3 ILBs the LA Rams can steal in NFL Free Agency market

Patrick Onwuasor

Now, one player the Rams might take a flyer on (healthy only) is Patrick Onwuasor, most recently of the New York Jets. Although saying he played for the Jets last season is a bit of a stretch because he was injured for almost the entire season between, first, his knee and then hamstring issues. He only saw the field for one game, and that was on special teams.

After being moved from wide receiver to safety at Arizona, he played safety at Portland State and was an undrafted free agent of the Ravens who played his way onto the field as a linebacker because of his speed and overall athleticism.

He signed for $2 million last year with the Jets but was unable to prove his worth. So I’m thinking he’s got a lot of incentive this season to prove-out and might represent a steal for the Rams. Let’s not ignore that Aaron-Donald-Effect either.

When he’s healthy, however, this former Baltimore Raven plays with a vicious intensity that made him a favorite of both teammates and fans alike and represented the kind of aggressive, blue-collar player that Raven head coach Jim Harbaugh loved during his time with the team.

Peanut

Nicknamed “Peanut” (a moniker hung on him by a youth basketball coach), as Onwuasor told the Baltimore Sun back in 2016, “When I was small, my coach said, ‘Who is this peanut-head dude running around so aggressive? That’s one thing my coaches like about me. I’m physical and I compete.”

Onwuasor is a bit on the small size for an NFL linebacker, standing 6-foot-0 and weighing 227 pounds. But he possesses that solid combination of skills you like to see at linebacker – a player who can rush the passer from the middle of the defense, step up to stuff the run, and excel in pass coverage.

That’s the trifecta of skills for an inside linebacker, and he checks all three boxes. He brings versatility, giving the Rams an option for the middle of the defense on passing downs. A thumper who can enforce in the middle of the field, or patrol from center-field.

Is he a gamble, a roll-of-the-dice based on his recent health and someone who missed an entire season? Yes, but that’s also why he’d be a bargain free-agent steal for the club. And an intriguing chess piece for the Rams’ new defensive coordinator Raheem Morris to strategize with.