Rams Film Review: This edge rusher had breakout performance against 49ers

The Los Angeles Rams earned a hard-fought win in Week 3 against the San Francisco 49ers that keeps their season alive. In the win, the Rams came back from 10-points down with the help of some standout performances. Edge rusher Byron Young and Jared Verse each had good games along with wide receiver TuTu Atwell. Meanwhile, Sunday’s win also showed why the Rams need a presence at linebacker in the middle of the field. Here is this week’s film review

EDGE Byron Young

The Rams have been needing a big performance out of Byron Young this season. In the first two weeks, he had just three pressures and no quarterback hits. That was not the case on Sunday agains the 49ers. Young had four pressures with a quarterback hit and also had a forced fumble. He had an 18.2 win percentage via PFF which was the first time this season that he eclipsed the 10 percent mark.

On his strip sack at the end of the first half, Young uses a speed chop to beat the right tackle and then uses his length to knock the ball loose. The hope here now is that Young can build on this pass rush performance. Young disappeared toward the end of last year and needs to continue to make an impact.

However, it wasn’t just Young’s ability to rush the passer that stood out. The Rams dropped Young into coverage nine times against the 49ers which was more than the first two weeks combined. The second-year edge rusher looked good in the run game. On the play below, he dips under his block and using his athleticism, he stops Jordan Mason in the backfield for a two-yard loss.

Again, this is the type of performance that we need to see more consistently from Byron Young. At 26-years old, he should be pretty close to his ceiling. That’s not to say that he can’t or won’t improve areas of his game, but he has the experience some younger players don’t and that should lead to a more mature player on the field.

WR TuTu Atwell

Against the 49ers, it was unclear which wide receiver would step up with Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua both out win an injury. That player ended up being TuTu Atwell. Atwell led the Rams in receptions and yards. He also led the team in yards per route run and yards per target. To show how important Atwell was in the offense, the former second-round pick was the first read on 29.4 percent of his targets. His separation score of 0.205 also led team.

There’s so much said about what Atwell can’t do as a player. However, what he can do gives him the ability to be the most explosive and dynamic wide receiver on the roster. He’s more than just a deep threat and can win in different areas of the field. Over the last two years, McVay has done a very good job at scheming him open and giving him a free release. The motion at the snap as shown below gives Atwell a free release, allowing him to come open underneath and pickup a big gain.

It’s true that Atwell needs to be more consistent. He wasn’t credited with a drop, but had a tough catch that he should have had on the play right before the one shown above. Later in the game, he almost dropped a crosser, but was able to reel it in and pick up what was a huge third down in the game.

All of that to say, Atwell is still a very good deep threat. He brings a level of speed that the offense is missing otherwise and it’s something that defenses have to be able to respect. Only three players averaged over eight yards of cushion and has an average targeted air yards mark over 10 in Week 3. Atwell was one of those players. As shown on Sunday, even if he doesn’t make the catch, he can draw a pass interference penalty. After his performance on Sunday, Atwell needs to not only continue to show that moving forward, but he needs to continue to be used by McVay even when Kupp and Nacua return.

EDGE Jared Verse

Verse has been one of the more impressive defensive rookies to start the year. He leads all rookies in pressures with 12. When watching the tape, it is his athleticism and play-making ability that immediately jump off of the screen. His win percentage of 22.8 percent ranksfourth among all edge rushers for the season. He had a 20 percent win percentage in Week 3.

What makes Verse special is his ability to win multiple ways. He has the speed to get around the edge. On the final drive, he gets just enough around Trent Williams with his speed to force Brock Purdy to feel the pressure and step up into Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske. On the play below, he shows off his power and pushes the right tackle directly into Purdy. Had Aaron Donald been in the middle, it ends up as a sack.

With all of that being said, there is obvious room for improvement which is going to be the case for all rookies. Verse had four missed tackles against the 49ers for a missed tackle percentage of 50 percent. Again, watching the tape, his athleticism immediately pops. However, he needs to play more in control. Verse tends to get a little reckless at times which leads to him over-pursuing and just missing some tackles.

He’s can get a little overzealous to make a play which leads to poor angles rather than anticipating where the play is going to go. Once the game slows down for him, it’s over for opposing offenses. At some point, he’s going to finish the plays that he’s just missing and earn some negative plays. For now, he needs to let the game come to him rather than trying to force a play which should allow the game to slow down.

LB Troy Reeder

At some point the Rams are going to have to make a change at linebacker. Troy Reeder just simply is not the answer. There is a reason why Reeder wasn’t a featured piece last year and spent time on practice squads. We’re three weeks into the season and Reeder has already surpassed his snap count for the entirety of the 2023 season. He’s a half-step slow, takes bad angles, and can’t shed blocks. Reeder is a much better special teams player and rotational linebacker than he is a defensive starter.

This isn’t to rag on Reeder. He did have a good run stop in the fourth quarter where he filled the hole nicely for a huge stop on third down. However, there are too many plays like the one below. A good linebacker potentially undercuts Purdy’s pass and gets an interception or breaks up the pass. Reeder over-pursues and runs past Brandon Aiyuk. It’s just not good enough. Right now, Reeder is the Michael Hoecht of the Rams 2024 defense.

12 personnel usage

Heading into Week 3, the Rams needed to make changes on offense. Sean McVay couldn’t expect to run the same things and expect a different result. Whether it was more play action or mixing up different looks, McVay needed to get into his bag. That’s exactly what the Rams head coach did.

During the first two weeks of the season, the Rams were almost strictly an 11 personnel team. The offense operated out of 11 personnel on 98.7 percent of their snaps. That changed on Sunday. The Rams played out of 12 personnel on 44 percent of their snaps. The next closest team was at 32.9 percent.

The 12 personnel usage allowed the Rams to be just a little more physical in the run game. It also allowed them to marry the run and pass together. Coming into Sunday’s game, only 19.8 percent of Matthew Stafford’s dropbacks were out of play action. Against the 49ers, that number went up to 32.1 percent.

A big reason for that was that 12 personnel allowed the Rams to marry the run and pass together. The Rams mostly ran out of 12 personnel and had success. However, because of that success, it allowed them to mix things up with play action which helped create some opportunities.

Honorable Mentions

There are three players that deserve a bit of an honorable mention. A lot has been said about how well the Rams offensive line played. That is true to an extent. At the same time, not enough is said about Matthew Stafford’s pocket movement. Stafford’s pocket movement is elite and it allows him to avoid incoming pass rushers that may lead to a sack for other quarterbacks. The Rams used their running backs and tight ends to chip a lot in pass protection, but when needed, Stafford did a good job buying time as well.

The wide receiver getting a lot of attention this week is Atwell and that’s for good reason. However, Jordan Whittington deserves a shoutout. He was the highest-graded run-blocking wide receiver for the week via PFF. It was Whittington who played a key role in one of Kyren Williams’ touchdown runs. He may not be the next Puka Nacua, but as the WR4, he’s an upgrade over Ben Skowronek.

Lastly, Ty Davis deserves some recognition. Davis is a player that shined during the preseason in some moments. He showed on Sunday that he has some potential as a run defender on early downs. Early in the game, he had good penetration that resulted in stopping Mason at the line of scrimmage near the goal line. In the play below, his penetration takes away any cut back lane which forces Mason into the hole where Troy Reeder is waiting. This was an example of how winning up front helps the players at the second level.