Bobby socks ‘Hawks, Wagner will electrify LA Rams defense

Defensive signal calling

The LA Rams defensive triad that will step onto the football field for the 2022 NFL season is the stuff that defensive coordinators only dream about. Three All-Pros, one at each level of the defense, will simultaneously oppose and attack NFL offenses. But let’s boil that down to something a bit more practical.

Who will lead them? The LA Rams defense was led by veteran DB John Johnson III in 2020, and rightfully so because he had a bird’s eye view of the secondary, and the disguises and deceptions of that secondary formed the foundation of the entire defensive scheme.  In 2021, DB Jordan Fuller took over that role, but he was a second-year player who was still trying to grow into his own starting role. Adding the play-calling duties for the defense seemed to stymie his overall player development.

So who should lead the Rams’ defense in 2022?

With the team’s defense becoming more linebacker-centric, it would only make the most sense for the team to reroute the play-calling responsibility to Wagner.

After Jordan Fuller fell to injury, the Rams assigned defensive play-calling duties to just out of retirement DB Eric Weddle, who handled the role with gusto.  Veterans recognize offensive patterns far more easily than younger players because they’ve experienced five times as many games or more as their younger counterparts.

And as far as miscommunication or misalignment. I think it would be a far more uncomfortable experience to screw up in the Rams defense and huddle up with Bobby Wagner than to screw up and then huddle up with Jordan Fuller.

In the end, there are many more ways that Bobby Wagner can help the LA Rams defense in 2022 and beyond. These are simply some of the most obvious. What are some ways you can see Bobby Wagner helping the Rams’ defense in 2022?