The Rams’ defense was decidedly better than their horrific offense last season, and for at least 2017 they have maintained many of their best defenders – including Aaron Donald, Alec Ogletree, Michael Brockers, Mark Barron and Trumaine Johnson.

They also signed veteran linebacker Connor Barwin, who’ll bring leadership and energy to a young, athletic team.

With the squad that they have, the Rams look perfectly poised to transition to defensive coordinator Wade Phillips’ “hybrid 3-4” defense, which will no doubt resemble what he ran in Denver with the Broncos. That will likely signal a decline in the Rams league-leading third down blitz percentage, which hit a staggering 54.4% last season, per Pro Football Focus.

The Rams were the most aggressive third-down defense in the NFL in 2016. Will the trend continue under new DC Wade Phillips? pic.twitter.com/N97DhnzYwI — Pro Football Focus (@PFF) May 15, 2017

With any luck, this is not a trend that continues in 2017. A defense that’s one-dimensional on third down is almost never workable in this era of the NFL, where defenses rely on scheme, creativity and versatility rather than the brute force that defined many of the most iconic defenses in bygone eras of American football.

You’ll notice that many of the defenses that employed the blitz the most on third down were teams that missed the playoffs, including the Saints, the Jets, the 49ers and the Rams – all of which were among the ten teams to allow the most points per game last season.

Phillips is also notoriously a fan of zone blitz schemes, which can diversify the blitz approach in ways that still keep the opponents guessing.

There’s no doubt that the Rams have to significantly change their approach from last season – and for the last ten years for that matter – if they want to start reestablishing themselves as playoff contenders. Creating a more efficient and dynamic defensive approach is definitely one of those changes that needs to be made.