The Los Angeles Rams are just 10 days away from opening their 2017 regular season schedule, doing so against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1. Final cuts still need to be made, so the roster is far from finalized, but the starters are mostly in place at this point in time.

To get you ready for the start of the new season, we’re counting down the days by ranking the most important players on the team. We’ll start with nose tackle Michael Brockers, who checks in at No. 10.

NT Michael Brockers

2016 stats (14 games): 19 tackles, 0 sacks, 2 passes defensed

His stats don’t tell the full story when it comes to Brockers’ 2016 season. Although he didn’t record a sack for the first time in his career, he was productive and disruptive on the interior. According to Pro Football Focus, he was 19th among all interior defenders with a run defense grade of 79.5, never missing a tackle in more than 400 snaps. He also received a pass rush grade of 71.9 – 35th among interior defenders.

This season, Brockers will transition to a new role. He’ll be the team’s starting nose tackle in Wade Phillips’ 3-4 defense, which is an extremely important position. He’ll need to eat up blocks for guys like Mark Barron and Alec Ogletree, something he’s thrived at doing in the past.

He’ll be an especially important player if Aaron Donald continues his holdout into the regular season. Although they play different positions, Brockers will need to step up with Donald out. The injury to Dominique Easley doesn’t help, either, forcing Brockers to increase his production even more.

Expect the sixth-year defensive lineman to make a big jump forward in 2017 thanks to Phillips’ scheme. His sack numbers won’t be high, but he should be one of the best run defenders in the NFL.