Would the Giants Game be Good Time to Change Up the Defensive Playing Time?

[Ram65]

Although, the Rams should not take the Giants game litely it should be a game they can win easily. At the moment we don't know the extend of S Jordan Fullers shoulder injury, We also don't know the expected return of rookie Edge Terrell Lewis. Even if Lewis returns this week it would probably take another week or two before he gets a significant amount of reps. Questions have been asked about the play of Ebukam, Hill and Young as to their lack of making plays/playing ability.

Players that could get more playing time in the secondary would be CB Long and Safety/NCB Burgess with a question on continued increased time for S Rapp. At Edge Lber the Rams have Obo, Hollins and Polite who only, has one snap, to take snaps away from the failing Ebukam.

There is no doubt about the need for the Rams to get Donald help with the pass rush. Fox has been getting steady reps with Hollins seeing his reps increase to 15% as a late signing. Gaines has been getting some reps but, not a lot. Burgess got his first reps this week while Long has had single-digit reps the past two weeks.

It's early with a new Defensive Coordinator in Staley teaching his system and learning about each player's ability. There could be some overreaction here after the Bills put up a 35 Burger on the Rams. However, injuries do happen and the Rams have players with limited experience and some that could be improvements of current players getting more snaps.

What changes in snap counts would you do this week against the Giants?

Snap counts by game not updated with Bills game.

Snap Count Summary by Team

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[Memento]

Polite absolutely deserves to show what he can do. Ebukam has been completely ineffective, and Okoronkwo is only a tiny bit better. You can't win without a good pass-rush, and Donald and Floyd (who I have questions about myself) have gotten to the quarterback. I'm hoping that Lewis gets healthy as well; I'd love to see a Floyd/Polite/Lewis/Hollins tandem, and rotate them to keep them fresh.

I'm sorry, but I'm not a fan of Hill. I love that he created a game-winning interception against Philly, but the experiment at nickel corner needs to end. I'd put Burgess in there (if we need a tackler at nickel, Burgess works.) and have Hill as valuable depth or put Hill on the outside where he's thrived in the past and slot Williams at nickel. Long is also an option because, while he isn't the fastest, he's extremely sticky in coverage.

I'd also nix Young's playing time (Young has not been great, in my honest opinion.) and use a safety alongside Kiser (for example, Fuller). I don't see why we don't put our best players (Fuller, JJ3, and Rapp - the lattermost of whom I think still has sky-high potential) in the game. I don't know how it'll affect our run defense, but we haven't had problems thus far.

Also, Staley needs to blitz more. We're not getting home with our current setup. If we blitzed Allen, who knows what could've happened. Instead, we just rushed four or three, and put the rest in coverage. As a result, Allen beat us with his arm and legs. I don't want the same to happen with Wilson and Murray.

I don't mind Gaines and Joseph-Day in at nose...but Fox should play more at Brockers' spot. I don't mind Brockers on obvious run-downs, but he's not the greatest pass-rusher.

But yeah, that's what I would do.

 

[Ellard80]

Defense is thin - because of free agent losses, salary cap. It shows.

I hoping they improve because our offense seems good enough to go far, but we really have looked soft on defense all year.

 

[Merlin]

On defense the big one is ROLB. I think Hollins is going to get his shot. Oko has been worked in quite a bit through the first three games but has been largely invisible. Lewis and Polite might factor in too who knows.

Staley IMO is really big on the contain. That's why he pushed for Floyd's addition (who has done a great job for us there). But that blind side has just been fucking hideous. Poor contain and poor rush. It's been building and yesterday it hurt us. I think it's gone on long enough now that something will be done so eager to see who they try and in what combination.

Looking forward to some injury reports too. This should be an interesting week and game for the reasons you allude to 65.

 

[OldSchool]

The next few games seem like a great time to help players get more comfortable with the scheme. Any kind of subs that take over the starting roles won’t be able to be properly judged. We play two bad offenses next followed by Whiners Bears and Dolphins. Let them get adjusted imo. I wouldn’t be shocked to see less Ebukam and more Lewis though.

 

[Ram65]

We have to about the injury status of Fuller and T Lewis. T Lewis has great potential. When he is ready to go he must get his reps. He has the physical ability to hold the edge and get pressure. In the meantime,the Rams need to generate some more pressure.

Polite absolutely deserves to show what he can do.

Ebukam has been completely ineffective, and Okoronkwo is only a tiny bit better.

PFF has Ebukam with a 39.6 grade so far this year. Obo's grade is only a little better at 50.9. While Polite has only one snap giving him some more snaps in pass-rush situations to see what he can do. Polite was known for being quick off the snap-in college with a high-end motor. I'm sure the coaches have seen enough of Polite in practice but, maybe he does better in a game. You don't need PFF to see that neither player are making plays.

I'm sorry, but I'm not a fan of Hill. I love that he created a game-winning interception against Philly, but the experiment at nickel corner needs to end. I'd put Burgess in there (if we need a tackler at nickel, Burgess works.) and have Hill as valuable depth or put Hill on the outside where he's thrived in the past and slot Williams at nickel. Long is also an option because, while he isn't the fastest, he's extremely sticky in coverage.

Long ran a 4.45 40 yard dash which is about what Burgess ran, IIRC 4.46. Of course, there is more to being a quality defensive back than 40 yard dash times.

I don't know about wholesale changes. I do think Burgess and Long should get a few more reps if the opportunity shows itself with a nice Rams lead in the next two games before the Whiners game. It's possible that Burgess could be needed to help replace Fuller if he should be out with the shoulder injury. I'm not convinced that Rapp is the answer at free safety, especially in coverage. Burgess was suggested as a possible NCB. Considering Williams has a reported achilles injury it might be a good idea to have him get reps at the NCB spot. I would feel much better if the both Long and Burgess had a little more playing experience if need to fill in. It's possibl they could be upgrades as well.

I think Hollins will be getting more reps. I notice he took over for Floyd early in the game when Floyd waived out for rest. He also was in missing a sack when Allen grabbed his face mask. I wonder if he would be an improvement over Young in the middle by being more physical.

The Rams offense has shown it can score points early in 2020. The defense has shown it is having some growing pains in the new Staley defense. The lack of pass rush pressure and confusion on coverages shows a need for improvement.

 

[FrenchRams]

Never underestimate a team but without Saquon their offense is less dangerous, but they looked against the Steelers so the defense has to be ready.
And i can’t wait to see Lewis healthy, if he plays to his potential he could gain a lot of playing time imo.
We have to play 100% each game and this game is a must W!

 

[TexasRam]

Our next 5 opponents:
Giants
Washington
Niners
Bears
Dolphins

Perfect time to get Burgess and some pass rushers a look. I would love to see them bring in Matthews who had 8 sacks in 13 games for us last year. Or give Hollins and Polite lots of reps to see what they have. Obo is not generating pressure.

And please put the Hill at slot experiment to bed. He can play outside to a degree but he's not good in the slot.

Great time for Staley to test out some blitz packages as well.

 

[NoCoNite]

The rams could just sit the defense out this game. Giants are bad enough to go 3&out on air and they’re not stopping our offense.

 

[NoCoNite]

The giants couldn’t score on a broken 49ers defense and let Nicky/nate(idk) Mullins put up 36. This is closest thing we’ll get to a bye week before the bye week.

 

[dieterbrock]

Should be a laugher. Only slight worry is that the one thing the Giants can do is work the short middle/slot. Engram is the athletic TE I worry about and Sheppard & Slayton can be effective. And of course they have that Punk Ass Golden Taint on the team who has been a pain the nuts.
That said, if the Rams dont score 40 it's only because McVay is being nice

 

[Angry Ram]

Personally I think they should continue to run what they do if they want to get better at it. They stymied two other NFL teams before Buffalo. Let the scheme take place.

 

[OldSchool]

View: https://twitter.com/JimmyKempski/status/1310887947416240128?s=19

 

[badnews]

View: https://twitter.com/JimmyKempski/status/1310887947416240128?s=19

And the Rams handling of the two best NFCE teams has a lot to do with those differentials.
Now we get the dregs of the east to feast on. Eatemup!!!

 

[Ram65]

https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2020/09/28/rams-injury-update-cam-akean-fuller/rs-jord

Sean McVay shares injury updates on Jordan Fuller, Cam Akers

Cameron DaSilva

17 hours ago
The Rams defense took a major hit on Sunday when rookie Jordan Fuller suffered a shoulder injury and had to leave the game. It’s rare for a sixth-round rookie to have such a major impact right away on an NFL defense, let alone a star-studded one like the Rams’ but Fuller has been a huge part of the Rams’ secondary.

Fortunately, his injury isn’t considered series and the Rams are optimistic that he’ll be back on the field on Sunday against the Giants. That will most likely send Taylor Rapp back to a reserve role, with Fuller regaining his starting role.

“Jordan had a shoulder, he’ll be day-to-day. He might be out on Wednesday, but it’s not something that we anticipate being something that’ll keep him out for this week, but we might be smart with him on Wednesday.

McVay said “Cam Akers will continue to be day-to-day,” and his status for Sunday is uncertain.
“With Cam, we’ll see if he’s ready to go and how he kind of progresses throughout the course of the week. He’s really the only one that I would say his status is uncertain,” McVay said.

Even if he’s able to return in Week 4, it sounds like Darrell Henderson will remain the starting running back in L.A.

When asked if Henderson will get the start again on Sunday against New York, McVay said, “Yeah, I think so.” That’s understandable after Henderson rushed for 114 yards and a touchdown in the Rams’ loss to the Bills.

Also on the injury front, there’s been no decision made yet about whether Terrell Lewis will be activated off the NFI list this week when he’s first eligible. In fact, there hasn’t even been a discussion about it yet.

“Haven’t talked about that yet. Certainly, wouldn’t rule it out, but as of right now, that’s not something that we’ve discussed,” he said.
McVay added that Sebastian Joseph-Day and Josh Reynolds tweaked their ankles but should be able to play on Sunday.

 

[Ram65]

Good news on Fuller coming back this week.

Sebastian Joseph-Day and Josh Reynolds tweaked their ankles but should be able to play on Sunday.

that is more good news.

Also on the injury front, there’s been no decision made yet about whether Terrell Lewis will be activated off the NFI list this week when he’s first eligible. In fact, there hasn’t even been a discussion about it yet.

“Haven’t talked about that yet. Certainly, wouldn’t rule it out, but as of right now, that’s not something that we’ve discussed,” he said.

Not so good news. Very surprising that they haven't even discussed it yet. It's still early in the week. Rams need TLew to get back healthy and contribute off the edge.

 

[Ram65]

Our next 5 opponents:
Giants
Washington
Niners
Bears
Dolphins

Perfect time to get Burgess and some pass rushers a look. I would love to see them bring in Matthews who had 8 sacks in 13 games for us last year. Or give Hollins and Polite lots of reps to see what they have. Obo is not generating pressure.

And please put the Hill at slot experiment to bed. He can play outside to a degree but he's not good in the slot.

Great time for Staley to test out some blitz packages as well.

Obviously, I agree except........I don't know if the Rams are desperate enough to have Mathews come back. There was a lot of ill will when he got cut and had to wait for his money per his contract. He got a lot of his sacks when AD forced QBs out of the pocket.

I asked about blitzes before the game but, didn't get answers here. I think Allen would have folded with more pressure. When he did blitz Allen was able to fake out the defenders. I didn't see any stunts thou. Last year AD and Fowler got great results from stunts. It may take some time this year. I don't remember any heavy blitzes with two extra rushers. Would have liked to see that.