Why Taylor Rapp should be a big part of Rams' game plan vs. Eagles
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theramswire.usatoday.com]
Cameron DaSilva
Taylor Rapp was on the field for 74.3% of the Rams’ defensive snaps as a rookie last season, stepping up in a big way after John Johnson suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. He quickly became a valuable part of the defense, playing alongside the veteran Eric Weddle on the back end.
His rapid rise in 2019 made his shocking descent to open this season even more shocking. Against the Cowboys on Sunday night, Rapp was only out there for 15% of the Rams’ defensive plays. Jordan Fuller, who replaced him in the starting lineup, was on the field for 99% of them.
Sean McVay said after the game that Rapp is healthy and his lack of playing time was the result of Fuller shining in training camp and the week of practice before the game. Rapp remains a big part of the Rams’ defense, McVay said, but Fuller earned his share of playing time in the season opener.
The Rams will need Rapp more than usual on Sunday against the Eagles, however, and he should be a huge part of the defensive game plan – especially as he continues to get back up to speed after missing time with a knee injury.
Few teams in the NFL rely on and utilize their tight ends as much as Philadelphia does, and it’s easy to understand why. The Eagles have two capable starters in Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert, who can each make plays as receivers and seal off edge defenders as blockers.
In Week 1 against Washington, Carson Wentz targeted Goedert a team-high nine times and Ertz seven times – second-most on the team. They combined for 11 catches, 119 yards and caught both of Wentz’s touchdown passes, proving to be the Eagles’ most reliable pass catchers.
One of the best ways to neutralize a tight end is to stick a good safety on him, of which the Rams have several. Rapp is one of them, and he showed as a rookie the ability to play man coverage near the line of scrimmage, matching up with tight ends throughout the season.
The Rams don’t have great linebacker depth and expecting a player like Micah Kiser or Kenny Young to hang with Ertz and Goedert all game long, while also trying to defend the run, would be unwise. Instead, the Rams can utilize their safety depth and put Rapp on one of the two, hopefully closing the throwing lanes for Wentz to his tight end.
The other reason for Brandon Staley and McVay to get Rapp much more involved is his tackling ability. Last season, no player in the NFL with at least 100 tackles had a lower missed tackle rate than Rapp. He missed just three tackles on 103 attempts, a rate of 2.9%. Put simply, he was one of the best tacklers in the NFL last season, despite being a rookie.
In Week 1 against the Cowboys, the Rams missed a whopping 15 tackles. Not all of them were complete whiffs, but tackling was clearly an issue for the defense – and Staley wants it to improve as soon as possible.
“There’s certainly room for improvement. We missed far too many for the caliber of group that I think we have. A lot of it is just angles and timing. I think it’s very difficult to simulate timing in practice when it isn’t truly live to the ground,” Staley said Wednesday.
Rapp would presumably be an easy solution to improve some of the tackling woes in Week 2, given the way he played last season. He won’t solve the issue completely – it takes an entire defense to do that – but he should help limit the yards gained after the catch, especially with speedsters such as DeSean Jackson, Jalen Reagor and Greg Ward on the other side.
Even if Rapp doesn’t start on Sunday, expect to see a lot more of him than we saw in Week 1.
