Raheem Morris plans to maximize ‘game-wrecker’ Aaron Donald’s versatility
There were a lot of things that made the Rams’ defensive coordinator position an attractive one after Brandon Staley was hired by the Chargers. They had the No. 1-ranked defense in the league, with young and budding stars all over the field.
But above all else, having Aaron Donald on the defensive line was something no other job offered. Raheem Morris will be the next coach to lead the Rams’ defense with Donald in the middle and he’s understandably excited about the opportunity to coach the future Hall of Famer.
On the Rams Revealed podcast with J.B. Long, Morris was asked about Donald and in his response, he called him an “official game-wrecker,” having coached against him previously in his career.
“Unfortunately, I was able to play Aaron Donald and had to figure out a way to block him and there is no doubt about it, first and foremost, every offensive conversation that started that week was how to slide to Aaron Donald – to get him doubled, or triple-teamed, or chipped, or have a reason to try to not let him wreck the game,” Morris said. “He is an official game-wrecker. And when we came there, that was our plan. He absolutely did his best job of trying to ruin the game for us. Fortunately, we got away with a win, but he does not make it easy for anybody.”
One of the biggest benefits of having Donald on the defensive line is the things he opens up for other players up front. Constantly drawing double- and triple-teams makes life easier for the edge rushers and other defensive linemen, which was made very clear with both Dante Fowler Jr. and Leonard Floyd having career years in Los Angeles.
Morris realizes that completely, and he also plans to maximize Donald’s versatility by continuing to move him around the defensive line, just as Staley did with him in 2020. Donald can rush as a 3-technique, move outside to an edge-rushing spot or line up right over the center.
“When you have a guy like Aaron Donald, the things he does for the people around him are just so special. People are going to try to take him away from the game every single week. And as a coach, you have to understand that, you have to know that, I bet you he does,” Morris said. “He’s one of the few people in the league that I see that can work his hands and have great hand placement at a consistent, accurate rate that he has. He’s able to use it. He knows the schemes and he’s able to work against his body and do all the things you need to get done.
“What we’ll do with Aaron Donald is the things he’s been doing – the things he’s been successful with. The things I notice from last year is his ability to move around and play different spots is just unique and we want to keep doing those things. He’s just an awesome, awesome football player. He’ll play in an odd front, he will also play in an even front, and he’ll do a bunch of different things for us.”
