The Rams are hiring Brandon Staley as their new defensive coordinator, which is good news for fans of a 3-4 defense. He’s the former outside linebackers coach for the Bears and Broncos, and if his track record is any indication of what scheme the Rams will run in 2020, it’s likely to remain the way it was under Wade Phillips.
Staley worked under Vic Fangio in Chicago and Denver, and each year, the Bears and Broncos ran a 3-4 defense. Staley has primarily worked with edge rushers at the outside linebacker position, including Khalil Mack, Bradley Chubb and Von Miller.
Having always run a 3-4 scheme under Fangio, that’s probably not going to change with the Rams. Los Angeles doesn’t exactly have the personnel to switch to a 4-3 front, lacking depth and pass rushers that fit at defensive end.
What that means for Cory Littleton, Dante Fowler Jr. and Michael Brockers, who will all hit free agency in March, remains to be seen. But with seemingly no change to the defensive front coming, they won’t have to worry much about how they would fit in a 3-4.