TBR Sports Blog: "Von Voyage!"

A lot of people didn't really know what to think when Von Miller became the newest member of the Los Angeles Rams this week.

LA has quickly become a “city of champions” in recent memory with the Dodgers and the Lakers winning recent titles in their sports. California in general has always been progressive—New York can say the same in many ways, but California has always been thinking about the next big thing when it comes to the brands of their athletic atmosphere. So many HUGE brands represent the city of Los Angeles itself, and they’re all under consistent watch for success, just ask the Trojans of USC how maddening it can be. The thing about the Rams is they really don't care how big their Super Bowl window is they just know it's there. So they're doing everything they virtually can to go through to it at how big or small it may be and acquiring Von Miller is a perfect example of that.

Here's a perspective I want everyone to put in evaluation for a second. This move was made not because Von Miller was necessary. It’s already well documented that the services of Aaron Donald and Leonard Floyd and Jalen Ramsey are more than enough to easily account for arguably the best defense in the NFL. Do the Rams need Von Miller? Not really, based on initial observation. But when team owner Les Snead’s kids gifted him with a coffee mug sublimated with a picture of him and a quote across the middle that read “Fuck them picks,” the writing was on the proverbial wall, especially after the way the Dallas Cowboys were able to defeat the Minnesota Vikings the night before without Dak Prescott. You can bet that victory by backup Cooper Rush shook the league. Snead and Sean McVay saw that game, and got to work immediately. Two second-day draft picks later, Miller was beginning his farewells to Broncos country.

If Dallas doesn’t beat Minnesota in the fashion they did, this this trade with Von Miller going to the rams probably doesn't happen. He is the only living player leading the ENTIRE league in sacks—more than J.J. Watt. A Super Bowl champion and Super Bowl MVP. He has the highest pressure rate in the NFL since 2016 (when he quite essentially ended Cam Newton's career in Super Bowl 50) ranking first in the NFL in that rate at 15.9%. Fifth is Aaron Donald. So, right now the Rams have two of the five best players in that statistic of just pressure alone on their defense. He also happens to be one of only five NFL players in history with over 100 sacks, 200 quarterback hits and 140 tackles for loss. This essentially means he averages at least 3-4 disruptive defensive plays a game BY HIMSELF. Even at age 32, this is a perfect spot for Von Miller to continue and possibly finish his career, alongside other future hall of famers. He said it best, he went to sleep 4-4 and woke up 7-1. It happens like that.

This is where you really got to give LA credit. If Sean McVay is going to be the next Bill Walsh, here’s the beginning of that trend coming in full force. That’s what they're modeling him to be at this point and I don't blame them at all, because even though it might have been completely unnecessary to attain Von Miller, right now they might have just punched their ticket to doing exactly what Tampa Bay did last year, and that's host a Super Bowl in their home stadium. And Von Miller will be front and center attempting to ruin someone else’s career in the biggest game. What a voyage.