The Los Angeles Rams have an eclectic core of both veteran and young talent on their defense. It all starts with the defensive line, which has been well documented and discussed, but the linebacker room is also intriguing.
There are two veterans in Nate Landman and Troy Reeder, 2024 undrafted linebacker Omar Speights and 2025 undrafted rookie Shaun Dolac. Landman and Speights should be the Week 1 starters with Reeder filling in as needed, but defensive coordinator Chris Shula sounds as though he’d be comfortable putting Dolac in if needed.
“It was really early on [that Dolac picked up the defense]. He picked it up very fast. He can process, he thinks, he runs to the ball, he can tackle and then in the preseason games he did an excellent job as well,” Shula said. “He’s just been a consistent guy from the jump and a guy that fits in well here. Obviously, [he] helps on special teams and if he had to play on defense, we wouldn’t have any hesitation at all.”
Dolac has a lot of collegiate experience as he heads into his first NFL season with a ridiculous amount of production. He played five seasons at Buffalo and led the MAC in combined tackles, solo tackles, tackles for a loss and interceptions in 2024. Dolac also led all of FBS in 2022 with 97 tackles.
As Shula mentioned, Dolac will play mostly special teams. But when and if he’s called upon, Shula and the Rams feel confident in his abilities.
The Rams have a pretty pedestrian linebacker room in 2024, but they seem excited about the current room.
Spieghts came on strong in the final half of the season when he started the final 10 games. He tallied 67 combined tackles and earned his starting role for 2025. Landman has been getting a lot of praise all offseason, too, and Reeder is the most experienced player on the roster.
The Dolac vs. Chris Paul Jr. debate will rage all year, but the Rams sound excited with the undrafted linebacker.
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