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Jourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
Rams and @TheAthleticNFL fans, you asked for it, so @FB_FilmAnalysis and I teamed up to deliver: A deep dive into Brandon Staley’s defense, featuring philosophy, position-by-position keys, unique variables/traits, how it all fits together and much more:Yep, the Rams do have to shore up the missed tackles. But before we get to the “how” of Staley’s new defense, overall numbers are striking considering the complexity of scheme install, & new practice habits (like pattern-matching) put into place with no offseason football:
As Ted and I got into Staley’s system, we did find the similarities to what Staley/Fangio did in Chicago (timely!) – but also where Staley puts his own unique stamp…and, crazily, where his defense actually at times (stay with me here) philosophically mirrors a McVay offense!
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Decoding Brandon Staley’s new Rams defense, and what we’ve learned about it
Jourdan Rodrigue and Ted Nguyen
Rams head coach Sean McVay joked this week that in 2018, when the Rams lost to Chicago 15-6, then-Bears outside linebackers coach Brandon Staley “basically ruined my night.”
“He’s really tough on himself,” Staley said, adding that the week preparing for McVay and his Rams offense was “stressful. … We knew we were up against it.”
McVay now has Staley on his side as his first-year defensive coordinator, and while Staley never goes out of his way to talk about that 2018 game, he does have some of that footage on his teaching tape.
“He’s pretty diplomatic,” McVay said, smiling. “He just has all of his teach-tapes and the cutups spliced with that game in there, so he brings it up in a subconscious way.”
The Rams — who play the Bears on Monday night at SoFi Stadium — say Staley’s defense does have some similarities to what the Bears do/have done. It’s technically a 3-4 base, with plenty of optionality and ability to be multiple. Plus, when it’s clicking, it has a formidable rush-coverage complement. It also brings over some concepts from Staley’s time with former Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who is now the head coach of the Broncos. Last year, McVay notably mentioned Fangio’s defensive playbook as the one that gave him and the Rams the most trouble.
But Staley also has brought many elements from his time as the defensive coordinator/secondary coach at Division III John Carroll University (2013, 2015-16). Utilizing a nickel-hybrid position called the “Star” with star cornerback Jalen Ramsey is one example. Rookie starting safety Jordan Fuller playing a “center-field” role shows another element from the scheme he ran at John Carroll, which Staley hopes will translate to the NFL. And while middle linebacker Roquan Smith is the Bears’ signal-caller (and Danny Trevathan before him), Staley’s signal-caller in Los Angeles is strong safety John Johnson.
This offseason, when the Rams parted ways with well-liked, veteran defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, organizational brass sat McVay down and told him to find his own “Sean McVay” to fill the role. That translated into a variety of philosophical similarities between McVay and Staley in the meeting rooms, like an ability to teach and push creative boundaries, and maintain functional conflict and competition. But, most interestingly, Staley’s scheme philosophically mirrors a big part of McVay’s offense. The defense wants to make the looks, from play to play, similar, and then switch late into design.
Under Staley this season, the Rams rank No. 4 in the NFL in total defense, allowing just 318.5 yards per game. Much more telling is their No. 6 overall ranking in drives that allow a score — Rams opponents have scored on just one-third of their drives. The Rams are allowing an average of only five yards per offensive play, even though they rank No. 18 in rushing yards allowed per attempt (4.4) and No. 11 in rushing yards allowed per game. Against the pass, though, the Rams are allowing just 5.4 net yards per attempt — first in the NFL — and while their defense faces the 20th-most pass attempts in the league, they’re allowing just 209.5 passing yards per game (No. 4 overall). The Rams also allow only 19 points per game (No. 5) and, remarkably, an average of just 4.3 points in the second half (No. 1).
Missed tackles and inconsistent pressure, on the other hand, at times seem to be holding back the defense from reaching its full potential. The defense has missed 43 tackles through its first six games and has not been able to attain consistent pressure off the edge, though the Rams have 21 sacks (No. 5 in the league).
Here’s what we know so far about Staley’s scheme, from its emphasis on key players such as Ramsey and All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald to its fluidity in the secondary to its use of inside linebackers.
Aaron Donald and the defensive line
Staley and the Rams entered the 2020 season with the understanding that Donald would be, as he was in 2019, one of the most double-teamed players in the league. Staley even notably said in the spring, as he worked to install his defense via online meetings, that he wanted Donald to be able to “express himself” within the Rams’ new system. Yet realistically, Staley knew that would take a combination of scheme and production from others along the defensive line. Donald would be doubled no matter what, so how could the Rams turn the attention on him into something positive?
In theory, as single-blocked Rams players capitalize on Donald’s occupation by multiple blockers, they draw some attention away from him, and then he can better operate. But it’s not that simple, because smart teams would rather risk it with the Rams’ other linemen, because they aren’t exactly jumping off the stats page consistently, despite an increased rotation over the last few weeks. Of the team’s 20 sacks and 54 pressures, Donald has 7.5 and 19, respectively — and the next-closest teammate is outside linebacker Leonard Floyd, with two sacks and 10 pressures. On the interior, Michael Brockers and Morgan Fox each have two sacks.
A team’s highest sack numbers usually don’t come from interior linemen (other than Donald, of course), but the Rams’ aren’t getting a lot from the outside, either. The Rams’ rotation has noticeably increased in recent weeks as Staley tries to manufacture more pocket disruption while also keeping players fresh.
What might help the Rams achieve more balance and all-around consistency is the imminent return of nose tackle A’Shawn Robinson, who has returned to practice and should be back in early November at the latest. The Rams would like to see Robinson work into their rotation to help against the run, but also to eat up blockers on passing snaps and bend the front of the pocket inward to force the quarterback to move into a higher-risk area. Robinson can move up and down the line on all three downs, Staley and McVay said, and can do everything from playing defensive end in the 3-4 base to playing three-technique when the Rams are in a four-man front.
Meanwhile, it’s tough to see a certain solution for edge pressure already on the roster, unless rookie outside linebacker Terrell Lewis progresses as his snaps increase, or Obo Okoronkwo returns from his elbow surgery on the same rising track he was on before his injury.
Ted’s Take: Without a true edge rusher, it’s hard to consistently pressure the quarterback, even with Donald wreaking havoc on the inside. Floyd is a good speed rusher but he’s not going to dominate the edge consistently. Unless either Lewis or Okoronkwo have a breakout season, it’s going to continue to be a struggle when Donald gets doubled. Donald has the versatility to play inside and outside, and the Rams have moved him around to make him tougher to double and to take advantage of certain matchups, but right now, there doesn’t seem to be another pass rusher who is able to take advantage of the one-on-one opportunities that Donald creates.
According to Pro Football Focus, the Rams are 17th in the NFL in blitz rate, so they are just barely in the bottom half. They blitz with a variety of players and that can help create one-on-ones, but because they play so much soft coverage, quarterbacks can find quick underneath outlets, which is fine but they have to tackle better to keep gains at a minimum against better competition (teams other than NFC East).
What is asked of inside linebackers?
The Rams don’t blitz a lot — only once every 26 dropbacks, on average — and are led by a wide margin by Floyd, who has blitzed 32 times. Interestingly, the players sent on blitzes the second- and third-most often are inside linebackers Micah Kiser (13) and Kenny Young (11). Even inside linebacker Troy Reeder, who really has played only one full game, was sent on eight blitzes, just one less than outside linebacker Samson Ebukam, who has nine in five starts.
In fact, Young plays only about 55 percent of defensive snaps, in part because the Rams like to play Johnson in more of a hybrid role and add defensive backs, as opposed to playing a straight-up “front seven.”
Overall, there are clues that point to inside linebacker being the least “valuable” position on the field for the Rams. They waived seventh-round pick Clay Johnston, their only drafted inside linebacker. Even after losing likely starter Travin Howard to a knee injury in training camp, the Rams kept only three inside linebackers on their season-opening roster. They also didn’t promote anybody from the practice squad, even when Kiser was out in Week 5. Much of this methodology lies in the fact that Staley believes strong safeties should be played more as linebackers in his ideal scheme (Johnson has played 100 percent of the defensive snaps so far this season).
Teams have found a weakness in the Rams’ linebackers when they are stretched more horizontally on passes behind the line of scrimmage, as was the case last week against San Francisco.
But when Staley gets matchups along the defensive line that he likes, linebackers factor in much more importantly. In Week 5, a Rams win at Washington, Kiser was absent with a groin injury and Reeder took his place. Reeder is not consistent in coverage, so Staley played him closer to the line of scrimmage (and added extra defensive backs to complement). He was able to do this because the Washington player who often would be Reeder’s responsibility had to move inside to help stave off Donald and the defensive line, which ultimately recorded eight sacks. Reeder then was able to sit back a half-step while the lines locked up, then slip through the consequently available gaps for three of those sacks.
Ted’s Take: The Rams play a lot of cover 4 or cover 6, which are coverages with pattern match principles. This means that the Rams’ linebackers are asked to process how pass combinations develop before matching up. In most of their pattern match coverages, the inside linebackers have to have “final 3” or the final number three (furthest inside receiver to their side) after the pattern distribution.
Week 6, 7:56 left in the third quarter, third-and-11
Here is an example of a cover 4 variation commonly called “special.” In “special,” the corner has the number one receiver (farthest outside). The nickel has number two (middle receiver) on any vertical route, and the inside linebacker and free safety will essentially double the number three receiver (farthest inside).
The assignments are obvious before the snap when the receivers are stationary, but when the ball is snapped and they cross each other, their number designation changes.
As the ball was snapped, the number two receiver, Golden Tate, crossed underneath of the number two, so he became the new number two receiver. The inside linebacker’s job is to take the “final three” receiver underneath after the pattern distribution, so he had to match up with Tate..
It can be difficult to get all the communication correct and do this effectively, and there have been examples of the Rams not effectively pattern matching, but they haven’t been punished for it. And like in the example above, there will be times when linebackers are matched up with receivers but theoretically, they should have a leverage advantage and have help over the top. Young looks to be the most effective inside linebacker the Rams have at pattern matching.
The ‘Star’ and the secondary
The most notable philosophical traits with Staley’s secondary lie with the safeties, as noted above, and also with the use of the “Star” position.
Staley brought the Star role with him from John Carroll University, after he went back through Ramsey’s high school and college tape. Staley knew the league was shifting more and more toward three-receiver sets on offense, and moving top receivers around. While the Rams technically say the 3-4 is their “base,” it’s much more accurate to say that the nickel/Star is their actual base because they rarely move out of it no matter how the front changes.
The role itself is difficult, though the concept of it is simple: Get one of your best players involved on much of the snap-to-snap action, instead of simply leaving him on the outside (where he isn’t getting targeted by quarterbacks). The Star is a larger nickel who has more freedom within the defense to move with the larger receivers and tight ends when they catch passes out of the interior receiving spots. Ramsey is also used in run support — he is one of the surest tacklers on the team — and is sent on blitzes more often than in any other year of his career.
“I see him like (how) LeBron James is used in the basketball court, where he’s a positionless player,” Staley said. “You’re a little bit of a corner, you’re a little bit of a safety, a little bit of a linebacker — inside linebacker and outside linebacker, because you’re kind of a rusher, too. It’s a spot that you have to possess all those qualities of those four positions. You’ve got to be able to process, because things happen quickly inside. You need a guy that can see and a guy that can think and operate quickly. … Those are things that he does well.”
Ramsey won’t always be in the Star. When teams run groupings with a true No. 1 receiver who largely stays on the outside, Ramsey will match with that player, particularly if he is a bigger, more physical player such as Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans. The Rams also play a more traditional nickel with Troy Hill, who shifts to the outside when Ramsey is in the Star. When that occurs, Hill and outside cornerback Darious Williams have to be, as they say, “on their screws” because the quarterback tries to avoid Ramsey.
Ted’s Take: Again, the Rams are playing a lot of pattern match coverage, so the Star might be playing man on the slot vertical or he could be dropping to the flats, depending on his read on any given play. He has to be able to process quickly and switch gears to playing man-to-man on some lightning-quick athletes inside. He’s also part of the run fit, so on some plays he might be reading an offensive linemen or tight end initially.
Ramsey is playing well despite learning the position. He played some safety in college, so that experience is definitely helping with the transition. Ramsey could still be a little quicker with his reads, however, he’s still making plays with his all-world athleticism.
Week 6, 7:56 left in the third quarter, third-and-11
Here, the Rams are in cover 6, which is a combo coverage. To the field (bottom of image), they played cover 4 and to the boundary (top of the image), they played cover 2. Ramsey was in the slot, playing the star position. In cover 2, he has the “hook” area.
Ramsey is so big and long that the receiver had to go around him, which disrupted the timing of the play. After the receiver cleared, Ramsey saw the ball go to the flat, so he rallied and made a good tackle.
Ramsey’s physicality is utilized much more when he plays inside, rather than just staying outside for the entire game.
Staley’s defense looks a lot like Fangio’s in that they both show cover 4 shells pre-snap before rotating into different coverages after the snap. They do a good job of eliminating pre-snap tells for quarterbacks.
Week 6, 0:57 left in the third quarter, third-and-4
Here, the defense shows four deep with Ramsey playing inside.
After the snap, one of the safeties rotates down and plays robber. The defense ended up playing cover 1 cross (man to man with one deep safety) out of a four-deep look. How a quarterback goes through his progression against cover 1 or cover 4 could be very different, so having this type of uncertainty can really slow down his processing.
Also, if Ramsey only played outside and a quarterback saw him inside to guard a player like George Kittle, it would be an obvious tell that the defense was in cover 1, but with Ramsey playing Star, he could match up against star tight ends without giving away the coverage.
Further proof of the parallel philosophies between McVay and Staley? The Rams have Cooper Kupp, who is one of their best offensive players, play inside because it allows him to use his versatility blocking, catching, and even running the ball sometimes. Now, they are doing the same with Ramsey, who is much more involved in the action as the Star. He can still bump outside when the matchup dictates it. He’s still just scratching the surface of the impact he could make there.
