Did team do enough to reinforce linebacker ranks?

[badnews]

Littleton is better than 90% of the ILBs in this league in coverage yeah. He was solid there and his open field pursuit and tackling was fantastic (which is why he'll do very well at 4-3 WILL with the Raiders).

His problem was the run fills, where I'd put him probably down around 60-70th percentile. From that perspective we are not going to miss him at all in fact we'll be upgraded.

Agreed.
If Kiser can bring his run defense to the Rams with decent coverage skills, I will become a bigtime fan of his.

I love a great a run stuffing inside LB who isnt a liability in coverage on passing downs.

 

[RamDino]

I'm not sure Kiser has very good coverage skills. And I think the Rams are ok with that. He is the one guy they need to plug the middle of the field. So tired of seeing the defense get gashed up the middle.

 

[CGI_Ram]

His problem was the run fills, where I'd put him probably down around 60-70th percentile. From that perspective we are not going to miss him at all in fact we'll be upgraded.

I like what appears a serious attempt to beef up our run D.

We might end up missing Littleton in some ways, but I agree... we likely upgrade from him run-defense-wise.

 

[Soul Surfer]

I like what appears a serious attempt to beef up our run D.

We might end up missing Littleton in some ways, but I agree... we likely upgrade from him run-defense-wise.

If you can't stop the run, you have very little chance of winning most games.

Every game we lost in the last couple of years was due to teams being able to rip off huge runs on us.

We actually had a very strange-looking run defense.

I would say seven out of 10 runs we could stop within a couple yards of scrimmage.

But those two or three that we couldn't stop would go for 15 yards or more, (generally).

I've always felt that priority one for a defense is stopping the run.

 

[LARAMSinFeb.]

I love a great a run stuffing inside LB who isnt a liability in coverage on passing downs.

Yes. There's really no other choice but to have someone decent at both these days. Hope Kiser's up to it after a few games under his belt.

 

[BonifayRam]

I am excited to see what Kiser can do.
I want to see if Kenny Young can reclaim his second-round status.
I want to see who's going to emerge from the pack to be the rotation and second stringers.

Yes.

I do not see the loss of veteran LB'ers Littleton, Hager & Matthews as major obstacles for improved ILB performance in ALL elements of their assigned duties.

Not sure just how our new DC Brandon Staley will utilize his defensive players @ both ILB'er posts. Wade utilized a strong safety (Christian & Rapp) primarily in one of the ILB'er posts for defensive snaps. I would imagine we might see a decrease in the use of a safety being involved here.......we will have to wait till pre-season to get any reading on this.

On a side note to the above pre-season........I was advised by Direct TV that my years of access to purchase the CBS west feed from LA will be stopped June 1st, so I will not be able to watch all the pre-season games in HD & in actual time as in the past since 2017 from here in NWFL. Direct TV said that the 2020 US House of Representatives caused this law change. I can only purchase local CBS access. I will not! I will have to seek other possible accesses.

I do not see Kenny Young making this upcoming seasons roster. I see open competition for these two starting posts. I expect full rounded LB'ers who can cover/rush & fill the gaps in 2020.

 

[UKram]

I have a feeling all LBer spots will be up for grabs in pre season and camp I also predict new clay will be the starter by mid season that kid got moxy

 

[BonifayRam]

I have a feeling all LBer spots will be up for grabs in pre season and camp I also predict new clay will be the starter by mid season that kid got moxy

The addition of 3 new rookie ILB'ers like Daniel Bituli, Christian Rozeboom, Clay Johnston & last yrs UDFA Troy Reeder add some toughness & size to this ILB'er cadre. I also favor the versatility of a young defender like ER/OLB/ILB Natrez Patrick who sure looks to fit in with our new DC cloaking style scheme

Should we take notice that most all Rams signed UDFA's signed 3 yr contracts? The "New Clay" signed a four deal.

Snead has a habit & seems to pride himself on finding ILB late 3rd day draft selections & priority UDFA's. IMO he has done a good job in this area.

 

[Ram65]

Normally in a 3-4 hybrid scheme, you have one OLB aligned as a down edge (Floyd), who normally is the primary edge rusher. The other OLB is the SAM (Ebukam) who is a parttime blitzer, provides coverage of RBs and TEs in the flats, provides contain against running QB's and sets a hard edge on outside run plays.

Floyd is not going to be the primary edge rusher. Floyd has very good coverage skills and plays the run extremely well. He will be in coverage a lot. He is not going to replace Fowler as the primary pass rusher from the outside. He played opposite of Mack who was the primary rusher with the Bears. It looks to me that Lewis was drafted to take over as primary pass rush. He can also cover. Ebu will rotate in and may even start if Lewis is slow to adjust. I've written that Floyd could also move inside on passing downs should no one else step up. Keep in mind that Staley likes to mix up from where he sends the LBers to rush so all of them will get some pass rushes. Kiser was a good blitzer/pass rusher in college. It will be interesting how it all plays out. Look for Lewis to make an impact and Floyd to be doing many things well.

 

[snackdaddy]

In a 3/4 the OLB's are more like DE's. With Floyd's run defense, he's a 3 down type player. Obo and Lewis are pass rusher. Ebukam does both cover and pass rush. I would think the OLB's will be fine. Its the ILB's where there is not much experience. But its also possible Rapp will play some hybrid role like Barron did. So maybe ILB isn't as critical as we think? It probably depends on Kiser whether or not its a weakness.

 

[JonRam99]

If Kiser can be a 2-down run plugger, with Young or competition winner ILB next to him for coverage, I'd feel good about that. 3rd downs is where we could see Floyd in the Middle with Lewis & Obo on the edges -- look out QB's....

 

[OnceARam]

Probably not, but it's more important that we get back to scoring 30 points a game.

You know what team did an amazing job in the draft concerning LB's: Cincy!

 

[RamsOfCastamere]

We have a lot of LBs...just hope they put it together. In Wade's first year in LA, we had a lot of 1st year starters and the lack of experience was obvious. But back then we were also switching to 3-4 and had players playing out of position, so maybe the learning curve won't be as steep.