Wesley Bailey was considered a better prospect in the CFL than the NFL, but less than six months after his name wasn’t called in the 2026 NFL draft, the edge rusher finds himself in a position to support the L.A. Rams in the absence of superstar Myles Garrett. The Rams placed Garrett on injury reserve on Thursday, guaranteeing he will miss at least four games. There is no corresponding move on the roster yet, but the only help coming at edge rusher for Monday’s game against the New York Giants has
to come from players already signed to the team.
That includes Bailey, an undrafted free agent out of Louisville who Sean McVay called out as someone who the team would be counting on in the interim during his Monday appearance on the “Coach McVay Show” with J.B. Long.
“He’s another guy that we’re going to be counting on,” McVay said. “Whether that’s making an impact on teams, whether that’s continuing to understand the roles and responsibilities dependent upon which grouping we’re in. Where is the role and responsibility that he’s playing? He’s another guy that’ll be asked to step up, for sure.”
A standout in training camp, Wesley Bailey wasn’t drafted but he’s the Rams rookie most likely to have an impact this season. While Ty Simpson, Max Klare, and C.J. Daniels are likely to be healthy scratches this week (and third-round tackle Keagen Trost is on IR), Bailey is on track to potentially get his first snaps on defense against the Giants. Bailey played two special teams snaps in the Week 1 opener against the San Francisco 49ers.
He may have to do more than just special teams work against the Giants.
A hair under 6’5, weighing 260 lbs, Bailey posted impressive numbers at his pro day, including a broad jump over 10’ and a vertical of 35” with a 40-yard dash time of 4.69.
A second round pick in the CFL Draft (Bailey is Canadian), Bailey spent six years in college with the first five at Rutgers and the final one at Louisville. He had 15.5 sacks during his college career but looked perhaps even more impressive during the 2026 preseason. That earned Bailey an unlikely spot on McVay’s 53-man roster and now he could do the improbable by helping L.A. keep their heads above water without the reigning DPOY.
It probably won’t be a big role.
The Rams still have Byron Young starting and Josaiah Stewart needing to step up for a bigger starting role in Week 2. Stewart had six tackles in Week 1.
There’s also the presence of veteran Desjuan Johnson, as he played 15 snaps in Week 1. A call-up like Jamie Sheriff could happen too. There’s just not a lot of juice coming from L.A.‘s edge rusher unit as a whole, so maybe the added spark of Bailey could provide a boost that the Giants won’t see coming. Frankly, the loss of Garrett is one of the worst things that could have happened to the Rams, not just because he’s so good, but also because the room didn’t have any depth once Les Snead agreed to give up Jared Verse.
Imagine how much easier this transition would feel with Verse.
Instead, the team is looking to Wesley Bailey, among others. That’s intriguing, but not ideal.
