Myles Garrett is wasting no time making Rams fans feel a little Aaron Donald déjà vu.
That’s the kind of problem a defense can live with and an offense hates immediately. During training camp, most NFL veterans know how to dial things back and coast through drills.
Garrett, though, is making even a reduced version of himself look overwhelming. At less than 50 percent, he’s still more than enough to wreck a rep.
That’s the same uncomfortable reality Sean McVay and the Rams dealt with for years when Aaron Donald was on the field in camp. Donald was so disruptive that he couldn’t really throttle down without taking over the drill.
Offensive linemen didn’t get clean work, plays got blown up, and the offense lost valuable reps. At one point, McVay even had to bench Donald in practice just so the offense could get something meaningful out of the session.
The Rams spent plenty of time trying to find the right pieces around Donald, too. Ndamukong Suh was the best regular-season fit, and his presence helped Donald put together a career year. But the real breakthrough came in 2021, when Von Miller arrived and the Rams finally found the combination that clicked during their Super Bowl season.
Garrett is now giving that same kind of feel to this defense. He’s not just a pass rusher who piles up sacks.
He can set the edge, shed blockers, and stop the run, too. Double teams may come his way, but he’s already showing the full package that makes him such a nightmare to deal with.
That’s why the early camp buzz sounds so familiar. Beat writer Stu Jackson said Garrett “lived in the backfield” on Day 2, and that kind of description tells you everything you need to know.
He’s not just winning a few snaps. He’s living where the offense doesn’t want him to be.
For the Rams, that’s a headache in practice and a gift everywhere else. If Garrett is already doing this at a fraction of his speed and power, the rest of the league has every reason to pay attention.
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The bigger focus now is the next practice block after a planned day off, when Garrett is expected to be back in the mix. For a Rams team trying to keep key players fresh, the decision to hold him out for now feels more like part of the long game than a setback, even if fans are watching every update closely. [Read more 🡒]