When looking ahead to free agency, there are two names Rams fans are primarily focused on: John Johnson and Leonard Floyd. They were two of the most important players on the league-leading defense, and both will hit the open market in March unless the Rams sign them beforehand – a highly unlikely move by Los Angeles.
But Troy Hill shouldn’t get overlooked as one of the team’s top free agents. He scored three defensive touchdowns for the Rams this season, two pick-sixes and a fumble return for a score.
Most importantly, he allowed the Rams to be flexible with Jalen Ramsey. Hill’s ability to play cover the slot and play outside corner made it possible for Brandon Staley to move Ramsey around the defensive formation to maximize his impact each week.
Ramsey recognized Hill’s value to the defense himself last week, as did Sean McVay. Here’s what McVay said about Hill as the cornerback approaches free agency.
“Troy Hill, what can you say about the ball production, scoring the touchdowns that he did, the versatility,” he said last week. “I think a lot of the versatility that we were able to activate with Jalen was a reflection of also Troy Hill’s versatility. You feel comfortable, because in a lot of instances, you’re saying you’ve got this elite corner in Jalen Ramsey and then you can bump him inside, but who’s the guy that can play off of that and have the ability to play both positions as well? And Troy certainly enabled us to do that.”
McVay called Hill, Floyd and Johnson “really big-time parts of what was the No. 1 defense in the NFL,” and added that they’ll be “big-time topics of conversation and things that you want to try to figure out.”
The Rams will be limited with their spending money in free agency, but Hill could be cheap enough for them to re-sign and bring back – even if it’s on a short-term deal. Or, if they feel confident in David Long Jr., they could let Hill walk and lean more heavily on the young cornerback out of Michigan.
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