The Rams ended their long relationship with Jeff Fisher after the end of last season and new head coach Sean McVay hired Wade Phillips to run the defense in Los Angeles.
Phillips’ arrival means that the Rams will be transitioning to running a 4-3 under Fisher and Gregg Williams to running the familiar 3-4 that Phillips has run all over the NFL over the last four decades. That transition isn’t one that concerns defensive tackle Aaron Donald because the Rams’ best defensive player says his role isn’t changing.
“Same thing,” Donald said, via ESPN.com. “I’m still going to be a 3-technique; still a penetrate, get-up-field type of guy. I got to come here during the offseason and got to sit down and talk with him. I like his game plan and how he’s going to use us, and the position he’s going to put us in to have success.”
There will be some other tweaks to the way players like Robert Quinn and Alec Ogletree line up, but their responsibilities won’t be too different than they were in past seasons. Phillips has a history of improving the defensive production when he joins a new team, something that would work out well for the Rams as their defense that has long been the strength of the team so an even better one would leave the offense with less of a leap to make to make the team competitive.