LA Rams D may be stronger than 2021’s after signing Bobby Wagner

The LA Rams have been very successful in the past five years. And much of that has been due to the fact that the team had gone about its business with Head Coach Sean McVay, nourishing the roster. Sometimes pruning, sometimes grafting, and sometimes forced to allow other teams to transplant pot-bound players into bigger roles on their team.

Still, there was a great deal of hope that this team would find a way to re-sign veteran outside linebacker Von Miller, perhaps in a way of clinging to the glory of winning Super Bowl LVI a bit longer. After all, he clearly coached up the other defensive leaders. And it was his encouragement that unlocked the passionate speeches from Aaron Donald that seemed to get the defense back on track at critical moments of games.

After all is said and done, the LA Rams tried to extend Miller and lost him to a more lucrative offer from the Buffalo Bills.  No shame in that. They tried. Immediately thereafter, the front office regrouped and added WR Allen Robinson to the offense. Now, the front office has added Bobby Wagner to the defense.

Weighted average?

Is it all just math? Is it a simple body count in the end?  Can the subtraction of one All-Pro defender be offset by the addition of another All-Pro defender? Let’s look past the changes on offense for a moment.  The Rams’ defense suffered repeated losses to key starters and rotational players throughout the 2021 NFL season.  The team became hot at the end, winning nine of the last ten games and winning all four playoff games to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.

That game-winning defense boasted formerly retired DB Eric Weddle and a stunningly effective pair in Nick Scott and David Long Jr. What may or may not impress on paper can be effective enough to win a big game with the right type of on-field leadership.

So are we ahead, behind, or on par with our Super Bowl-winning roster? Honestly, we may be closer to on par than you realize. But keep in mind that we shouldn’t compare the LA Rams’ season-ending roster with the incomplete roster the front office is currently assembling.  To be fair, we need to compare the beginning 2021 roster with the beginning 2022 roster (so far).