The Los Angeles Rams defense will be undergoing a big change this offseason as the team decided to part ways with defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, who was Sean McVay’s right-hand man since he took over as head coach three years ago.
Although the Rams have serious business to attend to in finding his replacement, Phillips decided to use his time off for some fun, taking to Twitter to do some Q&A with fans.
One question that caught the attention of Rams fans was on Phillips’ area of expertise: defense. When asked which three players he would form a defense around, Phillips responded with his tried and true:
“I could think of a lot of players I’d want to build a defense around but, I’ve just been with one, Aaron Donald. I was with J.J. Watt and with Von Miller. That’s a really good start, but I’d like to be the one coaching them.”
There is no denying that any of those three players would be a great start to an amazing defense. Of course, Donald stands out amongst the rest as he is still the reigning two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
Although his case for Defensive Player of the Year is not as strong this year as it has been in year’s past, Donald’s season was still spectacular. He finished with 12.5 sacks, 20 tackles for loss and 24 quarterback hits along with one safety. All that helped Donald earn his fifth straight First-Team All-Pro selection and sixth straight Pro Bowl nomination.
When looking at the numbers, it is easy to see that Donald is in a league of his own. No other player had at least 10 sacks, 20 tackles for loss and 20 QB hits in 2019.
Of course, Donald’s season seemed to start out fairly slowly. He totaled two tackles through the Rams first two games, only improving in Week 3 when he added on four more as well as his first sack. Making plays was increasingly more difficult for Donald as the league was not going to leave him unmanned. In fact, Donald faced double teams on most snaps this past season but was often still able to get to the ball.
Although Phillips’ time with the Rams has come to a close, there is no denying that he is one of the great defensive minds in the league. Him picking Donald should indicate the elite talent that Donald has.
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