I Can’t Believe The Rams Did This

Hinzugefügt: 2026-05-06

[00:00:00]So, this right here, this is now officially the highest paid quarterback in the National Football League. Now, the numbers down there might look a bit extreme, but trust me, in his four years in the league, he's earned every single penny of this contract. Two-time allp pro honors, really, no matter what lens you look at it through, arguably the best all-around coverage ability that you're going to find in the entire sport. And oh, yeah, the Rams also just moved mountains to get him in their building. They even decided to one up themselves by signing his outwide running mate from Kansas City right alongside him. So now that begs the question, why did LA do this? I mean, statistically speaking, from an overall standpoint, the Rams were a top five defense in football without these two in the equation. The front line did the majority of the heavy lifting, and Chris Schula worked his magic around the edges. If you were forced to sit down and pick out a single weakness on this defense, the Rams didn't just address it, they made it their X factor.

[00:01:01]Third and 14, starting the second. Perie steps away from the heat. Heaves it and it's knocked away at the last moment. Oh boy, McDuffy. This is a touchdown, but you're attacking the first team all pro.

[00:01:16]What a great job by McDuffy of timing that.

[00:01:22]So, what exactly do I mean when I refer to this aspect of their defense as a weakness? Well, more so, I'm referring to their play style from last season.

[00:01:31]Now, through and through, Chris Schula led this secondary to be a cover threebased system. Most teams in the league operate in this manner, and Los Angeles was no different in being right around the average mark in their use of this coverage. But what this team typically used aside from the foundation of their scheme is what I'm getting at when I say this. That and who they had playing on the boundaries for them.

[00:01:54]Cover three was undeniably the 1A option. But not too far behind it was a heavy use specifically of cover two.

[00:02:05]First and 15.

[00:02:08]Jones heaves it for Pitman on the sideline. Intercepted.

[00:02:12]Cam Curl's done it again. His second pick of the day.

[00:02:18]>> Now, why on an interception by Cam Curl at the safety position am I choosing to highlight and focus on the boundary corners in this round? Trent McDuffy and Jaylen Watson are quite literally polar opposites of how the Rams have played in the secondary. Not just because of their technique when playing the position, but a ton of that difference we're talking about solely has to do with their alignment.

[00:02:42]That number on your screen, as insane as it is, somehow isn't a typo.

[00:02:48]Extremely close quarters and forcing tight windows in the pass game, is what powered the engine for this Kansas City defense. Just look at the numbers side by side when you compare them to the Rams last year. You don't succeed, and you sure as hell don't use this style of a coverage if you're not comfortable with your personnel doing so. Watch Trent McDuffy going up against this 18yd inb breakaker from Brian Thomas over the middle of the field. Now keep just that route in mind off the snap because the coverage call for the defense behind it looks like it could be cover one man.

[00:03:19]And based on that one high safety currently sitting on the opposite hash McDuffy is basically on his own island here. Right off the release you'll see that he stays firm but then he gives Brian Thomas both the inside and even the vertical leverage. Whether it was intentional or not, he's pretty clearly baiting Trevor Lawrence to attempt to throw in his direction. He stays glued to BTJ's hip and mirrors the break inside perfectly going on, but there was nowhere to put this ball in order to catch it for Brian Thomas. This ball was going to have to be absolutely perfect. And it was close.

[00:03:55]I mean, you had to lead him, but that's just excellent, excellent work by McDuffy.

[00:04:01]Go back and watch the reps from either of these two last year. You are going to be hardressed to find more physical quarterback play from anyone in the sport. And yes, it is nothing short of the epitome of a high-risisk, high reward play style. But that's also exactly why we let off this video going into deeper detail of how we might actually see Chris Schula make an effort to flip that script for his team on the football field. Now, the Rams, they typically wanted to avoid those pressheavy de facto man-to-man scenarios for their bouters.

[00:04:31]Not because they were, for lack of a better way to put it, I guess, incompetent in doing so. It just wouldn't have made sense to rely on it often, seeing that it clearly was not the strength of their secondary. And right on Q, that is also where the conversation of their cover two use comes back into the equation. Look at this play for an example. The DB goes and tails the crossfield motion. You've got hard press alignment from both the backs out wide once everything across the board settles. What you're currently looking at, it screams some kind of man-to-man coverage to a quarterback.

[00:05:05]But rather than pray his guys win those one-on- ons, dropping into zones and using their vision to make plays seemed to be the fitting formula. And it makes sense why they did so because Chris Schula time and time again has preached the concept of working to fit their scheme away from the cons and towards the pros of his players. And I mean having a quarterback that can start at the snap 6 yards off his assignment, then take his initial step in the wrong direction of the break of the route and still have the ability to recover in record time to insert himself into the window. that level of consistent lockdown ability at the position, it just wasn't in the cards for them last year. Now all of a sudden, over a four-year span since way back when he entered the league, you've got not just one, but two of the borderline top 10 corners in this man are at your disposal.

[00:05:59]>> McDuffy's made some fine plays in that secondary.

[00:06:02]>> Yeah, he's the first team all pro and we're trying to throw at him consistently and it's like look at he runs the route for him. We've done enough games. McDuffy and Sneeed win more often than the wide receivers do.

[00:06:14]>> Now, plays like that, they are exactly why I wanted to make this video. We briefly saw from that still shot before the snap that it looked like the Chiefs were in a cover two man call. And Trent McDuffy, he knows full well that he has both of those two high safeties kind of serving as the backline defense for any deep balls over the top. And because of this, you'll notice yet again, like we saw a little bit earlier, he intentionally lets his man get out ahead of him just to be able to cover that route in a trail technique. If he does end up extending that route deep, the safety's all over it. And if the route breaks off low, you've got pretty much every inch of the leverage. And if you want to talk about aligning that style of quarterback play with the rest of this roster, that is where this conversation gets even more interesting.

[00:07:02]Now, Quinton Lake, Cam Curl, even Cameron Kitchens if you want to go all the way across the board here. To keep it simple, these three really set the foundation for how this secondary looked to attack their opponents. And the number one weapon for them, reading the field and using their IQ to not only make those big plays, but even flip a good amount of these games entirely.

[00:07:25]Just think of it this way. They were heavily based out of zone coverage last year and prioritized feeding routes as much as they could into the teeth of their safeties. And you know what better way to illustrate that point than to backtrack to a cover two example. Now, when you zoom out bigger picture to look at everything going on, this is technically a splitfield cover six call, but we're keeping all of our attention up top on that cover two set.

[00:07:51]specifically Cam Kitchens, who's in a deep half assignment, covering both a vertical down the sideline and a bender over midfield. Right off the snap, you're going to see that he blatantly turns his hips in JSN's direction, but you'll also notice that he didn't tunnel vision. He set the trap and kept his eyes on the quarterback.

[00:08:16]Chris and 20. Darnold zips one and it's his third interception. Kinchins with his second of the day. Cameron Kinchins back to the 26. His second two interception game against Seattle in his two years in the league.

[00:08:32]Now yet again, you might be asking me what a play like that has to do with these. Well, with two of the top lockdown corners, that extra safety layer in the coverage isn't always needed.

[00:08:45]Chris Schula showed us a fair amount of times over the course of last season that he's not one to shy away from throwing a wild card out there for a play call. He doesn't do so by volume, but he calculates these gamles to strike at the most unexpected time for an offense. And McDuffy and Watson, they practically fit that kind of criteria like a glove. And it's not only the fact that they're both extremely viable blitzers, but the numbers tell you that they're even two of the best tackling corners in all of football. Game on the line you got to get a stop.

[00:09:19]175 million for your top two corners.

[00:09:22]You could say that kind of money's steep, but I would also counter that in saying I think Rams fans know how critical of an asset that can be.

[00:09:33]Null comes back next to Straoud. Tries to turn the corner and he won't. Oh, driven back by Jaylen Watson. That may be the best form tackle I've seen in 10 years. Arms wrapped up. Lift him off the ground side.

[00:09:50]>> Third and goal. They're going to run out of the gun. Swift. Can he get to the edge? He hurdles. He's knocked out of here by Quinton Lake. What a hit by Lake as Darius Williams went low. The weight goes high. It is fourth and goal.

[00:10:03]>> Now, the reason I touch on their similarities is because of how interchangeable everyone now is with their roles in the secondary. You don't trade what LA did and give up the kind of money we saw to a player like McDuffy without assuming the majority of his reps will be holding down the boundary for this defense. But that's also sure as hell not to say that he still won't get those occasional looks every now and then from the nickel. Because this Rams defense, they don't overwhelm to create their pressure. They do it by manipulating. In these two additions, they are fuel to the fire of what's arguably Shoula's top trade as a coordinator. Look at the detail in this rep against the Jaguars for an example. You've got Lake McCulla and even Joshua's crowding the line showing allout blitz on a first down and then about one maybe two or so seconds off the snap, it is one of the most unhinged Tampa two drops you're ever going to see. But aside from everything on the back end we got going on, take a look up front to see how the pressure actually caused that chaos. Byron Young zones off as a lower level part of the coverage.

[00:11:13]Jared Verse, as he should, ends up drawing two in protection and Quinton Lake gets a free rush because of it. The dominance this team showed up front really while only rushing four at the quarterback. It was already head and shoulders above the majority of this league. What do you think's going to happen when these two enter into this scheme?

[00:11:35]>> Of what was going on?

[00:11:36]>> Big play now to the 43. Hampton in the back. Here they come. Watson chasing Herbert. Got him. What a play. Sack back to the 49, losing six. Jaylen Watson comes up with his second sack of the season on the fly off the edge.

[00:11:53]You dive through some of their film over the years, there are countless examples of ways to convince yourself why these signings within this scheme are a match made in heaven. But at the same time, like we've been mentioning, they also bring new coverage possibilities and skills to the table that this team has not had in a while.

[00:12:12]Will that along with what they end up doing in the draft ultimately move the needle for this defense? Well, that's where I want to hear what you guys have to say about it. So, please let me know what you think in the comments. I appreciate y'all. Thank you for watching and I'll see you in the next one.