LA Rams: Calculating the clash of current roster changes

Defensive lineman

The place where the Rams may be benefiting from a huge benefit is on the defensive line, where Defensive Line coach Eric Henderson paid close attention to how two of his strongest players: A’Shawn Robinson and Greg Gaines; played so well in the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs when the team took on the Green Bay Packers. So it should not come as any deep surprise that the Rams drafted another powerhouse in Bobby Brown III. They then upped the ante and added Earnest Brown IV as well.

Los Angeles Rams

While that may not sound like much more than a swap of two players out (Michael Brockers and Morgan Fox) for two new players in, the Rams were actually prepared to lose both Brockers and Fox to free agency before the team did an about-face and re-signed both. In the meantime, the Rams had already signed on A’Shawn Robinson. Now, one year later, the defensive line will feature Robinson, Aaron Donald, and Sebastian Joseph Day. So, from that perspective, the LA Rams defensive front is working with two additional and talented rookies.

We did a bit of a deep-dive analysis recently, focusing upon the 3-4 defense and the use of the nose tackle. That allowed us to refresh our observations of what allowed the Rams defensive line to aid Aaron Donald to go off on the NFL and record 20.5 quarterback sacks in just one season. There are reasons to believe that could be possible once more with this new version of the defensive line.  Will this defensive line deliver? Time will tell.

Any downside to new players: Losing veteran Michael Brockers is a bit of an undervalued blow to this defensive front. We know that Aaron Donald loves to pick his spots in the course of a football game, and Brockers knew his friend Donald so well, that they are always on the same page. That likely won’t be the case this year, and will likely result in some growing pains on the line of scrimmage.

Any upside to new players: There is always an upside to adding power, and that’s exactly what the Rams did this offseason. We got very positive feedback from defensive line coach Eric Henderson when we cited that this year’s defensive line could be the best ever under Coach McVay.  That’s the belief among the LA Rams coaching staff as well.

Overall effect expected: This group has a lot of upside, and not as much downside as many might expect. The Rams lost two defensive players, but with the full-time return of A’Shawn Robinson, and two talented new rookies, this season feels like an upgrade as well. Even if the rookies do not earn significant defensive snaps out of the gates, they will play key roles in the defensive line rotations.