The NFL’s No. 1 defense from last season will have a different look in 2021. In the last week alone, the Los Angeles Rams lost John Johnson, Troy Hill and Morgan Fox in free agency, while they also traded Michael Brockers to the Lions.
Fortunately, they were able to re-sign Leonard Floyd and tendered Darious Williams to keep him around for another year, maintaining the core of their defense alongside Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey. But their losses can’t be overlooked because Johnson, Hill, Fox and Brockers all played key roles last season.
Sean McVay won’t minimize the impact they all had in 2020, but he’s also confident in the players Los Angeles still has. He’s not worried about a regression on defense because of the talent still on the Rams’ roster.
You’ve always got to have contingency plans in place. You lose great coaches, but you bring in who you think are great coaches,” McVay said last week. “When you’ve got foundational pieces like Aaron Donald, like Jalen Ramsey, you see the ascension as some of these younger players. You’re able to resign Leonard Floyd. … You look at Darious Williams. He’s done an outstanding job that you tender him as a one, which is what we felt like his worth was to us.”
The Rams prepared for many of these losses either in the draft or in free agency during the past few offseasons. They drafted David Long Jr. in the third round two years ago. They signed A’Shawn Robinson last year. They drafted Terrell Burgess, Jordan Fuller and Taylor Rapp in the last two years.
Now, all of those players will have to step up as potential starters in 2021.
“You’re going to ask some guys like David Long to really step up, when you lose a Troy Hill. You invest in the safety position the last couple of years with Taylor Rapp, Terrell Burgess, we saw what Jordan Fuller was able to do. Those are three guys that we’re very excited about,” McVay said. “Then we’ve got some young guys up front. We had signed A’Shawn Robinson last year as a result of what we thought was losing Michael Brockers. He had some situations and we’re excited about the development for him. And I think Sebastian Joseph-Day is a guy that continues to show why he is a special interior player and those are the guys that are going to be asked to step up.”
Whether those players are able to put together the type of production Los Angeles got from Johnson, Hill, Fox and Brockers remains to be seen, but this is the way the Rams have built their roster. With big money being paid to Donald, Ramsey, Floyd, Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods and Matthew Stafford, the Rams have to get a lot out of their mid-round picks.
It failed with their unheralded inside linebackers last season, but the group McVay mentioned is much better suited to step up in 2021.
“So, to say you’re going to take a step back, there’s too much work that goes into it,” he said. “There’s too many people I still have confidence in, while not minimizing the huge impact that those four players that you mentioned had on the success of our defense in particular last year.”