One of the biggest needs on the Los Angeles Rams roster is at linebacker. After trading Ernest Jones right before the season, the linebacker spot has been a glaring hole on the Rams defense. After every passing week, it becomes more and more clear that Troy Reeder and Christian Rozeboom are not the answer. In fact, it’s gotten to a point where it’s hard not to wonder how the coaching staff got to a point where they thought that they would be.
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On Tuesday evening, the Philadelphia Eagles released former all-pro linebacker Devin White after not breaking the starting lineup during the first five weeks of the season. Naturally, the immediate reaction goes to whether or not the Rams should sign him.
Now, a few things can be true here all at the same time. White is very clearly an upgrade over Reeder and Rozeboom from a pure athletic standpoint. At the same time, he also doesn’t fix all of the Rams’ problems at linebacker. The preference should be for undrafted free agents such as Omar Speights, Jake Hummel, or even Elias Neal and Olakunle Fatukasi to get a shot.
The point here is that while White is a recognizable name, he is not the all-pro linebacker that he was five years ago. Within the past 10 months not one, but teams have come to the conclusion that White wasn’t good enough to start on their defense. The Buccaneers replaced White in the middle of last year with KJ Britt. After starting the offseason with the starters, the Eagles defense coached by Vic Fangio decided that Nakobe Dean has beat him out for the starting middle linebacker spot.
White spending time in the Fangio scheme is certainly a positive if the Rams were to sign him. It would make the on-boarding process much easier as Chris Shula’s defense is similar. However, it can also be seen as a red flag as Fangio decided that White was not a fit for his defense.
With Devin White, the Rams would get an athletic linebacker who did a good job when used as a blitzer. However, the Rams traded that away with Ernest Jones. Essentially, in White, the Rams would be getting a lesser version of Jones who they already said wasn’t a fit in the defense. Last season, White had the most pass rush snaps in the NFL among linebackers. The player in second was Ernest Jones. Among linebackers that have played at least 150 snaps this season, Reeder and Rozeboom both rank in the bottom-16 in pass rush snaps. Rozeboom is in the bottom-five.
Again, within the last year, two respectable defensive coaches decided that White wasn’t good enough to start on their team. White is a good athlete and a good pass rusher, but his game lacks in other very key areas. As Jonny Page of Bleeding Green Nation wrote in March after the Philadelphia Eagles signed the linebacker,
“He really needs to be kept clean in the run game or it can be rough. He can be passive and lightweight when it comes to taking on pulling guards in the run game and really struggles to get off blocks...Devin White was a top 10 pick for a reason. He is an incredibly talented athlete and he has bags of potential. But I don’t think the film that I watched was that good.”
While Pro Football Focus is not the end all, be all, White has never graded strongly against the run. Last season, White had a 31.4 run defense grade. The two years prior White graded at 36.7 and 28.2 against the run. He had a 10.6 missed tackle percentage last year, but the two years prior it was 14 percent and 15.6 percent. For reference Troy Reeder has a 58.3 run defense grade this season with an 11.9 missed tackle percentage. Rozeboom has a 47.9 run defense grade and 14.6 missed tackle percentage.
White is more athletic in coverage. He has the speed to cover running backs and tight ends and is quick in his back pedal. This is where he’d be a clear upgrade from an athletic standpoint over Rozeboom and Reeder. Even still he’s not clearly more effective and is still pretty average and inconsistent.
It’s also worth wondering if White would fit the Rams “We Not Me” culture. Last December, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reported Buccaneers teammates and coaches hadn’t been thrilled with White’s attitude in the building after being benched for KJ Britt. This was all right before the Buccaneers entered an important stretch with a 6-7 record. As noted by Bucs Nation,
“This seems like a classic case of “you can’t fire me, I quit” from White. The Bucs’ plan was to start Britt and that likely rubbed White the wrong way and he decided if he wasn’t going to start, he wasn’t going to play.”
If the Rams signed White, he very likely would start on the practice squad much like Ahkello Witherspoon did this season. In the same way that Speights and Hummel have needed to show that they should be starting, so would White.
It’s possible that White simply needed a wake up call and that’s what Philadelphia was for him. As a former first-round pick, it’s possible that he felt entitled and now following a second team moving on from him, he has an ‘aha’ moment. At the same time, he might just be what he is at this point in his career. That is a player that is very good used as a blitzer, but is unable to get off blocks in the run game and is inconsistent in zone coverage.
Minimally, White would give the Rams more upside than Reeder and Rozeboom. However, Speights showed some promise in the preseason, especially as a run defender. Hummel has the short area speed and quickness to be effect in coverage. Those two players deserve an opportunity.
When a player like White becomes available, it’s easy to see the name and get excited. However, signing a player because the name is recognizable is how the Rams end up with Tre White. Players should be signed based on a projection and what they can provide to the team. Signing a player simply based on past accomplishments from five ago rarely goes well. To reiterate, Devin White is probably an upgrade over Reeder and Rozeboom. That doesn’t mean that the Rams should jump to sign him or that he’s going to fix all of the problems at linebacker.
