Alan Truex: With Donald on board, Rams point to Super Bowl
On paper, which you may have noticed is all but obsolete (RIP Village Voice), the Los Angeles Rams are the next Super Bowl winners. Let’s count their blessings. Start with the best all-purpose running back in football, Todd Gurley. And at quarterback they have the No. 1 overall draft pick from 2016, Jared Goff.
They have a sure-handed possession receiver, Robert Woods, and a feared deep threat, Brandin Cooks. And they have the next Sean Payton — Sean McVay –calling plays into the earpiece of Goff even as he stands at the line of scrimmage. Last season this was the highest-scoring team in the NFL.
And now we go to what is so dismissively called “the other side of the ball.”
To rise to the ultimate stage, Rams general manager Les Snead knew they’d have to be better than 12th out of 32 in points allowed. So he amped up the defense by signing Pro Bowl regulars Ndamukong Suh, Aquib Talib and Marcus Peters.
The lingering issue then was how many of Stan Kroenke’s millions it would take to lure the sport’s greatest defensive player, Aaron Donald, from the comfort of his home to a pro football training camp. Hard Knocks indeed.
Ask yourself, as l’m sure Donald did: Do players usually come out of training camp better than they went in?
Arnold saw no reason for early wear on his very unscarred, splendidly-kept 6-1, 270-pound body. Ten days from the Rams’ season opener seemed like an appropriate time to cave in to an offer that could pay an average of $21 million a year until he’s 36.
The back end is not as solid as the front, but no matter how it’s deconstructed, the contract will flow at least $87 million into his bank account. As he joyfully and repeatedly said in his back-to-work press conference, his parents can retire this minute.
Donald made his belated entrance at camp seem like the most natural thing, no hard feelings to soothe. If only governments could work so smoothly in their negotiations, each agreeing to benefit each other, everybody happy.
“I need to knock off some rust,” Donald admitted, looking to next Monday night’s opener in Oakland, where the national attention will be drawn more to the charismatic, theatrical Jon Gruden returning to the sideline after seven years in the ESPN booth.
Donald may not deliver instant impact. He was a training-camp holdout a year ago and didn’t show his A-game until a month into the season. But it’s better to be at your best late than early. And McVay will do all he can to make this a comfortable transition for Donald as well as for his new starmates.
As the stressful contract negotiations dragged on for weeks, McVay reached out on a personal level to Arnold: “He was checking on me, asking about my family, talking to me outside football.”
There’s a lesson here for Gruden, who did not connect with Kahlil Mack as his future with the Raiders was being destroyed.
The Rams’ 32-year-old coach relates to players more as friend than boss. You might expect them to take advantage of his light hand. But they respect his brilliance and do everything to please him. He’s a young Pete Carroll but a more innovative strategist.
So, there’s almost every reason to think the Rams are the team most likely to win Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta.
One reason to tap the brakes might be Goff, who was such a befuddled flop his rookie year that many observers felt it couldn’t all be the fault of – returning to the topic of obsolete — coach Jeff Fisher.
Goff is clearly not as talented as Carson Wentz, who was chosen one place behind him in the draft. But Goff is big (6-4) and mobile enough, and his arm is plenty strong enough to launch the ball 65 yards downfield to Cooks.
And right now Goff is healthier than Wentz. Which is another reason to like the Rams’ odds of replacing Philadelphia as the champion.
But as fast and quick as they are on the field, and as well as McVay communicates with his players, there’s concern that the defense is emotionally fragile in some places and physically weak in others.
The outside linebackers, Matt Longacre and Samson Ekubam, are not as good as last year’s starters, Robert Quinn and Connor Barwin. But the NFL’s salary cap is less flexible than others. And what the Rams lose at linebacker they more than compensate in the D-line and secondary with all the elite talent arriving.
Then again, with this sort of talent comes huge ego. Suh, Aquib and Peters are considered malcontents and agitators who put their own interests above those of their teams.
The hope is that Suh, 6-4, 305 pounds, will be inspired playing next to Donald. With Michael Brockers, 6-5, 302, aligned in the 3-4 with the boys named Suh and Donald, it’s difficult to see how a ball carrier breaks though or a quarterback stands in the pocket.
For whatever sins Suh has committed – however many quarterbacks he’s stepped on – nobody questions his willingness to battle. Last season Donald and Suh ranked 1-2 in the league in percentage of defensive snaps played.
I’m not doubting that those two, ably supported by Brockers, will jam up the middle. The Rams last year were soft against the run – 30th in yards allowed per carry. That will not happen with Suh joining the lineup.
I do wonder who will be the calming influence on Peters and Talib. It may have to be the venerable defensive coordinator, Wade Phillips, who can match up players and switch coverages as well as anyone.
The question is if the avuncular Phillips has the firmness that can keep wandering minds focused on football. Phillips is as well liked as anyone in the league, but he hasn’t been tasked with babysitting athletes as temperamental as Suh, Talib and Peters. These guys were abandoned by other teams because coaches didn’t like putting up with them.
Certainly this roster is a volatile mix. Implosions are likely if they start badly. But their schedule is favorable. You can count on them being 2-0 after facing Oakland and Arizona. They will be favored in their first seven games at least. So this should be a happy team, talent just a little bigger than the egos.
They have a two-year window before their payroll balloons – Goff no longer on his rookie deal. Chances are they won’t be better in 2019 than now. Talib is 32, Suh 31, starting center John Sullivan 32, Pro Bowl left tackle Andrew Whitworth 36. I look for McVay’s Rams to make the most of the limited opportunity.
