Pass rush in 2020

[MachS]

I see a ton more double and triple teams in ADs future. Instead of making his life easier, and freeing him up to rush the passer we're taking talent away from around him which will allow defenses to key on him easier. But some of the young guys have some upside so fingers crossed there.. I'm a lot more worried about ILB position. Imagine if we open the season up with Reeder and Kaiser as ILBs alm:

 

[LARAMSinFeb.]

Polite needs to play this season. I am curious about his underrated talents.

Polite has a bit of a Littleton vibe.

 

[Loyal]

View: https://i.imgur.com/ml3QUe3.png

 

[oldnotdead]

DaSilva IMO has it wrong. I see the starting boundary CBs as Ramsey and Young who both are good at press man coverage with good safeties in Rapp (SS) and Johnson (FS) behind them. I see Williams as the nickel and his play last year made NRC expendable. IMO that's a pretty good secondary.

Ebukam showed he's a solid and complete OLB something that is actually rare. A player big enough to set a hard edge in the run game, and fast enough to blitz and to provide coverage. I believe they are paying Floyd to be a more affordable edge rusher than Fowler. I can see him as a 6-7 sack type of edge. I think he has the talent to be a 9 sack type edge but he needs to improve his technique to do it. The reason I see them keeping Ebukam at SAM is that Floyd IMO isn't as well rounded in his skill set as you want in that SAM. We saw how important the SAM position is in that game of games against the Chiefs where Ebukam IMO was the MVP. Samson was specifically developed to play that position and he plays it well. IMO he's become one of the best and most complete SAM LBs in the NFL.

DE Okoronkwo
NT Robinson, Gaines
DT AD, TBD
WIL Floyd

MIKE Kiser
MO Young
SAM Ebukam

RCB Ramsey
LCB Long
SS Rapp
FS Johnson

The Rams starters provide a pretty solid unit if used properly. I can see them being a top 10 unit if they stay healthy.

 

[oldnotdead]

Polite showed up at the combine and his pro day badly overweight and out of shape. It bespeaks of commitment and work ethic problems. He's had cautionary flags on him since before the draft. Because of his flabby condition, he tested poorly and not validating his game film.

Currently, he's back to his game weight in the low 240 range. He will have to prove himself both on the field and in regards to his work ethic to break the lineup. He's got the talent to be a productive DE in the NFL but it remains to be seen if he can realize his potential. At best I can see him in rotation at DE with Okoronkwo.

 

[shovelpass]

DE Okoronkwo

He's too small to play DE in a 3-4. In nickel/dime formations sure but no way in base D. Especially considering Staley says he values versatility in the DL, and there's absolutely no way he can play at NT or 3T. At this point it'll probably be Robinson at DE.

 

[kurtfaulk]

He's too small to play DE in a 3-4. In nickel/dime formations sure but no way in base D. Especially considering Staley says he values versatility in the DL, and there's absolutely no way he can play at NT or 3T. At this point it'll probably be Robinson at DE.

Surely he meant edge rusher.

.

 

[shovelpass]

Surely he meant edge rusher.

.

Then we're using 2 DL and 5 LB in base D. That would be a big change from last year.

 

[Ram65]

Keep in mind before last year Fowler only had 16 sacks in four years. Floyd has 14.5 sacks in his first four years.

Floyd actually has 18.5 Sacks his first four years,

Leonard Floyd Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Checkout the latest stats for Leonard Floyd. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, college, draft, and more on Pro-football-reference.com.

www.pro-football-reference.com

 

[Ramrasta]

I see a ton more double and triple teams in ADs future. Instead of making his life easier, and freeing him up to rush the passer we're taking talent away from around him which will allow defenses to key on him easier. But some of the young guys have some upside so fingers crossed there.. I'm a lot more worried about ILB position. Imagine if we open the season up with Reeder and Kaiser as ILBs alm:

This is exactly it. We are in desperate need of an ILB upgrade now that Littleton left. Reeder and Kaiser have cinder blocks for feet and are a liability in the open field. We need someone with more speed and athleticism in the middle.

 

[Mojo Ram]

We need someone with more speed and athleticism in the middle.

Yes we do. I'd rather not see the Rams horsing around all year trying to plug Safeties in there either. I miss CL already.

 

[So Ram]

I anticipate a dip, at least looking at the current roster. Floyd is stout but he's not Fowler. But the draft is still ahead too so we'll see how it looks once all that is done.

One nice thing here is our secondary looks quite good. Not elite at CB2 but we should be able to comfortably shut down 2 top weapons (Ramsey manned up on one, the other doubled). So if the run defense is stout and can keep teams in third and long I think we'll be happy with the defense overall (should be somewhere from 10-15 range if Staley is good).

IMO these guys are going to work hard at zone in camp. They were fuckin terrible zoning people up last season and need to improve there. But in overall defensive strategy you can have a very good defense without an elite rush simply by your secondary playing at a high level. I'm not too worried about that for that reason and we have Donald who definitely makes things easy for the others.

Troy Hill really stepped up, what happens between D.Williams & D. Long is where it’s at. Both players are ascending. Williams has Excellent Hands.
T.Rapp is still raw,but JJ was playing at a Pro Bowl level. Still need another Safety!!

OO - will be tough & Ebukham is a stud.I think both players are going to show what J.Barry means as a Rams asst. HC.

A. Robinson is going to help Aaron Donald so much. He in my book is going to be better than Suh & is ascending. My new favorite player. Of course The Rams young squad really has me excited.

Pass rush ?? Will see, but like you say about the CB position is solid. That right there is going to help out & Brockers never really could push the pile which I think will see from the D”Line now.
Floyd as a 3/4 DE can support the run. The Rams still need to keep adding value OLB pass rushers. There is always value there which makes the 3/4 such a cool thing for The Rams Now. Pittsburgh is the Standard.
I wonder about a MLB to fill Cory Littleton’s spot. So The Rams are a draft pick short of filling needs.
RB, MLB. & MLB . 3rd rd 2020 has depth at WR .

 

[So Ram]

What's the plan?

I'm getting 50 sacks...

View: https://i.imgur.com/99kSpW5.png

Yeah- right!!! 20 ???

What I liked against the 9ers last season that I was cool!!! Actually very cool, besides the Love of Littleton,Fowler,Clay had with Donald until dumb asses RAMsey & T.Rapp got caught inside short on another 3-18.
Was Greg Gaines playing DT,then Morgan Fox came in for him & got the sack.
Point is those 2 players can playoff each other nicely. Change of Pace.

 

[oldnotdead]

The Rams played with only 2 DL and 5 LBs when Brockers was off the field. Okoronkwo is an OLB and so was Fowler. In the hybrid system, it's aligned and played much like a 4-3 except with more flexibility on how to use players. That is why a 4-3 DE works fine in a 3-4 hybrid because it's a one gap scheme not two gap like a traditional 3-4 so you can use smaller quicker players. In a traditional 2 gap 3-4 the DL are there to eat up blockers while the LB's make the plays. In a hybrid scheme since it's one gap it's about attacking and penetration.

Okoronkwo lacks the long pursuit speed but he has strength and a very good first step. What he needs to do is develop counters and his handwork. Playing besides AD will mean Floyd will have his opportunities as it benefited Fowler. Or they could play Floyd at MIKE and move Ebukam to replace Fowler. But that will open a huge hole because they don't have another true SAM LB which is what Ebukam has become.

 

[So Ram]

The Rams played with only 2 DL and 5 LBs when Brockers was off the field. Okoronkwo is an OLB and so was Fowler. In the hybrid system, it's aligned and played much like a 4-3 except with more flexibility on how to use players. That is why a 4-3 DE works fine in a 3-4 hybrid because it's a one gap scheme not two gap like a traditional 3-4 so you can use smaller quicker players. In a traditional 2 gap 3-4 the DL are there to eat up blockers while the LB's make the plays. In a hybrid scheme since it's one gap it's about attacking and penetration.

Okoronkwo lacks the long pursuit speed but he has strength and a very good first step. What he needs to do is develop counters and his handwork. Playing besides AD will mean Floyd will have his opportunities as it benefited Fowler. Or they could play Floyd at MIKE and move Ebukam to replace Fowler. But that will open a huge hole because they don't have another true SAM LB which is what Ebukam has become.

Wouldn’t Ebukhams role just increase in reps ??

Why is NOBODY talking about my new favorite player. Brockers was an excellent Ram,but he never really pushed a pile back.

Suh in the Playoffs stepped up huge,but he seemed to not penetrate much before that.
A.Robinson is an ascending player.He signed just a 2 year contract. He is going to want & get his Big Contract.

 

[jrry32]

DaSilva IMO has it wrong. I see the starting boundary CBs as Ramsey and Young who both are good at press man coverage with good safeties in Rapp (SS) and Johnson (FS) behind them. I see Williams as the nickel and his play last year made NRC expendable. IMO that's a pretty good secondary.

Ebukam showed he's a solid and complete OLB something that is actually rare. A player big enough to set a hard edge in the run game, and fast enough to blitz and to provide coverage. I believe they are paying Floyd to be a more affordable edge rusher than Fowler. I can see him as a 6-7 sack type of edge. I think he has the talent to be a 9 sack type edge but he needs to improve his technique to do it. The reason I see them keeping Ebukam at SAM is that Floyd IMO isn't as well rounded in his skill set as you want in that SAM. We saw how important the SAM position is in that game of games against the Chiefs where Ebukam IMO was the MVP. Samson was specifically developed to play that position and he plays it well. IMO he's become one of the best and most complete SAM LBs in the NFL.

DE Okoronkwo
NT Robinson, Gaines
DT AD, TBD
WIL Floyd

MIKE Kiser
MO Young
SAM Ebukam

RCB Ramsey
LCB Long
SS Rapp
FS Johnson

The Rams starters provide a pretty solid unit if used properly. I can see them being a top 10 unit if they stay healthy.

Obo isn't a DE in Fangio's 3-4. In San Francisco, Fangio used Justin Smith and Ray McDonald. In Chicago, Fangio used guys like Akiem Hicks and Mitch Unrein. In Denver, he used Derek Wolfe and Shelby Harris. He uses guys who are the size of DTs. My best guess is:
SDE: A'Shawn Robinson or Sebastian Joseph-Day
NT: Greg Gaines or A'Shawn Robinson
WDE: Aaron Donald
SOLB: Leonard Floyd or Samson Ebukam
Mike: Micah Kiser or Troy Reeder or Natrez Patrick
Jack: Kenny Young or Travin Howard
WOLB: Obo Okoronkwo or Jachai Polite or Leonard Floyd
LCB: Jalen Ramsey
RCB: Troy Hill
SLCB: David Long Jr.
FS: John Johnson
SS: Taylor Rapp

But we'll have to wait and see what moves they make in the draft and the rest of FA. I'm hoping they add a veteran ILB. If they don't, they have more faith in the guys on the roster than I do. I also wonder what they think of Jachai Polite. He was a first round talent on the field, but obviously had some major troubles off of it. If he has pulled himself together, he might prove to be something.

 

[shovelpass]

The Rams played with only 2 DL and 5 LBs when Brockers was off the field.

No they didn't. If you're talking as a sub, Fox and SJD came in for Brockers. If you're talking about nickle/dime formations Brockers stayed on, the NT would get pulled. But even then it wasn't a 2-5, it was a 2-4 (2EDGE, 2DL, 2ILB) or 2-3 (2EDGE, 2DL, 1ILB with Rapp or Christian taking up the other ILB spot). Using a 2-5 front would also limit the secondary to only 4, so they probably didn't use this on passing downs.

Base Formation

Nickel Formation

n the hybrid system, it's aligned and played much like a 4-3 except with more flexibility on how to use players.

It's similar in the gap assignments yes, but it's different in how and where they line up. 4-3 DEs are usually lined up slightly to the outside the Tackles, 3-4 DEs play further inside which is why they are required to be bigger and stronger, and 3-4 OLBs are lined up way outside of the tackles or even on the TE which is why they are lighter and faster. Most importantly a 3-4 is basically a 5 man front, that's how you get more flexibility on how to use players, the QB\Oline has to figure out where you're rushing from, lining a 3-4 D up exactly like a 4-3 gives up your advantage.

3-4

5 man front, 2LB off-ball

4-3

4 man front, 3LB off-ball

Here's some more info on our 3-4 under Wade. http://nflfootballjournal.blogspot.com/2019/01/when-rams-are-in-base-defense-which-3-4.html

 

[AlphaRam]

We've asked this question every year - last year Fowler never had that much production, ala Floyd. I think we will be fine.

Great point, but we did have Matthews and we knew we were going to get a decent amount of pressures out of him. This year there's more unknowns. Hopefully Floyd can pull a Fowler.

 

[iamme33]

Ebukam getting 15! Just watch his athleticism and motor is off the charts

I don't know what son of bums scheme was but it looked like fowler was the 4th pass rusher and ebukam was the no one gets outside you part of the scheme. if you watch ebukam often runs straight to the ot and hand fight with him almost like that is his assignment. if that is true and he is turned lose this year he could be a huge sack man. hope springs eternal I guess.