LA Rams re-signing OLB Leonard Floyd puts SB in sights

More for the money

What are the Rams getting back for the investment? Well, Leonard Floyd is not just anyone off the streets or fresh out of the NFL Draft. He is a former first-round pick selected ninth in the 2016 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears from the Georgia Bulldogs football program. His draft analysis at that time labeled him a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none. Well, he’s mastered a few since then.

Standing 6-foot-5 and weighing a lean 240 pounds, he is big and strong enough to come barreling around the corner after the quarterback, and yet he is savvy enough to read the offensive clues, and be in the right position to ensure the right things happen on defense.  I’ve read many comments about how easy it is to play outside linebacker for the LA Rams: Just line up next to Aaron Donald and stay healthy.

After all, when the Rams lined up Dante Fowler Jr. next to Aaron Donald, Fowler got sacks and the Rams defense was ranked in the middle of the pack. When the Rams line up Leonard Floyd next to Aaron Donald, he got his sacks, but the Rams defense was the Top-Ranked defense in the NFL. Yes, some of that was Brandon Staley’s scheme. But that was also the defense that lost Cory Littleton, Clay Matthews, and others, and the defense exploded in 2020.

Don’t just take my word for it:

In his first year with the Rams, Floyd overcame no training camp and minimal preseason to show up in a big way for his new team. His 10.5 sacks, 55 tackles, 11 tackles for a loss, and 19 quarterback hits were all career highs. In any game I watched, he was in the position to make the right play.