Performance Based Value: St. Louis Rams

In this series of pieces, Pro Football Focus is hammering into the value of players. To us it’s a “Performance Based Value” number, telling you what players were worth (by our grading) in 2012. You can read about the work we’ve done to create it here, but in short:

• It’s solely about what a player did on the field in 2012
• Players are grouped by positions so their play essentially earns them a portion of the positional salary pool
• It’s all about cap hits (these values are approximate)

Here are 2012′s most undervalued and overvalued St. Louis Rams:

(* Denotes player missed significant portion of time through injury)

Undervalued

1. Brandon Gibson, Wide Receiver

It went relatively unnoticed, but Gibson really emerged as a solid and reliable target in 2012. Come the end of the year he’d earned a +9.3 grade for his receiving, hauling in 68% of his targets for a healthy 691 yards with five touchdowns.

2012 Cap Hit: $1m
2012 Performance Based Value: $4.1m
Value Differential: +$3.1m

2. Greg Zuerlein, Kicker

Call him “Greg the Leg” or “Legatron” but however you shape it the Rams' rookie kicker represented tremendous value. He finished fifth overall in our kicker rankings thanks to kicking seven field goals over 50 yards, and some excellent kickoffs.

2012 Cap Hit: $400k
2012 Performance Based Value: $3.5m
Value Differential: +$3.1m

3. William Hayes, Defensive Lineman

Jeff Fisher didn’t forget about how well Hayes played for him in his last year in Tennessee, and brought him to St Louis with him. The result? A tremendously productive season on the 378 snaps he got. His 24 quarterback disruptions on 217 was impressive, but his work in the run game was something else where he led all 4-3 defensive ends with a 13.2 Run Stop Percentage.

2012 Cap Hit: $900k
2012 Performance Based Value: $3.1m
Value Differential: +$2.2m

4. Danny Amendole, WR – Cap: $1.9m, PBV: $4.1m, Value Differential: +$2.2m

5. Trumaine Johnson, CB – Cap: $600k, PBV: $2.6m, Value Differential: +$2m

6. Quintin Mikell, S – Cap: $4m, PBV: $5.7m, Value Differential: +$1.7m

7. Matthew Mulligan, TE – Cap: $800k, PBV: $2.4m, Value Differential: +$1.6m

8. Chris Givens, WR – Cap: $500k, PBV: $2.1m, Value Differential: +$1.6m

9. Michael Brockers, DT – Cap: $1.7m, PBV: $3.3m, Value Differential: +$1.6m

10. Bradley Fletcher, CB – Cap: $1.4m, PBV: $2.5m, Value Differential: +$1.1m

Overvalued

1. Chris Long, Defensive End

The problem with Chris Long is that for all the good he does rushing the passer, he’s such a liability in the run game that he hurts the team. So while his 74 quarterback disruptions pushed him to the seventh highest pass rushing grade of all 4-3 defensive ends, his woeful work in the run game saw him pick up the third-lowest grade in the run game.

2012 Cap Hit: $18.6m
2012 Performance Based Value: $5.8m
Value Differential: -$12.8m

2. Sam Bradford, Quarterback

The Rams are still paying the price for having the first overall pick in the 2010 NFL draft. Bradford didn’t miss any significant time, but nor did he impress with his accuracy and ability to move the chains — not what the Rams thought they were paying for. He finished 23rd overall in our rankings for quarterbacks this year thanks to his uneven displays.

2012 Cap Hit: $15.6m
2012 Performance Based Value: $8.3m
Value Differential: -$7.3m

3. Steven Jackson, Running Back

While Jackson finished the year our 11th-ranked running back in terms of his rushing grade (+6.6) and earned a healthy 1045 yards on 258 carries, that doesn’t mean he represented good value. With a huge cap hit that puts many of his peers to shame, you really need to see more than what Jackson delivered.

2012 Cap Hit: $10.8m
2012 Performance Based Value: $5.8m
Value Differential: -$5m

4. Cortland Finnegan, CB – Cap: $6m, PBV: $1.2m, Value Differential: -$4.8m

5. Scott Wells, C – Cap: $4.5m, PBV: $800k, Value Differential: -$3.7m

6. Kendall Langford, DT – Cap: $3m, PBV: $1m, Value Differential: -$2m

7. Steve Smith, WR – Cap: $2.5m, PBV: $700k, Value Differential: -$1.8m

8. Wayne Hunter, OT – Cap: $2.5m, PBV: $800k, Value Differential: -$1.6m

9. Robert Quinn, DE – Cap: $2.1m, PBV: $900k, Value Differential: -$1.2m

10. Harvey Dahl, OG – Cap: $4m, PBV: $3m, Value Differential: -$1m

Summary – Team Value Differential: -$15.1m

Make no mistake about it, the Rams are very much in rebuild mode. Weighed down by some big contracts, it’s becoming clear that they really need some of their most heavily paid players to start pulling their weight. Overall, 36 players earned positive values and 24 negative values.

Follow Khaled on Twitter: @PFF_Khaled