Sitting at 7-1, the Los Angeles Rams are clearly one of the favorites to win Super Bowl LVI as they have established themselves as an elite, all-around team.
Trading for Matthew Stafford in the offseason has gone even better than some expected because of how he has commanded the offense, while defensively the Rams are able to force enough turnovers each week to put themselves in positions to come away with victories.
However, Les Snead has earned a reputation for pulling off blockbuster trades when least expected and he struck again when he managed to trade for star pass rusher Von Miller. Snead discussed why he made the move, via Stu Jackson of TheRams.com:
“Outside linebacker, very important in our defense, especially someone, who has a pedigree of affecting the passer like he has,” Snead said during a video conference with reporters Tuesday. “So what we what we felt like in any of these opportunities, and there’s players that get shopped or discussed, but, okay, how does he fit? How does he help us? And we have (outside linebacker) Leonard Floyd, we have (defensive lineman) Aaron Donald, we did feel like that adding Von to that front seven, to that mix, (we) would be (adding) a player that would stress the protection, stress the opponent, the one on one matchup.”
Sean McVay also had high praise for Miller and outlined what he can do on the field for Los Angeles:
“Obviously an incredibly unique football player that not only is a great pass rusher, but he’s a complete football player that can really affect and influence an offense in a negative way on all three downs,” McVay said. “You can utilize him in a variety of different ways.”
The Rams defense as a whole has taken an obvious step back from last year, but adding Miller was a luxury that makes them even more formidable the rest of the season. Paired with Aaron Donald and Leonard Floyd, Miller is set up to wreak havoc and it will be fun to see how much gas he has left in the tank.
