Do the Rams now have the most intimidating defense in the NFL?
- Thread starter tomas
- Start date
-
To unlock all of features of Rams On Demand please take a brief moment to register. Registering is not only quick and easy, it also allows you access to additional features such as live chat, private messaging, and a host of other apps exclusive to Rams On Demand.
SteezyEndo
The Immaculate Exception
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2012
- Messages
- 7,109
On paper so far. I'd like to see this squad game it up in September, I'm super jazzed thus far on where we are going. I would like our Offense to be equally intimidating though.
Jacobarch
Hall of Fame
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2016
- Messages
- 4,926
- Name
- Jake
I think our offense is already there. Highest scoring team in the league last year. Yeah we have that covered.
Our defense is going to have to gel, the Rams have a tendency to start off slow and finish strong. They have a lot of work a head of them, we have to remember this is new offense for most out stsrters.
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2010
- Messages
- 29,542
I don’t expect much of an adjustment period for our defense.This is Wade’s 2nd year. Talib has played Wade’s scheme before. Suh knows how to shed blocks and tackle qb’s and rbs’s, no matter the system. Peter’s plays man to man coverage. Different system? Yea, but isn’t press coverage the same regardless?New guys will need adjustment time, but it won’t be like last year where 4-3 personal were learning as a whole a brand new defense. Starting slow was a Greg Williams thing, I believe.
Elmgrovegnome
Legend
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2013
- Messages
- 21,796
Right now the edges are a bit weak. Peters is not a great tackler. Long acre can play the run, but I am not sure he will start.
Ebukam is a ? For me when it comes to fun defense.
We don’t yet know who may be drafted to play the edge. If they get a good all round OLB then edge should be fine and the defense should be hard to attack.
I am guessing the will find a solid ILB. So the middle should be fine.
Ebukam is a ? For me when it comes to fun defense.
We don’t yet know who may be drafted to play the edge. If they get a good all round OLB then edge should be fine and the defense should be hard to attack.
I am guessing the will find a solid ILB. So the middle should be fine.
Elmgrovegnome
Legend
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2013
- Messages
- 21,796
Whitlock loves to tell people how stupid this guy or that guy are. He thinks that he is an authority on everything.
Can’t stsnd that guy
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2010
- Messages
- 48,131
- Name
- Burger man
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/...ndidates-to-be-the-nfls-best-defense-in-2018/
Rams, Jaguars among five leading candidates to be the NFL's best defense in 2018
Every NFL season from 2013 through 2016, the question of "who is the best defense in the league" basically boiled down to two teams: the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos. As we wrote last summer:
No NFL team has allowed fewer yards or yards per play over the last four years than the Seahawks. The Broncos rank second in both categories. No NFL team has allowed fewer points, fewer first downs, a lower passing rating, or fewer yards per rush attempt. The Broncos rank seventh, seventh, third, and fourth in the same categories. No team has gotten more sacks or generated more pressures (sacks plus hits plus hurries) over those four years than the Broncos. The Seahawks rank in the top 10 in sacks and top five in pressure.
Seattle led the league in scoring defense every season from 2012 through 2015, and finished third in 2016. They led the NFL in yards allowed in 2013 and 2014 before finishing third in 2015 and fifth in 2016. The Broncos finished in the top five in yards allowed during each of the last three seasons. The Seahawks and Broncos are also the only two teams to finish in the No. 1 spot in Football Outsiders' defensive DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average, a performance efficiency metric that adjusts for down, distance, and opponent) at any time during the last four years. Seattle took the defensive DVOA crown in 2013 and 2014, while the Broncos took it home in both 2015 and 2016.
Last season, an entirely new team emerged as the best defense in football: the Jacksonville Jaguars. I'd like to say it was so predictable that we actually predicted it, but the Jags didn't even make our list of four teams that could push the Seahawks and Broncos for the title of best defense in the league. This time around, let's rectify that. Below, you'll find the leading contenders for the NFL's best defense during the 2018 season.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Led by elite groups up front and on the back end, the Jaguars finished the 2017 season second in both yards and points allowed, first in yards allowed per play, first in points allowed per drive, and first in Football Outsiders' defensive DVOA. Free-agent signings Calais Campbell and A.J. Bouye turned out to be possibly the two best signings of last year, as both players somehow emerged as Defensive Player of the Year candidates. Campbell finished second in the NFL with 14.5 sacks while Bouye held opposing quarterbacks to a pitiful 31.6 passer rating on throws in his direction. The crazy part is that it's entirely possible neither of them was the best player on Jacksonville's defense, thanks to the presence of Jalen Ramsey. All three are back in 2018, along with Malik Jackson, Yannick Ngakoue, Dante Fowler, Myles Jack, Telvin Smith, Barry Church, Tashaun Gipson, Abry Jones and Marcell Dareus. They lost slot corner Aaron Colvin to another team on this list, but they've got Jalen Myrick and D.J. Hayden ready to pick up the slack, and plenty of draft capital with which to add more depth at defensive back. These guys are going to be damn good once again.
Los Angeles Rams
The Rams are certainly the team on this list that has made the biggest splash this offseason. The team's offense got most of the attention last season thanks to the emergence of Jared Goff, the re-breakout of Todd Gurley, and the creative play-calling of coach Sean McVay, but the defense might actually have been the better unit. The Rams finished the 2017 season seventh in points allowed per drive and sixth in defensive DVOA. Had Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald not held out long enough to miss the first two games of the year, those figures might've been even better. All the Rams have done this offseason is go out and get him a ton of help. First, they traded for star Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters, who leads the NFL in interceptions since entering the league and has held opponents to a passer rating below 70 in each of his three seasons. Then, the Rams swung another trade for Aqib Talib, who may be on the wrong side of 30 and in the final year of his deal but is still a heck of a player. And on Monday, they pulled off one of the most impressive signings of the offseason, landing Ndamukong Suhon a one-year, $14 million deal.
Sure, the loss of Robert Quinn on the outside will hurt, but the Rams can make up for his absence by having the best group of interior rushmen in football as well as one of the NFL's best secondaries. It's safe to say Wade's going to have some fun with this crew.
Minnesota Vikings
Remember how we mentioned earlier that the Jaguars finished last season second in both yards and points allowed? Well, these are the guys that finished first. In both categories. The Vikes also ranked second in yards allowed per play, points allowed per drive, and defensive DVOA. They were the only team in the league to finish in the top five in each of those categories, plus the top five in DVOA against both the run and the pass. Mike Zimmer is one of the best defensive coaches in the NFL, and he just got another fun toy to play with, as the Vikings signed former Jets and Seahawks star Sheldon Richardson on a one-year deal. Richardson should help mitigate the loss of interior stalwart Tom Johnson, and something tells me the Vikings will be OK getting by with just Linval Joseph, Everson Griffen, Danielle Hunter, Brian Robison, Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks, Harrison Smith, Xavier Rhodes, Andrew Sendejo, and (assuming he comes back for one more year) Terence Newman.
Philadelphia Eagles
Speaking of teams that were awfully good defensively last year, that had a specific strength along the defensive line, and added one of the best defensive linemen in the league ... your Super Bowl champion Eagles would like to throw their hat in the ring. Like the Rams, Philly's offensive got most of the attention last season, but the defense was nothing to sneeze at. The Eagles finished fourth in yards and points allowed, sixth in yards allowed per play, third in points allowed per drive, and fifth in defensive DVOA. They swung a trade for former Seahawks star Michael Bennett this offseason (Bennett may face a suspension stemming from his recent felony arrest), helping them keep pace with the Vikings and Jaguars in the race for the best defensive line in the league. They lost breakout cornerback Patrick Robinsonin free agency, but getting a full season from last year's second-round pick Sidney Jones, as well as last offseason's trade acquisition Ronald Darby, should help make up for that loss. And if the secondary takes a slight step backward, well, they Eagles still have one of the league's best front sevens to make up for it.
Houston Texans
This one is a bit of a wild card considering the Texans finished last season dead last in scoring defense and just 20th in yards allowed. But that'll happen when two of your three best defensive players go down for the year with early-season injuries. A unit with a healthy J.J. Watt, Whitney Mercilus, and Jadeveon Clowney has to be on anyone's shortlist for best defense, and when you add in the fact that they signed Colvin away from the Jags and then added Tyrann Mathieu after that, well, there's just too much talent on this defense not to take them incredibly seriously. Assuming good health, they should be strong at all three levels and extremely tough against both the run and the pass.
Rams, Jaguars among five leading candidates to be the NFL's best defense in 2018
Every NFL season from 2013 through 2016, the question of "who is the best defense in the league" basically boiled down to two teams: the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos. As we wrote last summer:
No NFL team has allowed fewer yards or yards per play over the last four years than the Seahawks. The Broncos rank second in both categories. No NFL team has allowed fewer points, fewer first downs, a lower passing rating, or fewer yards per rush attempt. The Broncos rank seventh, seventh, third, and fourth in the same categories. No team has gotten more sacks or generated more pressures (sacks plus hits plus hurries) over those four years than the Broncos. The Seahawks rank in the top 10 in sacks and top five in pressure.
Seattle led the league in scoring defense every season from 2012 through 2015, and finished third in 2016. They led the NFL in yards allowed in 2013 and 2014 before finishing third in 2015 and fifth in 2016. The Broncos finished in the top five in yards allowed during each of the last three seasons. The Seahawks and Broncos are also the only two teams to finish in the No. 1 spot in Football Outsiders' defensive DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average, a performance efficiency metric that adjusts for down, distance, and opponent) at any time during the last four years. Seattle took the defensive DVOA crown in 2013 and 2014, while the Broncos took it home in both 2015 and 2016.
Last season, an entirely new team emerged as the best defense in football: the Jacksonville Jaguars. I'd like to say it was so predictable that we actually predicted it, but the Jags didn't even make our list of four teams that could push the Seahawks and Broncos for the title of best defense in the league. This time around, let's rectify that. Below, you'll find the leading contenders for the NFL's best defense during the 2018 season.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Led by elite groups up front and on the back end, the Jaguars finished the 2017 season second in both yards and points allowed, first in yards allowed per play, first in points allowed per drive, and first in Football Outsiders' defensive DVOA. Free-agent signings Calais Campbell and A.J. Bouye turned out to be possibly the two best signings of last year, as both players somehow emerged as Defensive Player of the Year candidates. Campbell finished second in the NFL with 14.5 sacks while Bouye held opposing quarterbacks to a pitiful 31.6 passer rating on throws in his direction. The crazy part is that it's entirely possible neither of them was the best player on Jacksonville's defense, thanks to the presence of Jalen Ramsey. All three are back in 2018, along with Malik Jackson, Yannick Ngakoue, Dante Fowler, Myles Jack, Telvin Smith, Barry Church, Tashaun Gipson, Abry Jones and Marcell Dareus. They lost slot corner Aaron Colvin to another team on this list, but they've got Jalen Myrick and D.J. Hayden ready to pick up the slack, and plenty of draft capital with which to add more depth at defensive back. These guys are going to be damn good once again.
Los Angeles Rams
The Rams are certainly the team on this list that has made the biggest splash this offseason. The team's offense got most of the attention last season thanks to the emergence of Jared Goff, the re-breakout of Todd Gurley, and the creative play-calling of coach Sean McVay, but the defense might actually have been the better unit. The Rams finished the 2017 season seventh in points allowed per drive and sixth in defensive DVOA. Had Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald not held out long enough to miss the first two games of the year, those figures might've been even better. All the Rams have done this offseason is go out and get him a ton of help. First, they traded for star Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters, who leads the NFL in interceptions since entering the league and has held opponents to a passer rating below 70 in each of his three seasons. Then, the Rams swung another trade for Aqib Talib, who may be on the wrong side of 30 and in the final year of his deal but is still a heck of a player. And on Monday, they pulled off one of the most impressive signings of the offseason, landing Ndamukong Suhon a one-year, $14 million deal.
Sure, the loss of Robert Quinn on the outside will hurt, but the Rams can make up for his absence by having the best group of interior rushmen in football as well as one of the NFL's best secondaries. It's safe to say Wade's going to have some fun with this crew.
Minnesota Vikings
Remember how we mentioned earlier that the Jaguars finished last season second in both yards and points allowed? Well, these are the guys that finished first. In both categories. The Vikes also ranked second in yards allowed per play, points allowed per drive, and defensive DVOA. They were the only team in the league to finish in the top five in each of those categories, plus the top five in DVOA against both the run and the pass. Mike Zimmer is one of the best defensive coaches in the NFL, and he just got another fun toy to play with, as the Vikings signed former Jets and Seahawks star Sheldon Richardson on a one-year deal. Richardson should help mitigate the loss of interior stalwart Tom Johnson, and something tells me the Vikings will be OK getting by with just Linval Joseph, Everson Griffen, Danielle Hunter, Brian Robison, Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks, Harrison Smith, Xavier Rhodes, Andrew Sendejo, and (assuming he comes back for one more year) Terence Newman.
Philadelphia Eagles
Speaking of teams that were awfully good defensively last year, that had a specific strength along the defensive line, and added one of the best defensive linemen in the league ... your Super Bowl champion Eagles would like to throw their hat in the ring. Like the Rams, Philly's offensive got most of the attention last season, but the defense was nothing to sneeze at. The Eagles finished fourth in yards and points allowed, sixth in yards allowed per play, third in points allowed per drive, and fifth in defensive DVOA. They swung a trade for former Seahawks star Michael Bennett this offseason (Bennett may face a suspension stemming from his recent felony arrest), helping them keep pace with the Vikings and Jaguars in the race for the best defensive line in the league. They lost breakout cornerback Patrick Robinsonin free agency, but getting a full season from last year's second-round pick Sidney Jones, as well as last offseason's trade acquisition Ronald Darby, should help make up for that loss. And if the secondary takes a slight step backward, well, they Eagles still have one of the league's best front sevens to make up for it.
Houston Texans
This one is a bit of a wild card considering the Texans finished last season dead last in scoring defense and just 20th in yards allowed. But that'll happen when two of your three best defensive players go down for the year with early-season injuries. A unit with a healthy J.J. Watt, Whitney Mercilus, and Jadeveon Clowney has to be on anyone's shortlist for best defense, and when you add in the fact that they signed Colvin away from the Jags and then added Tyrann Mathieu after that, well, there's just too much talent on this defense not to take them incredibly seriously. Assuming good health, they should be strong at all three levels and extremely tough against both the run and the pass.
nighttrain
Legend
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2013
- Messages
- 9,216
our Rams without Watkins are not as explosive, and not going to score as much
train
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2014
- Messages
- 18,666
- Name
- Dave
I couldn't agree with Herds opinion more, he's right! I want my Defensive Players on the Nasty side!!
No! ( For Brevities sake!
)
BonifayRam
Legend
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2013
- Messages
- 13,435
- Name
- Vernon
If Wade can get this 2018 Ram defense increasing the overall snaps in his 4-1-6 formation......then the Rams will be on track to be one of NFL's best. Of course if that were to occur it would indicate that he has been effective in finding discovering replacements for starting veteran LB'ers Quinn, Barwin & Ogletree.
Last season Wade D was at its best when he was able to field & used a four DL front of Quinn- Donald- Brockers-Barwin. The NEW Ram defensive secondary with a back seven of Talib- Peters- Joyner- NR-C- JJ III- Shields & Barron is something that should scare all offensives that need to pass to not punt.
When you dig deeper past starters Suh- Donald- Brockers front DL (which should be the best 34 D front in the NFL)...you will find last seasons starter steady strong DE Ethan Westbrooks, dynamic pass rushing DT Easley, DE Morgan Fox, DT Tanzel Smart & huge NT Omarius Bryant of which several of these reserves would be starters on most other teams has to be the best 34 D overall DL depth in the NFL too. These back ups will help keep the main 3 fresh.
The first of the year ROD member's were discussing the main weak links in this defense being @ both starting corners & NT. Snead & McVay have erased all these concerns. Now we have moved down the list of needs to Edge Rushers/OSLB'ers & Inside mike LBer... here in less than a month before the draft.
We all look forward to is watching Snead provide Wade with the necessary elements to make this 2018 defense into the best most feared in the NFL.:yess:
Last season Wade D was at its best when he was able to field & used a four DL front of Quinn- Donald- Brockers-Barwin. The NEW Ram defensive secondary with a back seven of Talib- Peters- Joyner- NR-C- JJ III- Shields & Barron is something that should scare all offensives that need to pass to not punt.
When you dig deeper past starters Suh- Donald- Brockers front DL (which should be the best 34 D front in the NFL)...you will find last seasons starter steady strong DE Ethan Westbrooks, dynamic pass rushing DT Easley, DE Morgan Fox, DT Tanzel Smart & huge NT Omarius Bryant of which several of these reserves would be starters on most other teams has to be the best 34 D overall DL depth in the NFL too. These back ups will help keep the main 3 fresh.
The first of the year ROD member's were discussing the main weak links in this defense being @ both starting corners & NT. Snead & McVay have erased all these concerns
. Now we have moved down the list of needs to Edge Rushers/OSLB'ers & Inside mike LBer... here in less than a month before the draft.We all look forward to is watching Snead provide Wade with the necessary elements to make this 2018 defense into the best most feared in the NFL.:yess:
LACHAMP46
A snazzy title
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2013
- Messages
- 11,735
Sounds like a poster or 20 I know....:blah:
Shifted the weakness for sure....The first of the year ROD member's were discussing the main weak links in this defense being @ both starting corners & NT. Snead & McVay have erased all these concerns
but LB's are kinda important to the running defense...our main weakness in 2017
Rabid Ram
Legend
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2013
- Messages
- 7,360
- Name
- Dustin