I think he makes a good point that John Johnson III was a key to how the Rams played defense last year under Staley. If you watch Chargers games, you'd see a defense not nearly as good as the 2020 Rams. Personnel matters. The off coverages drive all of us crazy but when Raheem does this, it seems he is lulling the offense with overconfidence and mixes it up with pressures and multiple backend looks.
To me, the loss to the Packers in the playoffs highlights that the Rams defense has been too dependent on Donald for many years to have success. Games where he's allowed to be blatantly held or doesn't have several splash plays are the ones that make the defense look ordinary at best. Snead has been stockpiling safeties for years but none have the overall skills of JJIII.
At 6-1, it's hard to argue results though the optics are uncomfortable. For all the frustrating easy gains the defense allows, the defense stiffens in the red zone, thwarts 4th down conversions, pressures QB's frequently, and creates a respectable number of turnovers overall. If we are to celebrate the brilliance of AD and Ramsey, we have to admit in today's NFL, you can't afford Pro Bowlers at every position so you have to coach up lesser talents in other places. Honestly, DWill wasn't having a stellar year even before he got hurt.
I will personally wait until the Rams play the Niners, Cards again, and Ravens before I evaluate what level of defense we possess. For years, the Patriots developed their defenses throughout the year to be multiple in scheme and took several perplexing losses along the way to be prepared for the playoffs. It's merely fandom hope the Ram's plan is similar. I also realize that the last offseason was mostly about acquiring Stafford to elevate the offense and who wants to argue that strategy now? Would anyone here really prefer they kept JJ, Hill, and Brockers instead of acquiring Stafford?
