The Los Angeles Rams' star-studded defense just got even better. On Sunday afternoon, just hours before the 53-man roster deadline, the Rams announced Aaron Donald is officially coming out of retirement and will play this season.
It always seemed likely that he would return after working out multiple times for the team and ramping up his offseason training, but it didn't become official until Sunday – nearly two weeks before the Rams' season opener against the 49ers in Australia.
Donald isn't going to ride the bench in his return, which means one of the Rams' starters is bound to lose playing time. The question is: who?
Poona Ford is the starting nose tackle, a position Donald doesn't traditionally play. Therefore, his job is safe. Kobie Turner
plays a similar role to Donald as a 3-tech defensive tackle, but he's also one of the Rams' best players. So like Ford, we can assume he's not going to lose playing time to Donald.
That leaves Braden Fiske as the odd man out. Fiske, a 2023 second-round pick, was outstanding as a rookie but had a sophomore slump last season while battling multiple injuries. The Athletic's Nate Atkins wrote recently about Fiske's stock being down, saying "he isn’t flashing much," though he's not necessarily struggling.
From The Athletic:
This is a similar situation to Hunter’s. Fiske isn’t struggling on the field, but he isn’t flashing much, either, and he might need to in order to have a chance at much playing time this season. If Aaron Donald decides to make a comeback, he’ll start along with Kobie Turner on the interior in rush situations, and Stewart’s emergence, particularly as a run defender, could make it harder to find snaps on the edge in base downs.
It would be a good problem for the Rams, but it could make it tough for Fiske to show who he can be in this league now that he’s healthy.
The Rams couldn't have seen Donald's return coming before trading for Myles Garrett in June, so it's not as if they expected Fiske's role to evaporate. And even though he'll play fewer snaps and have a smaller impact with Donald back, Fiske remains a core player for L.A.
Donald is only here for one more year, which means Fiske will likely take back his role as a starter next season.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Which Rams player will lose playing time with Aaron Donald back?
