Rams Defender Continues to Dominate the Trenches

“I think the first thing is he is a complete player," stated McVay. "He’s obviously excellent on the early downs, but the twitch, the ability to be able to work edges and use his leverage to his advantage. He's a guy that we're very familiar with from just going against him when he was in Seattle in the earlier parts of his career."

"He went to Buffalo for that year and then last year, you watch the tape, and it’s hard to find a play that he's not productive on. I thought he was so consistent. We talk about how important that is to be consistent, snap in and snap out. He’s been that so far. It certainly isn't limited to the early downs. We're really fortunate that we were able to get him, and I'm glad he's with us.”

Ford was a member of the Los Angeles Chargers last season, where his efforts helped what was an awful defense turn into the NFL's number one scoring defense in their first season with Jim Harbaugh at the helm.

“[He’s] nice," added Kevin Dotson. "He's strong, lower to the ground, but he still has twitch. He's still heavy. It’s a great combination of what you really want from a D-tackle. He’s great in the run block, surprisingly quick in the pass. It's like he has everything.”

Dotson was then asked what it's like to take Ford on.

“It's just him being able to touch you first, but at the same time having weight behind the punch. Him being already six feet, he's under your pads. He has leverage, his arms long, he has weight, everything is going in his favor. So, imagine you have a 330 or 340 [pound player] with a stout arm and [his arms are] longer than you. [He] just doesn't let you get into his body.”

Ford has been a dominant run stopper while flashing the ability as a pass rusher. He allows constant rotation within the interior defense line while the team avoids a drop in quality. He is the force in the 3-4 and requires a double team in the 4-3 or nickel. Ford lays the path to the Lombardi.