The Super Bowl champions the Los Angeles Ramos know they have their work cut out for them to successfully defend their title. The good news is, Aaron Donald says he is now accustomed to winning the Super Bowl, and is ‘hungry’ to bring the Rams back to the other side.
February 16, 2022; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams defensive end Aaron Donald holds the Vince Lombardi Trophy during the Super Bowl LVI championship rally at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee – USA TODAY Sports
February 16, 2022; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams defensive end Aaron Donald holds the Vince Lombardi Trophy during the Super Bowl LVI Championship Parade. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee – USA TODAY Sports
January 30, 2022; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams defensive end Aaron Donald (99) celebrates in the fourth quarter at the NFC Championship Game against the San Francisco 49ers at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Not the good news is that LA won’t get much help in the 2022 NFL Draft. The Rams are without the choice of first or second round and there are some key holes to fill.
But the Rams have hit some home runs since the Super Bowl in February to re-equip themselves. They have signed free agent linebacker Bobby Wagner and added current talent such as Matthew Stafford and Donald, and of course, coach Sean McVay still calls the shot.
When it comes to drafting, perhaps the most important step is for LA to avoid a strike. The Draft Network made a list of draft errors every NFL team should avoid this season and for the Rams …
The off-line linebacker did not address the position
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The Super Bowl champions do not have enough holes to fill their list. General Manager Les Snead is known not to value draft picks and, instead, to send them to established stars. But it paid off. As a result, their first choice is 104 as a compensation in the third round. Finding another player at the other level of defense will only help this team overall.
Has the gap between the LA and tough NFC West Division opponents been tightened? The Rams are still a favorite (+150) to win the NFC West in 2022, but find themselves in prime position to re-emerge as divisional champions?
With the departure of Sebastian Joseph-Day, the Rams could use some help on defense.
What they should look for is the addition of an Edge rusher, some of the possibilities that may still be available at 104 include D’Angelo Malone, Maji Sanders, and Micah Tafawa. Malone had a career-high 11.5 sacks in 2019, while Sanders’ best came in 2020 when he expanded to 10.5. Tafua is fresh off his best season with a Pac-12 conference-leading 9.5 sacks.
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D’Angelo Malone
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Mike Sanders
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Mika Tafawa
Even with the third tight schedule in the NFL, there’s no reason to think that Los Angeles can’t “push it back” in 2022. Especially if they avoid drafting errors.