational pass-rusher, had hamstring and shoulder issues and was on the injury report most of the season. And second-year pass-rusher Gregory Rousseau (3.0) missed three games with a high ankle sprain.

Two notes about teams lower down in AGL for edge rushers. Washington had 13.2 AGL which was mostly 10.9 AGL for Chase Young. However, note that Young only counts for 0.27 AGL for each of the three late-season games where he was listed as questionable but did not end up playing. He was then listed on the injury report but without a designation in both Weeks 16 and 17, which is only 0.02 AGL for each week. As for Baltimore, the Ravens had 11.3 AGL from edge rushers but we easily could have counted them for more. We decided not to mark second-round pick David Ojabo as an important situational player, and did not count his injury for AGL. The Ravens had a number of edge rushers who didn't count, not just Ojabo but also Vince Biegel, Daelin Hayes, and Steven Means. Most of their AGL at the position came from Tyus Bowser missing the first half of the season while still recovering from his 2021 torn Achilles.

Other notable impacted teams and players:

• New York Giants (15.4): Azeez Ojulari (calf/ankle, 10.5)
• Denver (12.2): Randy Gregory (shoulder/knee, 11.9)
• Los Angeles Chargers (12.1): Joey Bosa (groin, 12.0)
• Detroit (11.8): Charles Harris (groin, 11.3)

Linebackers

Cleveland was the clear leader in off-ball linebacker injuries with 36.4 AGL. That starts with a torn quadriceps for middle linebacker Anthony Walker in Week 3, which cost him 14 games. Walker's replacement, Jacob Phillips, then tore his pectoral in Week 7 and lost 10 games. Both outside linebackers also dealt with injuries. Sione Takitaki (5.0) had a season-ending knee injury in Week 13, while Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (5.3) had groin and knee injuries before losing the final four games to a left foot injury.

Las Vegas was next with 21.5 AGL from linebackers, starting with Divine Deablo (9.6). Deablo was questionable for two weeks with a back injury and then broke his forearm, costing him the entire second half of the season. The Raiders also had Jayon Brown (6.3) dealing with hamstring and hand injuries while Denzel Parryman (5.1) was on the injury report most of the year with a myriad of injuries including ankle, wrist, shoulder, hip, and concussion.

Other notable impacted teams and players:

• Tennessee (18.6): Zach Cunningham (elbow, 11.3) and David Long (groin, 5.0)
• Indianapolis (14.6): Shaquille Leonard (concussion/back, 14.3)
• Denver (13.5): Jonas Griffith (ankle, 8.0)
• Washington (13.1): Cole Holcomb (quadriceps/foot, 10.0)

Defensive Backs

The Miami Dolphins led the NFL in defensive back injuries, beginning with starting cornerback Byron Jones (17.0) missing the entire season with a left ankle injury. Nickelback Nik Needham (11.0) tore his Achilles in Week 6 while safety Brandon Jones (10.3) dealt with a chest injury early before tearing his ACL in Week 7. Eric Rowe (1.9), Xavien Howard (1.7), and Kader Kohou (1.5) also spent significant time on the injury report but mostly played through those injuries.

The New York Giants were second with 37.3 defensive back AGL and just as with wide receivers, it was difficult to determine who exactly should count for the Giants as starters or "new starters." Cornerback Aaron Robinson (15.0) was at least a Week 1 starter, then had an appendectomy and missed two games before he suffered a knee injury in Week 4 which kept him out for the rest of the season. The other Week 1 starter was Adoree' Jackson (7.0), who tore his MCL in Week 11 and did not return until the postseason. Rookie Cordale Flott (5.3) played a lot in place of Robinson but missed the middle of the season after hurting his calf in Week 3. And Safety Xavier McKinney (7.0) went on the non-football injury list with a hand injury suffered in an ATV accident during the Week 9 bye.

Just behind the Giants were the Buffalo Bills with 36.9 AGL from defensive backs. The Bills missed significant time from top players at both cornerback and safety. Tre'Davious White (8.0) would have surely started in Week 1 but was still recovering from an 2021 ACL tear. Christian Benford (7.0), who started Week 1 in place of White (and in place of first-round pick Kaiir Elam), then missed two weeks with a hand injury and five weeks with an oblique injury. At safety, Micah Hyde (15.0) missed most of the year with a neck injury while Jordan Poyer (4.2) was on the injury report for most of the year with a foot injury, a rib injury, an elbow injury, and then a persistent knee issue. For the record, Hyde's replacement Damar Hamlin gets only 1.0 AGL as he missed just one regular-season game after his cardiac arrest in Week 17.

Other notable impacted teams and players:

• Tennessee (33.3): Elijah Molden (groin, 13.3), Amani Hooker (concussion/shoulder/knee, 7.6), and Kristian Fulton (hamstring/groin, 5.9)
• Baltimore (29.4): Kyle Fuller (kneee, 16.0), Marcus Williams (wrist, 7.0), and Marcus Peters (knee/quadriceps/calf, 4.2)
• Tampa Bay (27.4): Logan Ryan (foot, 8.0), Antoine Winfield (concussion/ankle, 4.8), and Sean Murphy-Bunting (quadriceps, 4.8)

The New York Jets (2.7) had the fewest AGL for defensive backs followed by Cleveland (6.4).

Running back AGL includes a small amount of fullback AGL for San Francisco (1.0), Miami (0.6), and Baltimore (0.5).