Los Angeles Rams would be taking a risk if they decide to bring back former DC Brandon Staley
The Los Angeles Rams recently lost defensive coordinator Raheem Morris to the Atlanta Falcons and it's certainly a tough blow. But Sean McVay has a potential ace up his sleeve in former Rams defensive coordinator and Los Angeles Chargers head coach, Brandon Staley. Per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Rams have scheduled a Wednesday interview […]
The Los Angeles Rams recently lost defensive coordinator Raheem Morris to the Atlanta Falcons and it's certainly a tough blow.
But Sean McVay has a potential ace up his sleeve in former Rams defensive coordinator and Los Angeles Chargers head coach, Brandon Staley.
Per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Rams have scheduled a Wednesday interview with Staley, who has been out of a job since the Chargers fired him back in December.
The idea makes a ton of sense, as Morris essentially carried the torch from Staley and ran his gap-and-a-half, light box defense after the latter departed for the other LA team.
There's also a risk to the whole situation and one doesn't have to look any further than Staley's time with the Chargers.
Staley called the plays and the Chargers were not good on defense
That's the key with all of this: The fact Staley called plays for the Chargers defense and the results were simply not good.
There are a lot of quality metrics and stats that reflect the effectiveness of a defense and points allowed is easily at the top. Under Staley, the Chargers defense allowed the third-most, 11th-most, and ninth-most points in his three years at the helm – and that came with a pretty loaded roster on that side of the ball.
When realizing Staley was a defensive coordinator for just one year before becoming the Chargers head coach and that he also had Jalen Ramsey and Aaron Donald in their prime – his downfall as a play-caller makes a lot of sense. There's a very good chance he was a flash in the pan who just so happened to have two premiere players at premiere positions.
But, there's also the possibility that all of the responsibilities attached to being head coach got in the way of his effectiveness as a defensive play-caller. There have been plenty of instances (think Dan Quinn) where guys have gone from coordinator, to head coach, back to coordinator and pick up right where they left off from their previous position.
Either way, the Rams are going to have to really evaluate the last three years with Staley and ultimately, that should guide their decision-making and not so much what he says during interviews. Because as we all know, words are important, but actions and results matter a lot more.
