Torry Holt: Expectations Are Same For Rams Despite Aaron Donald’s Retirement

The Los Angeles Rams suffered a big loss to their defense this offseason when superstar and surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer Aaron Donald announced his retirement from football. The Rams made some moves to shore up their defense in his absence, but he still leaves behind a massive hole.

That’s no excuse, though, for former Rams wide receiver Torry Holt. In his mind, the Rams should still have the same expectations defensively. They used their first two draft picks to bring in a pair of Florida State defensive players in Jared Verse and Braden Fiske and made some solid free agent acquisitions.

For all of those reasons, Holt is betting on the Rams to have as good a defense in 2024 that they did in 2023, via The Herd with Colin Cowherd:

“I think the expectations are the same,” Holt said. “I think that’s Sean McVay’s message. Yes, they have a new coordinator in (Chris) Shula, but Sean McVay has to manage so many things, players being plucked but also coaches being plucked year in and year out, but they continue to do a really good job of drafting and developing players. Kobie Turner’s gotta be good – gotta be better. He had a heck of a rookie season. He’s gotta be better. (Bobby) Brown’s gotta be better. They got two rookies from Florida State, (Braden) Fiske, as well as Jared Verse, who has to step up.”

The Rams have had a solid draft and development program despite not having a first round pick between 2016 and 2024. Verse if the first player to be selected by the Rams in the first round since Jared Goff, and he does so in the team’s first year without Donald.

And while he doesn’t play the same position, the expectations are the same. Especially as he enters the league with his teammate, Fiske, who does play the same position as Donald.

Aaron Donald working out with Braden Fiske

Luckily, Aaron Donald is retired but still happy to help the Rams out. His first act as a retired player is helping out Fiske, the team’s second-round pick, in workouts prior to the start of training camp.

Fiske has not yet received any significant advice from Donald but is excited to be working with the Rams legend as he becomes a cornerstone of the next iteration of L.A. defenses.