The Los Angeles Rams learned a lot about themselves in their season-opening loss to the San Francisco 49ers, and while most of those lessons were tough, there were several positive takeaways from the game.
One of them was that the team has a promising rushing attack that could become a focal point of their offensive scheme, with Kyren Williams and Blake Corum forming a strong rushing combo. The reason for their success has been the work of the offensive line, which was paving paths for both running backs to exploit.
Kicking off his contract year with a statement, guard Steve Avila was handling defensive linemen, especially when he was allowed to go upfield. According to Pro Football Focus, Avila finished Week 1 with one of the best performances
for his position. He had the fourth-highest offensive grade and second-best run blocking grade among all guards in the NFL.
Steve Avila registered the fourth-highest offensive grade (84.9) and second-highest run blocking grade (90.3) for all guards in Week 1 (min. 25 snaps played), according to @PFF. He was one of two guards in the NFL to finish Week 1 with a run blocking grade above 90.0.… pic.twitter.com/OOsxHzCmvf
— Los Angeles Rams PR (@TheLARamsPR) September 17, 2026
Avila played all 61 of the team's snaps in the season opener. The Rams rushed for 122 yards on 29 attempts, with Williams running in a touchdown, the team's only score of the game. Matthew Stafford was not sacked in the contest.
Along with Warren McClendon Jr., Coleman Shelton, and Kevin Dotson, Avila is set to be a free agent after this season. Performances like this will impact who Los Angeles decides to pay over the course of the next nine months.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Rams' Steve Avila was one of the NFL's best guards in Week 1
