When the Los Angeles Rams traded for Myles Garrett, there were many winners on both sides, but perhaps none bigger than the Rams and Garrett. L.A. added a superstar pass rusher and finally Garrett is on a team that will contend for the Super Bowl. Who were some of the winners that haven’t received as much attention this week?
1 – Rams Fans
The Rams’ fans are, without a doubt, the biggest winners of this trade.
The buzz on sites like Turf Show Times and others like it is through the roof, and why wouldn’t it be?
Les Snead has gifted the fans the second coming of Aaron Donald in the form of Garrett, and added him to what was already considered by many to be the most talented team in the league.
The Rams have expectations to get back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2021, and anything less would be heartbreaking—especially after trading for Garrett. There are only 73 more sleeps until the first preseason game. The countdown is on and L.A.’s fans are checking their calendars more than ever because of this unexpected trade for Garrett. While fans were already eager to get to Week 1, this trade takes that anticipation to another level.
What a great time to be a Rams fan!
2 – Defensive Coordinator Chris Shula
Shula enters his 10th season with the Rams and his third as the defensive coordinator. In 2025, the Rams’ defense finished 10th in scoring defense and 12th in rushing defense. They forced the fifth-most turnovers in the league with 26, including 16 interceptions and 10 fumble recoveries, and ranked fifth in pressure rate generated (38.0%).
With Snead’s additions to the defense, including cornerbacks Jaylen Watson and Trent McDuffie, in addition to Garrett, every single category should see an improvement.
Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr has posted a great article about how Shula can use Garrrett in ways that the Browns never could:
“McVay and DC Chris Shula in concert, having a broader grasp on offensive football, will be able to use Garrett in ways that we have not seen previously, or to simply use the idea of him in a more devastating way. By allowing offenses each week to present their desperate attempts at containment—a process that will involve a cadre of wing players, tight ends and tackles deployed in various ways to maintain a proper phalanx around Garrett—McVay and Shula can then more easily understand what counterpunch can break the remainder of an offense that has now understaffed itself out of singular respect for Garrett. McVay can also more authoritatively advise how another team will attempt to stop Garrett, which opens Shula up for a suite of creative secondary blitzes, stunts and other chicanery at the snap.“
What Orr is saying essentially is that Shula can use McVay’s brilliant offensive mind to help him maximize his defensive schemes. The Rams aren’t that far removed from Donald’s playing days, so there should be scheme ideas carried over from those years.
The increase in quality defensive starters from last year to this, as far as what Shula has to work with, is astronomical. The added pressure for him to perform is there, but it should be what every coach aspires to, an opportunity to scheme the best group of players possible.
Orr goes onto say that Garrett will change the math of L.A.’s defense in a way that nobody who played for Shula could accomplish last season, not even Jared Verse:
“When reduced to its simplest form, Garrett is altering the math on a football field, allowing a defense to play 11 on 10, or, really, in the case of a nonmobile quarterback, 11 vs. 9.
Teams tend to run away from Garrett at a very reliable rate. Teams also tend to slide their pass protection on every down toward Garrett. Teams tend to send fewer receivers out for passing routes when facing Garrett. That statistical dependency, when placed in the hands of coaches who have manipulated those odds better than any staff in the NFL, is a doomsday scenario. McVay and Shula now know exactly which way you’re running the football, exactly where your offensive linemen will move and exactly which receivers are going to be looking for passes before the ball is even snapped.“
This kind of pre-snap knowledge in this braintrust is pure gold. The formidable defense the Rams have built is the type that can actually win ball games. For someone who did not get a head coaching offer in 2026, these moves by Snead must feel like a Godsend.
3 – Ty Simpson
If the Rams defense is as good as they expect it to be after adding Garrett, McDuffie, and Watson, the rookie Ty Simpson will have a lot less pressure on his shoulders to carry the team, if and when he’s called to make a start.
Sean McVay will not have to ask Simpson to carry the team, should Matthew Stafford miss a game. He will only need to avoid mistakes, which is all rookie quarterbacks should be focused on.
Obviously, the hope in drafting Simpson was not to acquire a game manager; they want a bona fide franchise quarterback. But what if the worst happens and Stafford misses some time this year? Simpson will feel a little less anxious knowing the defense has a future Hall of Famer and arguably the most talented defensive line in the NFL, left-to-right.
Most, if not all, great quarterbacks have gone through a learning curve. Stafford lost ten of his first thirteen games. Troy Aikman lost his first eleven starts. Peyton Manning had an abysmal rookie season.
So if this defense can create winning situations for Simpson, he should have one less thing to worry about as he finds his way, thanks to Garrett (and Les Snead) leading him.
