The Los Angeles Rams have a stronger defensive line than I thought, and I already thought it was good
Les Snead was recently on The Pat McAfee Show, and Pat’s crew brought up a really compelling stat about how good the Los Angeles Rams front four has been since they stacked the group with Kobie Turner, Byron Young, Braden Fiske and Defensive Rookie of the Year Jared Verse. Reportedly the only defensive lineman since 2023 to have more sacks than any of those four players is the former #3 overall pick by the Houston Texans, Will Anderson Jr.
Les Snead said they look for defensive line prospects who went to smaller programs first and then transferred up. Verse, Fiske, BY and Josaiah are all examples.
Says it’s a benefit of the transfer portal. It shows their desire to keep getting better and passion to become a…
— Rams Bros. (@RamsBrothers) April 29, 2025
McAfee summed up how impressive L.A.’s group has been:
“Most sacks including playoffs from the 2023 draftees: Number one, Will Anderson has 22.5 sacks, number two, Kobie Turner, 20.5 sacks, number 3, Byron Young, 17 sacks. Well, how about the 2024 draftees? This is most sacks including playoffs, Braden Fiske, 10 (sacks), Jared Verse, 6.5 (sacks)…nobody else near them. So, four out of five there are your picks, feels like you’ve got the d-line figured out.”
McAfee goes on to ask Snead what it is that makes the Rams so good at finding these high-level defensive linemen? Snead doesn’t reveal much insight into the Rams specific draft processes, though he does explain L.A.’s philosophy that better defensive lineman provides a higher chance at disrupting the opposing quarterback and offense, which in turn gives the Rams a greater chance to win.
“We’ve always valued defensive line, we knew we needed to continue valuing it, especially when Aaron Donald did decide to retire, think I mentioned it the last time I was on this show, with the guys you just mentioned, we spent 5 top 100 picks on four players (Turner, Young, Fiske and Verse) …what we do know is: ‘You know what? They’re our type of guy.’…especially when you play against these elite QBs, if you can have some players up front that causes that QB, that offensive clock to maybe get a little bit discombobulated, you got a better chance of beating that team than you don’t.”
Snead makes it sound simple, but we know that not every team can land the right defensive lineman, we also know that not every team has the same level of coaching. Give credit to the players, give credit to Snead’s group, give credit to the coaching, but whatever the Rams are doing they seem to be doing it right when it comes to finding their defensive lineman.
Rams defensive depth chart is bonkers. That might be the best defensive line in football. The amount of elite run defenders they have in that front-7 is crazy. Rookie UDFA Shaun Dolac will prove to be an impact addition to that defense. Elite tackler with no weaknesses. Another… pic.twitter.com/lRvkcgTZaR
— Adam Carter (@SmartFootbalI) April 29, 2025
They have to hope finding d-line is a talent they don’t lose because how this team plans to pay Turner, Young, Fiske and Verse on the same roster is beyond me.
If you want more analysis about how the Rams choose defensive linemen, then I highly suggest you check out this article by Turf Show Times’s very own Kenneth Arthur!
