5/20/2023 0 Comments Raheem reeder![]() That move pressed third-round rookie linebacker Ernest Jones into starting duty. Roughly midway through the season, the Rams traded starting interior linebacker Kenny Young to the Broncos. ![]() He made up for the loss of star safety John Johnson III, who joined the Browns before the season, by replacing him with second-year defender Jordan Fuller. Morris maintained top-10 production from the Rams unit despite several personnel adjustments throughout the season. It’s just been great for me evolving into even more of a leader in the secondary on the team as well. a lot more than I’d ever learned in previous years combined. “How to look at the game and how offenses can scheme different things up and how, honestly, different games can be played on defense. “Just this one year, he’s taught me more about the game,” Ramsey said. The All-Pro said his experience with Morris “has been great.” Ramsey spoke glowingly of Morris last week ahead of the Super Bowl. Raheem Morris’s Coverage Usage: 2020 Atlanta vs. He significantly upped his usage of two-high shells and light boxes from his time in Atlanta. Morris demonstrated a level of humility and willful evolution that many stubborn coaches don’t during their careers. We’re not naive to the fact that everybody is studying what we did defensively because of the success that our guys had last year.” Morris ended up molding his ideas to fit his players. “But Raheem has got his imprint on this and then you always evolve. “There are different ways that we will still kind of keep foundational principles last year,” McVay said in August. ![]() But that was different from the scheme Morris ran when he was the Falcons defensive coordinator and interim head coach in 2020. After Staley succeeded in 2020 by deploying a system heavily influenced by former Broncos coach Vic Fangio, McVay wanted to maintain a similar defensive scheme. This offseason, McVay pushed to hire Morris, whom he knew from their days in Washington as members of Mike Shanahan’s staff (Morris was a defensive backs coach from 2012 to 2014 McVay served as tight ends coach from 2011 through 2013 before ascending to offensive coordinator in 2014). Additionally, Morris has faced plenty of speed bumps in successfully orchestrating the Rams defense this season. But simply working with a sport’s premier players doesn’t guarantee success. Most coordinators would dream of fielding a unit featuring a trio of all-time greats in Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey, and Von Miller. It’s tempting to oversimplify Morris’s job considering the Rams’ star-laden roster. Stats via Football Outsiders,, Pro-Football-Reference Rams Defense Under McVay Defensive Coordinator (Year) Morris proved this season that he can lead a defense as successfully as his predecessors. Now former Bucs head coach Raheem Morris has stepped in to follow two of the most innovative defensive schemers in recent years. Then Staley assumed the position for a year before leaving for the Rams’ SoFi Stadium roommates. Wade Phillips spent three seasons as McVay’s first defensive coordinator. And despite that constant turnover, Los Angeles’s defense has finished in the top 10 of Football Outsiders’ defensive DVOA ratings every year. Three different coordinators have led the Rams defense in each of the past three seasons. What’s arguably even more impressive is that despite his defensive coordinator spot seeing a revolving door of coaches, that unit has maintained steady performances. Even as McVay’s offensive assistants cycle through Los Angeles, his Rams offenses have continued to rank among the league’s best because he’s pulling the strings. McVay may not like the notion that he has a coaching tree (it’s worth mentioning that Packers coach Matt LaFleur, his former offensive coordinator, would also qualify as a McVay disciple), but it’s safe to say that he has a keen eye for coaching talent. I just happen to be in the role that I’m in.” “I almost think it’s a little ridiculous when you talk about the tree,” McVay said last week, “because these guys are coworkers where we positively pour into one another. ![]() Sunday, he’ll coach against Taylor and the Bengals in the Super Bowl. Before McVay was named the Rams head coach in 2017, he knew Zac Taylor only as a former Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. This type of coaching turnover is the norm for the Rams. Now, O’Connell, L.A.’s offensive coordinator for the past two seasons, appears destined for the Vikings coaching gig (Minnesota cannot officially hire him until after the Super Bowl). But in the past year, Staley helmed one of the league’s best defenses as the Rams’ defensive coordinator and then was hired away by the Chargers to become their new head coach. A little more than two years ago, Sean McVay didn’t know Brandon Staley or Kevin O’Connell.
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