Rams’ revamped defense wasn’t perfect, but the potential is undeniable

The Rams completely retooled their defense in the last 12 months, and the early returns are promising.

Dante Fowler Jr., Cory Littleton, Nickell Robey-Coleman, Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib, Eric Weddle, Clay Matthews.

All seven of those players were either starters or key players in Week 1 last year for the Rams, but none of them remain on L.A.’s roster in 2020. That was both by design and out of the Rams’ control, with some players being cut or traded and others departing in free agency.

Compared to last year’s Week 1 lineup, the Rams had seven new starters on defense against the Cowboys on Sunday night. It’s not often a defense undergoes that many changes in 12 months, but the Rams felt it was necessary to retool a unit that underperformed last season. The personnel changes were joined by the arrival of Brandon Staley as defensive coordinator, replacing the great Wade Phillips.

And although the early returns aren’t perfect, they certainly were promising.

The Rams held the Cowboys to only 17 points in their 20-17 victory at SoFi Stadium, which is a feat in and of itself. There were some numbers that didn’t prove as flattering – like the 24 first downs they surrendered, and the 380 total yards Dallas put up – but overall, it was a highly encouraging start for a completely retooled defense.

We all know about Jalen Ramsey and Aaron Donald, but Jordan Fuller stepped up in a huge way as a sixth-round rookie. He played 98% of the defensive snaps, none bigger than the one where he stopped CeeDee Lamb short of the first-down marker on a fourth-down attempt in the final quarter.

Troy Hill was tested seemingly less than Ramsey was, which is a testament to his coverage skills – and he was covering the slot for much of the game, too. Darious Williams got beat a few times, but he largely held his own outside, too.

The defensive line recorded two sacks – one by Donald and another by Michael Brockers – while Sebastian Joseph-Day did his job of clogging running lanes in the middle and hitting Dak Prescott once.

Donald, as its often said, simply could not be blocked.

Donald’s Dominance: Act 2.

At inside linebacker, there were understandably some questions. Micah Kiser played just about every snap, if not all 69, with Kenny Young mixed in as ILB2. There were some early struggles by the linebackers and plenty of missed tackles by the defense as a whole, but when they settled in, things definitely improved.

Where some questions remain is at outside linebacker. Yes, Leonard Floyd had one sack, but he was going up against an undrafted rookie at right tackle all game long – a matchup that greatly favored the veteran. That sack was his only hit on Prescott, which felt a little disappointing. And he was the only edge rusher period to hit the quarterback.

Samson Ebukam had four tackles, Ogbonnia Okoronkwo had one and Jachai Polite had a decent rush on the Cowboys’ final drive, but with an undrafted rookie manning the right side of the Cowboys’ line, the Rams should’ve had more than just one QB hit from their strongside rushers.

Minor issues aside, the Staley’s group couldn’t have played much better against an offense as explosive as Dallas’. Yes, there were too many missed tackles and not enough pressure on Prescott from people not named Aaron Donald, but the potential is easy to see.

If the coverage holds up and Donald gets some help, this group has a chance to finish as a top-10 defense like Floyd said they could.