One of the Los Angeles Rams biggest decisions this season that largely flew under-the-radar was transitioning Alec Ogletree from weakside to middle linebacker. While it is a transition that very few players are capable of making, the former first-rounder was up to the task of becoming the team’s new Mike.
However, things got off to a rocky start after Los Angeles was dominated by the San Francisco 49ers in nearly every facet of the game in Week 1. As a result, that prompted Ogletree to call a team meeting before their Week 2 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks.
Defensive end Robert Quinn briefly spoke about what Ogletree discussed during the meeting according to Alden Gonzalez of ESPN:
“You play the game long enough, you realize how fast time flies,” Quinn said. “Every game is important. You have to realize it. You want to capture the moment because you don’t want to say , ‘We should’ve done this better, that better.’ He was basically just challenging each other to live up to their potential and not play like we did earlier this week.”
The result was Ogletree making the game-winning tackle and strip to give the city of Los Angeles their first taste of victory since 1994. As for the rest of the Rams defense, they were able to capitalize on the great field position given to them by punter Johnny Hekker to allow just three points the whole game.
With Ogletree leading by example, he has proven to be the leader the Rams desperately needed so far.
