Weddle … (and also now, Weddle & Johnson as a tandem)

‘It was L.A. or nothing’: How Eric Weddle started over with Rams

Dan Pompei

https://theathletic.com/985784/2019/05/28/it-was-l-a-or-nothing-how-eric-weddle-started-over-with-rams/

It’s early March in San Diego, where Eric Weddle calls home. With sweat still trickling down his forehead after a game of basketball at a local gym, Weddle steps up into his white Shelby F-150 truck with the thick black stripes down the middle of the hood.

The truck has 750 horsepower and moves like a Corvette, but is bigger than a walk-in closet. When he opens it up on the freeway, it sounds a little like a dentist’s drill. He changed the chrome to black, bought oversized wheels and rims and lifted it an inch-and-a-half.

He’s never spent much of his money on playthings, but in January he earned a $1 million bonus because he made the Pro Bowl and his team made the playoffs. He thought he and his family deserved something special.

It is a symbol for all Weddle has achieved and conquered.

Before he can put the truck in drive, he gets a phone call. On the caller ID: Eric DeCosta.

The Ravens general manager probably wants to discuss Weddle’s future with the team, Weddle thinks. Weddle was closer to DeCosta than he had been with any team executive in his NFL career. They often talked about player evaluations, team building and life.

“Hey Eric,” Weddle says.

“How have you been?” DeCosta says.

They small-talk about the scouting combine. Weddle asks about players there who caught DeCosta’s eye.

And then DeCosta’s tone changes.

“Eric, I want to tell you how much I love you,” he says. “You’ve done so much for this organization. You changed this place for the better. This is probably one of the hardest things I’ll ever have to do because of the respect I have for you. But we’re going to have to release you.”

This is a thunderbolt. For the first time in Weddle’s life, he is being cut.

The call ends, and Weddle sits there in his imposing truck for a minute, staring straight ahead. He thinks about the past three years in Baltimore — what the Ravens accomplished, faces of teammates, coaches and people in the organization, the city and the fans, and how his career was revitalized there.

He feels emotional. He calls his wife, Chanel, with the news.

“OK, so you’re going to retire, right?” she says, more excited than sad. His aching joints — neck, shoulder, back, hips, knees and toes — would say the same if they could talk.

And there is more to it than that.

The Weddles’ dream house had been sitting empty in San Diego. Before Weddle was released, he and Chanel decided it was time for her and their four children to settle down in Southern California. Their oldest, Brooklyn, is entering middle school in the fall. So if Eric were to play in 2019, he would be separated from his family for the first time in his career.

When the slideshow of his life plays in his mind, Weddle sees plenty of interceptions, but not enough Christmas mornings with his kids. There were four Christmases spent on the road that he can never get back. School plays, Halloweens, basketball games and dance recitals, too.

Their daughter, Silver, has a birthday in August — she will be 8 years old this year. Her father never has been there to help blow out the candles. Every time she innocently brings it up, it feels like another arrow in his back.

“When,” he asks himself, “is enough, enough?”

He knows if he plays again, football will get everything. Like it always has. Or maybe even more than ever. It’s the way he is and the only way he can be.

So much to think about. A new team. A new city. A new coaching staff. A new group of teammates. A new defensive system.

Will he be wanted? Will he want them?

If 34-year old Eric Weddle plays a 13th NFL season, it will almost be like he’s a rookie once again.

A deep free-agent safety class and a $7.5 million cap savings led to the Ravens releasing Weddle. This was the second time in his career he had been untethered, as he was a free agent in 2016 after nine years with the Chargers. But there was significantly more interest in 34-year-old Weddle than there had been in 31-year-old Weddle.

Being in demand — he said 15 teams expressed some degree of interest — stoked the fire in Weddle. He was most intrigued by the Bears, Bucs, Chiefs, Rams and Titans and planned on visiting all five.

It took a while for Chanel to accept what was happening. The thought of not having him around would leave her in tears. But she would come around and support the idea because she saw his excitement. Then she’d have second thoughts.

Weddle scheduled his visits, with the Rams first. No team gave him a better chance to play on a Super Bowl winner. His childhood home was just Southeast of Los Angeles in Rancho Cucamonga. His father was a Rams fan who was so upset when the team moved to St. Louis that he set his Rams gear on fire.

The night before Weddle’s visit, he was restless, still somewhat conflicted. Instead of sleeping, he deliberated. In the morning, he told Chanel if he didn’t reach an agreement with the Rams, he would retire. The only other person he told was his agent David Canter.

“It was L.A. or nothing,” he says.

Upon arriving at the Rams’ facility in Thousand Oaks, he met head coach Sean McVay. They watched tape. They talked about why Weddle changed calls on some plays. McVay wanted to know what Weddle would call against some of the Rams’ looks. They talked about offensive ideology and defensive countermoves.

“Hours went by, but it felt like 20 minutes,” Weddle says.

The next morning, McVay and Weddle talked for another three hours. This time, the conversation expanded to team culture, respect for the game and family. They watched plays from early in Weddle’s career. They might as well have been watching home movies from his childhood because to McVay, they opened up a window into the man.

“We were in alignment with our values and the things we want to epitomize as an organization on a day-to-day basis,” McVay says. “Loves football, loves people. We had an immediate connection, a good rapport, a like-mindedness.”

They are from different worlds — McVay is from quarterbackland; Weddle from the other side of the wall. But you couldn’t tell it from the way they related.

“I felt like I was talking to myself,” Weddle says. “We think so much alike. It’s wild. His humility is what drew me most to him, even with all the success he’s had, he knows nobody has all the answers.”

He was convinced he belonged on the Rams. He agreed to a two-year, $10.5 million deal, knowing it almost certainly will be the last NFL contract he signs.

He was headed back to San Diego for five days but was eager to get started on learning the Rams defense. He eyed McVay’s oversized iPad, which has much more game tape than players’ iPads.

Weddle: “The only thing that matters at this point is I need an iPad.”

McVay: “I love you for that. Take mine.”

McVay gave him his password, and by the time Weddle returned the iPad the next week and was issued his own, he already had a good feel for the Rams defense.

McVay has attended the secondary meetings every day during OTAs, trying to learn the defense better. He asks Weddle what tendencies he expects based on a formation or a split.

And during the daily allotted four-hour work period, Weddle also sits in on quarterback talks with McVay, quarterback Jared Goff and others. “He can communicate with Jared what he’s seeing from his vantage point,” McVay says. “And when it comes from a teammate, especially a guy who has done it for a while, it resonates.”

The hope is Goff becomes a better quarterback from working with Weddle. McVay is certain he’s already become a better coach. “I’ve definitely learned from him, and I’m sure I will continue to,” he says.

On the campus of Cal-Lutheran in Thousand Oaks is a group of trailers that fit together like giant Lego blocks. This is the temporary training facility of the Rams.

It is a far cry from the Ravens’ stately Under Armour Performance Center, commonly known as “The Castle.”

Several weeks into his tenure as a Ram, Weddle still is getting lost in the trailer maze. “You get inside and there are no windows,” he says. “Which way do I go? Which way is outside? I know how to get out, but to get through, to get to the weight room, you can end up in the quarterbacks’ room. You’ll walk through the middle section of the facility and you just walked through Coach McVay’s office.”

Weddle is staying at a hotel near the facility that’s costing him more than $200 a night. He has a driver take him from his San Diego-area home to Thousand Oaks on Sunday night, and then back again Thursday afternoon. It costs $800 round trip, not including tips. Considering he’s getting paid $120 a day for OTAs, the offseason is a losing proposition financially.

But he knows the relationships and trust he is building have a value well beyond his costs.

It is difficult being away from his family, and it will be all season. He sees a ray of light though.

“I look at it as I’m going to reach limits I’ve never been able to reach because nothing’s holding me back,” he says. “It sounds selfish, but I don’t mean it that way. It’s just I don’t have anything to go home to. I can spend as much time as I want at the facility. I can do as much work as I want, study as much film as I want, rehab. Before I’d have to get in early and stay late, but I had to go home. Kids need their dad. Now, it’s a different dynamic. And that part of it is exciting.”

During the season, his family will be occupied Monday through Saturday afternoon with school, sports and activities. The plan for home games is for Chanel to drive the kids to the team hotel in Los Angeles on Saturdays, after their son Gaige plays his football game. And maybe Eric can steal a couple days in San Diego early in the week from time to time if McVay gives him a little leeway.

The Rams do some things differently. To improve concentration, players try to catch passes wearing Senaptec Strobe Glasses that flicker between clear and opaque, and distract with blinking lights.

The D2 vision board from Dynavision is about 4 feet by 4 feet with 50 or so small buttons on it. The object is for athletes to improve reaction time by hitting as many buttons as possible in a minute. The first time Weddle did it, he hit 64 buttons. The third time, he was up to 97.

He is embracing the technology.

He has been less enthusiastic about how the team monitors players’ “loads” through Zebra Technology radio frequency identification devices. The idea is to get players to back off when it’s indicated that their body is overtaxed.

“If something is bothering me, I just keep going,” Weddle says. “I’m old school. I love to work out, and I do it every day. I’ve been doing it my whole career and it works for me. They are learning that.”

The way the Rams lift weights is different too, with an emphasis on explosive movements. For instance, when players incline press, a wire attached to the bar monitors the speed of the movement. Weddle is giving it a chance.

Weddle also is adjusting to a new defensive scheme. Wade Phillips will be Weddle’s seventh defensive coordinator. “I played every 3-4 you can think of, 4-3, over, under fronts,” he says. “Multiple defenses, blitz packages, I’ve done them all.”

Phillips was the defensive coordinator with the Chargers in 2006, the year before Weddle went to San Diego. Weddle’s first defensive coordinator in the NFL was Ted Cottrell, a Phillips’ disciple who maintained most of Phillips’ philosophy and playbook. For his entire run with the Chargers, the team didn’t veer far from Phillips’ defense.

So when Weddle went to Baltimore in 2016, he had to retrain his brain to absorb the scheme implemented by Dean Pees. There were times, in fact, with the Ravens when Weddle would mistakenly make a call from the Chargers’ playbook.

Now he’s going back to the language and same basic concepts that he used early in his career. From the recesses of his mind, the base calls, sub packages, rotations and checks are coming back to him.

At this point, Weddle says he is confident he could be ready to play a game in the Rams’ system in a few days. Football strategy always has come easy to him, in part because he thinks about it a lot. He says when a defense is installed in a meeting, he might go over it in his head 50 times. McVay has told him if most players are at a Level 1 in terms of comprehension, Weddle is at a Level 5.

Ravens coaches recognized as much — John Harbaugh told Weddle he’d like to hire him as a coach when he retires — and gave him liberal freedom to adjust defensive calls based on presnap looks.

There is a feeling-out process between Weddle and his Rams coaches to determine what he should and should not be doing in terms of adjustments. The Rams have not had a safety like him who can play the strategy game at a grand-master level.

“The best thing about Eric is he knows the intent of the calls and what we’re trying to get done,” McVay says. “He’ll have the luxury of being able to disguise and marry that with some of the other calls that we want to utilize in that game plan. And he absolutely will, with some of our other guys, have the ability to make certain checks based on what an offense presents in a lot of the same ways he did with Baltimore.”

Weddle’s assignments aren’t likely to be significantly different from what they were with the Ravens. The Rams will ask him to play in the post, and in quarters and halves. He will roll coverage, blitz and play in the box. Having a role with varied responsibilities is ideal for him because it gives him more options to defeat quarterbacks mentally.

For most of the 2018 season, Weddle was the Ravens defender who wore the orange earpiece that enabled him to hear the defensive play call from his coach. He enjoyed the responsibility and was good at it.

The earpiece goes to the middle linebacker on most teams, and last season middle linebacker Cory Littleton wore it for the Rams. He wore it well, but McVay says there is a chance Weddle will get it this season. The decision has yet to be made.

For now, Weddle doesn’t want to be overbearing. He got into a back and forth with the assistant coaches during a recent walkthrough over a check that was made that he felt was unnecessary. But mostly, he bites his tongue.

“I have to remember I’m coming into this place, this system and I need to adapt and work myself into them, not the other way around,” he says. “It’s been a little bit of a challenge to not push certain ideas onto the defense and let it play itself out.”

Patience comes easier at 34 than it ever could at 24.

A new kid on the block feels many eyes upon him. He listens before he speaks. He tries, usually a little awkwardly, to find his place without infringing on someone else’s.

Weddle is the new kid on the block.

He has six Pro Bowl appearances — more than anyone on the roster. Harbaugh will tell you Weddle established a new culture in Baltimore.

Weddle earned the right to pull up to the Rams’ facility every day in that magnificent Shelby F-150. But in his world, nobody earns respect in the parking lot. And the reality is he isn’t acting much different than when he was driving a Honda Accord his first few years in the league.

When Weddle walked in the door for the first OTA, the Rams were not his team. They were Andrew Whitworth’s team. They were Michael Brockers’ team and Aaron Donald’s team. Goff’s team, Todd Gurley’s team, Brandin Cooks’ team.

He had known Aqib Talib and Whitworth from Pro Bowls. He also had been with linebackers coach Joe Barry in San Diego. He helped recruit free agent Clay Matthews, another Pro Bowl acquaintance. But he didn’t have any close friends on the team.

When his workday ends, Weddle heads to Los Robles Greens and hits golf balls at the driving range. Alone.

Or he goes to see a movie like “Hellboy”. Alone.

Or he goes back to his hotel room and watches “Game of Thrones” on his iPad. Alone.

“It’s tough because you can see certain guys are already close with each other,” he says after he sends a little white ball into the blue, lonely California sky with his 8-iron at Los Robles. “You don’t want to overstep your boundaries and push yourself on guys.”

For most of his career, he has been the guy breaking down the huddle, and the guy giving pep talks. Not here, not yet anyway.

“I don’t have the right,” he says.

The right is earned in an unlit room with a big screen on the wall. The right is earned to the sounds of clanging 45-pound plates, of large dumbbells bouncing off rubber tiles, and of hooting, grunting young men full of testosterone. The right is earned on long, sweltering summer days when legs feel heavy, tempers are short and home seems far away.

With the Ravens, Weddle would skip a practice when he was feeling sore. For now, he isn’t comfortable taking any days off from practice.

“I have to show these boys every day that I can be as good or better than anyone on the field at 34 years old, that I deserve this job because I’m outplaying everybody,” he says. “Even if I’m dog tired and sore, and know I won’t be at my best, I’m going to be out there to try to earn the respect of my teammates.”

His most important order of business is to develop trust with the men he shares a meeting room with — especially Talib, Marcus Peters, John Johnson and Nickell Robey-Coleman.

It’s important the other defensive backs who will be playing a lot become accustomed to how Weddle communicates on the field. It’s also important that they learn each other’s tendencies. He wants the corners and safeties to know if he tells them to do something outside of the scheme, he will have their backs.

Even before Weddle became a Ram, there was a mutual respect between him and Talib. It’s been enhanced by their work together.

During a recent install meeting, Weddle questioned a coverage. He took the words from Talib’s lips. “Immediately, Eric and I saw it the same way,” Talib says. “It was crazy. That tells me we look at the game the same way.”

A bond is forming with Peters quickly. “With his personality and his smile, you gravitate towards him,” Weddle says. “He’s really smart within the game. He and I are going to click, I can already tell.”

Weddle has less in common with many of the men with whom he shares a logo.

When Weddle and a couple of older teammates brought up some of their favorite rappers from the ’90s, the younger guys responded with blank stares. When Weddle introduced himself to Littleton, the middle linebacker told Weddle he was one of his biggest fans when he was growing up in San Diego.

“I’m at a different point in my life compared with a lot of these guys,” Weddle says. “It’s a challenge to earn their trust and friendship.”

Despite differences, Weddle embraces his young teammates. He shows up early, at 6:45, to watch tape and tutor a group of them.

Shortly after the Rams selected safety Taylor Rapp with their first draft pick, Weddle texted him, telling him he was happy to have him. Rapp texted back, telling Weddle that he looks up to him, wants to be like him and hopes to learn from him.

“I’m going to try to give him an edge in any way I can and make a difference in his career,” Weddle says. “That’s where I’m at in my career. I’m not worried about him taking my job. If he’s better than me, then he should be playing. But that’s not going to happen.”

Part of Weddle’s value to the Rams is he can lift those around him. It’s what he says, and it’s also how he cares, the way he works and the energy he creates.

“He’s a breath of fresh air in our building every single day, and his enthusiasm for football is contagious,” McVay says. “It rubs off on guys. He’s one of the few guys I’ve met who might like football more than me, which is a good thing.”

The Rams are a breath of fresh air to him as well.

The famous beard, which nearly extended to his sternum, is gone. It had been a part of Weddle, on and off, for about seven years. Brushing it three or four times a day, and picking out the remains of meals, got old. Now he has a close-cropped beard, and he gets more kisses from Chanel.

New look, new man, new team.

After not knowing if he had reached the end, Weddle still is living his childhood dream and experiencing new challenges.

“I’m invigorated,” he says. “This is exciting. I love the challenge of trying to prove myself and be a part of something special, to add to it, and to blend in my personality with this team.”

In some ways, Eric Weddle is finishing his career just the way he started it.

from The NFL’s best safety tandems ahead of the 2019 NFL season

https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-z-the-nfls-best-safety-tandems-ahead-of-the-2019-nfl-season

1. Chicago Bears – Eddie Jackson & Ha Ha Clinton-Dix
2. Los Angeles Rams – Eric Weddle & John Johnson III
3. Baltimore Ravens – Earl Thomas III & Tony Jefferson
4. New York Jets – Jamal Adams & Marcus Maye
5. Minnesota Vikings – Harrison Smith & Anthony Harris

…

"I'm just gonna fit right in, do my job, and win a bunch of ball games."

New @RamsNFL safety @weddlesbeard joined @NFLTotalAccess to talk about his role on the defense and the upcoming 2019 season 👇 pic.twitter.com/HxPL2L72vk

— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) July 13, 2019

===

Eric Weddle calls Rams CBs ‘best I’ve ever played with’

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001035741/article/eric-weddle-calls-rams-cbs-best-ive-ever-played-with

Through a thus-far 12-year career that boasts a cavalcade of individual accolades and memorable moments, free safety Eric Weddle has lined up alongside a number of stellar teammates.

Entering his lucky 13th season, Weddle believes he’ll be playing next to the best of the best in not only the defensive backfield but all of the NFL.

“We have a chance to be special on defense with the pieces that we have,” Weddle said Friday on Total Access from the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship in Nevada. “Obviously, starting with A.D. Obviously one of the best players in the NFL at all positions and now being able to scheme up and do things that help him to give him an advantage even more so, to let him wreck havoc. He’s an amazing talent, an amazing person, the way he works everyday. There’s a reason he’s the best player in the league.”

While Donald disrupts on the D-line, Weddle will join forces with the cornerback duo of Aqib Talib and Marcus Peters. Weddle likewise rewarded them with the highest of compliments.

“Those guys are super, super smart,” Weddle said of the cornerbacks. “The instincts are off the charts. Play-making ability. … Those two are the best I’ve ever played with in my career of guys that play with vision, play the ball, understand routes, trust a safety that is going to alert them and put them in a position to make plays knowing that I have their backs. I’m extremely excited to get on the field with them, give ’em those live reps, live-game atmosphere and take this secondary to the next level.”

Over his seasons with the Chargers and Ravens, Weddle has earned six Pro Bowl trips, including three in a row. Ahead of their time together with the Rams, he’s even been a Pro Bowl teammate of Talib. All together, the trio of Peters, Talib and Weddle boasts 13 Pro Bowl bids and four All-Pro selections.

Calling Donald the best player in the NFL isn’t all that much of a stretch in the summer of 2019 and Weddle calling Peters and Talib the best he’s played with, well only he knows that in reality — even though he’s still yet to play an actual game with them.

Nonetheless, the reigning NFC champions certainly boast a defensive backfield — which also features the underrated John Johnson at strong safety and Nickell Robey-Coleman, who was perhaps the most well-known DB in the world for a couple weeks, also at corner — that has an impressive resume.

Past success and potential combined, there’s certainly reason for excitement in Los Angeles.

“There’s a lot to be excited about,” Weddle said. “I’m just going to fit right in, do my job and win a bunch of ballgames.”

==

The Rams’ versatile and talented safety corps could raise their defense’s game

Vincent Bonsignore

https://theathletic.com/1072582/2019/07/11/the-rams-versatile-and-talented-safety-corps-could-raise-their-defenses-game/

On a defense that returns eight of 11 starters, the easy assumption is that the Rams are merely hoping to be as good in 2019 as they were in 2018. The unit turned a corner during the last month of last season, trimming its points per game from 25.6 points allowed over the first 11 games to 20.2 over the final five. Factor in the outstanding defensive performance against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII, and keeping the status quo is an acceptable objective.

By no means were the Rams a dominant defense. After all, they surrendered 24 points per game, 20th best in the NFL. But thanks to their explosive offense, that was plenty good enough.

That said, there is cautious optimism some of the changes the Rams made could result in subtle improvements that yield significant rewards.

If, say, new nose tackle Greg Gaines or Sebastian Joseph-Day and new inside linebacker Micah Kiser are better fits in the run game than the players they’re replacing, the Rams defense, which ranked 23rd against the run (122.3 yards per game on 5.07 yards per carry) could make notable strides.

The “fit” theme can also be applied to safety, where the Rams signed veteran free agent Eric Weddle to replace Lamarcus Joyner and drafted Taylor Rapp to add depth and versatility. Their presence, combined with emerging star John Johnson at free safety and valuable reserve Marqui Christian, has the potential to elevate the Rams in both pass coverage and run defense.

On paper, the safety corps offers defensive coordinator Wade Phillips an abundance of options as intelligent pieces he can deploy all over the field. For a defense that plays in base formation 30 percent of the time, that versatility is invaluable. And given how the Rams’ third and fourth safeties combined for 406 snaps last year — or roughly 40 percent of the team’s overall defensive snaps — Phillips figures to keep relying on his reserves to carry out assignments.

Here is a closer look at the Rams’ safeties.

John Johnson

In so many ways, the drafting of Johnson in 2017 was a perfect marriage between player, skill set and defensive scheme. Not only did the former Boston College star play in a 3-4 defense with the Eagles, but he also excelled at both safety positions, cornerback, linebacker and even as a down lineman.

That flexibility certainly caught the eye of the Rams, and by Johnson’s second season last year, Phillips was lining him up all over the field depending on the package. He tapped into Johnson’s intellect and versatility as a pass defender and run stopper, allowing Phillips to be more creative at other positions. Knowing Johnson could handle cornerback duties, Phillips was able to get another safety on the field.

Johnson finished last year with 118 tackles, four interceptions and 11 pass breakups, leaving him at the doorstep of Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors. He rose from a good NFL strong safety to a nearly great one with room to grow as he enters his third year. Now paired with Weddle — a free safety who’s also smart and versatile and adept in pass coverage and run defense — count on Johnson’s flexibility expanding even more and Phillips devising ways to accentuate his multi-faceted skill set.

Eric Weddle

Now in his 13th season, Weddle showed very little signs of decline last year with the Ravens while being an impact player both in the pass and run games. According to Pro Football Focus, Weddle surrendered just 111 yards in pass coverage and was particularly effective when lined up against wide receivers, allowing just a 57.0 passer rating in those matchups. Of his 68 total tackles, 54 were solo, and according to PFF, he missed on only five of 78 tackle attempts.

Weddle’s intellect fits perfectly on a Rams defense loaded with savvy defenders, and his communication at the back end of the defense will benefit the entire unit and guard against breakdowns. His ability to line up as a potential pass rusher, only to drop back in pass coverage while waving teammates into position, creates nightmare situations for quarterbacks trying to read potential holes in pass coverage. Weddle’s presence will also allow Phillips the confidence and freedom to use Johnson in even more ways than he did last season.

Weddle is also durable, having played all 16 regular-season games in nine of his 12 years and never playing less than 13 in any of them.

Taylor Rapp

The Rams drafted Rapp in the second round out of Washington, and while they envision him as the long-range heir apparent to Weddle, he is expected to see the field as a significant rotation piece as a rookie.

Rapp fits right in with the Rams’ versatile and physically tough safeties. Much like Johnson did at Boston College, Rapp played all over the field as a three-year starter at Washington. And while his best skill attribute is diagnosing run plays as a box safety and then packing a punch as he strikes a ball carrier, he proved dependable as a pass defender and was particularly good when lined up against tight ends.

Expect Rapp to carve out an immediate role in the Rams’ three-safety sets as a physical presence and enforcer who is able to defend tight ends and provide toughness and intelligence as a run defender.

Marqui Christian

Christian broke through in 2018 as a solid rotational player for the Rams while registering a career-high 33 tackles in 348 total defensive snaps. The question now is how much will Christian’s playing time be affected by the addition of Rapp (provided the rookie picks things up in the classroom and sees the field, as the Rams expect).

Christian is a fierce competitor, having overcome injuries and his 2016 fifth-round draft status to carve out a role on a Super Bowl defense. So don’t expect him to simply step aside now that Rapp is on board.

However, the Rams didn’t invest a second-round pick on Rapp with the expectation of having him just sit around biding his time. He’s too good to keep on the sideline, and that could mean Christian has to surrender some playing time.

Still, as a fourth safety and an excellent special teams player, Christian provides good value on a deep roster. And if someone is lost to an injury, there is a comfort level he can deliver when called upon.

***

Other safeties in the mix: Nick Scott, Steven Parker, Ramon Richards and Jake Gervase.

Coach Weddle?

Can’t wait for @weddlesbeard to suit up for the #LARams! 🙌 #NFLTop100 pic.twitter.com/498z1WPda9

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) July 23, 2019