The Los Angeles Rams were a worst to the first team in 2017. After struggling in 2016, they decided to go in another direction and fire Jeff Fisher. By now, we know that they would end up hiring the youngest coach in league history and they go on to win the NFC West for the first time since 2003. Just a few weeks ago, they made a shocking trade to acquire Marcus Peters from the Kansas City Chiefs to improve their secondary and tonight, they made another move and acquired another defensive back from the AFC West. They made a trade to acquire Aqib Talib from the Denver Broncos.
Aqib has been known as a player to get under the skin of his opponents, but let’s not talk about that. Instead, let’s discuss what he can do on the football field. He’s the quintessential man to man shutdown cornerback. Standing at 6’1 and weighing at 205 pounds, he’s a very long and rangy cornerback that can guard the quickest wide receivers, to the tall, possession receivers and he can even defend tight ends and he’s a physical cornerback. I’ve seen him jam receivers all the way off their route. I’ll always remember what he did in 2013 when he was a member of the Patriots. They played the Saints and we all know what New England’s major point of emphasis is and that’s take away the other team’s top offensive weapon and at that time, that was Jimmy Graham. Belichick decided to stick Talib on Jimmy and he shut him down and we know how difficult it can be to limit a tight end. He’s spent the last four seasons with the Denver Broncos and became their number one cornerback and was a big part of the “no-fly zone”, the nickname of Denver’s secondary. I look at his 2016 season and the receivers he had to face and kept contained. He held T.Y. Hilton to 41 yards receiving, A.J. Green to 77 yards, Mike Evans to 59 yards, Julio Jones to two catches and 29 yards and Julian Edelman to 75 yards receiving. You notice two things with those numbers I just gave you. The first is all those receivers he faced are all number one options for their teams and the second has he held them all under 100 yards which is outstanding.
The Rams are showing are us that 2017 wasn’t it for them. The additions of Peters and Talib along with the reigning defensive player of the year in Aaron Donald should make for a great defense in Los Angeles when the 2018 season begins. This trade reunites Talib with Wade Phillips, his one-time defensive coordinator with the Denver Broncos.
