Looking back at 2025

Adam Archuleta@AdamArchuleta
Trend that I saw a lot of this year. Disguising is a good idea BUT I see a lot of teams give up big plays because they disguise at the expense of players being out of position.

Doug Farrar@NFL_DougFarrar
The Rams in particular last season had a tendency to over-complicate their disguises, and opponents could zing guys who were out of position or late to the party.

Adam Archuleta@AdamArchuleta
– definitely thought Rams were a team that got to cute especially in late season / playoffs. Didn’t realize they disguised that much from statistical standpoint.

Twitter AI:
Doug Farrar echoes Adam Archuleta’s critique of NFL defensive disguises, noting that teams like the Rams over-rely on complex pre-snap deceptions, leading to mispositioned defenders and exploitable gaps, as detailed in Farrar’s October 2025 Athlon Sports analysis.

…

from Doug Farrar: https://athlonsports.com/nfl/nfl-disguised-coverages-brian-flores-drake-maye-all-22-analysis

Teams will also study which defenses disguise the most, and how to counter that frequency. The Los Angeles Rams lead the NFL with a 50.5% disguise rate in 2025, but the results have not been great. The Rams have allowed an opposing quarterback EPA of +0.15 when disguising, and -0.02 when they don’t….And just as disguised coverage can fool your opponents, sometimes you can fool your own defense, and there are open receivers running around when they shouldn’t be. These looks require their own coaching points to make sure there aren’t coverage busts.

2025 Breakout: Quentin Lake continues ascending into a ‘premium nickel’ with leap in ball production

Wyatt Miller

https://www.therams.com/news/2025-breakout-quentin-lake-continues-ascending-into-a-premium-nickel-with-leap-in-ball-production

Quentin Lake’s value was on display just as much when he played as when he didn’t. Lake started the first 10 games of the Rams’ season, during which time they were the second-best scoring defense in the league (17.2 points per game allowed). Then he suffered an elbow injury in Week 11 against the Seahawks and was sidelined for the remainder of the regular season. From Week 12 on, the Rams’ defense ranked 23rd in scoring, allowing 24.9 points per game.

It didn’t take long for the Rams’ front office to realize the significance Lake’s presence. He was rewarded with a three-year contract extension on January 1, before he had even returned to the field for Los Angeles’ playoff run.

When healthy, Lake never came off the field in the 13 games he played for the Rams this season, including playoffs. Lake’s versatility and proficiency against both the pass and the run made him an indispensable piece of the Rams’ defense, and he displayed improvement in key areas.

Stats

All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference.

*career-high

Season Games Played Tackles Passes Defended Interceptions TFLs
2023 14 53 6 0 1
2024 17 111 5 0 1
2025 10 61 10* 1* 2*

Improvement: Ball production

2024 was Lake’s true breakout season. He played every defensive snap for L.A. (apart from an inconsequential Week 18 game) and set a career-high in tackles. He was as stout as a linebacker against the run and even wore the green dot as the defensive signal caller for part of the year. But Lake took his coverage skills to a new level in 2025.

Lake got hands on 10 passes last season, including one interception against the Ravens in Week 7. As a slot defender, he covered every position on the field, from outside receivers to running backs, while still excelling as a run stopper.

The Athletic’s Ted Nguyen wrote about how the “premium nickel” has become a new and significant trend among the top defenses in the NFL this year. Lake was included in that group of six players, featuring both proven and emerging stars.

“The best defenses in the league don’t just have good players at nickel, they have difference-makers playing in a spot that was once reserved for a third corner, not good enough to play outside,” Nguyen said. “Look no further than this year’s playoff teams to see examples: The Seattle Seahawks’ Nick Emmanwori, the Houston Texans’ Jalen Pitre, the Los Angeles Rams’ Quentin Lake, the Los Angeles Chargers’ Derwin James and the Philadelphia Eagles’ Cooper DeJean are all standout nickels.”

Lake’s extension indicates the Rams will continue employing him as their premium nickel, placing him close to the ball, in positions to defend both the run and the pass frequently and effectively.

“He’s a guy that… represents everything that we love about what we want be about with the values and the principles,” said head coach Sean McVay. “I think he’s had great production and great versatility but more importantly, I think you look at it, there’s a reason why he’s basically been unanimously voted as a captain the last couple years.”

Lake may have missed significant time in 2025, but this season still represented a breakout for the fourth-year defender out of UCLA. He established himself as a vital cog in the machine that is the Rams defense, and he did so both on and off the field.