The Los Angeles Rams have only eight takeaways this season, tied for the fifth-fewest in the NFL, despite having plenty of playmakers on the defense. In an attempt to force more turnovers, Raheem Morris has elected to deploy Jalen Ramsey and Troy Hill in the slot more.
“Last week we had a dime role, and we were able to put Troy and both Jalen inside. We did it a little bit versus San Francisco to try to get those guys in some of those playmaking positions, particularly the first time we did it versus Garoppolo to get those ball skill guys inside to make some plays on Garoppolo where the ball’s going a lot,” Morris said. “This week we used a little bit in some of our third down situations and some of our pass down situations and got those guys more involved and try to get their hands on the ball and try to make those plays that we’re talking about, those turnovers that we keep asking for. We just missed some of the playmaking opportunities that we had, and we’ve got to make some of those and those things come to life. I love using those two players because of their skill set. The things that they both can do are unique, Troy being a little bit different than Jalen obviously in size, but very ball savvy, very aware of what’s going on on the football field at all times. They are smart football players that you can get inside and make big time plays with.”
Teams around the NFL have gravitated towards moving their best wide receivers to the slot in hopes to create mismatches. With the Rams hosting the Arizona Cardinals in Week 10, the Cardinals have been having DeAndre Hopkins operate more out of the slot.
In the last two games, Ramsey and Hill have come close to making game-changing plays out of the slot due to it being a high-volume area of the field. Even though it hasn’t resulted in an increase in turnovers just yet, Morris is allowing Ramsey and Hill to play inside more to give them more opportunities to make plays on the ball.
