St. Louis Rams Closing Evaluations: What Grades Do the Defensive Linemen Receive?

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Robert Quinn: Quinn had his second consecutive Pro Bowl season in 2014, though after his 19-sack performance in 2013, he failed to meet expectations and live up to the precedent that had been set by the Rams’ decision to give him a six-year, $65-million-dollar contract in September. Quinn had no sacks through the first five games, and though he ultimately accumulated 10.5 sacks over the course of the year, he was held sackless in 10 of the Rams’ 16 games. Being objective, it’s also difficult to take seriously the fact that three of Quinn’s sacks came in the Rams’ 52-0 defeat of the hopeless Oakland Raiders.

Quinn’s performance as a run defender also dropped off this season. After dominating in the run game in 2013 and collecting 57 tackles, Quinn’s total dropped to just 46 tackles in 2014. He was held without a single tackle in Weeks 11 and 12, and he had just a singular tackle in both Weeks 15 and 17. The always-controversial Pro Football Focus, which rated Quinn as the third-best run-defending 4-3 defensive end in the league during 2013 with a 12.7 grade, ranked him 36th in 2014 with a -2.0.

While it’s difficult to criticize a season where a player reached the Pro Bowl and had double-digit sacks, Quinn simply needs to perform better in the future if he’s truly going to be considered elite and live up to the financial investment that the Rams chose to make in him.

GRADE: B+

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