LA Rams assembling millenial NFL staff for HC Sean McVay

Setting realistic expectations for defense

Head coach Sean McVay wants a greater say with the LA Rams defense. Newly hired Brandon Stanly not only will welcome that, but actually expects that. That is a good thing. But there are plenty of positives in this hire.

Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips is old school. Under his tutelage, the Rams assembled one of the most talented 11 man defenses anywhere. And then, he schemes that defense to win each one-on-one against their opponents. By winning each battle, the defense wins play after play. That creates a lot of three-and-outs for the opposing team’s offense, and that wins games. But the Rams struggled to stop the run in 2019. And that put too much pressure on Goff and the offense.

What Staley does not bring to the Rams in terms of quantity of experience is the rare quality of experience he holds. He has worked with Vic Fangio for the past three seasons, and Fangio’s reputation for defense is stellar in the NFL.  Defensive innovations are more subtle. Still, the challenges with the Rams defense is trying to manage multiple free agents with few dollars.
Who to keep? Who to watch walk away? That decision will partly fall upon Staley.