The Los Angeles Rams defense enjoyed such a dominant performance during the 2020 campaign that former defensive coordinator Brandon Staley found himself across town as the new head coach of the L.A. Chargers.
As a result, new coordinator Raheem Morris has some big shoes to fill leading up to the 2021 NFL season. Although this group suffered some notable losses during the offseason, the foundations of last season’s No. 1-ranked defense remain in place such as the return of outside linebacker Leonard Floyd.
The onus will fall on Morris to maintain the high level of success the Rams enjoyed on this side of the ball. Fortunately, the changes have not been too heavily felt so far this offseason.
Changing coordinators can always come with its fair share of challenges. Fortunately, Floyd has noticed plenty of similarities between Morris and Staley, via the team’s official website:
“They both got the same amount of energy. They’re both big energy guys, but coach Morris might have a little tad more. He likes to talk a little bit more junk to you so that gets you going a lot.”
Floyd added that there have not been very many significant changes made to the defense just yet:
“I feel like it’s the same,” Floyd said. “We’re just touching up on some plays that we could’ve ran better as a defense. But yeah, pretty much the same.”
Floyd’s comments are indicative of not just the culture in the locker room, but their approach both on and off the field as well. McVay has always been big bringing in energetic coaches like himself.
More importantly, they seem to know not to stray away too far from what has made this group so successful in recent years. There is no question that the presence of defensive tackle Aaron Donald and cornerback Jalen Ramsey help serve as a stabilizing factor for Morris.
Having superstars at two levels of the defense will pay some dividends for whatever minor adjustments are made to the scheme. Meanwhile, Floyd will be tasked with building on the career year he enjoyed with the Rams that led to his big payday this offseason.
Despite some of the losses on defense, this group should expect to have more help from their offense now that quarterback Matthew Stafford has been added to the mix. It will be interesting to see how well each side is able to feed off each other this season.
