I'm trying to be optimistic about where this defense could be given time. It has to be difficult trying to establish a new system with this offseason.
That said, there are some glaring issues on that side of the ball. I can't see how one unproven rookie - coming off injury no less - is going to make a dynamic difference. Looking at this LB corps you can see why the Rams draft brains were willing to take a gamble on Lewis, though. I knew LB was going to be an issue - we might have 1.5 starters currently in that unit (Kiser and Floyd).
I also maybe had too much hope that Staley would bring a more aggressive approach as well - I was not a great fan of Phillips' zone schemes at times, and although he did a great job in the SB, there were too many games like the Tampa Bay and Baltimore losses. I expected our secondary to be dominant, too, between Ramsey and Johnson and what seemed like a promising group of young players. If we didn't have Donald this D would be among the league's worst in terms of pass rush and we're currently 18th in rushing yards allowed (six yards worse than 2019). I don't know who was out there or what McVay was looking for on that side of the ball when he chose Staley, but so far the defense is worrisome. Hopefully they'll look better in the next stretch of games.
Like an earlier poster mentioned, I also wonder about Ramsey a bit. Great talent, but he's a man-to-man corner. If you're mainly playing a soft zone, I think I would almost have rather had those two #1 picks to spend on a speedy edge and a run-thumping ILB. A soft zone and no consistent rush isn't a winning combo. I hope this next draft or two sees us looking at O-line a bit and defense a lot.
Ending on a positive note, we are currently in the upper half on points allowed (#13). The last two times we finished in the top ten we went to the SB ('99 and '01) so maybe there's some hope there.
