LA Rams new DC Brandon Staley’s defense stumped McVay, so he hired him

LA Rams head coach Sean McVay knew exactly where to go for his new defensive coordinator. By selecting Vic Fangio protege Brandon Staley, McVay hopes to harness the defensive genius he struggled to defeat

When it comes to the LA Rams choices of hiring a new defensive coordinator, the old saying comes to mind: “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.” But in the case of hiring Denver Broncos OLB coach Brandon Staley, it is more along the lines of “If you can’t beat ’em, hire ’em.”  And so he did.  So far we’ve discussed the what, so now let’s focus on the impact of the decision and what we believe it will mean for the LA Rams defense.

Rams head coach Sean McVay is highly regarded throughout the NFL as an offensive savant. Give him enough time to plan, and he will very likely develop the right offensive scheme and game plan to defeat virtually any opponent. And now that he has a new offensive coordinator, he has created enough capacity to do that very thing for NFL gameday Sundays.

His initial impact upon the NFL has had the trajectory of a space launch aiming at the moon.  McVay’s offensive innovations had taken the NFL with such surprise that virtually all NFL head coaches hired in 2019 had some background working with McVay in their careers.  Yes, he is that highly regarded in NFL circles.

Imitation is the ultimate form of flattery.  As soon as the Rams competed in Super Bowl 53, unsuccessful teams aimed at coaches who had worked with McVay in their careers.  They all wanted to capture that offensive production in some way on their teams.

Fangio’s defense stays well disguised

But McVay has had to face some very difficult defenses in his NFL career.  The one defense he dreaded facing the most is that of Denver Broncos head coach Vic Fangio, who was the former defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears.

"“For us, I think Fangio and the Bears did an outstanding job of a sound scheme with versatility mixed with great players,” McVay said via interview with Lorin Cox, NBC sports.com writer"

Fangio’s defense succeeds because he is the master of disguises. The Rams hope that trait has been passed onto Staley.  If you want to dig into the raw details, Dan Durkin from Chicago’s local CBS Sports network has written an excellent expose breaking down exactly how the Fangio defensive scheme works.

The underlying element of the Fangio front is the way he switches up coverages, pass rushes, and blitzes, all of which serve to confound even veteran quarterbacks. The willy defensive savant presents offenses misinformation in the form of defensive looks.  By showing a three man defensive down linemen front with two outside linebackers in position to rush, he forces the offense to process five potential pass rushers.   That’s just one such option.   Let’s dig a bit into Durkin’s analysis further.

One gap, Two gap, and hybrid fronts

In the article, Durkin describes how Fangio’s defensive philosophy has evolved into a hybrid defensive front philosophy.   To summarize, the three man defensive front forces the defensive linemen to attack an offensive lineman, and be responsible for the running lanes to either side of that blocker.

Four man defensive fronts require the defensive linemen to attack a single gap between two offensive linemen.  Thus, 3-4 defensive fronts are often name “two gap” and 4-3 defensive fronts are similarly name “one gap” schemes.  Outgoing defensive coordinator Wade Phillips ran the 3-4 exclusively, but changed gap assignments with his outside rushers to put more pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

But the categorization of 3-4 versus 4-3 defenses has blurred significantly over the years.  As defensive coordinators have had time to work with both, they have adapted some characteristics of each to complicate offensive blocking schemes even more.

While each version of a base defense offers different starting points, the vast range of blitz packages, pass defenses, rushers, defenders spying on quarterback, all combine to make the defense custom built for each game for each opponent.

Fangio Factor

The difference for a Fangio-schemed defense is the looks applied on running downs or opposing offenses 2 tight end set formations.  On those downs,  the three down linemen play two-gap assignments, the inside linebackers cover the bare offensive linemen, and the outside linebackers play one gap assignments to the outside of the tight ends. In passing downs, the OLBs will simply drop back in coverage.

For running downs, the same outside linebackers are critical to turning plays inwards.  So in the Fangio scheme, the design for plays becomes a little more run-focused than that of Phillips’ scheme, while not sacrificing the pressure applied on the quarterback.  If anything, the biggest impact falls upon the defensive backs whose responsibility falls more to defending the pass.

Of course, no defense works without the right personnel. Despite the similar category of 3-4, the new defensive scheme will mean players must now learn new keys, and react in vastly different ways to what develops in front of them.  That happens with every new defensive coordinator.  Thankfully, the Rams will not convert to a 4-3, which is far more difficult to accomplish because it requires entirely different types of players to succeed.

Which bring us to a valid question. Which players will likely succeed in the new defensive scheme?

Fowler value goes up in new defensive scheme

New defensive coordinator Brandon Staley has worked with OLB Khalil Mack as well as OLB Von Miller. Hopefully, he will now get to work with Rams pending free agent OLB Dante Fowler Jr.  While we’ve highlighted the challenges facing the Rams to sign ILB Cory Littleton, perhaps the top free agent on the team’s priority list is, or should be, Dante Fowler Jr.

As we spit-balled in our Rams salary cap anatomy review, paying full market price on Fowler as a successful NFL edge rusher could literally empty the Rams pockets.  The market for a premier pass rusher is not an arbitrary number.  The value of positions in the NFL are typically set in this order: 1- franchise quarterback, 2 – anchor offensive left tackle, 3 – pass rusher, 4 – shutdown corner.   The Rams are in the process of, or have already, paid top dollar for each of the four categories.  Where can the Rams come up with so much to meet the market price? Well, most pass rushers are categorized as a defensive end.

Instead, the team can look at the challenge in another way.

Fowler Rams’ top FA priority

Fowler falls under the linebacker designation, where he commands just over $16 million for a one year team franchise designation.  While that won’t do much for player relations, it will keep Fowler on the Rams roster for Staley.

;Fowler had an incredible 2019 season, and is eager to pick right up where he left off in 2020.

With Staley calling the defensive plays, he could have a career season. In turn, that would add tremendous value to his market price in 2021, when the Rams may have a better salary cap structure to work from. But the bottom line on Fowler comes down to this simple fact. If the LA Rams believe he is worth keeping around, they have options to do just that.

Does Brockers work in the new defense?

Another imminent free agent is defensive lineman Michael Brockers.  He is a 6-foot-5 305 pound wrecking ball coming from the defensive line for the Rams. Thanks to his size and agility, he can play virtually any defensive line position, and has over his eight year career with the Rams.  He was the first player drafted by general manager Les Snead, and has been a veteran leader for the team on defense.  In 2019, Brockers amassed 63 tackles and three sacks in 16 starts, plus nine quarterback hits.

Behind Brockers, the Rams have 2016 undrafted free agent  DE Morgan Fox.  Fox is a 6-foot-3 275 defensive end who has a bit of versatility in his short career.  He not only plays defensive line, but worked out as an outside linebacker for the team at one point.  Due to injuries in 2019, Fox started three games, and saw action in all 16.  He accounted for two sacks, and 18 tackles in 2019., while generating three quarterback hits.

Brockers would have to give the Rams a “home team discount” in my opinion to come back to the team. While his production is excellent, as is his work ethic, his contract price would like go up from his current average of $11 million per year.  With Fox earning millions less and on track to produce slightly less, the team may need to part ways with Brockers this off-season.

Staley hopes to restore stalwart defense to LA Rams

The LA Rams defense has been good enough under head coach Sean McVay to balance out the team’s high powered offense. When the offense sputtered in 2019, the defense simply did not have enough to shut down opposing teams. The Rams defense, strong as it was, was too vanilla to win games where the offense did not jump out to the strong lead and allow the defense to pin their ears backs and defend the pass only.

The Rams simply cannot count on running up the score in 2020.  Other teams have gotten better on defense. And even more teams still have adapted the Rams offensive concepts.  Defenses now are familiar and prepared to stop the Rams offense.  To counter that, the Rams need to stop opposing offenses as well. That must translate into stopping the run.

The Rams have not focused on defending the run in the past. That will change in 2020. With the Rams building around five time All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald, and most certainly sliding in defensive back standout Jalen Ramsey, the team has their share of marquis defenders.  The last piece is to sign Ramsey to a long-term contract.  After that task is accomplished, the team can turn the focus towards the supporting cast and scheme to take full advantage of their unique talents.

With a standout defensive backfield in place, the Rams will need to focus this off-season around the right personnel for the front seven. The Rams must decide whether to, and how to, afford re-signing OLB Dante Fowler Jr., DE Michael Brockers, and ILB Cory Littleton.  They can all be re-signed if the team restructures existing contracts, but new defensive coordinator Brandon Staley may elect to target other defenders this off-season.  In the end, the defense is about the right scheme combined with the right players. At the moment McVay brought Staley aboard, refocusing the defense became a top priority for 2020.