This 2nd year Rams outside linebacker is going to rock the NFL in 2024

The LA Rams front office is not replenishing their pass rush in 2024. At least, not in the way that you might think. That process began as soon as the 2022 NFL season ended. The team released several veteran pass rushers, and then decided to release outside linebacker Leonard Floyd at the end of the year. As the team pivoted to 2023, the roster held DT turned OLB Michael Hoecht, OLB Zach VanValkenburg, and Keir Thomas.

Whether it was a decision founded on the financial need to cut costs, or the strategic plan to start over from the ground up, who can say? The Rams still had All-Pro defensive lineman Aaron Donald for one year. And the team did not skimp at selected outside linebackers in the 2023 NFL Draft. The team added Tennessee edge Byron Young with the 77th overall pick, Appalachian State edge Nick Hampton with the 161st overall pick, and Nebraska edge Ochaun Mathis with the 189th overall pick.

While Young clearly was cut out for the NFL, leading all rookie edge rushers in quarterback sacks, neither rookie Ochaun Mathis nor Nick Hampton were particularly effective in their rookie seasons. Well, look for that to change in 2024.

While the 6-foot-5 260-pound Mathis played 74 defensive snaps to get two tackles, Hampton was afforded just 66 defensive snaps, and yet was able to put up twice as many tackles. Not only did he rack up four tackles, but he also managed to get a hand in and get credit for breaking up a pass play. For the year, he allowed just one completion on two targets. After all, he played just 66 defensive snaps.

Here's where it gets interesting

When Nick Hampton arrived to the NFL as a rookie, he stood 6-foot-3 and weighed 235 pounds. While very complementary of his athleticism and his ferocity on the football field, draft profiles almost unanimously cited him as a guy who was simply not big enough, not strong enough, and not durable enough to make an NFL career meeting the physical demands of an NFL's outside linebacker.

Well, that may or may not be true. We will never know. You see, he has bulked up to 247 pounds, and his new buffed physique is already showing up on the radar. He is already listed as a primary backup at the outside linebacker position. But that did not prevent him from seeing 31 defensive snaps in Game 1 against the Cowboys, a game in which he got a tackle, but made his presence felt by getting two quarterback hits. In Game 2, he recorded two tackles, but this time got a quarterback sack as well as a quarterback hit.

While everyone is encouraged so far, some see Hampton's surge as just the tip of the iceberg. One NFL analyst, CBS Sports Chris Trapasso, names him in his 2024 'Out of Nowhere' Breakout Team. And before you scoff at the title as one that names a player from every NFL team, it doesn't. He limits his list to just five players. Second-year edge rusher Nick Hampton was one of them.

Just check out Trapasso's logic below, and you can tell that he did his homework. He cites Hampton's rookie size, the team's loading up with Jared Verse, and Hampton's light workload in 2023. But unlike so many who stop there, Trapasso keeps digging, citing Hampton's return to the team in 2024 looking 'NFL strong.'

Trapasso does more than look at a stat line and call it a day. He puts in the work to learn that Hampton has addressed the biggest shortcoming cited in his draft profile. And if he is bigger, stronger, more experienced, and more determined than ever in Year 2, he forms the most logical conclusion.

He may not be able to bull rush 300+ pound offensive tackles into the quarterback like rookie OLB Jared Verse. And he may not be able to zip past those offensive tackles before they get out of their stance like teammate Byron Young, but he doesn't need to. He simply needs to play his game at his position.

Former Appalachian State OLB Nick Hampton is going to rock the NFL in 2024. And thanks to the savvy discernment of GM Les Snead and the entire Rams scouting department, he will do so in Horns.

Thanks for reading.