Ramalytics: LA’s young defense has been encouraging with room to grow

Sunday’s matchup between the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Rams features two of the best rookies in the NFL on their respective sides of the ball: Caleb Williams on offense for the Bears and Jared Verse on defense for LA.

The ecosystem surrounding Williams in Chicago has been disappointing. Heading into the season most were calling this the best supporting cast a quarterback selected first overall has ever had. Instead, the offensive line has been porous. The running game has been anemic. And Williams is being forced to play superhero ball just as he did during his days as a USC Trojan. The rookie’s first three games have been far from ideal, and as a result Jayden Daniels, Malik Nabers, and Marvin Harrison, Jr. all have more favorable betting odds to win the league’s Offensive Rookie of the Year Award.

Meanwhile Verse, who was the fourth defensive player selected in the 2024 NFL Draft, now leads the betting odds for the Defensive Rookie of the Year Award. Verse’s 13 pressures through three games ranks 13th of all EDGE rushers and the next closest rookie (regardless of position) is his former Florida State and current teammate Braden Fiske with 11. The non-Rams defensive rookie with the most pressures is Byron Murphy of the Seattle Seahawks with seven, and that ranks 63rd out of all positions.

It’s very possible that the rookie with the stronger performance on Sunday could determine the outcome of the game. If Verse continues his disruptive play, he could give the one-man band in Williams a long day. At the end of the day, Williams is still a special and unique talent that is capable of taking over games. While we haven’t seen that from him yet at the NFL level, it’s destined to happen eventually.

How the Rams defense can reach the next level:

Verse’s 13 pressures indicate a strong start to the year regardless of his rookie status, but he’s not even first on the Rams’ roster. Kobie Turner is continuing his strong play in his second season and leads LA with 15. As mentioned previously, Fiske isn’t too far behind Verse with 11, and then Byron Young is in fourth place with seven.

In total the Rams defense has amassed 54 pressures while facing the talented Detroit Lions offensive line and two quarterbacks in Kyler Murray and Brock Purdy that are skilled at evading the rush.

It’s not all rosy for Los Angeles; however, an optimistic view would suggest that these first and second year players are affecting opposing quarterbacks at an impressive level and they still have room to grow and get even better.

The challenging fact is that as a defense the Rams have missed 39 tackles in total. Verse leads the team in misses with eight individually, which comprises more than a third of his opportunities to bring down the ball carrier. Sticking with the defensive line, Turner (33.3%) has missed four tackles, Michael Hoecht (23.1%) and Fiske (21.4%) have three a piece, and Young (18.2%) has two misses.

Now, it’s probably fair to chalk up some of these missed opportunities to the fact that it’s difficult to take down the likes of Murray and Purdy—and that more games against traditional pocket passers will improve these metrics in the long run. However, the next two quarterbacks the Rams will face are Williams and Jordan Love (most likely), so it doesn’t get much easier in the short-term.

If the Rams start converting pressures into sacks and tackles into run stops, then the production on defense could look much better quickly. It’s fair to wonder if some of the secondary’s struggles in coverage are related to opposing quarterbacks being able to extend plays, and at a certain point it’s just impossible to stick with receivers down field for prolonged period of time.

So as good as LA’s young pass rushers have been, in short, they can get even better. If and when they do start to convert more of their tackle opportunities, they can force the opposing offense into longer downs and distances which will only put the defense in more advantageous situations. A rising tide lifts all boats, especially when it comes to an effective pass rush.