Todd Davis played last season with Brandon Staley in Denver.
Sean McVay said several times this week that the Rams are comfortable with their current group of linebackers despite Travin Howard’s season-ending injury. However, he did leave the door open to adding help on the waiver wire when teams begin trimming their roster today and into Saturday.
Fortunately for the Rams, a veteran just became available who could provide some much-needed help at linebacker.
The Broncos cut Todd Davis on Friday in what was a somewhat surprising move. It saved them $4.5 million against the cap, which made the decision less shocking, but Davis had been a starter for Denver for the last four seasons.
At just 28 years old, he still has plenty of good football ahead of him despite having four years of starting experience in the NFL. Last season alone, he had 134 tackles and missed just six tackle attempts, which is a really good rate for a linebacker – or any defender, for that matter.
Six of those tackles went for a loss, while he also broke up one pass and hit the quarterback once.
What makes Davis an especially intriguing free agent for the Rams is the fact that he has some familiarity with the Rams’ defense. Brandon Staley was the Broncos’ outside linebackers coach in 2019 and he’s expected to carry over many of the same aspects of Vic Fangio’s defense from Denver – a system Davis spent last year in.
Staley may not have coached Davis directly, but they worked on the same defense, which carries some merit. Even Leonard Floyd, who was coached by Staley in 2017 and 2018, said this offseason that the Rams’ defense is similar to what the Bears ran when Staley was there.
There is a reason Davis became available, though, and it’s not just because he was expensive. He’s not very good in coverage, allowing a completion rate of 78.7% on passes in his area the last two seasons, surrendering five touchdowns with only eight breakups – seven of which came in 2018 alone.
He’s also coming off a calf injury, which has his status for Week 1 up in the air. He’ll be fully healthy at some point, but he may not be 100% yet.
Even still, the Rams should consider bringing the veteran in, simply based on their desperate need for depth. Even if McVay says they like the guys they have, Davis would be an upgrade and has more experience than the Rams’ entire linebacker room combined.
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