These 7 Rams UDFAs have the best chance to make the team

V: DL Tuli Letuligasenoa, Washington

While the Rams defensive line had been a primary focus of the offseason, I, for one, am incredibly impressed at how the team's personnel department has managed to restock the shelves with talented and passionate players from a draft class that was not touted for its defensive line talent or depth.

One of the concerns about the team's defensive structure under new Defensive Coordinator Chris Shula is how well an this team defend the run? After all, there are no A'Shawn Robinsons, Greg Gaines, or Michael Brockers on this defensive front to gobble blockers and stuff the run. While much of that responsibility will fall to NT Bobby Brown III and to rookie Tyler Davis, they are going to need help.

Enter former Washington defensive lineman Tuli Letuligasenoa, stage left.

Even though Tuli Letuligasenoa did not hear his name called out in the 2024 NFL Draft, nor did many draft profiles project him to do so, he is a very passionate player who I see as finding the right niche for this defense. Keep in mind that the Rams have a new defensive line coach, Giff Smith, who worked with former DL Coach Eric Henderson, and Coach Smith loves passionate players who hunger for ways to improve their game.

Coach Smith will love Tuli Letuligasenoa for that reason. The Draft Network's Justin Melo interviewed Tuli Letuligasenoa before the 2024 NFL Draft, and that interview is worth a read. What jumps out is how passionate and well-spoken Letuligasenoa presents himself throughout the dialogue. He shared that he was courted by the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, and Atlanta Falcons before the draft, all teams with solid defensive lines. When asked to scout himself, this was his response:

"I am a dominant run defender first and foremost. I take a lot of pride in playing with terrific physicality. I am a defender that can wreck a play in the backfield at any point in the game. Like I said earlier, I can put pressure on the quarterback in many different ways.

I can pressure the quarterback, or I can get my hands up and swat the ball down. I have a good feel for that. There are other ways I can make a big impact on the game, things that do not always show up on the box score. That is what I’m all about."

Tuli Letuligasenoa

Things that do not always show up on the box score is the key here. Selfless players do not play for statistics or to show up in the box score, but to win. The Rams need selfless players like TL who are willing to take on double teams to keep ILB Ernest Jones free and unencumbered to make plays.

All that is gold does not glitter is a line from a poem written by J.R. Tolkien in The Fellowship of the Ring. But it holds meaning here, too. Some fans fail to recognize the value of blocker-gobblers in modern NFL defenses, insisting that defensive linemen must record quarterback sacks to be effective. But DL Tuli Letuligasenoa disrupts offenses in other ways. He takes on and defeats multiple blockers. He pushes the pocket in, forcing the quarterback to move and reset, pushing him into the pass rush coming off the edge, and he has a sneaky way of timing his jumps and outstretched arms to knock down passes.

In 2022, TL broke up four pass plays as a defensive lineman.

This young man may not wow fans, but he does wow me. If he can replicate what he did for the Washington Huskies, he has a legit shot of making this roster.