When analyzing the NFL’s most dominant rushing attacks, eyes naturally turn to the ball carriers. But for the Los Angeles Rams, the real engine behind last season’s ground game was built directly into the trenches.
According to data from FTN Fantasy via Nutshell Sports, guard-tackle combinations from the Colts, Rams, and Bears dominated the top of the league in rushing effectiveness. In fact, Los Angeles claimed a full quarter of the NFL’s top eight pairings when measuring average rush Expected Points Added (EPA) per play toward a specific tandem’s side of the line.
Leading the charge for L.A. was the left-side duo of Steve Avila and Alaric Jackson, who tied for the fifth-highest mark in the league by generating an impressive +0.16 EPA per play across 61 shared rushing snaps. Not far behind, the right-side unit of Kevin Dotson and Warren McClendon Jr. tied for eighth overall, delivering a stout +0.10 EPA per play over 39 snaps.
A look at rushing effectiveness behind guard/tackle combos. This was found by calculating average rush EPA when the run went toward the direction of each guard/tackle combo.
The Colts, Rams, and Bears dominate the top of the list.
Player participation data via @FTNFantasypic.twitter.com/QPx7stnJmj
— Nutshell Sports (@NutshellSportz) July 25, 2026
Having two distinct pairings in the top eight highlights how head coach Sean McVay consistently created push and set edges regardless of where the handoff was directed.
That front-line dominance paved the way for massive team-wide efficiency. Led by dynamic backfield duo Kyren Williams and Blake Corum, Los Angeles earned the highest-graded rushing offense in the NFL on Pro Football Network’s Offense Impact metric. A composite scatterplot combining data from Pro Football Focus, ESPN, Sports Info Solutions, and nflfastR placed the Rams firmly in the upper-right quadrant of league-wide rushing efficiency, showcasing an elite blend of above-average run blocking and high rush success rate.
Furthermore, PFF data shows L.A. generated positive EPA on over 50% of its total handoffs in 2025. It marks just the second time since PFF began tracking in 2006 that an NFL team crossed that 50% threshold—joining McVay’s historic 2018 Rams squad led by Todd Gurley.
With Avila, Jackson, Dotson, and McClendon paving pathways, the Rams proved once again that elite ground games start at the point of attack.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Rams guard-tackle combos power elite ground game
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