Am So Sorry Rams WR Puka Nacua Confirm Another $23.5 Million With Arizona Cardinals….

Now that the Rams’ 2024 schedule is officially out, it’s time to resume our offseason opponent breakdowns on theRams.com.

The series continues with Los Angeles’ Week 2 road opponent, the Arizona Cardinals (Sept. 15, 1:05 p.m. PT on FOX). The Rams will also take on the Cardinals at home in Week 17 (Date and kickoff time still TBD).

The Cardinals endured a difficult first season under first-year head coach Jonathan Gannon, winning just one of their first nine games. They were 3-10 by their Week 10 bye and finished 4-13 overall at the end of the season.

Much of that could be attributed to not having star quarterback Kyler Murray, who didn’t make his season debut until Week 10 (Nov. 12, to be exact) as a result of being sidelined by an ACL injury from the 2022 season for 11 months. While Arizona ranked 13th in pass defense allowing 212.5 yards per game, they it was last in the NFL in run defense, giving up a league-high 143.2 yards per game there.

The Cardinals landed the No. 4 overall pick as a result, and used it to select Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., who should instantly become Murray’s go-to-target. They used their other first-round pick (No. 27 overall, which was acquired in a trade on Day 1 of the 2023 draft with the Texans), to address the defensive line with the selection of Missouri defensive end Darius Robinson.

Wide receiver Marquise Brown departed in free agency and signed with the Chiefs.

The Cardinals also traded wide receiver Rondale Moore to the Falcons for quarterback Desmond Ridder, who is expected to become with Clayton Tune for the backup job behind Murray.

Unlike last year, Murray will not only have a full offseason to prepare for the upcoming season, but he’ll have an offense with new pieces between the addition of Harrison Jr. and Zay Jones, as well as projected starting right tackle Jonah Williams and third-round running back Trey Benson. Trey McBride will be in his first season as TE1 full time with Zach Ertz no longer in the picture.

It will be Year 2 for the unit under offensive coordinator Drew Petzing as well. James Conner is also back in the fold as their RB1.

Seeing how those variables come together will be fascinating, and certainly present the Rams with a different-looking offense from a personnel standpoint than they saw last year.

If the Los Angeles Rams are going to continue to build off of last season and take another step towards championship contention, they are going to need many players to step up, especially defensively. The team has lost Aaron Donald to retirement so the likes of Kobie Turner, Byron Young and Ernest Jones will be relied upon even more.

Young, in particular, is coming off a breakout rookie season in which he recorded 42 tackles, eight tackles for loss and eight sacks. But he isn’t resting on his laurels.

Young, who was listed at 250 pounds, revealed that he has bulked up to nearly 260 pounds and likes the way he is looking with the extra weight, via Stu Jackson of Rams.com:

“It’s good to be bigger and fast,” Young said. “They wanted me to see if I get to this weight and see if I could play with that, see if I could sustain that and that’s what I’m doing right now. It feels great. Getting close to up to 260, so it’s good, and I don’t look bad. That’s one thing that I would worry about – I didn’t want to get the weight and then not look great. But it’s definitely something that helps me with the run game, pass game, setting the edge and all of that, for sure.”

Furthermore, Young has also identified where he felt he came up short last season and what he wants to improve, believing that he didn’t do a good enough job closing games and is aiming on changing that in 2024:

“I felt like last year I definitely (had) games where I need to close out and I didn’t come through, and that’s my goal. That’s my number one goal,” Young said. “Honestly this year, it’s just about you know being a closer. They brought me here for a reason. They brought me here to rush the passer. it don’t matter if it’s a sack or whatever, it’s a pressure, get to the quarterback, affect the passer. So I feel like I didn’t enough of that last year, and that’s my number one goal is the train, do everything it takes to get there. Whether it’s getting off the ball, better technique, shed off the block faster, whatever it is, that’s what I’m working on right now.”

Those crucial plays on third and fourth downs at the end of games are where it matters most. Donald was legendary for coming through in those moments and Young understands that he must step up and close those games when the Rams have the chance.

This is a team on the rise, but they can’t let the success of 2023 get in their heads and not work as hard this year. Thankfully, that doesn’t seem to be a problem as Young and the rest of this team seem locked in on improving in every facet.

Ernest Jones believes Chris Shula will fit in ‘perfectly’ as Rams defensive coordinator
Another huge piece of the Rams defense in 2024 will be new defensive coordinator Chris Shula, who is taking over for Raheem Morris after leaving to become head coach of the Atlanta Falcons.

But Ernest Jones is already a fan of Shula, pointing towards his steady demeanor and high intelligence as reasons why he will fit in ‘perfectly’ with the Rams.