3 ILB’s Rams could steal in FA market...

3 ILBs the Rams can steal in NFL Free Agency market

[ramblinfan.com]

There’s a general consensus, tinged with a bit of unease and uncertainty, amongst LA Rams fans about the linebacker corps. The team is extremely light at all of the linebacker positions, and perhaps none more so than an inside linebacker.

It’s a win-now mentality for the team right now. That places any thin roster depth and talent deficiencies for this team in the intensive care unit. Maybe this need will be addressed in the draft. But a more likely option might be found if the team were to scour the NFL Free Agency market with an eye toward securing a bargain veteran play at that position.

Are there any free-agent inside linebackers who represent good value at a nominal price? After all, the Rams are on a tight budget, so they need to be super-savvy shoppers. The Top-Tier linebackers are simply too pricey, given the Rams salary cap situation. And why pay a premium for performance that benefitted another team?

The Rams are much too savvy for that nonsense. Why pay a player for the hope of duplicating the production on the Rams roster? It’s far more sensible to seek a player who fits the job description but who has not yet hit their NFL stride. Then let the production flow on the football field in an LA Rams jersey.

It’s the risk of hitting on a player just about to break out or take a turn for the worse. You split the difference. Either you overpay, or you nail a great bargain. Sometimes the Rams can do all of their homework, and still not hit the mark. But eventually, the odds will produce a home-run. When that happens, the roster jumps from good to great. So how can the Rams make that happen? Here are some players worthy of auditioning

Patrick Onwuasor

Now, one player the Rams might take a flyer on (healthy only) is Patrick Onwuasor, most recently of the New York Jets. Although saying he played for the Jets last season is a bit of a stretch because he was injured for almost the entire season between, first, his knee and then hamstring issues. He only saw the field for one game, and that was on special teams.

After being moved from wide receiver to safety at Arizona, he played safety at Portland State and was an undrafted free agent of the Ravens who played his way onto the field as a linebacker because of his speed and overall athleticism.

He signed for $2 million last year with the Jets but was unable to prove his worth. So I’m thinking he’s got a lot of incentive this season to prove-out and might represent a steal for the Rams. Let’s not ignore that Aaron-Donald-Effect either.

When he’s healthy, however, this former Baltimore Raven plays with a vicious intensity that made him a favorite of both teammates and fans alike and represented the kind of aggressive, blue-collar player that Raven head coach Jim Harbaugh loved during his time with the team.

Nicknamed “Peanut” (a moniker hung on him by a youth basketball coach), as Onwuasor told the Baltimore Sun back in 2016, “When I was small, my coach said, ‘Who is this peanut-head dude running around so aggressive? That’s one thing my coaches like about me. I’m physical and I compete.”

Onwuasor is a bit on the small size for an NFL linebacker, standing 6-foot-0 and weighing 227 pounds. But he possesses that solid combination of skills you like to see at linebacker – a player who can rush the passer from the middle of the defense, step up to stuff the run, and excel in pass coverage.

That’s the trifecta of skills for an inside linebacker, and he checks all three boxes. He brings versatility, giving the Rams an option for the middle of the defense on passing downs. A thumper who can enforce in the middle of the field, or patrol from center-field.

Is he a gamble, a roll-of-the-dice based on his recent health and someone who missed an entire season? Yes, but that’s also why he’d be a bargain free-agent steal for the club. And an intriguing chess piece for the Rams’ new defensive coordinator Raheem Morris to strategize with.

Neville Hewitt

There’s another Jets’ inside linebacker who was a veritable iron-man on the field for them last season, as he played in all 16 games and lead the team in tackles, with 91 of the solo variety, too. That’s Neville Hewitt, also a college safety-turned linebacker at the pro level.

Coming into the league with Miami, he joined the Jets ahead of the 2018 season and was thrust into the spotlight in 2020 when middle linebacker C.J. Moseley opted out of the season due to Covid.

But the Jets had a terrible defense? I do believe a strong case can be made that the Jets defense this year held up its end of the bargain. It was the putrid offense and an erratic quarterback named Sam Darnold who was out there “throwing to ghosts” (and players in the wrong jersey color) that was the problem.

Hewitt emerged a team leader on defense and always played every down with grit and determination, in what was surely a most-trying season for him to endure last year. Signed for $2 million, I’m thinking a change of scenery, and greener pastures playing on a better team might be a smart move.

He’s a 6-foot-2, 234-pound punisher in the middle. He’s a snarler, a rabid pitbull who sheds blockers and delivers punishment. More than one running back rubs his limbs and hits the ben-gay after tangling with Hewitt. Want physicality? Hewitt is the guy.

Not to mention, just about any linebacker worth their salts gets a step-up in basis when they play behind the likes of the NFC Defensive Player of the Year in Aaron Donald.

Josh Bynes

And my third bargain is the battle-tested veteran Josh Bynes, another ex-Raven linebacker, who most recently played for the Cincinnati Bengals where he also played in all 16 games and amassed 99 tackles.

Bynes had an under-the-radar good season on a bad Bengals team last year. Bynes very quietly had one of the strongest careers among active linebackers. His Pro Football Focus grade of 52.4 was simply a tough year for a really good player

He really stands out in pass coverage and is a sure tackler that represents great value on the free-agent market. He has consistently been highly rated throughout his career wherever he’s played, with earlier stops in Detroit and Arizona.

Bynes will likely always be remembered fondly in Baltimore for one particular tackle, however – when he made the final tackle against running back Ted Ginn Jr., just shy of the goal line to secure their 34-31 Super Bowl XLVII win. That was a singular play in Ravens lore, and he’s just the sort of veteran clutch player that would be a welcome addition to the Rams defense.

Signed for just $1.6 million last year, he’d be a bargain signing for a cash-strapped team in search of a veteran linebacking presence.

Who said the LA Rams can’t find talent for the heart of the defense. Here are three excellent options to sign to the team, and due to their relative anonymity, they should all be affordable options.