Thread by @JourdanRodrigue

Rams have a pressure rate of 22.7%, which is second-lowest in the NFL through three games, but are blitzing at a 37.1% rate, which is fifth-highest. Their movement toward rushing 4 in second half of 2021 made a clear difference not just toward pressure effect, but also (thread)

in how they could manipulate their coverages on the back end (including tighter alignments for some players while keeping the shell for others). On this today, DC Raheem Morris said, "You want to be able to affect the QB as much as you can, any way you can, but particularly if

you can do it with a four-man rush, that makes your day a lot easier. When I say, 'stats are for losers', it's kind of a cliche thing. There are some stats that are definitely a part of winning, (and) you definitely want to use as a measuring point for your guys and what they

do, and definitely affecting the QB is one of those things. It's part of our philosophy, part of who we want to be. The guys all want to do that, too. So, like, can we improve our four-man rush? There's no question about it. But I think it all ties together. Can our coverage

get stickier and tighter, more aggressive? No question. Those are the things that all tie together."

The continued acceleration of Terrell Lewis + potential emergence of Takk McKinley bears monitoring thru October, and ahead of the Nov. 1 deadline IMO. Small sample size so far.

(had too much caffeine today)

Aaron Donald also mentioned a great point in that ball is coming out REAL fast so far in the year, so again, small sample size to this point but bears monitoring over this next month

Also this is just one part of the conversation - defense has done a nice job locking down explosives and stats are gonna be situationally a bit weird this time of year with limited sample size. But bc they added McKinley and aren’t shy in the personnel dept always worth watching