He changed our defensive front. Once he settled in the opposing OL couldn't deal with the threats across the front. There was no answer.
Removing him is going to have a profound impact to the Rams defense and it won't be good. So the Rams moves, which include an approach of improving the run defense through second level addition of Wagner and retooling the back end, are designed to try to chip away at that impact his absence will make.
And the single biggest question area is the slot. Rams were one of the worst defenses in the league there. The good thing is adding Hill plus two ballhawk draft picks should equate into some improvement in the slot. But the Rams were not great outside the hash opposite Ramsey either. Of the 3 "starting" CB spots they have one locked down.
Things look a
ton better back there for sure. As I keep saying I feel like it's been a long time since we've drafted a corner like Durant, with his mix of stickiness plus ball skills. My hope is that they can sustain where they finished last year in points allowed (9th-10th range) during the season, as that was respectable enough to have a good win total. So to me the Rams aren't in the top 5 consideration. For that to happen they'll need multiple answers to arise in the secondary in camp which might be a bit too high an expectation.
In the end, though, all that matters is sewing up a playoff spot and entering the playoffs on a roll. So if they can solve it through the season they could end up being once again that team whose defense is playing some of the best ball in the playoffs. But there's a long way to go for that one. I don't like seeing them being listed that high given the enormity of that edge threat they lost.
