Re: Yes I think so

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merlin

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AlbaNY_Ram
So, the Cards ran for 216 yards on 40 carries in week 4. What personnel changes have the Rams made on defense since then?

Source for the Rams snap counts against the Cards: [theramswire.usatoday.com] ... and the Jags: [theramswire.usatoday.com]


Some guys played around the same percentage in each game: Ramsey, Rapp, Fuller, Williams, Floyd, Donald, and Robinson all saw the field against the Jags pretty much the way they were used against the Cards..


As for the differences, these guys saw their usage drop:

Young played 99% of the snaps in week 4: he is no longer on the team.

Long played 82% of the snaps in week 4: he didn't see the field against the Jags.

Joseph-Day played 62% of the snaps in week 4 but he's on IR and didn't play against the Jags.

Lewis played 56% of the snaps in week 4: he didn't see the field against the Jags.

Obo dropped from 44% to 27%.


And these guys got more playing time:

E. Jones went from 13% to 95%.

Gaines went from 37% to 81%

Miller wasn't with the team in week 4 but logged 80% of the snaps against the Jags.

Reeder played 35% in week 4, 49% against the Jags. (Yes, that is correct. Surprised me, too ...)

Deayon didn't see the field against the Cards but played 71% of the snaps against the Jags.

Scott went from 21% to 32%.

Copeland got 27% against the Jags after not playing against the Cards.


The Rams seem to be better at defending the run now than they were when they played the Cards. Is it because of these personnel changes? Is the defense being called differently? Is it something else?

The Rams are definitely a good run stopping team now. And you are right in that the Rams have moved on with certain personnel due to the disappointing results since.

Getting rid of Young was a great move first off. The advantage Young brought was his range. But that range came at a price in misdiagnosed angles, getting erased by any blocker, and bad instincts in his drops vs the pass. Jones is not as athletic but he covers good ground due to good anticipation, takes good angles, and can work through blocks. It seems to me that McVay has finally learned that speedy ILBs generally come with a dislike of contact and that can hurt your bottom line. Jones has changed the equation there and Reeder makes a nice sub when you need a little more physicality and downhill fills for certain downs/distances.

Gaines has also been a revelation. He has always been stout at the point but now he's started to penetrate and disengage/pursue and that has changed the feel of the interior of our DL. The Rams are a lot tougher up the middle now. And they're more dangerous on the rush too.

OLB is deeper with Von's addition. Guys like Oko are actually good as rotation depth. I think the Rams defense on both edges is far more prepared for the rigors of the playoffs and beating teams with mobile QBs now. And Von has a very good contain awareness which is something we suffered greatly at when Lewis and Oko were the primary options. Both those younger guys do way too much inside move BS, particularly Lewis, and lose contain which will kill you against a team like Arizona.

Secondary looks pretty good right now tbh with Ramsey > Williams > Deayon as the corners. Williams is still struggling but not as much of late as he was so maybe it was injury hurting his game and Morris said he's coming back from that. Deayon looks good in the slot and has good timing on the rush too btw. The problem is the safety rotation when Deayon rushes, Rapp is kind of sluggish there. But then again Rapp has seen some time in the box of late with Jones and I hope that continues. IMO that is the solution remaining for the Rams in the secondary, is moving Rapp out of there in nickel and putting him in the box.

It is possible this defense is about to start stringing together excellent outings for this critical stretch of games. If that happens rumors of the Rams demise might have been premature. If not, well, we are still probably looking at wildcard and a little more time for this unit to get their BS together but I do think they are trending the right way right now.