As many Rams fans know, the team finished with the season with the No. 1 defense in the league. Most people would do whatever it takes to keep that group together and make another push for at a Super Bowl. While the Rams are certainly looking to make deep playoff run again this year, they have let plenty of defensive starters slip right through their hands.
They’ve lost safety John Johnson III, edge Samson Ebukam, cornerback Troy Hill, and defensive lineman Morgan Fox all through free agency. Defensive lineman Michael Brockers was also traded away to Detroit where he’ll reunite with jared Goff.
Related: John Johnson and Los Angeles Part Ways
Despite the subtractions from the team, head coach Sean McVay isn’t too worried.
“So, to say you’re going to take a step back, there’s too much work that goes into it. There’s too many people I still have confidence in, while not minimizing the huge impact that those four players that you mentioned had on the success of our defense in particular last year.”
Los Angeles has been preparing for such a scenario over the past couple of years. They have plenty of talented players who can easily step up and make an impact right away. One of those players is safety Terrell Burgess who was predicted by Bleacher Report to have a breakout year this upcoming season. The 22-year old was drafted in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft and appeared in 7 games for the Rams before suffering a broken ankle.
Related: Terrell Burgess Could Start Next Season With FA John Johnson Unlikely to Re-Sign
In those 7 games he posted 8 total tackles and 1 pass defended. While that doesn’t seem like much, Burgess was just starting to settle in before his season was ended early. He possesses a lot of versatile that could place him in multiple roles for the Rams. We could very well see him as the starting safety opposite of Taylor Rapp or slide in and become the starting nickel corner with the departure of Troy Hill.
No matter the role he’s in, Burgess may make the biggest impact on defense besides AD and Jalen Ramsey.
