Rams beef up the defensive interior with a pair of UDFAs

Da’Jon Terry and Bill Norton weigh in at 315+ lb.

Most fans of the Los Angeles Rams would agree the defensive line shows a real upside for getting after the opposing quarterback, but their relative lack of size makes them vulnerable to the power run game. The L.A. braintrust thought as much, as well, and bolstered this area by signing Poona Ford as a free agent and selecting Ty Hamilton in the 2025 NFL Draft. Both are known as run stopping skills.

After the draft’s conclusion, the Rams added two more big, run-stopping rookie free agents, Da’Jon Terry out of Oklahoma and Bill Norton from Texas. These two way under-the-radar prospects were brought in for specific purposes, plug the middle gaps and take on blockers. The dirty work.

Meet the candidates

Da’Jon Terry-Oklahoma 6’ 3” 317 lb. 33 1/2” arms 9 5/8” hands

Pro Day: 1.99/5.58 forty 7.86 shuttle 4.64 3cone 28.5” vert 8’ 1” broad 17 bench

Terry was on the two-year college plan, with a pair of season’s at Kansas, Tennessee, And Oklahoma. The NCAA had granted him eligibility for 2025, but he chose the call of the NFL. He began his college career at Kansas with redshirt and COVID19 seasons, transferred to Tennessee for another two and closed with a pair at Oklahoma. In total, Terry played in 62 games with 14 starts and collected 91 tackles, 17 for loss, and 6.5 sacks.

Stout, blocky build with good arm length, working mostly at nose tackle, but showing the versatility to line up across the guards as well. Adequate athlete for his size, just not real explosive. While he doesn’t show strong penetration traits, lacking get-off or a quick first step, Terry’s low center of gravity and lower body strength and make him hard to budge, standing up well to double teams. Not a great hand fighter, he’s more of a stymie lineman, holding his ground and/or gaps. Not going to add a lot on pass rush, his sacks will come from staying engaged, releasing, and cleaning up as the QB tries to exit the pocket.

Made the upgrade in college competition, which the Rams braintrust has said they liked, but never broke through as a full time starter. Played as part of a rotation, at all three schools. HIs coaches laud his effort and preparation and Sooners coach Brent Venables said,

“He’s in a different spot than where he was a year ago at this time with his knowledge and his fundamentals and his technique and his ability to play to his strengths, which is power and his size. And then he’s been a really good leader. He’s got a fantastic attitude. Loves to work…”

Bill Norton-Texas 6’ 5” 325 lb. 32 1/4” arms 9 5/8” hands

Pro Day: 1.95/5.39 forty 8.10 shuttle 5.13 3cone 22” vert 7’ 9” broad 25 bench

Highly recruited four-star interior player, originally signed with Georgia and spent four seasons there (2019-22). Norton never broke through for the Bulldogs, While playing in 26 games (no starts), he was used on special teams and as a reserve. He accumulated 12 tackles with 3.5 for loss. Norton moved on to Arizona for 2023 and won a starting role (12 of 13 games) and made 32 tackles, 2.5 for loss, and knocked down three passes. Settling at Texas for his final season, he participated in 14 games with 14 tackles, 1.5 for loss and one sack.

Big and thick, top to bottom, Arm length is just adequate. On tape, his move skills look better, than his Pro Day times, which are poor. Norton has good get off and the first step to be a penetrator and is best as a linear mover. He appears to have fairly nifty feet, particularly in traffic and tight areas. With what I call “phone booth” agility, he’s adept at pursuing the ball in the pocket, but will struggle out in open space. While he shows good strength in both halves and strikes quickly and solidly, he’s too often in the habit of standing up as his first move. It not only affects his punch, losing power, but also can take away balance and base in run defense.

Norton lines up primarily on the nose or shaded, but ha worked at both 3/5T as well. He had one year as a starter (Arizona) and showed solidly, At both Georgia and Texas, he fell behind in a number’s game. I’m adding the biggest piece of film of his game there is. It’s a whole game (vs Washington 2023) so kind of long, but is a good picture of how he plays and what the Rams are getting.

Room on the shelf?

Their similar skillsets will pit these two prospects against each other, whether it be for the DL#6 role or a place on the practice squad, most likely the latter. Their tides will ebb and flow, not on playmaking ability, but rather how they perform the often unnoticed task of eating up blocks, double teams, and shutting down gaps. In other words, being gap disciplined and assignment-based, creating 1on1’s for the pass rushers, and setting the table for linebackers to clean up rushing attempts.

Barring any crazy happenings, it appears the Rams defensive line has five locks. Kobie Turner, Braden Fiske, Poona Ford, Ty Hamilton, and Tyler Davis. If L.A, rosters six, Terry and Norton lock into a five-man competition against three incumbents. Larrell Murchison is a jack-of-all-trades journeyman who was injured most of last season, Desjuan Johnson came to L.A. as a smaller interior player and has 222 mop up snaps over his two years, and Jack Heflin has played on four different teams in his four seasons, predominantly on practice squads.

It’s way in the back of the cupboard, almost out of reach, but yes, there’s room for Da’Jon Terry and/or Bill Norton.