LA Rams Terrell Lewis could be the next NFL star edge rusher

The perfect addition to Brandon Staley’s defense

Brandon Staley’s previous assignment was a positional coaching gig for outside linebackers under the watchful mentorship of NFL defensive guru Vic Fangio. During his time as the coach for outside linebackers, he’d had the noteworthy distinction of coaching NFL greats Khalil Mack and Von Miller. Not only is it safe to say that Staley is a bit of an aficionado on the matter of NFL outside linebackers, but that he also is uniquely qualified to coach up outside linebacker talent.

Combine that expertise with that of Joe Perry, the linebacker coach for the LA Rams who had coached Dante Fowler Jr. as well as Cory Littleton, and you’ve got a formidable coaching staff. That’s the artistry, the technique, the stuff that refines the raw talent. They combine to be the painter applying the right leadership, feedback, daily motivation to forge a young man’s dreams into the reality of an NFL star. Once more.

Raw talent

The raw talent is the blank canvas. That starts with a 6-foot-5 2/8 height, a 262-pound frame, 33 7/8-inch arm length, and then skyrockets to the sky with his 83 3/8-inch wingspan.  That’s the equivalent to an albatross, a bird of immense wingspan. Now package that with speed, power, agility, and the ability to turn on a dime, and you’ve got the start-stop, pivot, accelerate, push and pull of a true NFL edge rusher. That’s raw talent, and it’s in a huge package.

But it comes with a self-starter kit, only minor assembly required. Lewis has benefitted from great coaching, the time to observe as well as produce in college.  As he rehabbed his body, his mind continued to digest the role and techniques required to succeed as an edge rusher. He spent months watching videos, diagnosing plays, deciphering offensive tendencies. He was forced from his own physical limits out of the training room and into the video room. He may have a question about his durability, but there is no question about his passion, his drive, his raw hunger for greatness.