Rams Trade for Jags DE Dante Fowler

Its hard to imagine him not being successful here. With all the attention being on Suh and Donald, he will never have an easier path to the QB than he will here.

==

Daily Dose: How Dante Fowler Can Help L.A.

https://www.therams.com/news/daily-dose-how-dante-fowler-can-help-l-a

==

Quotes & Notes 10/31/18: Dante Fowler’s First Day as a Ram

https://www.therams.com/news/quotes-notes-10-31-18-dante-fowler-s-first-day-as-a-ram

==

My early story on Rams' trade for Dante Fowler: https://t.co/5q1R6GSNMH

— Rich Hammond (@Rich_Hammond) October 30, 2018

How Dante Fowler helps the Rams and why he’s making Aaron Donald smile

Vincent Bonsignore

https://theathletic.com/628630/2018/11/02/how-dante-fowler-helps-the-rams-and-why-hes-making-aaron-donald-smile/

Still​ Pittsburgh through and​ through after all​ these​ years, Aaron​ Donald​ remains a hard​ hat​ wearing,​ lunchpail​ carrying grinder who​ reports to​​ work every day, punches the clock, proudly puts in his full day’s work for a full day’s pay and then quietly heads home to prepare for the same exact routine the next day.
It’s a no-flair, no-excuse proud world that Donald lives and operates in. And it’s one in which actions speak much louder than words and where accountability is calculated in production, not explanations.
So it was notable the reaction Donald had — and expressed — about the Rams acquiring Jacksonville Jaguars outside linebacker Dante Fowler just before the close of the NFL’s trade deadline on Tuesday.
The Rams have been trying to create pass rush pressure off the edge all season long. Not just because it’s a relevant and necessary dynamic in Wade Phillips’ 3-4 defense or because it’s a whole lot easier to defend the back end when quarterbacks are laying flat on their backs or throwing footballs under intense pressure.
It’s because it would provide the perfect complement to the kind of pressure Donald almost single-handedly generates from his defensive tackle spot.
And when that dynamic is not in place, as has been the case far too often this year, well, it’s noticeable. Even when — and probably because — Donald is doing so much damage from the inside.
So, imagine what Donald could do if he was flanked outside by someone who could consistently bring the heat?
Hence, Donald’s telling reaction to the Rams acquiring Fowler.
“I was smiling ear to ear,” Donald revealed, fully understanding the specific element Fowler adds to the Rams as a pin-the-ears back pass rusher.
Before we get ahead of ourselves, Fowler is not some reincarnation of Von Miller flying off the edge and into the face of opposing quarterbacks. There is a reason he was available to the Rams for a third-round pick in 2019 and a fifth-rounder in 2020. The former third overall pick in the 2015 draft simply hasn’t lived up to expectations over his first three-plus seasons and became expendable after falling behind Yannick Ngakoue on the depth chart.
On the other hand, Fowler does have 14 sacks over 39 career games, including eight sacks last year and two more in the AFC championship game against the New England Patriots. And with the Rams’ current outside linebackers combining for just two sacks over the first eight games, Fowler immediately becomes their most dynamic pass rusher at that position.
Fowler will line up opposite speedy (but still a bit raw) second-year outside linebacker Samson Ebukam, initially as a third-down rush specialist and gradually as a first- and second-down player. They will flank the most dominant defensive tackle the NFL has seen in years in Donald.
Suddenly, the Rams’ defensive front has the potential to look significantly different.
“His ability to rush on the outside and create that pressure is going to give us the opportunity to get that quarterback moving,” defensive tackle Michael Brockers said. “A.D. might have more sacks. Maybe get more opportunities for me and [Ndamukong] Suh to get some things going. His talent is going to be great for this room.”
“I just want him to learn the playbook as fast as he can and be comfortable,” Donald said smiling. “So when he’s out there, he can just fly around and make plays. Like I said, I’m happy.”
As is Fowler, who envisions a fresh start in Los Angeles playing in a star-studded defense.
“I want to show guys that I’m not just an elite pass rusher, that I’m a full-time player — first down, second down, can play the run, very smart,” he said. “And you know I can help my defense achieve their goals and help this team achieve where they want to go.
“Just for me to be able to go out there and be an extra piece just contributing to this great defense and be a part of this special season. I’m just ready to come in here and do what I got to do to get us where we want to go.”

With teams paying so much attention to Donald — he’s been double-teamed an extraordinary 70 percent of the snaps he’s played this year — and fellow linemen Suh and Michael Brockers, for that matter — Fowler should get plenty of favorable matchups with which to exploit with his speed rush instincts. If he can win enough of those battles to create pressure off the edge, it won’t just provide another threat. It could gradually reduce some of the blocking attention paid to Donald.
“I’m excited, definitely,” Donald said. “The help was what we needed from the edge rusher. I watched him from afar, the success he had. He’s a playmaker.”
Fowler arrives just in time for Sunday’s trip to New Orleans. It’s a sneaky big game for the Rams who, at 8-0, have created some cushion for themselves to absorb a loss.
But the big picture world they currently reside means paying attention to postseason implications. A win over the 6-1 Saints, the only remaining one-loss team in the NFC, would allow the Rams to take firm control of the race for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with the tiebreaker edge over New Orleans (should it come to that).
As the Rams head to The Big Easy, here are a couple of other things to keep an eye on.
Cooper Kupp’s return
As Josh Reynolds’ two touchdown performance against the Green Bay Packers showed, the second-year wide receiver from Texas A&M is a starting caliber receiver in the NFL. At the very least, he’s shown he deserves more playing time.
That said, the Rams are just a better functioning offense when Cooper Kupp is on the field and completing the dominant wide receiver trio with Robert Woods and Brandin Cooks.
Kupp was sidelined the last two weeks with a sprained knee, but he has made a speedy recovery. Barring a setback this week, he should play against the Saints.
Prior to the injury, Kupp, like Woods and Cooks still are, was on pace to produce more than 1,000 yards receiving. In spite of the timed missed, he can get back on track for that achievement.
Only four teams have previously produced three thousand yard receivers in the same season. The last came in 2008 when Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston did it with the Arizona Cardinals who, incidentally, reached the Super Bowl that year.
Whether Cooks, Woods and Kupp become the fifth group to accomplish it is secondary to what they provide Rams quarterback Jared Goff, especially as the Rams venture into the sort of hostile environment they’ll encounter in New Orleans. And that is an almost unparalleled level of security, confidence and chemistry with a wide receivers group as precise, complete and nuanced as there is in the league.
“They complement each other really well, but they’re not limited in anything that they can do,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said of his receiving triumvirate. “I just think their overall understanding — they’re all very talented, but they’re so conscientious. I think it’s one of those unique things where you get a chance to observe and you see three great players positively push each other in a supportive and encouraging way where there’s a competition, but it’s healthy where it’s about them as a unit.”