The LA Rams defense was 'almost there,' throughout the 2024 NFL season. From a young but hungry defensive front, the team made tremendous strides last year. Ultimately, the Rams' young pass rush was a fierce menacing force in the NFL, averaging 8.0 quarterback sacks per game against two incredibly solid offensive lines.
Yet the Rams were shown the door. The team that rose from the ashes of a 1-4 start to their 2024 NFL season was unable to get past the Philadelphia Eagles, falling by a score of 28-22. Perhaps even more heartbreaking, this team was driving in the Red Zone, facing third-down and just two yards to go. The team did not score.
While 28 points is a bit heavy on the scale to overcome in the NFL Playoffs, the defense certainly seemed to be in NFL Playoff form. The defense managed to squelch two turnovers, holding the Eagles to just two separate field goals. Ironically, that just so happened to become the margin of victory in the game for the home team.
Now the question becomes, how can this team get better on the defensive side of the football in 2025?
How can the Rams defense upgrade in 2025?
The first step to any plan to improve is to initially view and assess those areas where the defense will be weakened. To that end, let's flip to OTC.com to assess which Rams players are expected to hit the NFL Free Agency market. In the 2025 offseason, the team is projected to lose some veteran free agents. They are:
- CB Ahkello Witherspoon
- DE Larrell Murchison
- IDL Bobby Brown III
- IDL Neville Gallimore
- ILB Jake Hummel
- ILB Troy Reeder
- ILB Christian Rozeboom
- OLB/DT Michael Hoecht
- S John Johnson III
* Bold print indicates 2024 starter
While the Rams front office likely does not consider these projected free agents in the must-extend category, there is the potential to change a lot of the defensive dynamics if these players walk away without any effort by the team to retain some key contributors, the defense will be depleted in areas that are not easily replaced.
Three defensive linemen, three inside linebackers, two defensive backs, and a versatile down lineman/pass rusher parting ways with the team simultaneously places a ton of pressure on the team to focus on the defense. But if the team holds serve this offseason, it is the offense that likely gets the lion's share of attention in the 2025 NFL Draft.
The Rams cannot ignore this defense in 2025. Even as the team pivots to focus on refueling the offense, the defense has generated positive momentum that cannot be allowed to perish from a lack of attention. Still, there is only so much money to go around. There are only so many draft picks to use. There are only so many roster slots to fill.
Will the team extend some defensive veterans? Will the team shop from the 2025 NFL Free Agency market for playmakers? Will the team address needs of the defense via the 2025 NFL Draft? Questions, questions, questions . . .
2025 NFL Draft - offense or defense?
While we debate and discuss what the team's strategy might be this offseason, I want to be very clear. The LA Rams front office, led by Grand Master GM Les Snead, has been hammering out this off-season's strategy for months. So we are lagging already, and will likely never truly catch up. But we do have the team's history, and can make somewhat educated guesses where the team will likely invest this offseason in terms of positions.
So what are the team's needs heading into the 2025 NFL Draft? We did a deep dive, and came up with:
Must haves (in no particular order):
- Tight end
- Quarterback
- Offensive tackle
- Explosive playmaker (RB/TE/WR)
- Nose Tackle
- Shutdown CB
- Inside linebacker
So how does that line up with this draft class?
With the draft class bursting with NFL-caliber talent at running back, defensive tackle, and tight end, all of which align with the team's needs heading into the draft, the Rams can do a quick pitstop at defensive tackle and inside linebacker in the draft and emerge stronger than ever.
In 2020, the Rams roster was in a similar situation, with a draft class bursting with talent at similar positions. Curiously, the team did not draft any defensive linemen. Rather, the team signed four defensive linemen after the 2020 NFL Draft. Will the Rams follow a similar pattern this year?
The team loves to carve out its own path, often running against the grain.
Still, that does not preclude the team addressing the positions depleted this offseason by expiring contracts in free agency. If the price is right, I would love to see the team re-sign a majority of players for the 2025 NFL season. But does that give this team an upgrade? Or does extending players merely accept the bar set in 2024 at a level of as good as it gets?
Perhaps both can be true.
Consider this: The Rams' defense was playing for first-year Defensive Coordinator Chris Shula. As with any new coordinator, his first season was as much about his learning about his defense and players as his players were learning his scheme. There is a natural, almost organic, gravity of improvement waiting for players in 2025 if they simply return with a season's worth of experience.
And the mix and match personnel that the team had to endure as Shula experimented with the right personnel to run his defense is long behind him now.
The Rams defense can return better than ever
Can the team aim for a better defense in 2025 via personnel? I think so, yes. We know that the team understaffed the inside linebacker position last season. With the loss of three veterans, that role must be addressed. So too should the team look at the defensive line in terms of blocker-gobbler run stuffing behemoths in the draft or free agency market.
Ultimately, this very young defense will start to take shape simply from reforming for 2025. But where can the team benefit by infusing new blood? Let's step back a moment. Where did the team struggle to find true starters in 2024?
Per Lineups.com, the Rams struggled mightily at continuity at inside linebacker, nose tackle, and to a less extent, at outside linebacker. Of course, part of the challenge is to assess how much of the defensive snaps were dispatched from natural rotation, and how much was due to a lack of quality depth that hindered younger players stepping up?
The defense was not necessarily bad in 2024. But it was unformed early in the season. At the end of the year, the Rams defense checked in with the following rankings compared to other NFL defenses:
- 26th in total yards allowed
- 17th in total points allowed
- 20th in passing yards allowed
- 27th in passing TDs allowed
- 14th in interceptions
- 21st in quarterback sacks
- 22nd in rushing yards allowed
- 13th in rushing TDs allowed
- 15th in takeaways
While those are not eyepopping rankings, keep in mind that the team had dug a rather deep hole for itself early in the season, and the remainder of the year slowly but steadily improved. That is to say that this defense is bound to be a Top-Three defense next year. But it does suggest that the defense that finished the season and carried over into the NFL Playoffs is more likely the truer version of defense fans are likely to see in 2025.
Assuming that the pass rush returns as ferocious as ever, and the secondary is better aligned to the needs of next season in Week 1, where can the team improve?
Now that is a very good question. Where can the team get stingier on defense?
Rams have to consider these areas to improve in 2025
To get better, the team has to have a strong sense of where the team struggled. While that is certainly up for debate, here are some areas that the team has to consider:
Physical defensive backs
The LA Rams defense is spinning away from Mighty Mouse type defensive backs, and I see that trend continuing next season. The final Rams roster from 2024 boasts seven defensive backs who stood under 6-foot-0. But as the season rolled on, the team signed veteran DB Ahkello Witherspoon (6-foot-2, 195 pounds) and claimed DB Emmanuel Forbes (6-foot-0, 180 pounds).
While two data points are shaky at best to determine a trend, I see the team continuing on in that direction, if for no other reason than the tremendous versatility bigger corners and safeties give this defense.
Nose tackles
The Rams love the versatility of defensive linemen like Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske. But whether or not the spotlight gives full credit to blocker-gobblers on the defensive front, this defense needs those fireplug defenders who can hold their own against two offensive linemen. Perhaps the sole player who excels at that task but gets far too little credit is nose tackle Bobby Brown III.
The defense cannot function without strong defenders who force offenses to reroute running backs. Yes, a pass rush is immensely vital as well. But as we all witnessed in the 2025 NFL Playoffs, the Rams pass rush is rather robust. The team struggled with stuffing the run against a formidable offensive line.
To improve, the team needs to retain a core of veteran run stuffers, and I hope that the team makes extending Brown a priority in the offseason. Combined with Kobie Turner, the Rams defensive front can sprinkle in one or two more additions and have a formidable defensive front in 2025.
Inside linebackers
While the attrition of all three veteran inside linebackers: Troy Reeder, Christian Rozeboom, and Jake Hummel, could be problematic if they were all positive contributors to the defense, I hope that parting ways with the trio will compel the front office to formally and finally address the inside linebacker position this offseason.
I suspect that a returning ILB Omar Speights will anchor the Rams defense in 2025. That's not spitballing. That is based on the fact that he was one of the team's best run defenders in 2024. And with each game, he gained valuable experience to improve even further.
But that does not help pairing him up. With the team's embarrassing play in the NFL Playoffs (visions of Christian Rozeboom getting pancaked are still impossible to shake), the team needs to get a lot tougher next to Speights.
The front office may not view the inside linebacker position as a role worth investing significant salary cap dollars into for the second contract, but the team cannot deny the value of adding ILB Ernest Jones IV to this defense under a rookie contract. Now the team has an opportunity to repeat history, and the team is well-positioned to benefit from a tough guy enforcer in the heart of the defense.
Will the front office make necessary steps to upgrade the defense in 2025? The team has many needs, and limited resources to address them all. But as is often the case, the Rams front office pulls rabbits out of hats every year. 2025 should be no exception.
As always, thanks for reading.
