Will this be SJD’s curtain call?

Will this be Sebastian Joseph Day’s curtain call?​

[ramblinfan.com]

The LA Rams have a lot of important decisions to make, and 2022 is a huge year for what to do about expiring contracts. We know that the Rams must be a bit tight-fisted now, as the salary cap ceiling dropped precipitously rather than continue its steady climb as the team had hoped. Salary cap dollars suddenly became quite scarce for the team in 2020, and then again for 2021. Now, the team must decide who, if any, will be offered a contract extension to play for the team in 2022. One such player whose fate hangs in the balance is Sebastian Joseph Day.

Sebastian Joseph Day is a young and promising player for the LA Rams. He plays the nose tackle position but is versatile enough to play anywhere along either a 3-4 or 4-3 defensive front. His performance has improved steadily each season, to the point where he is likely expected to put up a career-high season for the Rams this year.

He, like all defensive linemen for the Rams, gets the Aaron-Donald effect. So one of the first questions that the LA Rams must answer in planning their 2022 roster strategy is to determine how much of SJD’s performance is SJD, and how much is Aaron Donald? Of course, some of his steady climb to NFL performance must be attributable to Bash (his high school nickname), as he has become entrenched in the nose tackle position, his off-season training has focused exclusively upon that role.

That’s critical to know because the Rams must commit to either defensive back Darious Williams, interior offensive lineman Austin Corbett, reserve offensive lineman Joseph Noteboom (who is the primary backup to the expected-to-retire offensive left tackle Andrew Whitworth), or any number of players whose contracts expire at the end of this season. Who is the team’s priority?

Steady improvement

Joseph-Day is not unique in his career for the LA Rams so far. Rather, his story is rather mainstream for this team. He arrived on the team in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL Draft, hearing his name with the 195th overall pick. At 6-foot-4 and 310-pounds, he arrived with the right size, but with a rawness that his draft profile concluded would require more muscle mass. Of course, he was given the opportunity to develop. That’s the Rams way it seems.

Although he made the cut and remained on the team’s 53-man roster, he was inactive for all 16 games. Of course, that was not wasted time in the least. He was watching and learning. He was constantly asking questions of veterans Michael Brockers, Ndamukong Suh, and yes, even Aaron Donald. Asking, and learning, and practicing, and training. By the end of the 2018 season, the Rams did not bring back Suh. Instead, the team tapped Bash to take over on the defensive line.

While he was the starting defensive lineman in both 2019 and 2020, he was not pulling the majority of defensive snaps. The Rams run a 3-4 defensive front. The toll taken on the front three is tremendous, so the Rams compensate by a rapid rotation. The result is that Sebastian Joseph Day pulls fewer than half of the defensive snaps in one season. Still, he has managed to put up respectable production despite the limits to his on-field time.

His role for the team, at the nose tackle position, is not to sack the quarterback. With the growth of mobile quarterbacks, the nose tackle is tasked with maintaining an even pocket that will collapse on the quarterback. As soon as Bash dislodges from the offensive linemen, a mobile quarterback can break to the running lane where he is no longer located. Sometimes, the key to the defense is not to play selfishly, but rather to maintain the responsibility of the assigned role.

He exceeds expectations

There are reasons to believe that the 2021 defense may be ever so slightly different. For starters, the third new defensive coordinator in three years is a good clue. Raheem Morris will give the Rams defense a new coat of paint, and that could affect several roles. The inside linebacker and nose tackle roles are the most likely to be impacted.

With the Rams investing at inside linebacker, it’s clear that the Rams want a more forceful and impactful player in that role. That includes all three phases of defense: Run-stuffing, pass coverage and pressuring the quarterback. While there are no guarantees that the Rams rookie inside linebacker Ernest Jones will start, it will come as no surprise if he has claimed the starting role this year. And with a move active player at the linebacker role, the nose tackle role will change as well.

Sebastian Joseph Day is working feverishly to improve his pass rush, the one area that has remained a vulnerability. In fact, Pro Football Focus considers him a break-out candidate for 2021. It’s pretty clear that a young NFL player’s career trajectory shows improvement for a number of years. With his redshirted rookie season, this is likely SJD’s third active year. That’s a good year to see a huge burst out of a defensive lineman.

Whatever the expectations of fans, he has consistently exceeded the expectations of the Rams coaching staff. Aaron Donald, much like Jalen Ramsey, influences his part of the football field. The Rams defense needs players like SJD in order to be completely effective. He’s young and stout and has plenty of great football in his future. He need not pull down the quarterback 10 times to have a great season. Will the Rams bring him back? If he has the type of year that he is capable of, and that some expect him to, he could be too expensive for the team’s budget.