New-Look Rams Finally Have a QB, but Defense Will Carry LA in 2016

Much has been written and said about the young offensive talent for the Los Angeles Rams. The star tailback they have in Todd Gurley. The star they hope they have in rookie quarterback (and No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft) Jared Goff.

Gurley is an immensely talented young ball-carrier. Goff may well one day become the franchise quarterback the Rams have searched for since Kurt Warner left town.

But make no mistake, in their first season back in La-La Land the Rams will go as far as their defense takes them. It’s easily the strength of the team, and a unit with plenty of star power all their own.

The Rams added to their defensive firepower on Wednesday. As Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com reported, the Rams signed free-agent defensive tackle Dominique Easley, a first-round pick of the New England Patriots back in 2014, to a one-year deal.

Easley, who was released by New England earlier this spring after two injury-marred seasons in Beantown, confirmed the signing on Twitter:

New team, new chapter of my NFL career!! #Rams #Hornsup

— Dominique Easley (@DominiqueEasley) May 18, 2016

Combined with the prior addition of former New York Jets defensive end Quinton Coples, the deal gives the Rams a staggering five former first-round picks on the defensive line for the second consecutive year.

And Coples and Easley won’t even start.

The Rams line, which ranked sixth in the NFL against the run last year, per Football Outsiders, is anchored by third-year tackle Aaron Donald. All Donald has done to this point in his short NFL career is win Defensive Rookie of the Year honors with a 48-tackle, nine-sack performance two years ago, then follow that up with 69 stops and 11 sacks en route to finishing second in Defensive Player of the Year voting last season.

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J.J. Watt of the Houston Texans may have beaten Donald out for the DPOY vote with the Associated Press, but as Nathan Jahnke of Pro Football Focus pointed out that wasn’t the case at PFF.

In fact, that site graded Donald as the NFL’s Most Valuable Player period in 2015:

What might be most surprising about Donald reaching the top spot is that he’s ahead of J.J. Watt. While Watt had more sacks, Donald was getting more pressure on a per-play basis. This is especially impressive because Donald lined up against a guard or center on 88.4 percent of his plays, while Watt did on only 3.7 percent of his snaps. It’s more difficult to get sacks and pressures against guards and centers compared to tackles. Donald also had a better run-stop percentage than Watt. In terms of grades, 2015 was Watt’s lowest-graded season out of his last four (though still good enough to earn him a top-5 spot in our Top 101). While you could partially blame injury, the play on the field is what matters for the Top 101, and in 2015, Aaron Donald was the best.

However, for all Donald’s prowess in 2015, the Rams were only an OK 11th in the NFL in sacks and a mediocre 17th in pass rushing, according to Football Outsiders. That was in large part due to an injury-plagued fifth NFL season for end Robert Quinn, whose five sacks in eight games were his fewest since his rookie campaign.

Quinn, who turned 26 on Wednesday, isn’t interested in talking about the past, instead preferring to look …

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