Rams have a decision to make at ILB when Micah Kiser returns
Troy Reeder was thrust into the starting lineup after Micah Kiser suffered a knee injury against the Buccaneers in Week 11. Kiser has missed the last three games while on injured reserve, and based on Sean McVay’s comments Monday, the linebacker won’t be activated for Sunday’s game against the Jets, either.
Assuming he doesn’t play this weekend, that’ll mark five missed games for Kiser this season. And in most of the games he’s missed, Reeder has stepped up in a big way, playing better football than Kiser was when healthy.
That leaves the Rams with a big decision to make: Should Kiser reclaim his starting role when he returns? Or should they stick with the “hot hand,” so to speak, and keep Reeder in there?
In all likelihood, both players will get some playing time when Kiser does come back. That’ll force L.A. to take Kenny Young off the field more often, too, which complicates things further because he’s playing his best football of the season right now.
But as logical as it would seem to continue giving Reeder playing time when Kiser is healthy, that wasn’t the case earlier this season. After Reeder recorded three sacks against Washington in Kiser’s absence in Week 5, Reeder didn’t play a single defensive snap until Week 11, when he played just six.
So the Rams made no effort to get Kiser and Reeder on the field together when both were available. Granted, the sample size of Reeder’s play was much smaller than it is now, but it’s important to note how the Rams handled this situation in the first half of the season.
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In terms of how each player has performed when starting, it’s no contest. Kiser’s overall grade at Pro Football Focus is an unsightly 40.1. Reeder’s sits at 69.3 in limited action, with that number buoyed by his pass-rush efficiency.
On only 13 blitzes this season, Reeder has three pressures and three sacks, according to Pro Football Reference. Kiser, on the other hand, has blitzed 30 times and only has two pressures with no sacks. Of course, pass rushing isn’t the primary job of an inside linebacker, but that’s likely where the biggest discrepancy is in terms of PFF’s grading.
Both players have had tackling issues throughout the year, with Kiser missing tackles at an 11.5% rate and Reeder missing 11.7% of the time. In coverage, Reeder has allowed 7.8 yards per completion compared to 9.2 for Kiser, also allowing a passer rating that’s 18.1 points better than Kiser’s (79.3 vs. 97.4). In terms of impact plays, Reeder has made four tackles for loss, while Kiser has yet to make a single stop behind the line of scrimmage.
The eye test might be the most telling measure when it comes to evaluating these two players, though. Reeder has been much better against the run, and is a reason the Rams were able to shut down the Patriots’ rushing attack, and for the most part, the Cardinals’, too. In coverage, Reeder still has his struggles as a bigger linebacker, but Kiser hasn’t exactly thrived in that department, either.
This won’t be an easy decision for the Rams to make. Neither is a surefire starter in the NFL, but both have their strengths. It’s just that the defense has seemed to play better with Reeder as of late, which might lead the team to stick with the status quo when Kiser does return from IR – which could be in Week 16 against Seattle.
