There’s a lot to be excited about with the Rams this season, especially after a tumultuous offseason that involved major changes to both the roster and coaching staff. The pass rush, however, is not something fans (or the team) should feel good about after three weeks.
It’s been arguably the weakest part of the team, with everyone not named Aaron Donald struggling to generate much pressure on the quarterback. The edge rushers, in particular, have struggled through three games, with Leonard Floyd being the only one to record a sack; he has two so far.
According to Pro Football Reference, the Rams’ outside linebackers have combined for a total of four pressures on opposing quarterbacks. And as if that’s not bad enough, all four have been by Floyd.
Samson Ebukam, Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, Jachai Polite and Justin Hollins have zero quarterback pressures combined this season. They haven’t knocked down the quarterback once, generated one hurry and have just 12 total tackles.
All this is to say the Rams need Terrell Lewis now more than ever, which is a scary proposition considering he’s a third-round rookie with no NFL experience – not even a preseason snap. But that’s the position Los Angeles is in because Ebukam, Okoronkwo and the rest of the edge rushers are simply not getting it done. Even Floyd’s impact has been underwhelming despite the fact that he has two sacks in three games.
Samson Ebukam is ranked dead last (109th) in edge defenders per PFF with an overall grade of 39.6. Leonard Floyd is ranked 70th. Ogbonnia Okoronkwo is ranked 90th.
— DOWNTOWN RAMS [DTR] (@DowntownRams) September 28, 2020
Lewis is currently on the reserve/non-football injury list after undergoing a knee scope to determine whether he had an infection from a previous surgery. Fortunately, he didn’t have one, but his timetable to return remains unclear.
Technically, he could be activated this week and play on Sunday against the Giants. But according to Sean McVay, the team hasn’t discussed that possibility yet and it would be optimistic to think he’ll make his debut this week.
"This week would probably be a bit optimistic."
-Sean McVay on rookie EDGE Terrell Lewis making his Rams debut in Week 4 vs NYG
— J.B. Long (@JB_Long) September 29, 2020
He may only be a third-round rookie, but his ceiling is high and we saw some glimpses of his ability in training camp. At 6-foot-5 and 260-plus pounds, Lewis is a physical specimen who moves extremely well. He’s explosive off the line, possesses great length as a pass rusher and knows how to set the edge in the running game.
He shouldn’t be expected to come in and rack up 10 sacks as a rookie, but any contributions as a pass rusher will be valuable to a Rams defense that’s starving for pressure from someone besides Donald. Because if things don’t change in a hurry, teams will simply double- and triple-team Donald more than they already do and bet that the Rams’ other pass rushers won’t hurt them.
[vertical-gallery id=638842]