Rams' Chris Shula Gives Defensive Back Massive Praise

One of the big reasons the defense was able to turn things around from last season is due to the work of Quentin Lake. Lake, now entering his fourth year, was named a team captain and the defensive signal caller last season.

So I asked Shula about what Lake means to his defense, and Shula did not hesitate to praise Lake and his body of work.

“He’s the linchpin. He’s everything. Communicator, he moves around. How I like to say it is he allows us always to get our best guys on the field," stated Shula.

"He can play nickel. These days, a lot of times when you are playing nickel, you get put in the run through. You're almost like a linebacker sometimes in a 4-3 defense. He does that. The next thing he's covering a slot receiver and then the next thing he's deep playing middle of the post safety. Now he's playing a half field. He does all these different techniques and I think he's one of the best tacklers on the team, but I think he's probably one of the most underrated physical players in the league. He's always been one of our best tacklers and he's been one of our best communicators, smart. You can do a lot of stuff with him just because you're not going to overload him and he's going to get everybody right around him. In addition, I think he makes the guys around him play better too.”

When people ask why are the Rams so confident in their secondary, it's because their leader came from the secondary. It's due to Lake being able to communicate and be on the same page. It's because the way the defensive line attacks, the secondary does the same, just in a different way and when a play gets made, Lake is the first one cheering them on.

And then when it's his time to make the play, he does.

For a player entering a contract year, money isn't a concern. Why? Because players...more importantly, people like Lake get paid their worth, and he's priceless.