LA Rams, Raheem Morris, and cover 3 super safety shopping in draft

The LA Rams defense will be overhauled one more time. Yes, that’s right. In three years, the defense will have its third-time new defensive coach and its third-time new defensive philosophy.  While the Rams may hope for ‘more of the same’ from Raheem Morris as they got with Brandon Staley, the challenge is really a challenge. Unlike Staley’s arrival, the Rams positional coaches have fled as well.

The influx of any new defensive coach will import new tactics, and the welcome mat to new defensive coordinator Raheem Morris should afford him the same opportunity to apply his thumbprint of the ferocity and philosophy used by the Rams defense. So what will it mean for the Rams?

Well, one tidbit is that Morris has a diverse background in multiple defensive schemes, but the one that stands out is cover three. And to be fair, the defense will likely base a default upon the cover three concepts. So what is that exactly?

In cover three, the LA Rams will use four pass-rushers consisting of three down lineman and one outside linebacker/edge rusher to pressure the quarterback.  Three remaining linebackers and a defensive back then patrol the underneath zones, while three remaining defensive backs (usually two safeties plus a cornerback in man coverage) cover the deep part of the field by dividing it into three deep zones, ergo the cover three.