Raheem Morris lays out vision for Rams defense

[ROD-BOT]

Raheem Morris lays out vision for Rams defense

www.therams.com

Raheem Morris lays out vision for Rams defense

Raheem Morris has a pretty good idea of what he's inheriting at his new job, especially when it comes to personnel.

In defensive lineman Aaron Donald and cornerback Jalen Ramsey, he has two players who are not only multi-All-Pro and Pro Bowl selections, but in his words on the Rams Revealed podcast, also "potential gold jacket guys" – meaning potential future hall-of-famers.

"You don't mess them up," Morris said during a video conference Thursday, when asked how he intends to use the duo. "Let's let these guys get going."

It's a wise approach to take, as the two will be the cornerstones of a defense that won't be undergoing wholesale changes with Morris overseeing it.

Morris began his coaching career gaining extensive experience in the Tampa-2 defense, a system traditionally employed in a 4-3 (four down linemen, three linebackers) alignment that creates a three-deep look in Cover 2 with the middle linebacker dropping back to cover the middle of the field.

However, Morris is aware of the way defensives are evolving, particularly when it comes to the trends involving the usage of sub-packages. The Rams are going to "look like a 3-4 base team," as in, a three down linemen, four linebackers alignment, but won't strictly be that for their base scheme.

"When you go into your sub-packages, which the league has kind of developed into, you see a lot more four-down fronts," Morris said. "Whether you're talking about odd or even fronts, whether you're talking about bringing different people in to do some different things, you're going to do all those things, you're going to have all those different types of packages. Obviously, you'll talk about who you are and what you are. We're going to look like a three-four base team, something that we tried to look like in Atlanta."

This aligns with Rams general manager Les Snead's end-of-season comments about head coach Sean McVay wanting to "keep the DNA" of Brandon Staley's Vic Fangio-influenced defensive scheme, with Morris adding his own twist. It was a similar approach taken by Staley after he took over for Wade Phillips, who deployed a base 3-4 scheme during his three seasons with the Rams. Staley kept the 3-4, but also deployed a variety of alignments and fronts.

Like his predecessor, Morris will also look to find ways to capitalize on Ramsey and Donald's versatile skillsets.

"Jalen is a great player," Morris said. "He's probably rare. He's unique. He can be a shutdown corner. You can move him inside. He can play at the nickel position. He's smart. You see his toughness oozing all over the tape. You see his competitive nature just all over the tape. You see the exciting plays. You see what he can be and his best version of himself at all times when he's out there in the field."

As for Donald, the goal remains to find ways to scheme on-on-one matchups for him. Among interior defenders with at least 150 rushes against two or more blockers, Donald led the league with 319 per PFF and still posted the highest win rate at 18.2 percent. However, Morris also recognizes the value of that attention commanded by Donald.

"You want to get him aligned up and find the ways to get him one-on-ones, but at the same time, he's done such a great job of getting his teammates one-on-one and setting up the guys around him that you don't want to take away that part of his strength either," Morris said.

Beyond Donald and Ramsey, the rest of the group could look different with safety John Johnson III, outside linebacker Leonard Floyd and cornerback Troy Hill all pending unrestricted free agents. Morris said he's going to give his opinion, but understands those decisions are ultimately Snead and McVay's to make, whether it be for financial or other reasons.

Morris knows those players and others contributed to a No. 1-ranked defense, but the final piece to the vision of his defense involves much loftier goals.

"I wasn't brought here to try to duplicate what they did last year," Morris said. "We were brought here to win and we're brought here to win a championship."

 

[Dodgersrf]

I was amazed how quickly our players adjusted to Staleys defence.
When Williams came in, it took a good part of the season for our defense to gel and play fast without thinking.

Here's to hoping that our defense learns quickly behind Morris as well.

 

[CGI_Ram]

I was amazed how quickly our players adjusted to Staleys defence.
When Williams came in, it took a good part of the season for our defense to gel and play fast without thinking.

Here's to hoping that our defense learns quickly behind Morris as well.

Good point. If Morris is only tweaking, that shouldn’t be a concern.

 

[Merlin]

I'm curious who they plan to have calling the defense with JJ leaving. I would guess they go with Fuller but no telling until we get a look at the options after all the moves.

One thing for sure though IMO is that they're going to look to improve vs the run. The loss in the divisional round was due in large part to our inability to stop the run. McVay's embarrassing inability to beat Shanny of late has related directly to his defense's inability to stop their run game. I think that is going to factor in to their decision making.

There are different ways they can upgrade vs the run too. Edge needs to get better (side opposite Floyd was not good in contain). ILB needs to get better (talent level there is so low that improving there should be easy). And 5T needs to get better (that may happen just by standing pat with Brock and Robinson if Robinson gets a full camp and pushes for more snaps).

How they do it who knows. They won't be able to upgrade all three though in this offseason. Maybe they can upgrade two of three but there are other needs too and some of them greater like center.

 

[ScotsRam]

I'm curious who they plan to have calling the defense with JJ leaving. I would guess they go with Fuller but no telling until we get a look at the options after all the moves.

One thing for sure though IMO is that they're going to look to improve vs the run. The loss in the divisional round was due in large part to our inability to stop the run. McVay's embarrassing inability to beat Shanny of late has related directly to his defense's inability to stop their run game. I think that is going to factor in to their decision making.

There are different ways they can upgrade vs the run too. Edge needs to get better (side opposite Floyd was not good in contain). ILB needs to get better (talent level there is so low that improving there should be easy). And 5T needs to get better (that may happen just by standing pat with Brock and Robinson if Robinson gets a full camp and pushes for more snaps).

How they do it who knows. They won't be able to upgrade all three though in this offseason. Maybe they can upgrade two of three but there are other needs too and some of them greater like center.

Kiser surely?

I think he is Keyser Soze's brother...

 

[oldnotdead]

Obviously, the author has zero understanding of Wade Phillip's scheme or what a hybrid 3-4 is and how it's played. In a hybrid 3-4 they use 3 d-linemen in their base set. They have a 1T, 3T, and 5T. They do use 4 LBs, i.e. 2 each of an ILB and OLB. That is where the similarity with a conventional 3-4 ends. A conventional 3-4 is a two gap scheme wherein the d-line's role is to eat up blockers to allow the LBs to flow to the play to make the tackle. The hybrid 3-4 is a one-gap scheme played like a 4-3. The second DE is played by a JACK which is an OLB who normally plays 80-90% of his snaps as a hand in the dirt DE.

Wade Phillips converted to the hybrid 3-4 during his tenure with the San Diego Chargers, taught to him by John Pagano (Chuck's btother)
In LA, Floyd plays the JACK LB. Under Wade, Ebukam was the SAM which is not what he played under Staley. Staley played a 2 - 5 scheme on most snaps. Ebukam was moved opposite of Floyd and employed as a weakside JACK with Floyd often playing the role as the DE on the strongside. Regardless both Phillips and Staley played a one-gap scheme. As I've pointed out on several occasions that in their base set it may look like they play a 4-3 and they essentially do as both are one gap schemes. But because the hybrid gives the DC more options and versatility there are marked differences.

I expect Morris to play a more conventional 3-4 hybrid, in the same way, that Baltimore has used the scheme ever since introduced by Chuck Pagano. Morris will probably retain elements of Staley's scheme particularly at times in the secondary. I think we will see Morris de-emphasize Staley's use of handoffs as it created misreads in the secondary allowing WRs to run free.

People need to understand that Wade's version of the 3-4 hybrid wasn't the problem. He lacked the players in key positions and his reluctance to develop young players was the real problem. When played properly the hybrid scheme is extremely effective. Remember Baltimore that uses the hybrid scheme finished with the #2 defense overall.

 

[Merlin]

Kiser surely?

I think he is Keyser Soze's brother...

Maybe. But I could see both Kiser and Reeder being depth players next season. Ideally in fact they both will be depth players next season. We're gonna have to wait and see what they do unfortunately. I wouldn't rule out FA or the draft at ILB.

 

[ScotsRam]

Kiser is smart enough to do it and he is highly thought of within the Rams organisation. With our limited cap space and draft picks I'd be surprised if they made ILB a priority. We will see I guess.

 

[Ramstien]

I look form the rams first four picks, in the draft, to be C, ILB, OLB, & CB not necessary in that order.

 

[BonifayRam]

Should Rams be worried about Falcons’ blown leads under Raheem Morris?
Cameron DaSilva/Mon, February 15, 2021, 2:59 PM

Should Rams be worried about Falcons’ blown leads under Raheem Morris? (yahoo.com)

When it comes to second-half football, the Los Angeles Rams and Atlanta Falcons were on opposite ends of the spectrum in 2020. The Rams allowed the second-fewest points after halftime, surrendering an average of just 7.2 points per game. The Falcons were third-worst, giving up 15.4 points per game in the second half.

Neither team was great offensively in the second half of games last season, but when the Rams had a lead going into halftime, they never lost it. In fact, the Rams have never blown a lead at halftime in four years under McVay.

The same can’t be said about the Falcons under Raheem Morris, who’s now the Rams’ defensive coordinator.

Last season, no team in the NFL blew more halftime leads than the Falcons, who lost five games in which they led by at least one point after the first two quarters. That was tied with the Bengals and Chargers for the most in the league.

The same can be said about third-quarter leads. The Falcons blew four games where they led going into the fourth quarter, also tied for most in the NFL with the Chargers. There’s a reason so many fans and analysts compared the 7-9 Chargers to the 4-12 Falcons last season.

The Falcons lost games in which they led by 19 points at halftime against the Cowboys and 17 over the Buccaneers. Against Dallas, Morris was the defensive coordinator. Against the Bucs, he was the interim coach.

Morris can’t be blamed for all of the Falcons’ blown leads, but is it reason for concern in Los Angeles?

For fans, it was one of the first questions they had after Morris was hired by McVay. ‘Didn’t the Falcons blow a bunch of second-half leads?’ It’s a warranted question, but it’s not a reason to panic.

Sure, play calling plays a big role in holding leads. Get to conservative and the offense is bound to stall. Become too aggressive on defense and the opponent can score quickly if mistakes are made. But in the end, it comes down to the players.

In the second half of games last season, Matt Ryan threw 12 touchdown passes and eight interceptions compared to 14 touchdowns and three picks in the first half. All of his numbers were worse after halftime, which Morris can’t necessarily control.

He didn’t throw any picks in the disasters against Tampa Bay and Dallas, but the Falcons also only scored a total of two second-half touchdowns in those games. Is that Morris’ fault? Hardly, especially considering he was only the defensive coordinator against the Cowboys, which the Falcons only lost because they failed to recover an onside kick.

Morris’ arrival won’t suddenly put McVay’s perfect halftime-lead record in danger. Brandon Staley was excellent at making halftime adjustments on defense and it’s a big reason the Rams never blew a halftime lead. But with McVay remaining in place, he and Morris will ensure those second-half collapses in Atlanta last season won’t carry over to Los Angeles in 2021.