There wasn’t a bigger loss suffered by a single team in the NFL this offseason than the Los Angeles Rams losing Aaron Donald to retirement. Though the team might’ve known it was coming, there’s nothing easy about watching arguably the best defensive player in the league retire at the age of just 32 years old.
There’s also no replacing him. Players like him don’t grow on trees and while there are ways to lessen the impact of his absence, the Rams will surely miss him in 2024 and beyond.
Looking at the landscape of defensive lines across the NFL, the Rams’ unit is no longer considered one of the best in football without Donald in the middle. Pro Football Focus’ Sam Monson ranked every defensive line (including 3-4 outside linebackers) and the Rams are seen as a bottom-10 group.
Monson ranked the Rams 23rd, down one spot from 2023 and 22 spots lower than in 2022 when they were No. 1.
The Rams will have to contend without Aaron Donald for the first time in a decade, and beyond the obvious impact that he brought with his production, they will experience life without every offense they face specifically game-planning for him every week. What does that look like when the attention usually reserved for Donald is shared around the rest of the line more equitably?
Kobie Turner was phenomenal in the second half of his rookie season, and the Rams are now absolutely loaded with youth up front, but that means inexperience and uncertainty, too.
The biggest knock on the Rams’ defensive front isn’t necessarily the talent level, but the youth. All of their projected starters are either in their first, second or fourth years in the NFL, so it’s a very young group led by second-year defensive tackle Kobie Turner.
Byron Young is also entering his second season, while Jared Verse and Braden Fiske are projected to be rookie starters. Bobby Brown III, assuming he starts at nose tackle, is the oldest projected starter as he enters his fourth season.
Others such as Michael Hoecht, Tyler Davis, Brennan Jackson are also expected to contribute along the defensive front, though Hoecht is the only one who’s played an NFL game before.
If Turner and Young improve on fantastic rookie seasons and Verse and Fiske have the Day 1 impact the Rams are hoping for, this will be a top-15 group in 2024 and potentially a top-five unit as early as 2025. The ceiling is high for the Rams’ defensive front, even if the floor is relatively low.
