Rams are makine defensive moves, but it's not the moves that the fans want

The LA Rams are not playing great defense right now. While the transition period for any new defensive coordinator is a difficult time, the early going for new DC Chris Shula has been a tale of adversity and injuries. While the challenges caused by early injuries will inevitably fix themselves as players heal, the team has other problems that appear to be foundational miscalculations

For openers, this team is unable to stop opposing running backs from consistently putting up career highs against the team. While the right players to reverse this alarming trend may not even be on the Rams roster right now, the team has been playing ILBs Troy Reeder and Christian Rozeboom exclusively. Due to the monopoly of defensive snaps, we can rule out either player as having a hand in any eventual solution.

But settle in, because Rams HC Sean McVay has made it a point to publicly confirm that neither player is at risk of losing his role on this defense. But even having said this, I interpret this to mean that the team simply has bigger fish to fry at the moment.

So fixing the run defense may simply come later in the sequence of events.

So what do the Rams have up their sleeve?

While the fans are disappointed by the news that there are no changes in store. Well, there are changes in store. The LA Rams set DB Darious Williams up to practice this week, and he was a full participant. That is a huge item on the checklist of putting him in the game in Week 5. But wait, there's more.

The LA Rams did not re-sign former defensive end Jonah Williams after the 2023 NFL season. While not yet a hugely productive player, the team has a history of coaching up defensive linemen who are ultimately late bloomers. And that is why I was against the team's decision to let him walk away to another team.

Reported, but as of yet unconfirmed, Jonah Williams is still listed as belonging to the Minnesota Vikings practice squad as of 7:10 pm PT on October 3, 2024. So, if this report is true, the Rams must sign him to their 53-man active roster.

But as of that stated time, no confirmation has been forthcoming.

To be honest, I'm not sure why the team would do that.

While the team appears to be delayed in returning DT Larrell Murchison to the roster from IR at the moment, the team's pass rush has been superbly adept so far this year. The only hope to adding Williams off the Vikings practice squad is if the Rams' own DL depth is adversely insufficient. With six players listed and healthy, I'm not seeing evidence of that.

Of course, the Rams know Williams, and he knows the Rams. He played nearly 600 defensive snaps for the team in 2023, recording 49 tackles, 2.0 quarterback sacks, four tackles for a loss, and missed only one tackle all season. So it could be that the team is merely eager to add a sure-handed tackler to their defensive ranks. And we cannot ignore the fact that he is a seasoned veteran who is competing in his fifth NFL season. In fact, he signed alongside DL/OLB Michael Hoecht.

But he is not going to turn this defense around. At best, he will slide in as a better-than-expected rotational player on this defense.

As always, thanks for reading.