The Rams made a bunch of surprising moves this offseason, none more shocking than the release and trade of Todd Gurley and Brandin Cooks, respectively. But their decision to decline Nickell Robey-Coleman’s option and allow him to hit free agency was certainly unexpected.
Robey-Coleman predictably latched on with a new team quickly, signing with the Eagles just days after his release from the Rams. On Sunday, he’ll have a chance to show L.A. what it’s missing by letting him go as his Eagles will take on Sean McVay’s Rams.
Don’t expect Robey-Coleman to be tight-lipped about the Rams’ secrets like Eric Weddle was with the Ravens’ after he joined L.A. last season. He’s an open book for his new teammates, telling them everything they need to know about McVay’s scheme.
“I’m excited to play against my old team,” Robey-Coleman said Wednesday, via NJ.com. “For the guys over there, there’s big love. There’s a lot of love. I’m just sharing all the information that I can remember from being in L.A. I’m telling Rod right now that if you see this, then this could possibly happen. (Darius) Slay and I are talking and being upbeat about how McVay uses his offense and how the guys work around Jared (Goff) to get open and things like that. So far, so good.”
One of the aspects that makes McVay’s offense so difficult to stop is how he makes everything look the same. A run play will look the same as a pass before the snap, with everything from pre-snap motion to play-action fakes.
Robey-Coleman saw a lot of that during his time with the Rams in practice, so he knows better than anyone in Philadelphia how to sift through the smoke and mirrors.
“It’s all window dressing,” Robey-Coleman said, via Heavy.com. “He does it over the course of four quarters and everything starts to look alike, and so you just have to stay focused on your keys and pay attention to your guy … all the motions and all the movement and everything, you can kind of get through that after a while, and that’s about it. He keeps everything real aligned, as far as first down, second down, third down … everything kind of looks alike.”
Robey-Coleman will be an important part of the Eagles defense in this one, considering how often they’ll be forced to use their nickel packages to counter the Rams’ 11 personnel usage. Expect to see him on the field a lot Sunday.