It was an impressive debut from the Rams rookie out of Ohio State.
247sports.com
When the Los Angeles Rams drafted safety
Jordan Fuller out of Ohio State last spring, there wasn't much fanfare outside of Columbus, Ohio and Fuller's hometown of Old Tappan, New Jersey. One hundred and ninety-eight players and 17 other safety prospects were selected prior to Fuller in the sixth round. Yet in Week 1 of the NFL on Sunday Night Football, it was Fuller, in his professional debut, making plays in the Rams' secondary.
Following a 20-17 win against the Dallas Cowboys, Fuller was a major talking point. He finished the game with a team-best eight tackles, six in the first half, including a crucial stop on fourth down early in the fourth quarter.
With the Rams leading by three and the Cowboys driving down to LA's 11-yard line, veteran head coach
Mike McCarthy elected to go for it instead of attempting a tying field goal. Quarterback
Dak Prescott found rookie wide receiver
CeeDee Lamb over the middle but Fuller, after navigating through a sea of bodies, came up and made the tackle on the former Oklahoma star short of the first down marker.
"Jordan has been balling all (training) camp and we are happy to have him in our secondary," cornerback
Jalen Ramsey, who just signed a record five-year, $105-million extension last week, said of Fuller. "He’s been playing extremely well so we expected him to do that again tonight.”
This wasn't how many anticipated the Rams' secondary to look to start the season. Second-year safety
Taylor Rapp was expected to start opposite
John Johnson III on the back end of the Los Angeles defense after playing in 15 games a year ago, starting 10, and recording 100 tackles. But it was Fuller who trotted out on to the field for the Rams on the defense's first possession of the year and it was the rookie who played 71 snaps, second most on the defense.
But maybe this shouldn't have been as big of a surprise. After all, Fuller had an impressive college career at Ohio State, finishing as a top-three tackler for the Buckeyes in each of his three seasons as a starter. Multiple draft experts believed the Rams got a bit of a steal last spring when Fuller fell to the sixth round.
In addition to Fuller's talent, Rapp suffered a knee injury early in the team's training camp and missed all but the last week prior to the start of the season. Fuller, along with 2020 third-round pick
Terrell Burgess out of Utah, took Rapp's reps and
reportedly looked good throughout the preseason.
According to Rams head coach
Sean McVay, it was Fuller's play in camp that got him the start and limited Rapp to just 15 defensive snaps and some special teams work. And both Fuller and Rapp will remain as important parts to the team's defense.
“It was based on the way
Jordan Fuller performed throughout training camp,” McVay said postgame. “
Taylor Rapp is a big part of our football team, that is not going to change, but it was more a result of great things that Jordan has done from day one. I mean, he’s been making plays, he’s mature beyond his years. The way he sees things, his range, his ability to make plays, as he demonstrated tonight. So, very pleased with Jordan. He’s going to continue to get better, but
Taylor Rapp is a huge part of our football team as well.”
Fuller was a part of new defensive coordinator Brandon Staley’s new scheme with plenty of post-snap motion meant to confuse the opposing quarterbacks. Going against what is expected to be an elite Cowboys passing attack with Prescott,
Amari Cooper,
Michael Gallup and Lamb as the key pieces, the Rams held Dallas to 244 yards through the air.
While it's just one game and there are sure to be bumps in the road for Fuller, it was another impressive NFL debut for a former member of Ohio State's secondary. Or as they call it in Columbus, Best In America.
theramswire.usatoday.com
www.turfshowtimes.com
