The Rams’ defensive line will look very different in 2023 with the exception of one name: Aaron Donald. A’Shawn Robinson signed with the Giants in free agency and Greg Gaines landed with the Buccaneers, leaving Donald as the only returning starter up front.
Los Angeles has a deep rotation of players along the defensive line, but not a lot of proven talent. Bobby Brown III, Marquise Copeland, Earnest Brown IV, Jonah Williams, Kobie Turner and Desjuan Johnson are all among the players competing for roles along the D-line, but who starts alongside Donald remains to be seen.
It may not matter much who starts games because according to Sean McVay, it sounds like the Rams are going to rotate players more the usual.
“I think it’ll really come to life once we put pads on and you start to see us try to get into more realistic situations and settings where you’re going from first down to second down to third down and now you’re having to react,” McVay said last week. “And OK, it’s a two-minute drive. And I think we’re going to find the best players, and it might be more rotations than what we’ve been accustomed to.”
Copeland seems likely to be one starter, and with Bobby Brown being the Rams’ only defensive lineman over 310 pounds, he seems like the logical choice to start at nose tackle. But McVay said Turner has “been a real bright spot” and Johnson “has stood out,” so the rookies are making a good first impression.
The Rams are far from setting their 53-man roster and the defensive line, in particular, will take some time to sort itself out.
“I think the fun thing, and I think you guys would agree with this, when you’ve looked at our roster over the last couple years, you probably could have a pretty good idea of, all right, here’s the 53 at this point in the year, and there’s a lot of spots that are up for grabs,” McVay said. “And that’s where it’s going to be exciting for us, where you’re not going to predetermine. You’re going to really evaluate one day at a time and continue to figure out what are the best 53 and what are the best guys that can play for us, particularly on the D-line, like you’re asking about.”
