Rather than hiring an experienced defensive coordinator to replace Wade Phillips, or promoting someone like Joe Barry or Aubrey Pleasant, Sean McVay opted to bring in Brandon Staley, who’s only been in the NFL for three years. He spent all three of those years as an outside linebackers coach with the Bears and Broncos, working under Vic Fangio’s tutelage since 2017.
Staley has coached players such as Von Miller, Bradley Chubb, Khalil Mack and Leonard Floyd, but will Dante Fowler Jr. be added to that list?
Fowler will be a free agent in March after playing out the 2019 season on a one-year deal worth up to $14 million. He bet on himself with that short-term deal, which proved to be a great decision. Fowler posted career-highs in sacks (11.5), QB hits (16), tackles for loss (16) and total tackles (58).
The Rams would love to keep Fowler, but he might price himself out of their range. After all, pass rushers are always coveted in free agency and typically have a long list of suitors – especially the better pass rushers. Cory Littleton’s impending free agency will also play a role in Fowler’s future, since the Rams can’t afford to keep both of them.
With Staley on the staff, though, he might push Los Angeles to keep Fowler over Littleton. His specialty is working with edge rushers, and what better way to make a new coach comfortable by giving him a quality outside linebacker with proven production on this team?
In 2019, Staley was afforded the opportunity to coach Miller, who didn’t exactly have a great year, but he was still a Pro Bowler. The year before, Mack was wreaking havoc as a first-team All-Pro with 12.5 sacks and six forced fumbles as a member of the Bears.
Without Fowler, Staley will be left with a group of edge rushers who don’t exactly elicit much confidence. Clay Matthews is a proven veteran, but Samson Ebukam has 9.5 career sacks in three seasons and Ogbonnia Okoronkwo has played 115 defensive snaps in the NFL.
The Rams will add reinforcements regardless to their pass rush, but unless they break the bank for a top free agent like Shaquil Barrett, Bud Dupree or Yannick Ngakoue, a draft pick isn’t going to be able to replicate the success Fowler had.
That’s no disrespect to Littleton, who’s become one of the NFL’s best inside linebackers over the last two years. But with Staley’s history of coaching edge rushers, it wouldn’t be the least bit surprising if the Rams lean Fowler’s way more than Littleton’s.