https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2020/04/29/nfl-rams-defense-brandon-staley-offseason/
Brandon Staley's presence already felt with Rams' offseason additions
Cameron DaSilva
One of the biggest changes the Los Angeles Rams underwent this offseason was the switch they made at defensive coordinator. Wade Phillips was let go, and Sean McVay replaced him with Brandon Staley, the former outside linebackers coach of the Bears and Broncos.
Staley doesn’t have any defensive coordinator experience in the NFL, but McVay is confident he can turn around a defense that features a lot of talent, but lacked inconsistency last year. And with Staley calling the shots on defense, McVay is able to work more closely with him when it comes to adjusting the scheme on a weekly basis.
Staley’s system won’t be fully implemented for a while, but his voice in the Rams’ building has already been heard. Les Snead said this week that Staley is part of the reason the team drafted Terrell Lewis at No. 84 overall and signed Leonard Floyd in free agency.
Both players boast great length on the edge, which fits what Staley wants in his outside linebackers.
“In a nuanced way, with Brandon Staley, our new defensive coordinator, he definitely likes long players on the edge and that’s one of the reasons we signed Leonard Floyd, who had been with Brandon when he was coaching with Vic Fangio in Chicago,” Snead said on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “But this guy brings length and width, along with that pretty salty short-area explosiveness, and that’s probably one of the reasons he disturbed the QB a good bit.”
Lewis was surprisingly available at No. 84 overall after he was projected by many to go in the second round. It would’ve been reasonable for the Rams to take him at 52 or 57, but they took a chance that he’d be there in the third round, and it paid off.
“We were jacked to see big Terrell fall to 84,” Snead said. “I know he could’ve gone a little before us but that’s how the draft works out. And I know some of the medical issues that he had early there at Alabama probably did stunt or maybe hinder his going earlier.”
Lewis and Floyd aren’t the only players with Staley’s fingerprints all over them. They’re just the most obvious, since Staley is a former outside linebackers coach.
Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports
Terrell Burgess, the Rams’ other third-round pick, also fits the mold of Staley’s defense. Burgess has a closer body type to Chris Harris Jr. – who covered the slot for the Broncos under Staley and Fangio – than he does Nickell Robey-Coleman, who the Rams moved on from this offseason. The Broncos also liked Justin Simmons’ ability to cover the slot in addition to playing safety, which is similar role to the one Burgess could play in 2020.
“Terrell’s just a versatile player,” Snead said. “Been a corner and a receiver there and a safety this year. The way the NFL is going with five and six DBs on the field, we felt this guy was one of those players that could play safety but also come down in the slot and play corner and give you versatility in those five- and six-DB packages that a lot of us are running in the NFL.”
Staley emphasized the importance of versatility in the secondary and along the defensive line earlier this offseason, and the Rams’ moves have unsurprisingly matched that sentiment.
“That’s something you’ll probably hear me talk about a lot, having the versatility to play any place in the front, any place in the back,”
Staley said in March, via the team’s official site. “We’re fortunate that we have that here, guys that have played a lot of roles. Groups that are connected, (because) those groups depend on each other a lot.”
John Johnson, Taylor Rapp and Burgess can all play either safety spot, and all of them can match up with tight ends, too. And with the Rams’ current group of cornerbacks, they can all essentially move around anywhere in the secondary without having to change the scheme much.
On the defensive line, it’s a similar story. A’Shawn Robinson, who the Rams signed this year, can play nose tackle, defensive end and 3-technique, giving the Rams ample options on the defensive line. The same goes for Sebastian Joseph-Day, as well as Michael Brockers.
So while Staley may be young, inexperienced and in his first year with the Rams, it’s already become evident that he has a say in the team’s personnel on defense.
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I think that we're going to see a lot of different packages and formations. We got to see some different ones under Wade, but there's depth and versatility on this defense now. There's pass rushers, run stuffers, zone, man, all around, all world types on this defense now. And our DC was hired because he's adaptable rather than strictly scheme based. I think we're going to see games and situations where our depth guys are utilized more. When we play teams like ARZ or SEA I can see a front consisting of Floyd, Brockers, SJD, Robinson, Lewis. All of those guys are 6'4+ with long arms, a lot of batted passes.
