Rams using Suh all over the line and it’s working
LOS ANGELES — The pressure comes from all angles and positions along the Los Angeles Rams’ front, be it nose tackle, defensive tackle or end.
Ndamukong Suh is making an impact from all three spots.
After the Dolphins released him and he signed a one-year, $14 million contract with the Rams last March, the veteran lineman said he would do whatever he was asked to help his new team reach the Super Bowl.
Against the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 30, Suh lined up at end in the fourth quarter and recorded one of the Rams’ four sacks in the final period of a 38-31 victory. He also mentored end John Franklin-Myers before the rookie end’s game-clinching strip sack, a play Suh finished by falling on the ball.
Against the Seahawks on Sunday, Suh had seven tackles and a sack during the Rams’ 33-31 win.
The Rams appear to be getting their money’s worth for Suh, who combines with reigning NFL defensive player of the year Aaron Donald and Michael Brockers to give Los Angeles perhaps the league’s most dynamic starting defensive front.
The Rams have only 10 sacks, but they are among the league leaders in quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Focus.
Donald, 27, signed a $135 million extension before the season. Brockers, 27, has a $10.75 million salary-cap number in the second season of a three-year extension he signed in 2016.
And then there is the 31-yearold Suh, who might have received more money elsewhere had he not opted to join the Rams.
Coach Sean McVay said that Suh has “been a little more” than he expected in terms of versatility.
“He’s made plays, really, at all those spots,” McVay said.
Suh is not the only versatile member of a line that has produced 20 hits on quarterbacks.
In 2016, defensive coordinator Wade Phillips shifted tackles Donald and Brockers to various spots depending on the situation. Donald disrupted offenses and recorded 11 sacks. Brockers flourished when moved to the edge and finished with 41/2 sacks.
Phillips said he studied all of Suh’s plays last season for the Dolphins. Many were made from the end position.
“But we still had to work with him to make sure he could do those things we saw on film,” Phillips said.
Apparently, he can. “Ndamukong can go over either tackle, either guard or a center, so it gives us some versatility,” Phillips said. “Their (offensive line’s) protections have to change or we get one of those guys or two of those guys one-on-one. That’s what we’re looking for.”
Phillips has coached Hall of Fame players and many outstanding defensive lines during an NFL career that spans more than four decades.
But he said the Suh-Donald-Brockers combination is rare.
“I’ve had some great players but most of them, they played one position,” Phillips said, adding, “It’s not many players that you can move around like our guys.”
Moving together is the key, Suh said.
He describes the teamwork between ends and tackles as if it were a dance. The left end and the right tackle work together to push the pocket one way, the right end and left tackle doing the same to push it another.
“It kind of flows when you look at the different pieces of getting pressure,” he said.
Said Donald: “You don’t want two guys going high and one guy’s leaving the middle open. So just communicate and understand how each other rushes, and play off it.”
Suh, the No. 2 pick in the 2010 draft, played five seasons with the Detroit Lions and three with the Dolphins. He said he has prided himself on versatility since his rookie season.
“I’ll stand up in a linebacker position if I can,” he said, chuckling.
Franklin-Myers credited Suh for delivering applicable advice just before his big play against the Vikings. The rookie from Stephen F. Austin University rushed off the right edge and swatted the ball from the hand of quarterback Kirk Cousins.
Suh said he offered counsel because he remembers his time as a rookie. First-year players, he said, can get “a one-track mind” because they are so focused on carrying out an assignment. It’s important “every now and then” to understand what an opponent is trying to do, and to take advantage of playing next to players such as Donald and Brockers, he said.
“‘You’re going to have opportunities because you’ve got the big money guy next to you and you got Brock there,’ ” Suh said he told Franklin-Myers. “I’m just another guy just like you.
“‘Just go out there and play and find ways to make plays.’
“And that’s what he did.”