[actionjack]

Actually i thought you were talking about Tomlinson who's a walking PI/personal foul machine but now i realize (i think) you meant Kendrick.

Despite being small, holding out hope Tomlinson is gonna be a player for the Rams...

I would hope he has had that coached out of him with 1 season under his belt, but we will see.

[safer]

From day one, with our new secondary, we should be better vs. the pass. I think it's gonna take a few games to get our run D figured out. As for our pass rush, McVay said Verse can play inside over a guard and still create a rushing lane. I think we will go with groups like Jackson, Verse, Fiske, Earnest, Hoeght (at DT), Turner, and Young lined up in long situations and let the O try to figure out where the pressure will be coming from. I'd bet at times we will be lining up 6-7 guys near the LOS in long situations and bringing all sorts of crazy multiples at the QB. I hope Shula is super creative, because we've now got the guys!

[ramsman34]

Actually i thought you were talking about Tomlinson who's a walking PI/personal foul machine but now i realize (i think) you meant Kendrick.

Despite being small, holding out hope Tomlinson is gonna be a player for the Rams...

I did mean Kendrick. I don’t know what to think/expect from Tomlinson. Camp and preseason is going be very competitive at corner, edge, RB3, ILB2, and safety opposite Kurl. Heck, throw in TE2/3 as well.

[ramsman34]

From day one, with our new secondary, we should be better vs. the pass. I think it's gonna take a few games to get our run D figured out. As for our pass rush, McVay said Verse can play inside over a guard and still create a rushing lane. I think we will go with groups like Jackson, Verse, Fiske, Earnest, Hoeght (at DT), Turner, and Young lined up in long situations and let the O try to figure out where the pressure will be coming from. I'd bet at times we will be lining up 6-7 guys near the LOS in long situations and bringing all sorts of crazy multiples at the QB. I hope Shula is super creative, because we've now got the guys!

Totally agree. The D front will be very situation-multiple. I said this on another thread; with the loss of AD, offensive coordinator will have decisions on where to slide protection. Do they slide to Kobie or Verse? Or even Fiske. They will need a few weeks of game film to try to get a bead on what Shula is doing in known passing situations and even on gotta have it runs. The more Shula can mix up the fronts, personnel, stunt/blitz looks, the more issues it creates for opposing offensive game plans and protections.

[Dare]

DL:
JACK: Young
3T: Turner
1T: Fiske
DE: Verse

ILB (Mike): Jones
OLBs: Hampton, Jackson

Boundary CBs: White, Williams
SCB (nickel): Lake
Safeties: Curl, Kinchens

A lot will shake out during OTAs and TC but right now that is how I see the who the starters will be. I think defensively Shula will play a lot of man and zone match with the secondary, and a one gap, penetration, attacking style with the DL. Fiske and Verse played well together and that's why I see Fiske playing a 1T, and I believe it was a one gap D front they played in.

[safer]

Dare, you forgot about Young at olber. I think Verse starts at slber; Young at weak. Looks like Brown will be our nose; and Fiske as a 3 tech and Kobie at other DT....Jackson is gonna give us great depth working at either olber spot so we can constantly provide stress on their OT's.
Hoeght got us 5 sacks last year and will also create pressure from the inside. At the combine, Fiske's quickness far exceeded what was thought to be. Another short, stocky guy like AD...should be able to mess up a lot of blocking schemes. There is a LOT of quickness in this group!!

[actionjack]

Dare, you forgot about Young at olber. I think Verse starts at slber; Young at weak. Looks like Brown will be our nose; and Fiske as a 3 tech and Kobie at other DT....Jackson is gonna give us great depth working at either olber spot so we can constantly provide stress on their OT's.
Hoeght got us 5 sacks last year and will also create pressure from the inside. At the combine, Fiske's quickness far exceeded what was thought to be. Another short, stocky guy like AD...should be able to mess up a lot of blocking schemes. There is a LOT of quickness in this group!!

Looking forward to what roles they use Hampton and Mathis. I could see them in some sort of a rotation.

[/zn/]

Not that they will stay in their base formation, but what is their base formation?

ROLB......ILB/nickel-DB......ILB.......LOLB
......RDE or 3-TECH......NT.......LDE

Going from left (or ROLB) to right, starting with the LBs:

Young
?Rozeboom?/Lake
Jones
Verse

Then it gets tricky?

Turner (if 3 -TECH), Fiske (if 3-TECH or DE)
Brown
Johnson? Fiske? Hoecht? Goodlow (UDFA)? Olajiga (UDFA)?

Last year the RDE was Jonah Williams but he signed with the Vikes.

I have a feeling it will be

Turner (3-Tech)
Brown (NT)
Fiske (LDE)

...

[ramsman34]

Verse played almost exclusively on the defensive right side at Fla State. I don’t know if that was always the strong side. I can see Shula flipping Verse and Young and getting Verse on the weak side from time to time. Less predictable and I think he and Young can handle both sides. But, we will see. I don’t think White sees the field for at least the first few games. Might be a platoon at that outside corner until Tre gets back.

[Dare]

Young plays in what used to be called a JACK LB which is an OLB who aligns and plays as an edge in a 3-4 hybrid system. The 3-4 hybrid is played like a 4-3 only with 3-4 players. So the DL consists of two OLBs who play as edges (JACK and DE) two DTs, a 3T and a 1T. It's a one gap attacking style scheme. Baltimore has been using versions of it for decades.

So the Rams actually have 5 good pass rushers in Young, Verse, Turner, Fiske and Jackson. That his one hell of a lot of speed and power. Jackson will probably play a WIL or SAM type OLB matched with Hampton. That will leave Jones at MIKE.

The beauty of having Jackson and Hampton playing OLBs is either one can blitz, either from a wide 9 or in a looping stunt.

Behind them will be White, Williams, Curl, and Kinchens. I can see them pulling Hampton and playing Lake as their nickel DB. Taylor brings the same kind of versatility as Lake. Durant can play backup on both boundaries and Taylor can backup Lake inside.

With most teams presenting a strong passing game, I can see Shula playing a base nickel with Jackson and Jones as his LBs and White, Williams, Curl, Kinchens, and Lake as the 5 DBs.

IMO this will be a completely different defense than teams saw last year. Shula has the personnel to get after QBs and defend the pass well. It might take until October to really sort things out defensively, but when they do this defense can rock.