Rams “edging” closer to the draft

Will David Bailey of the Texas Tech Red Raiders get drafted in the Top 10 overall? (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) | Getty Images Since Sean McVay took the Los Angeles Rams reins in 2017, the defensive side of the ball has employed a 3-4 base (back in the day we called it a 5-2 Okie), three down linemen and two standup edges in front of two linebackers and four in the secondary.

L. A. started to move away from it when Raheem Morris took over as defensive coordinator and that continues today under Mike Shula.

These two mix in a good amount of four-down fronts, still employing two line backers, but adding a fifth member to the secondary. Until the past three years, the Rams have had mixed results sinking draft capital into the edge position. In the first six years under McVay, they instead relied on veteran talent and underscored with the draft.

Conner Barwin, Dante Fowler, Clay Matthews, Leonard Floyd, and Von Miller were brought in to join draftees Robert Quinn (Rd1 2011), Samson Ebukam (Rd4 2017), Travon Young (Rd7 2018), Ogbonnia Okoronkwo (Rd5 2018), Terrell Lewis (Rd3 2020), Chris Garrett (Rd7 2021), and Daniel Hardy (Rd7 2022). You can sneak undrafted Michael Hoecht into this group. In 2023, L.