A big focus for the Los Angeles Rams in free agency has been rebooting their defense after the departures of key players like Cory Littleton, Dante Fowler Jr., Michael Brockers and Nickell Robey-Coleman.
The Rams began replacing the quarter by signing former Chicago Bears pass rusher Leonard Floyd on Wednesday morning. He will be the primary replacement for Fowler, who is heading to the Atlanta Falcons on a three-year contract.
While Floyd should help the Rams against the pass, they have to bring someone else in to help replace what they are losing against the run with both Littleton and Brockers signing elsewhere.
It appears they have begun doing that, signing former Detroit Lions defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson to a two-year contract, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network:
The #Rams are signing former #Lions DT A’Shawn Robinson to a two-year, $17 million deal, his agent, Sean Kiernan of @SelectSports, tells me and @RapSheet.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 19, 2020
Robinson was a highly-touted run-stopper coming out of Alabama in 2016 when he was drafted in the second round. His career with the Lions has been up and down though as he has posted overall Pro Football Focus grades of 66.7, 89.7 and 56.0 in the last three years.
In 13 games in 2019, Robinson had 40 total tackles, 1.5 sacks, three tackles for loss, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. He is just 24 years of age though, turning 25 later this week, so the Rams are hoping that his best football ahead of him.
Robinson joins a list of a number of young defense tackles that will combine to replace Brockers lining up next to Aaron Donald. Sebastian Joseph-Day and Greg Gaines both showed promise in 2019 and could see increased playing time as well.
