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Josaiah Stewart comes to the Los Angeles Rams with a lot of confidence.
The Michigan edge rusher tallied 14 sacks in the past two seasons for the Wolverines after transferring from Coastal Carolina and played a pro-style defense under coordinators with NFL experience. Former New York Giants, Baltimore Ravens and Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Wink Martindale coached Stewart in 2024, and current Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter coached him in 2023.
That production and experience played a major role in his selection in the third round by the Rams, and the young pass rusher said he believes his time in Ann Arbor, Michigan, will help him at the next level.
"Being in a pro system for a couple of years, it does you wonders," Stewart told reporters Friday night. "Being with Minter and Martindale, those guys are great minds. Throughout the process, zooming with different teams... a lot of teams run similar stuff and the same kind of scheme so I was excited to learn about that and learn that a lot of teams run our scheme. It'll be easy [for me to] plug and play."
Rams head coach Sean McVay concurred. He noted that the Martindale connection helped the Rams' assessment of Stewart because Rams' pass rush coordinator Drew Wilkins coached under Martindale with the Giants and Ravens.
"Obviously Wink is really close with Drew Wilkins, who we just hired as our pass rush coordinator, so there's some intimate knowledge," McVay said. "There's also an acknowledgement and an understanding of a lot of the similar concepts that we would activate. And that what [Rams defensive coordinator] Chris [Shula] has really done an excellent job of being flexible and fluid. And so that certainly helped."
When you connect the dots, it makes more and more sense why Stewart was the pick at No. 90. The Rams needed pass rush depth, too, behind Jared Verse and Byron Young. Stewart isn't a threat to either of their starting roles but should earn some snaps as a rookie.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: NFL connections should help new Rams OLB Josaiah Stewart excel in L.A.
Continue reading...
The Michigan edge rusher tallied 14 sacks in the past two seasons for the Wolverines after transferring from Coastal Carolina and played a pro-style defense under coordinators with NFL experience. Former New York Giants, Baltimore Ravens and Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Wink Martindale coached Stewart in 2024, and current Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter coached him in 2023.
That production and experience played a major role in his selection in the third round by the Rams, and the young pass rusher said he believes his time in Ann Arbor, Michigan, will help him at the next level.
"Being in a pro system for a couple of years, it does you wonders," Stewart told reporters Friday night. "Being with Minter and Martindale, those guys are great minds. Throughout the process, zooming with different teams... a lot of teams run similar stuff and the same kind of scheme so I was excited to learn about that and learn that a lot of teams run our scheme. It'll be easy [for me to] plug and play."
Rams head coach Sean McVay concurred. He noted that the Martindale connection helped the Rams' assessment of Stewart because Rams' pass rush coordinator Drew Wilkins coached under Martindale with the Giants and Ravens.
"Obviously Wink is really close with Drew Wilkins, who we just hired as our pass rush coordinator, so there's some intimate knowledge," McVay said. "There's also an acknowledgement and an understanding of a lot of the similar concepts that we would activate. And that what [Rams defensive coordinator] Chris [Shula] has really done an excellent job of being flexible and fluid. And so that certainly helped."
When you connect the dots, it makes more and more sense why Stewart was the pick at No. 90. The Rams needed pass rush depth, too, behind Jared Verse and Byron Young. Stewart isn't a threat to either of their starting roles but should earn some snaps as a rookie.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: NFL connections should help new Rams OLB Josaiah Stewart excel in L.A.
Continue reading...
