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So Rams DC Brandon Staley brought the "star" position - which is the variation of the nickel that we see CB Jalen Ramsey in at times - with him to LA from John Carroll after going back through Ramsey's high school and college tape. The way he saw it, it would be crazy to not
have a guy like Ramsey playing in what is, in Staley's defense, one of the most important positions on the field and a space where he can cover a lot of different things including blitz packages and run support as a very sure tackler. Of course, this package can vary if, say,
Ramsey is needed against a true WR1 on the outside. At that point we have seen Troy Hill in there. Additional depth includes David Long, who would play it in a prototypical "nickel" type of role, and Terrell Burgess, who plays it in more of the hybrid safety/linebacker role.
This is something they were able to install immediately in Staley's first year, and is unfolding more and more as the season continues, because of the versatility and all-around savvy within the defensive backs room.
To me this says a few things - one, scheming your players for the range of their abilities, which we see McVay do on the offensive side, and two, giving pretty much complete autonomy to your first-year NFL DC (though he would remind us that he's been doing this for awhile, ha)
Anyway, a lot of the time we don't always have all the answers/see the whole picture right away - especially when you factor in gamesmanship and keeping things held back -but the best part of beat writing is putting all of the little clues and details together bit by bit.
