LA Rams may have no choice but to keep these 6 rising D stars

Outside linebacker

If there is any player who could astound the NFL at outside linebacker, then former Concordia’s outside linebacker Chris Garrett is the guy. The 6-foot-4 245-pound rookie was an outstanding producer in the NCAA football universe. He ended up with 36.5 sacks in just 28 college games. But that was just the tip of the iceberg. All told, he racked up 166 tackles, 48.5 tackles-for-loss, nine passes defended, 15 forced fumbles, and four fumble recoveries.

That type of production just jumped off the page, fostering all sorts of “this guy is going to be very good” from the most unlikely of sources.  And of course, optimism abounded from the typical optimistic sources as well. He’s simply a heat-seeking missile off the edge, and he truly pushed the limits of the imagination into the ‘if it’s too good to be true, it usually is” category.

So how could he fall to the LA Rams with such lofty production? Simply stated, nobody thought he could replicate that level of play against NFL-caliber players. Well, that didn’t prove to be true.

Even though he didn’t get a chance to show up against the LA Chargers, Chris Garrett’s performance against the Las Vegas Raiders was mind-boggling good. He single-handedly put up four tackles, 1.5 quarterback sacks, three QB hits, one tackle for a loss, two tipped passes which did lead directly to an interception. For about a ten-minute stretch, he delivered one of the best defensive shows off the edge that I’ve seen in a very long time.

He is every bit as good as the brochure, folks. Perhaps better.