Leonard Floyd has been an excellent complement to Aaron Donald since the Rams signed him in 2020. But even with Floyd and Donald on the same defensive front, the Rams saw room for their pass rush to get even better.
That’s why they brought in Von Miller, acquiring him from the Broncos in Week 9. Miller has only played one game with the Rams so far but his role and impact should both grow against the Packers on Sunday afternoon at Lambeau Field.
Miller loves playing alongside Donald already and during his media session on Friday, he used an interesting analogy to explain what it’s like to rush the quarterback with a future Hall of Famer like AD. He said rushing the passer with Donald is like Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal playing together with the Lakers during their primes.
“I do a lot of things well in life. I do a lot of the things well playing football as well. But the one thing that I do better than anything else is rush the passer,” Miller said. “Aaron Donald is just one of the best rushers to ever play this game as well. So, whenever we got opportunities to rush and opportunities to go together, we focus in on it. I feel like getting a rush plan is easy. It’s just like playing basketball – Shaq and Kobe. You figure a way to make both guys work. I set the pick if I need to set the pick. He’ll set the pick, if it’s open, I shoot it. If it’s there for him to dunk it, he’ll dunk it. But it’s easy whenever you got guys like Leonard Floyd, and Aaron Donald, and the type of guys that we got rushing. It’s really easy. It’s not really a lot that goes into it. Just a simple conversation. We speak the same language and it’s definitely been a treat and refreshing to have just these limited reps that I had with Aaron Donald so far.”
Miller is used to having an outstanding pass rusher playing on the same defense has him. While in Denver, he and DeMarcus Ware wreaked havoc on opposing quarterbacks, providing a ton of pressure off the edge. Then he had Bradley Chubb, who was productive when healthy.
Miller has talked to Ware recently and now sees himself playing the same role for the Rams as Ware did for the Broncos when he joined them late in his career.
“I was just thinking about DeMarcus and how he came into my life at the perfect time and I see myself as DeMarcus coming here,” Miller said. “I’m older. I still can play. I’ve been adopted into this culture, in this team. I didn’t come here and develop here with the Rams. So, I’m coming from a different spot. I’m here and I’m gonna try to do my best to get sacks. I’m doing the same thing DeMarcus did for me. I talked to him, and I told him I appreciated him and thanked him for everything that he was doing for me. And I see myself doing the same thing now.”
If Donald and Miller can do for the Rams what Miller and Ware did in Denver, this defense could be one of the best in football for the rest of the year. And that’s without even mentioning their All-Pro corner, Jalen Ramsey.
The stars just have to align in Los Angeles now for everything to come together.
