There’s a lot of pressure on the Los Angeles Rams’ front seven this season following the retirement of Aaron Donald. It’s not internal pressure being put on players from the coaching staff, but rather external attention as fans and analysts wonder how the Rams will replace the future Hall of Famer.
Though there are understandably questions about what the defense will look like sans Donald, Sean McVay is excited about the young group Los Angeles has assembled. On “The Athletic Football Show”, McVay talked about a handful of young players he’s looking forward to seeing this year.
Notably, he expects continued improvements from Bobby Brown III and a “major leap” from Byron Young. McVay also hopes to use Hoecht a bit differently in 2024 after he was left on an island far too often in coverage last season, resulting in easy completions for the opposing quarterback.
“We don’t have the luxury of having a guy that is, in essence, the Michael Jordan of the defensive line. We’ve got some really good players, but there is a philosophical approach that we believe – and Coach Shula – and what we’ll do defensively we believe in to play defense. But to expect anybody to play like Aaron Donald, to do the things he did to impact the game the way that he did, to affect his teammates the way that he did, that’s not fair to put that on anybody.
“But I am really excited and encouraged about the opportunity for us to see what that looks like. I’m so grateful for everything that he did, but I think we’ve got some young guys that I think have a chance. I think Kobie Turner’s a really good player. We’ve got some other young guys. I think Bobby Brown made a really good jump last year and I’m expecting that much more from him. We drafted Braden Fiske and Tyler Davis. And then on the edges, I think Byron Young is going to take a major leap. I think Michael Hoecht is a really versatile player that we can do a better job utilizing his skill set to not put him in some of the harder downs that he was in last year. And I’m really excited about Jared Verse.”
Hoecht was OK as a pass rusher last season, ranking fourth on the team in total pressures and pass-rush grade (66.8), but he really struggled in coverage. That shouldn’t have surprised anyone considering he’s a former defensive tackle who moved to outside linebacker, but Raheem Morris kept dropping him into coverage and even lined him up across from slot receivers at times.
The Rams didn’t necessarily have the luxury of taking Hoecht off the field much last year because of their lack of depth at outside linebacker, but with Verse’s arrival, the Rams are better equipped to put Hoecht into positions to succeed rather than being forced to play him the majority of the game.
Training camp will help sort out how the pass-rush rotation will work between Young, Verse and Hoecht. On the interior, Brown will have to hold off the rookie Davis, while Fiske and Turner try to fill the shoes of Donald as the primary interior rushers.
