Myles Garrett Is Even Better Than Advertised at Rams Camp

All right, we're here under the lights at Loyola Marymount University.

We got 5 takeaways from Rams camp.

First takeaway, the newcomers, the big ticket newcomers have come as advertised.

In fact, I tell you, talk to people here, they'll tell you that Miles Garrett has been better than advertised.

Of course, he's a great player, but he's really fit in with his teammates.

He's a different personality.

He's fit in the scheme.

So he's checking off the boxes, as is Trent McDuffie.

They believe he could be one of the best defensive backs, if maybe not the best defensive back in all of football, um, based on what he's done here so far.

You see his versatility.

He's able to play field corner, boundary corner in the slot.

He's tough.

He's physical.

Um, and they are carving out a role for him that's not unlike the role that Jalen Ramsey played here years ago.

Ramsey, of course, a different player, but the same sort of versatility.

Takeaway number 2, I think Aaron Donald will be back here now.

He's going through the process again of training and seeing whether or not he can feel like himself as a football player.

The bar for that, of course, is very high, as an all-time great.

Uh , but he's very close with Sean McVeigh.

The two of them have a rough timeline for what this would look like.

I wouldn't expect him to show up before they head back to their, um, home facility.

They leave here in just over a week.

Um, and as for the plan, I think it would mirror the way that they handled his holdouts in 2017 and 2018, which coincidentally were McVeigh's first two years just as far as ramping him up and getting him ready for the season.

And one thing that will help as far as managing him is how deep and balanced the defensive front is.

And along those lines, a couple of guys that look like they're ready to take a pretty serious step forward in that group, Braden Fisk, who looks relentless as a pass rusher, and Josiah Stewart, who looks like he can be a joker type of weapon for Chris Shula in that defensive front.

Takeaway number 3, a couple of the young skilled players on offense, um, look like they're ready for bigger roles.

Now we know what Puka Nakua and Devonte Adams and Kyron Williams can do.

Terrence Ferguson was their 2nd round pick in 2025, tight end out of Oregon.

They coveted him before that draft, and they believe that he can become a Pro Bowl level tight end, a guy who they can move all over the place.

He's very athletic.

He's showing better run after the catchability this offseason.

I'd expect for him to have a bigger role in the offense, and the same goes for Blake Korum.

Now, of course, he's gonna have to earn every carry he gets, you know what they think of Williams, but both those guys have very physical run styles and they complement each other.

Um, Coorum brings a little bit more of a home run hitter's ability to the backfield, and so I'd expect Coorum to have a bigger role.

Take away number 4, Matthew Stafford coming off of an MVP season.

Looks refreshed, looks like he's in shape.

He's healthier at this point in the calendar than he has been in a couple of years.

And just talking to him before practice today, you really sense he's enjoying being here.

He's embracing everything about being a football player.

Um, you know, of course, at 38 years old, the end's probably near, but he looks like he could play a few more years.

And the expectation is health permitting, which is the case with every player.

that he's going to be able to build off of a really, really great 2025 season and pick up where he left off when he was playing at an extraordinarily high level during the 2025 playoffs.

Finally, take away number 5.

If there's one area where you see an uptick in improvement.

Um, it actually might be on special teams.

I thought one of the more underrated hires of the offseason was Sean McVeigh being able to land a Bubba Ventrone as a special teams coach.

They bring in Grant Stewart, a special teams ace from Detroit.

They get a new long snapper and Joe Cardona, um, from Miami.

Those guys should be leaders for the unit.

I think they expect the special teams.

So it'll be a lot better than it was in 2025.