Rams News: Expert Questions How LA Replaces Aaron Donald Amid Super Bowl Talk

Matt Levine | Jul 12, 2024

One of the biggest storylines from the offseason for the Los Angeles Rams has been losing All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald to his retirement. Donald has been the heart and soul of the Rams since being drafted so losing him vastly hurts the defense.

However, Los Angeles has put a plan into place to at least attempt to replace his production. They added multiple players that they believe can replicate some of the impact that he made throughout his time.

Pro Football Focus's Seth Galina appeared on the This is Football podcast and broke down concerns about the Rams without Donald. He believes the Rams will have more trouble than anticipated this year without him.

“Aaron [Donald] changes math for offenses. You have to double him even sometimes triple him.” Galina said, “Are we going to get the same play out of people next to him. What about the linebackers behind him without a dominant dominant player there and, like you said, uniquely dominant, that scares me. I don’t love a lot of the pieces on defense. It’s cool, the picks [Braden] Fiske and [Jared] Verse. I like them but like are they going to come in and be dominant players right away that they probably need on the D line.”

Nobody is going to replace Donald but the Rams do have multiple young players that are ready to show what they can do. Draft picks Jared Verse and Braden Fiske are going to have to step up big-time if the Rams want to succeed this season. 

There has been talk about them possibly going for the Super Bowl again this year but unless the defense is special, it won't happen. The key to the Rams' overall success this year will be how the younger players develop and grow throughout the year.

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