3 revelations from Rams OTAs that fans will almost certainly love

(3) Nate Landman is pulling ahead as starting ILB

As soon as the LA Rams season ended, fans pivoted to the 2025 NFL season with a checklist of tasks that the front office had to take on to fix this team. Of course, run defense was nearly tops on the list of many fans, and bolstering the team's inside linebacker position was step one to accomplishing that task.

The Rams allowed inside linebackers Christian Rozeboom and Jake Hummel to seek their fortunes and opportunities elsewhere. Unfortunately, the team could not resist the temptation to re-sign last year's starting inside linebacker, Troy Reeder. After the team traded away veteran inside linebacker Ernest Jones IV, the team promoted both ILBs Troy Reeder and Christian Rozeboom to starting roles.

The defense seemed to struggle until Reeder fell to injury, forcing the team to start undrafted linebacker Omar Speights. But if you thought that Speights was starting in 2025, you may need to revise those projections. You see, the team signed veteran inside linebacker Nate Landman, a run-stuffing linebacker who exhibits nearly all of the qualities of Omar Speights, only with plenty of NFL experience.

It was the comparison to Omar Speights' style that disappointed me with his signing. After all, per statistical comparison, Speights was superior. But competing with Speights openly for the starting ILB role in 2025 did not seem to be on the table. Much like the signing of former center Coleman Shelton, the Rams front office seemed to target veterans who would not only arrive and compete with 2024 rookie starters but also claim the inside track to those starting roles.

So far, it appears that Nathan Landman is staking his claim to a starting ILB role in this defense. And the coaching staff is very impressed with what they've seen so far.

It falls to reason that Nate Landman arrived with a solid sense about the Rams' defense. He played under HC Raheem Morris and DC Jimmy Lake in 2024. Morris was the Rams' DC in 2023. Jimmy Lake is the Rams' Senior Defensive Assistant in 2025. So, Landman is perfectly connected to the Rams' defense in terms of coaching staff, philosophy, and tactics.

Landman is a worthy veteran linebacker who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 238 pounds. He started nine of 17 games for the Atlanta Falcons defense in 2024, and 23 of the 36 games he had appeared in over his three years of NFL experience.

In 2023, Landman started in 14 of his 16 game appearances. In that season, he recorded 110 tackles, seven tackles for a loss, 2.0 quarterback sacks, one interception, three deflected passes, three forced fumbles, and only allowed 69 percent of passes thrown his way to find their mark. But he was not perfect. He allowed a touchdown reception that season. And he missed an alarming 13 tackles (10.8 percent missed tackle rate).

In shorts and t-shirts, Landman may be winning the battle to start. But whether or not he can secure his hold on a starting role when the pads go on and players can hit and tackle is the true litmus test.