When the Rams’ defense took the field for the first time on Sunday night against the Cowboys, No. 24 was nowhere to be found. Taylor Rapp, presumed to be one of the two starting safeties with John Johnson, was on the sideline while sixth-round rookie Jordan Fuller got the start.
It was a shocking decision by the Rams, but one that makes some sense in the grand scheme of things. Rapp was out for just about all of training camp except for the final week as he recovered from a knee injury suffered early in the process. Fuller and Terrell Burgess took his reps on defense, and according to reports out of Thousand Oaks, they thrived in starting roles.
Rapp wasn’t injured in Week 1, it was just a matter of Fuller shining in camp and earning the playing time that he got in the opener. As a result, Rapp played just 15 defensive snaps, while Fuller was out there for 71. Sean McVay made it clear after the game that Rapp remains a big part of the team’s plans, but it seems Fuller has surpassed him on the depth chart for now.
“It was based on the way Jordan Fuller performed throughout training camp,” McVay said. “Taylor Rapp is a big part of our football team, that is not going to change, but it was more a result of great things that Jordan has done from day one. I mean, he’s been making plays, he’s mature beyond his years. The way he sees things, his range, his ability to make plays, as he demonstrated tonight. So, very pleased with Jordan. He’s going to continue to get better, but Taylor Rapp is a huge part of our football team as well.”
Fuller didn’t let the Rams down in his NFL debut, either. He played 99% of the defensive snaps, made a team-high eight tackles and stopped CeeDee Lamb short of the sticks on a critical fourth-down play in the last quarter.
Aside from creating a turnover, Fuller’s first NFL game was about as good as he and the Rams’ could’ve expected it to be. Unless he regresses to the mean as a sixth-round rookie, Rapp is going to be limited to working in sub-packages for the time being.
Of course, as Rapp gets work in Brandon Staley’s new scheme during practice – which he missed out on while injured during camp – he’ll earn more playing time. But Fuller is here to stay, which is huge for the Rams.