3 reasons why LA Rams blew it by failing to trade for Ryan Kerrigan

Reason III: Kerrigan is an established NFL edge rusher

The LA Rams entered the 2020 season with veteran OLB Leonard Floyd, and a host of young players hoping to make an  NFL impact.  While the team must be happy with Floyd’s play, the team has not been equally impressed with Samsun Ebukam. And so, the teams pass rush, and defense overall is unbalanced.  That creates problems.

A run-pass option play fails when the running game is no threat. A bootleg fails when the quarterback only passes. Blitzes fail when the defense sends the same player. For many plays to succeed, the play must threaten with multiple options and count on their opponent to guess incorrectly.  The LA Rams defense right now ensures that the offense has a much greater chance of success by forcing Floyd into coverage and thereby dictating to the defense to rush the other guy.

Imagine balance on defense

Had the Rams added Kerrigan, they would be foolish to force Floyd into coverage, as Kerrigan has 4.5 quarterback sacks this season on just 188 defensive snaps. And with the Rams entering that part of their schedule featuring mobile quarterbacks (Kyler Murray X 2, Russell Wilson X2, Cam Newton X1), another talented edge rusher on defense would certainly help contain dangerous quarterbacks.

The Rams possess a rapidly improving defense. But even as the team gets better, the team has imperfections that opponents can exploit. Had the team added a veteran like Ryan Kerrigan, the weaknesses on defense would be fewer, and offenses would have much less time to find them. But what about familiarity?