The Rams sold out to win the Super Bowl after the 2021 season, expending a lot of roster-building capital (money and picks) to acquire proven veteran players and a few superstars. The gamble worked, and three years later, they have paid the piper. Los Angeles is out of salary cap purgatory, and it had a first-round pick for the first time since 2016.
Considering where they were in terms of cap and draft choices, the organization and coaching staff did a masterful job of keeping the Rams competitive on the field over the last two seasons. They had a bunch of mid to late-round picks last year, so the defense was exceptionally young and, other than Aaron Donald, void of superstars. Starting in round three, the team used seven picks on the defensive side in 2023 and four more this year, including one in each of the first three rounds.
The cupboard has been restocked, so after finishing in the middle third of the league against both run and pass in most statistical categories last year, the Rams should be ready to make some noise again. It might take a minute for everyone to jell, but this could be a formidable defense once they get comfortable.
Defensive Linemen
There is no replacing a player like Aaron Donald, but the Rams have made the defensive line a major focus over the last two drafts. That means they are very young, but there is talent to work with. After picking up edge defender Byron Young and tackle Kobie Turner in round three last spring, Los Angeles added edge Jared Verse in round one and tackle Braden Fiske in the second this year.
Young led the team's edge position with 1023 snaps last year, while Turner's 731 were second only to Donald on the inside. Not only did they gain a lot of experience, Turner led the team with nine sacks while Young tied Donald for second with eight. Both youngsters were fantasy relevant, with Turner's mark of 29-27-9 ranking twelfth among tackles and Young's 42-19-8 with 3 takeaways landing 23rd at the edge position. Considering that rookies generally start slowly and improve from there, these two could be heading for big things in year two.
How good can this defense be if the team hits on Verse and Fiske as well? The chances of that happening seem pretty good. Verse dominated against small school competition while playing at Albany. He transferred to Florida State and continued to dominate Division 1 competition. In 25 games with the Seminoles over the last two years, Verse posted 89 combined tackles, 18 sacks, and 3 turnovers.
He has an impressive combination of speed, explosiveness, and power that makes him hard to handle off the edge. Verse can outrun a blocker on one play and then run through him on the next. It's his ability to switch between speed and power in the middle of a play that could make him special at the NFL level. His pass rush garners most of the excitement, but Verse is just as tough against the run. He sets the edge well and gets off blocks quickly to make tackles. With the speed to chase down plays from the back side, opponents can't run at him, and they can't run away from him. Between Verse and Young, the Rams could have an elite duo on the edge for the next several years.
Braden Fiske also started his college career at a smaller school, transferring from Western Michigan to Florida State after his junior year. Expecting Fiske to fill the shoes of Donald would be unfair, but he does show similarities in his game. Fiske is not a 2-gap anchor that can eat up blockers and force runners to go around. He is a one-gap penetrator whose game is built on quickness and relentless hustle.
Fiske was productive at Western Michigan and brought that production to Florida State, where he totaled 43 combined tackles and 6 sacks as a senior. He should be an excellent scheme fit in the Rams' attacking, one-gap scheme. Fiske may not have the overall effect on the field that Donald had, but he has the potential to produce similar numbers.
Bobby Brown III fills out the lineup at the nose tackle position. At 332 pounds, he is the 2-gap road grader that eats up blockers and double teams in the middle to force runner wide, giving the outside tackles a lot of single blocking and allowing linebackers a clear path to the ball. While vital to the success of his team, Brown's production is not going to do much for ours.
The addition of Verse surely means a reduced role for Hoecht. He could open the season as a starter with Verse working his way in as the third man, but it is safe to assume that the roles will soon be reversed.
- DT Kobie Turner – High upside DT2
- DT Braden Fiske – Could start slowly but should eventually put up useful numbers
- DT Bobby Brown – No fantasy impact
- DT Larrell Murchison – No impact
- DT Tyler Davis – Developmental rookie
- Edge Byron Young – High floor second starter with upside
- Edge Jared Verse – May not start right away, but the ceiling is way up there
- Edge Michael Hoecht – Edge2 ceiling that is likely to drop as the season advances
- Edge Brennan Jackson – Developmental rookie
- Edge Nick Hampton – No impact expected
- Edge Desjuan Johnson – No impact expected
Linebackers
The Rams like to play five or six defensive backs a lot, so there will be only one linebacker with significant fantasy value. Ernest Jones IV made his way into the starting lineup in week eight of his rookie season and had a lot of IDP managers thinking he might emerge as a fantasy star in 2022. The signing of Bobby Wagner ahead of the season put that on hold and left us to wonder if there was a reason they didn't want Jones in the lead role. After all, when Jones entered the 2021 draft, NFL analyst Lance Zierlein had called him a two-down linebacker with limited speed and below-average athleticism.
Adding to the apprehension, Jones held the sidekick role in 2022, working as a two-down linebacker and seeing action on about 66% of the snaps. All concerns disappeared last year when Wagner moved on and left Jones the lead role. He was sidelined for a couple of games, so his overall ranking doesn't tell the story accurately. Jones recorded 75 tackles, 70 assists, and 4.5 sacks over 15 games with his average of 12.5 points ranking 14th at the position.
His coverage abilities have limitations, but the coaching staff does a great job of masking them with scheme. They have Jones blitz fairly often while providing safety help to keep him from being exposed in coverage. Against the run, however, he needs no help. Jones compensates for average speed with quick reaction and is both physical and dependable as a tackler. The only hitch in his fantasy value is in the splash play columns. He can get after the passer as confirmed by the four and a half sacks last year, but almost a thousand snaps left gooseggs in the turnover columns. Slotting him as a priority LB2 feels safe, but there may not be much upside.
Christian Rozeboom stepped into the second linebacker role last year, posting 79 combined stops on fewer than 600 snaps. The telltale sign that he is unlikely to have a bigger role, even in the event of an injury to Jones, is that Rozeboom never played more than 74% of the snaps in a game, including the two that Jones missed. After the team's week ten bye, he began sharing time with Troy Reeder. Rozeboom played less than 35% of the snaps in five of the last nine games.
That brings up the question, will there be a competition this summer between Rozeboom and Reeder for the number two linebacker spot? Reeder has been with the team for five seasons and saw a good deal of action over the first three, including several starts.
Depth at linebacker could be a problem for the Rams. If Jones were to go down, they have no proven three-down option to turn to, and after the three guys mentioned, there is very little NFL experience.
- ILB Ernest Jones – Strong LB2 prospect with little or no upside
- ILB Christian Rozeboom – Two-down player with marginal upside
- ILB Troy Reeder – Injury sleeper, could jump over Rozeboom if Jones goes own
- ILB Jake Hummel – No impact expected
Defensive Backs
The Los Angeles secondary is looking at a complete makeover, likely including four new faces in the starting lineup. With money to spend, they used free agency to address three of those spots. On the outside, Tre'Davious White and Darious Williams come over from Buffalo and Jacksonville, respectively. Both are proven veteran starters who should provide a considerable upgrade. Williams is coming off the best season of his six-year career, which included 6 turnovers, 19 pass breakups, and a touchdown.
White was the 27th overall pick in 2017. He was among the league's premier cover men over his first four seasons, accounting for 15 interceptions, 3 forced fumbles, 4 recoveries, and 53 passes defended. Modest tackle totals left him on the cusp of IDP relevance during those years. Over the last three seasons, White has dealt with one injury after another and has been a complete non-factor. He's missed almost half of the games over that span, including thirteen last year.
Derion Kendrick, Cobie Durant, and Ahkello Witherspoon were the team's top three corners last season. Witherspoon is gone, so Kendrick and Durant will likely compete with safety, Quentin Lake, for sub-package opportunities.
At the safety positions, Jordan Fuller and Johnny Johnson III are gone. Russ Yeast was demoted in favor of Johnson last season. He could be competing for a spot on the roster, and Lake will probably be relegated to the third safety role behind newcomers Kamren Curl and Kamren Kinchens.
Fantasy production was sparse among the Rams safeties last season. Much of the reason can be blamed on the game of musical chairs the coaching staff played while trying to find a starter. That should not be an issue in 2024.
Curl was a four-year starter for the Commanders, working at strong safety for most of that time. He does not pose much of a big play threat but is sturdy in run support and solid in coverage. His best fantasy production came last season when Curl ranked 16th among safeties on the strength of 115 combined tackles (74 solos), a sack, 2 turnovers, and 5 pass breakups. He projects as the Rams starting strong safety, a position that has given us good production in the recent past.
In Kinchens, the Rams believe they have a difference maker. He is not the biggest or fastest of safeties but is tough, instinctive, has great range, and is a physical hitter over the middle. Most importantly, Kinchens is a ballhawk. As a 22-game starter for Miami over the last two seasons, he had 118 total tackles, including a sack, along with 11 interceptions, 15 pass breakups, 3 turnovers on fumbles, and a pair of defensive scores.
- SS Kamren Curl – Solid third starter with some upside
- FS Kamren Kinchens – Undetermined tackle production with big play potential
- FS Russ Yeast – No impact
- SS Quentin Lake – Injury sleeper
- SS Jason Taylor II – Developmental special teamer
- CB Tre'Davious White – Injury risk outweighs the modest potential
- CB Darious Williams – Watch list guy once the season opens
- CB Decobie Durant – No impact expected
- CB Derion Kendrick – Injury sleeper at best
- CB Tre Tomlinson – No impact
That does it for the West. We will take a look at the AFC North next, starting with the Bengals.
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