LA Rams: 3 takeaways from Sunday night loss to 49ers

The Rams defense desperately misses safety Jordan Fuller

The surprise rookie star safety, Jordan Fuller, was placed on the injured reserve last week, and his impact on this defense has been missed. I wrote a bit on Fuller last month describing his tremendous impact on the Rams defense. His ability to drop into coverage and also play around the line of scrimmage has not been able to be replicated by anyone else on the roster.

The Rams coverage schemes were very confusing the first couple of weeks of the season, as defensive coordinator Brandon Staley was able to mix his looks and play a ton of disguised coverage. What has happened since Fuller’s injury?

Rapp disappointing

Taylor Rapp has had to play a lot of those snaps, and he’s not built with a skill set that allows him to play close to the line of scrimmage. Therefore, he needs to play more deep coverage – it’s what he does best. The Rams used to be able to drop Fuller out of deep coverage into underneath, and that’s not Rapp’s style.

Rookie Terrell Burgess is much closer to Fuller’s style, but he isn’t ready mentally to be the impact player that Fuller was. The Rams have been unable to replicate the coverage schemes that they ran with Fuller on the field, and as a result, they have been easier to beat. Part of the illusion with the strength of the Rams defense was the confusion that Staley was able to create on the opposing offense.