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Los Angeles Rams: 2021 is finally Taylor Rapp breakout season

By Sayre Bedinger

Oct 11, 2020; Landover, Maryland, USA; Los Angeles Rams strong safety Taylor Rapp (24) stands next to kneeling teammates during the national anthem prior to their game against the Washington Football Team at FedExField. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 11, 2020; Landover, Maryland, USA; Los Angeles Rams strong safety Taylor Rapp (24) stands next to kneeling teammates during the national anthem prior to their game against the Washington Football Team at FedExField. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Los Angeles Rams had the number one scoring defense and the number one pass defense in the entire NFL in the 2020 season. That production landed coordinator Brandon Staley a head coaching gig with the Chargers after just one season on the job.

In addition to the loss of Staley, the Rams are going to have to deal with the loss of some pretty significant players in their secondary in 2021 as well.

The team lost safety John Johnson to the Cleveland Browns in free agency, as well as cornerback Troy Hill. Those two guys played in all 16 games for Los Angeles last season and combined for 182 total tackles, four interceptions, and 18 pass breakups.

There is no better time for someone to break through in the Los Angeles Rams’ secondary than right now, and it feels like it’s going to be 2019 second-round pick Taylor Rapp this season.

Rapp established himself as a rookie in 2019 with 100 tackles in 15 games along with a pair of interceptions and eight passes broken up.

In 2020, he played in just nine games with five starts and had 44 total tackles, an interception, and a forced fumble.

Los Angeles Rams: Taylor Rapp breakout is coming

Rapp came in as an injury replacement for John Johnson in his rookie 2019 season and played well. In 2020, we got to see another glimpse of what he can do but the 2021 season will be his time to shine.

The pressure is on as the Rams now have a pretty substantial reputation to uphold despite so many losses on that side of the ball.

Matthew Stafford is now leading the team at quarterback, so the defense is going to have to find a way to not skip a beat even though they have had so much turnover over the last two seasons.

Rapp will be joined at the safety position by one of the league’s more underrated rookies in 2020 — Former Ohio State prospect Jordan Fuller — and new defensive coordinator Raheem Morris will have a couple of promising players to rely on at the back end of his defense.

Rapp is physical, he has a nose for the ball, and he can play all over the defensive formation. He’s got to stay healthy, but his production on a per-snap basis is already impressive when it comes to making tackles and plays on the ball.

There’s no doubt that behind such a talented defensive front in Los Angeles, this guy can have long-term success and he should put himself firmly on the map with a big breakout year in 2021.

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