When Aaron Donald announced that he was coming out of retirement to help the Rams win a Super Bowl, there was some concern by fans that his presence may stunt the development of Braden Fiske. But over the last few weeks, it seems the only one doing the stunting and having his presence felt is Fiske.
The former second-round pick out of Florida State who finished third in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting a couple of years ago didn’t just post his first sack of the season against the Raiders in Week
7, he has also been the most consistent force on L.A.‘s defensive line recently. In fact, Fiske is quickly rising up the leaderboard for pressures among all interior defensive linemen.
According to Next Gen Stats, Fiske generated three pressures on 32 pass rushes against Las Vegas, good for a pressure rate of 9.4%. He also had three “stops”, which is a tackle that creates a negative play for the offense when they try to run the ball.
A week earlier against the Cardinals, Fiske had a pressure rate of 17.6%, generating three pressures on 17 snaps. And three weeks ago against the Eagles, SIX pressures for a pressure rate of 23.1%.
So not only does Fiske have a pressure rate of 11.9% on the season — which is pretty good — he has been especially difficult for linemen to block over the past four weeks:
- 87 pass rushes
- 13 pressures
- 14,9% pressure rate
- 1 sack
- 8 stops
Fiskes ranks 16th among all qualified defensive linemen at 11.9% — the recently-traded Jeffery Simmons ranks 15th — but a 14.9% pressure rate alone would rank sixth! He would rank above Maxx Crosby and just behind Aidan Hutchinson.
Although he has not turned those pressures into sacks yet, which does matter, there’s reason to think now that Fiske could be a viable long-term defensive line cornerstone for the Rams, something they messed up when they parted ways with John Franklin-Myers once.
Fiske has primarily played defensive tackle, with just 39 of his snaps coming as a defensive end, but he has generated three pressures as an edge. He lines up on both sides of the line with similar results from either angle, and he has a 14.8% pressure rate when the Rams blitz.
The Rams didn’t get to see Fiske and Donald play together when he was drafted in 2024. Now they’re finally getting to see the duo on the field at the same time and it may be even better for Fiske than for AD.
