Nothing original here. Just putting some thoughts down in black and white.
* One thing that’s a big deal is Wade’s outspoken commitment to running a wide array of subpackages and also disguising coverages this year–there will be more of that than usual and it will be one of the things defining this D. It’s pretty obvious that’s what adding Weddle and Matthews was all about–they’re not only both smart and experienced, they can each play in a variety of spots. To add to that they of course also brought in Rapp and Long, which is in addition to Talib, Peters, Robey-Coleman, Johnson, and Christian. Johnson already fits this “line em up all over” mentality. Farr saw OTAs and his take is that nickel and dime sub-packages and disguised coverages are key things to this year’s D. In fact, Suh stepping up wasn’t the only thing that improved the D last year in the post-season–it was also multiplying subpackages.
* I think they have a good one in Kiser. I think moving Littleton to Barron’s spot will bring out more of what CL can do–he has that kind of versatility. He can cover, he can blitz, he can line up in a variety of spots…he’s an up and coming Rams star defender, just like Johnson.
* The duh factor–this year’s run D will depend on Kiser and the nose tackle(s) (Joseph-Day or Gaines or both). I suspect it will be better than what they had.
* Naturally, like everyone else, I have no idea what they will be getting from the edge rush. But I think what they’re banking on is amping up the secondary with subpackages and creating opportunities that way, which just means putting the rushers in a more advantageous spot. It would be nice if Fowler came through on top of it, but then doing that puts him in the 17 M a year or more 2nd contract range. Pass rushers, as a rule, do not show much in their first year or 2. So maybe a guy like Obo or Ebukam still has room to come through. To me minimal good production from an edge rusher means 8 sacks at least. I also don;t know if Matthews has 8 sacks in him. Fowler might. Fox could contribute too— I see him more as a pass rushing DE in nickel and dime packages and not as a true base 3/4 DE.
* I said this before in a different thread, but, the Rams new DL coach is a hands-on teacher who drills them to improve on technique. Donald is excited about him. Farr was watching him and was full of praise. So it’s not crazy to expect DL improvement. That could mean, for example, Brockers returning to 2017 form, where he was pretty good at DE when they moved him there (I think Brockers played banged up in 2018).
* This D is loaded with stars (Donald above all but also, Littleton IMO, & Johnson) and top players (Talib, Peters if his head is right), Robey-Coleman is a top slot corner, and they have some intriguing additions (Matthews, Weddle). The additions add more to the smarts of the unit than to the physical side of it, but then I think that (smarts) is the key this year. Young role players are part of it too (Kiser, the NTs). There are also some question marks (Fowler, Ebukam, Brockers). But I think they have enough to take advantage of their stars and to play smart D. If Fowler turns out to be a double-digit sack guy, this defense could be a top unit.
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