LA Rams: 5 ‘gotta do’s’ for this year’s training camp

Find ILB tandem

The LA Rams approach each training camp in the same manner. Since the team does not have a player returning who is hands down staring material, the team must go about finding complementary inside linebacker starting pairs. That makes the process slow going because it forces the team to trial each pairing iteration.  With seven candidates, that creates a lot of combinations.

The era of passive play at the LA Rams inside linebacker position is sunsetting. This is the dawning of the age of proactive inside linebacker play. More mobility, more physicality, more strategy. This defense will no longer embrace the NPC (non-player character) role in the heart of the defense. Rather, the role will demand diagnosis, reaction, prevention, and a host of skillsets that were simply unnecessary in previous iterations.

All defenses benefit from solid play at the inside linebacker position, but not all defensive philosophies require it. The new Rams defense seems to be transitioning into a team that required a more active role at the position. Now, who will fill the spot? While that could be anyone’s guess, ideally the team benefits if rookie Ernest Jones and second-year Christian Rozeboom win the jobs outright because they are two players whose contracts extend beyond this season.

Of course, nothing is guaranteed. The Rams settled on Micah Kiser and projected Travin Howard to start in 2020, and they may finally get their chance to pair up this year. 2020 also got starts out of Kenny Young and Troy Reeder.  Rounding out the seven is former CFL star Derrick Moncrief, who will be worth tuning in to preseason games to watch play.