The Pleasant affect

[jjab360]

About Aubrey Pleasant/Jimmy Lake/whomever forcing Morris to change his scheme. No, Morris has had that scheme, but hasn't had the pass-rushers, nor trust enough in the corners, to utilize it. Aaron Donald was it, and when he went down, everything went to hell. Ramsey - hell, the defensive backs as a whole - were struggling because there was simply no pass-rush once AD went down.

Now they have a group of solid pass-rushers. Hoecht may be out of position as an edge defender, but he's a hell of a pass-rusher. Murchison now has a full year within the system (and I still think he should play more than Jonah Williams). EB4 and BB3, while not blowing the competition out of the water, have gained the full trust of Morris. Even VanValkenburg has played a bit. And then they drafted Byron Young and Kobie Turner (along with Nick Hampton and Desjuan Johnson; yes, I still believe that they could play a huge role this year.). That alone means a great deal.

And now the younger corners and safeties have noticeably improved. Bringing in JJ3, Ahkello Witherspoon, and Duke Shelley were smart, savvy moves. Morris' trust in Durant and Kendrick has improved - and they've rewarded him - with the help of a solid, solid pass-rush. Their safety play has noticeably improved from last year; Yeast, Fuller, and Lake have been solid safeties (and one of the only two things I'd change is putting in Lake instead of Rozeboom, Reeder, or Hummel; he's got the toughness necessary to do so and the ability to make plays in coverage. The only other thing I'd change is putting Hoecht back on the defensive line, but I digress; Morris called an excellent game against Seattle.), so much so that JJ3 is still on the bench, and they added to this group with THT (a Thorpe Award winner, might I add; he's going to be amazing alongside Durant and Kendrick when he learns the playbook and stops committing penalties) and Jason Taylor II (who impressed me a ton in the preseason).

Morris did not play a prevent scheme. He played heavy zone because he had concerns about the younger corners adjusting, but most importantly, it failed because the pass rush simply wasn't there. If we add someone like Brian Burns during the trade deadline for a first and a second (which has become my hope; he'll only be twenty-five for the whole season, and he'll fit a young core of Young, Turner, Durant, and Jones very, very well.) and pay him, the pass-rush is only going to get better.

TL;DR: Morris did not have the warhorses at pass rush necessary to play his scheme last year. He does this year. That's why his scheme is better, not on any fault he has. Nobody forced him to change his scheme back to what we had in the playoffs; he just didn't have the pieces necessary.

Idk our D was shit before AD went down last year too

I think there's been a dramatic schematic change, our DBs never played so much press coverage under Raheem before this past game iirc

 

[Memento]

You say'n that J Ramsey, was free-lancing too much?
Even if you're not saying that - I believe that anyway!

I'm saying that Ramsey couldn't cover as much as possible. Kendrick was thrown-into the fire and exposed as a sixth round rookie (which, it seems like he's noticeably improved; note to self: never judge rookies or second-year players before they hit year three; something we can learn with Bruss and Skowronek, something I've learned with Atwell) and Durant was injured most of the year and was not fully trusted by Morris; he obviously trusts both now. Fuller was injured most of the year, Lake was injured most of the year, Yeast was thrown into the fire as a seventh round rookie when Nick Scott went down.

But the main problem was the pass-rush; it dropped very noticeably when AD went down and even further when Gaines played with a badly-injured hand, and when A'Shawn Robinson went down. We had zero pressure from the defensive line aside from one good game from Murchison. Our outside edge rushers in Floyd and later on Hoecht were decent, but only decent. Floyd got most of his sacks when AD was available; Hoecht stepped up in an absolutely huge way.

But personally...personally, I'd prefer that Kier Thomas made this team this year, Hoecht bulks up and goes back to the D-line, and Jonah Williams gets waived. I'd also love for Lake to be our quasi-linebacker opposite Jones because Rozeboom, Reeder, and Hummel scare the shit out of me as options. That's my personal opinion.

On a separate note, I do not feel like Hoecht is a bad player at all; I just feel he's way out of position and way out of his depth at edge. If you're going to try him at edge, rush him, don't put him in coverage. But he simply can't cover, and he can't hold the edge; he definitely is a defensive lineman playing edge rusher. So let him pin his ears back and rush the damn passer like what Morris did with Young.

I never felt that Ramsey was free-lancing. He got four picks, made a lot of huge stops, was a major factor, but no defensive backfield can cover receivers forever, and with the pass-rush we had last year (i.e., none after AD went down), we had to cover forever or make a play on the ball or bait a receiver - and that's not even counting the numerous coverage busts. Ramsey played outstanding under very trying circumstances, and I will always respect him as a player and as a Ram.

 

[Ramstien]

I like most of what Memento had to say except the part about Burns. I hope the Rams hold on to that

#1 pick for a top QB coming out.

 

[Merlin]

I've always been of the mind that Morris is not an elite DC. I don't think he's blameless in terms of fans criticizing him either. Way I see it he benefitted greatly from adding an edge that made our rush unstoppable during our title run. This past weekend was the first time I can recall seeing a secondary playing a full 60 as a tight unit back there under his tenure.

Last season I give him cred though, in that he had some personnel issues that affected how he called it. Not to the point though where I would exempt him from the way the secondary played. They were very bad and as the HMFIC he needs to own it.

But if he can put together a top defense this season I will admit that maybe he's grown into a top DC. And as I always say I am rooting for him to do well.

 

[Memento]

Idk our D was shit before AD went down last year too

I think there's been a dramatic schematic change, our DBs never played so much press coverage under Raheem before this past game iirc

We didn't have issues in 2021 and if I recall correctly, we played a very smothering scheme in 2021 once Von Miller got on the team, and we had Darious Williams on the team as well to compliment Ramsey, to play that smothering style. Now, I'm not saying that Durant and Kendrick are going to be Ramsey and D-Will, I'm not saying Young is going to be Von. I'm just saying that a lot of our players were replacing really good players with substandard play. Let's be honest: Kendrick was awful as a rookie. Durant was good in coverage, but injured most of the year. Lake was on the PUP, Fuller went on IR early, Nick Scott eventually went on IR, Rapp was either on IR or awful.

We were reduced to a shell of ourselves, and couldn't play the scheme without potentially giving up a lot more points than we gave up.

 

[Memento]

I like most of what Memento had to say except the part about Burns. I hope the Rams hold on to that

#1 pick for a top QB coming out.

If we beat the 69ers, will you change your mind? I've certainly changed mine; I'm a believer again, positivity reborn from the ashes like the proverbial phoenix of legends. Imagine what Burns and Young could do.

 

[ottoman89]

Wait.. now we’re defending Morris?

I kid, I kid…

When he calls his Defense like this past Sunday and in the playoffs and SB.. absolutely.

My gripe has and will always be the 13 yards off the WR shit. But he looked different this last week and I love it.

 

[Merlin]

When he calls his Defense like this past Sunday and in the playoffs and SB.. absolutely.

My gripe has and will always be the 13 yards off the WR shit. But he looked different this last week and I love it.

He's got a better staff under him now, particularly for the secondary room. And while the players are young he can trust them to play the call. It had to affect his calls to have a bunch of guys trying to jump routes with bad eyes and shit all over the field and a team leader in Ramsey trying to throw blame every time a wideout blew by him or he was in the wrong spot.

His strategy felt like it was to make them keep snapping it and hope Donald makes a play. Not really a bad approach given what he had.

 

[dpjax]

Uncomfortable silence…..

 

[Kupped]

Sports is alchemy.

Pleasant was fired last year by Detroit & Lions D improved.

He comes to Rams and the DBs look good after one game.

 

[JimY53]

Idk our D was shit before AD went down last year too

At the time of Donald's injury in 2022

Yards allowed 10th
Rushing yards allowed 4th
Defensive points allowed 13th
Redzone Defense 2nd
Goal-line defense 1st
First downs allowed 6th
forcing 3-and-outs 12th
DVOA - 16th

Defense was playoff-quality defense through 11 weeks.
If you didn't like it, fine, but the facts show it was far better than
people give credit for.

It's one thing to not like the scheme - fair game
It's another to not compare it to the rest of the NFL. The problem
in 2022 was the offense ... bottom 5 in many things, but #1 in
most injuries to the OL, so not placing undue blame on offense
they had reasons for what happened.

Defense did fall apart after Donald went down -- that is also backed
up by numbers