The Los Angeles Rams’ trade to acquire All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett is not just one of the biggest moves of this offseason; it’s one of the biggest moves of the last few decades. A Super Bowl contender just acquired one of the greatest pass rushers of all time.

Garrett will turn 31 this season, but he’s aging gracefully because he’s the physical freak of physical freaks and hasn’t had any major injury issues in his career. Many thought the Rams were the most complete team in football after they addressed their weakness at corner, trading with the Chiefs for All-Pro Trent McDuffie and signing outside corner Jaylen Watson, but now, they could have the NFL’s best defense to go with the best offense.

Though the Rams finished fourth in defensive DVOA last season, an efficiency metric that accounts for strength of schedule, they were punching above their weight. Defensive coordinator Chris Shula deserved a lot of credit for hiding the Rams’ weaknesses with his scheme. He effectively disguised, confused quarterbacks and broke down protection schemes with his creative simulated pressures, but the Rams’ corners were exposed in the NFC Championship Game against the Seahawks, and their lack of a closer ultimately doomed them.

The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue wrote about the Rams’ desire to get back a familiar luxury that they lost when Aaron Donald retired: the ability to make offenses predictable because they had to account for a field-tilting player on every play. The protection would almost always slide toward Donald on every pass play and, at times, would introduce funky protection tweaks like having a tight end or running back help on Donald, which you rarely see happen against a defensive tackle.

The Rams expressed that they didn’t want to trade Jared Verse and fought to keep him, but the upgrade from Verse to Garrett cannot be overstated. Verse is a young, ascending pass rusher entering his third season who is cost-controlled. Yes, all those things make him a valuable asset, but Verse is a high-end No. 2 rusher. He had 7.5 sacks in his sophomore season last year, but finished second in the league in total pressures (100). He is a power rusher without the bend or dynamic ability to be a consistent double-digit-sack pass rusher. Verse is more akin to Montez Sweat, who has a similar skill set. You’re fine if he’s your No. 1 rusher, but in an ideal world, he’s your No. 2.

The Rams’ explosive offense will also give Garrett more pass-rush opportunities as he’ll get to play with a lead rather than from behind. According to Pro Football Focus, Verse had 485 total pass rush snaps last year, while Garrett had 477. Verse finished 22nd in quick pressures (pressures 2.5 seconds or less), and the Rams finished 13th in time to sack (3.64) and 10th in time to pressure (2.54) overall. These are strong numbers, but Garrett will make them elite.  The Browns finished ahead of the Rams in both metrics last season.

This isn’t meant to disparage Verse, who will be a strong defender for a long time, but to show the full scope of the upgrade that the Rams are getting.

The Rams’ defensive line is made up of good rushers, but Garrett gives them a finisher who will get to the quarterback quicker and finish for sacks. Also, Garrett was chipped and double-teamed at a significantly higher rate than Verse.

PlayerChip RateDouble Team Rate

12.55%

40.78%

26.07%

59.06%

This makes protections more predictable for Shula to manipulate and also prevents another eligible receiver from free-releasing into the pass concept.

Week 13, 13:54 remaining in the first quarter, third-and-9

49ers offensive line coach Chris Foerster said Wednesday that finding out about the Rams’ acquisition of Garrett felt like a “gut punch.” Players like Garrett force you to do things schematically that you don’t want to do. For example, on this play from last season, on third-and-9, the 49ers had to keep All-Pro tight end George Kittle in to help future Hall of Fame left tackle Trent Williams in protection. Williams is a player you would feel good blocking one-on-one against almost anyone, but not Garrett.

Kittle had to release late and was easily covered, while Garrett was still able to walk Williams back into Brock Purdy’s lap, even with the chip.

Though Shula called blitzes at the third-lowest rate last season (11.2 percent), his speciality is designing simulated pressures, which are four-man rushes with the fourth rusher coming from the second or third level. They’ll continue to be a part of the Rams’ identity, but Shula doesn’t have to call them as often.

NFC Championship Game, 12:07 remaining in the third quarter, first-and-10

On this play from the NFC Championship Game, the Rams had a simulated pressure with an outside corner rushing and Quentin Lake and the safety doubling Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Smith-Njigba knew the pressure was coming and alerted quarterback Sam Darnold. Because the outside linebacker on the opposite side dropped, the Rams only rushed four, making this a simulated pressure.

Because of the safety rotation on the pressure, former Rams corner Cobie Durant had to cover receiver Jake Bobo one-on-one on a post.

Darold found the one-on-one and hit Bobo for a touchdown. With Garrett, the Rams can take fewer such risks and rely more on their four-man rush. But with their corner upgrade, they can also hold up better in coverage if they do want to create quick pressures with scheme.

An issue that the Rams had was that they couldn’t trust their corners to play man too often. Shula called the league’s fourth-lowest rate of man coverage (14.7 percent) last season. Their ability to create pressure helped when they did play man, but their corners’ inability to hold up against man caught up to them in the playoffs. Their defensive EPA per dropback in man coverage was -0.46. Only the Jets were worse in the regular season.

Both McDuffie and Watson are coming from a man-heavy Chiefs scheme and specialize in press coverage. They’ll help take some of the air out of the Rams’ coverages and make underneath completions less available to opposing quarterbacks. The Rams will continue to be a heavy two-high-safety team, but they’ll be able to play a lot more man coverage than they did last year, which will give Garrett and company more time to get home.

McDuffie will likely play mostly on the outside, but against certain matchups, his ability to play inside, where he is arguably better, will be key. Lake is an excellent nickel corner, but he excels in zone and could struggle in man, which was an issue in the playoffs. Though he won’t be expected to shut down Smith-Njigba one-on-one at a high rate, McDuffie does give the Rams someone who can compete with him. When McDuffie plays in the slot, Lake will likely play free safety, but he can also line up at linebacker in passing situations, which will be advantageous against running backs like Christian McCaffrey.

The Rams have so much more defensive flexibility now and blue-chip players who can close games. Donald is even flirting with the idea of making a comeback. If he does and can just be a pass-rush specialist, the Rams could have the most frightening pass rush in the modern era, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Right now, the Rams have the best pass rush in the league, a much-improved secondary, an elite play caller and an offense that will make opponents one-dimensional. “Super teams” have disappointed in the past, but this isn’t just a random collection of star players; every piece fits, and the vision is clear and a terrifying one for the rest of the league.