3 reasons why Omar Speights is perfect teammate for Christian Rozeboom

The LA Rams have struggled at the inside linebacker position in 2024, which is not the least bit surprising. After all, the team traded away past and presumed-present starting inside linebacker Ernest Jones just before the season started. Regardless of whoever was left on the roster, new DC Chris Shula had to scramble under extreme pressure to name his two starters for this season.

He chose the safe and logical route. He named his two most experienced players to start for the team at inside linebacker: ILB Troy Reeder and Christian Rozeboom. The struggles began because both Reeder and Rozeboom play nearly an identical style at the inside linebacker. Neither player is particularly aggressive at plugging holes and stuffing the run . They each prefer to stay back at a distance of 5-7 yards behind the line of scrimmage, allow the ball carrier to clear his blockers, and tackle the rusher as he breaks free into daylight.

That is fine if one inside linebacker adheres to that strategy. From a safer distance, that linebacker not only becomes the guy who is a free tackler, but he can cover a large area in pass coverage. And Christian Rozeboom does play the pass quite well, as per his Pro Football Focus grade of 65.4. But when paired with Reeder, Rozeboom was trying to complement a teammate whose skills were identical to his own.

Troy Reeder eventually fell to injury and was placed on IR. The team had to promote undrafted rookie inside linebacker Omar Speights, a move that the team was reluctant to take even as Reeder struggled on the field. But quite honestly, Speights has delivered far better than expected, and his PFF Grade of 79.9 overall is simply outstanding. Speights is still a rookie, which means that he is still learning his role.

But Speights is the guy who hits the hole, stuffs the run, sheds blockers, and plays with a fierce physicality that keeps Rozeboom clean and in the clear. As a result, Christian Rozeboom has elevated his game as well. In fact, he is having a career high seaon, with five games remaining on the schedule.

So fans are naturally curious as to how he has improved his performance so dramatically. Let's dive in and see if we can explain his sudden spike in production:

(3) - Speights plays like Ernest Jones

There is no magic involved by putting players in situations that amplify their opportunity to succeed. And that is the first and foremost reason why Christian Rozeboom is showing remarkable improvement as the year progresses. But that is not happening by accident or in a void. He learned to coordinate his play by teaming up with former Rams ILB Ernest Jones.

As it turns out, Omar Speights's physicality and style of play resemble the physical style of play that Ernest Jones brought to the defense. Speights is not there yet in terms of a mature and experienced defender. And for those fans who are not yet in the camp of Omar Speights providing a solid role in the Rams young defensive unit, I can understand that.

The thing is, the defense has been far more effective with Speights on the football field. The team has rolled to a record of 3-2 over his five starts, and the only game in which the defense allowed more than 23 points was that loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. If you exclude that game, the defense has held opponents to under 20 points per game when Speights has started. Even if you factor in that Eagles game, the Rams defense has averaged allowing opponents to score 23.2 points per game, which is a full 1.0 point less than their season average of 24.2.

Something is working better now.

Speights is not the tackling machine in this defense line Ernest Jones used to be. But that will come over time. His first double-digit tackles came in Week 13 against the New Orleans Saints. That is the first of many games in which Speights will impress with his tackling forte. Best of all, Speights bucks the trend of Rams defenders missing tackles. So far, he has missed just two tackles for a missed tackle rate of 5.0 percent. That happens to be the best of any inside linebacker who has had a meaningful number of defensive snaps this season.

(2) - Rozeboom is finally getting consistent playing time

To understand why inside linebacker Christian Rozeboom has been such a work in progress, you have to travel back in time to the moment that the LA Rams signed him to the team after the 2020 NFL Draft. Hailing from South Dakota State University, Rozeboom was one of 20 undrafted free agents signed that year, a year that also included DT/OLB Michael Hoecht and former DE Jonah Williams.

Rozeboom was a very productive and promising rookie prospect for the team, despite not hearing his name called out during the draft. At the time, the 6-foot-2 230-pound linebacker did not face competing with a drafted player. He remained a practice squad player for the team through 2021, a year that found him signing with the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad. But by November 2021, the Rams returned the favor and re-signed Rozeboom to the active roster. The team extended him in April 2023.

Prior to 2023, Rozeboom was a special team specialist. But when the team released All-Pro ILB Bobby Wagner, the coaches opted to pair Rozeboom with Ernest Jones. Still, Jones was the starting inside linebacker, and Rozeboom found himself pulled off the football field quite frequently to create room for the defense to bring in an additional defensive back. The resulting rotational role for Rozeboom in 2023 meant that he would play just 550 defensive snaps.

In five fewer games in 2024, he has already played 596 defensive snaps.

Continuity can mean a great deal for a linebacker. Because they are constantly surveying the offense and trying to analyze what the next play will be, linebackers benefit greatly from more playing time. After all, it's easier to understand what the offense is doing after seeing the same play multiple times.

It also helps Rozeboom to be on the football field in pass coverage, his natural role with his vast range and speed. Because Rozeboom offers solid pass coverage, he stays on the football field for passing downs as well.

(1) - Rozeboom's role is clearly defined now

Confusion for a defensive player kills production. If a defender hesitates for any reason, the offense gains an instant advantage. So ensuring that linebackers have clearly defined roles is a huge boost to production. After the team so cleverly teamed him up with Omar Speights, that is what has happened.

Let's be clear, though. The synergy in the Rams defense is not some magical enchantment that was cast on the linebackers, dictating that Rozeboom focus exclusively on pass coverage and Speight focus exclusively on run defense. The two players line up side by side, and that translates into Rozeboom and Speights trying to provide defense against anything the offense runs or throws their ways.

Rozeboom is simply the stronger defender in pass coverage. That fact alone limits what a quarterback, and the offensive coordinator, can reasonably expect from this defense. But the fact that Speights salivates at the though of crushing impacts with running backs in the hole has given Rozeboom a significant example of how to play the run. In fact, the two are not just complementary players for one another. They appear to be raising the level of play for one another. That is how Christian Rozeboom has managed to record 11+ tackles in four of the past five games.

He is noticeably far more aggressive now. Even his missed tackles rating has improved dramatically.

Don't always rely on data analytics alone

I haven't touted data analytics in this one. You see, the premise with data analytics is that the engineer designed the statistic to be both objective and dead-on accurate to the fundamental football matter that he or she is trying to represent. The finer the level of detail, the more obscure the picture becomes. Why do I say that?

Either the statistics effectively measure the efficiency of the team, such as NFLSavant.com, or the statistic attempts to measure a player against a subjective standard. In either case, there is a risk of being misled by poorly designed statistics. Do you recall how the ESPN Data Analytics department rolled out a new data set, that concluded that Rams All-Pro DT Aaron Donald was simply average at run defense? Even as the data proved that point, the data was so askew from reality that Donald's on-field production ultimately devalued the hard work of those NFL data analysts.

I'm not diminishing the work of Rams sites that rely on data analytics exclusively to prove a point. I'm simply pointing out the obvious. If what is being measured tells a differing story that what is happening on the football field, then it's simply time to rethink the use of that data.

More Rams News and Analysis