Von Miller Trade Vaults Rams Ahead of Packers, Cowboys, Cardinals, Bucs in NFC

The Los Angeles Rams swung their second major trade of 2021, sending the Denver Broncos second- and third-round picks in the 2022 draft in exchange for star pass-rusher Von Miller, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

The move gives L.A.'s already loaded defense another future Hall of Famer who can push it to another level. This world-class defense will be complemented by an offense that has improved significantly since trading for quarterback Matthew Stafford in January.

As long as Miller and the rest of L.A.'s stars stay healthy, the Rams look positioned to overtake the rest of the NFC's top teams in the pursuit of their first Super Bowl since 1999.

After missing the entire 2020 campaign with a severe ankle injury, Miller has bounced back to appear in seven of Denver's eight games this season. He has picked up right where he left off following his sixth consecutive Pro Bowl appearance in 2019, securing 19 tackles—seven for a loss—and 4.5 sacks.

While Miller was used on a career-low 76 percent of Denver's defensive snaps, the 32-year-old has been as devastating as ever as a disruptor. He's notched nine QB hits, seven QB hurries and four QB knockdowns on 16 total pressures.

PFF has graded Miller out at a highly impressive 85.6 for his efforts this season, outperforming his 79.3 grade in 2019.

David Zalubowski/Associated Press

The Los Angeles front now has the potential to become an all-time-great unit with the addition of Miller. The eight-time Pro Bowler joins Aaron Donald, Leonard Floyd, Sebastian Joseph-Day and Justin Hollins once the latter returns from IR.

After finding out that he was dealt to Los Angeles, Miller gushed about the opportunity to play alongside a fellow Defensive Player of the Year winner in Donald. "Great team, I've been a huge fan of Aaron Donald for a long time," he told reporters. "They got a great defense ... I'm excited, always been a great teammate and I'm going to continue to do that."

Miller's presence will take L.A.'s defense to new heights when it comes to attacking opposing quarterbacks.

He joins a team that leads the league with 25 sacks and is tied for first in interceptions with 11. With Miller wreaking havoc in the opposing backfield, those numbers should only improve over the final nine games of 2021.

Despite the quality pass rush already in place, the Rams had taken a slight step back after pacing the field in both total and scoring defense in 2020. The team ranks No. 21 in total defense—giving up 367.5 yards per game—and No. 10 in points allowed, conceding 21.0 points per game.

While L.A.'s defensive numbers aren't jumping off the stat sheet like last year, the numbers don't tell the full story. The Rams were up 38-0 this past Sunday before pulling their starters, a move that allowed the lowly Texans to score 22 points in the fourth quarter.

Eric Smith/Associated Press

That victory marked Los Angeles' fourth straight. While the Rams are firing on all cylinders and hardly needed Miller to get to the playoffs for the fourth time in five years, the roster is now constructed to win when they get there.

If the postseason began today, the Rams would be the No. 5 seed, but that should change by the end of this 17-game campaign. L.A. is healthier and has more depth than the conference's other one-loss teams vying for a bye.

The 7-1 Arizona Cardinals recently lost a huge piece to their defense with the season-ending injury to J.J. Watt, recording just one sack in their first game without him.

The 7-1 Green Bay Packers are dangerously thin at receiver outside of Davante Adams. They were able to beat Arizona without him, but the star wideout needs to stay on the field and shoulder a massive load for this team to have a realistic chance at topping better defensive opponents, the type they'll need to beat to get past the NFC Championship Game for the first time in over a decade.

The 6-1 Cowboys are once again dealing with Dak Prescott injury woes, and, despite winning a game with Cooper Rush under center, they won't be able to contend without their star quarterback at full strength. Dallas narrowly snuck past the Minnesota Vikings while Prescott nursed a calf strain, scoring a meager 20 points in the victory.

The defending champion Buccaneers (6-2) can't seem to keep members of their secondary healthy and just gave up 36 points in a loss to the New Orleans Saints, who had Trevor Siemian playing the last three quarters. While they'll always have a chance as long as Tom Brady is playing at a high level, they'll need to shore up the cornerback situation to run it back.

All these contenders are flawed in more significant ways than the Rams right now. While L.A. isn't perfect, the organization just reinforced a defense that will be able to withstand injuries almost anywhere along the front over these next few months.

As so many teams have proved over the years, having a top-tier pass rush makes a world of difference come January.

David Zalubowski/Associated Press

The Bucs were the most recent to parlay the ability to generate pressure into a championship. The team got a combined 12 sacks and plenty of pressures during its Super Bowl run from a front that included Shaquil Barrett, Jason Pierre-Paul and Ndamukong Suh.

The Rams can not only emulate that formula, but improve on it.

With Stafford leading the offense—one that is scoring over a touchdown more per game than it was during Jared Goff's final season—this well-rounded and balanced group will be tough for anyone to stop come the postseason.

The Rams are clearly all-in on winning the Super Bowl this year. After executing a slew of trades to bring in stars like Jalen Ramsey, Stafford and now Miller, the team has just three picks left in the 2022 draft.

Fortunately for L.A., these moves have all panned out well, and the draft capital won't be missed if that continues.

If Miller ends up being as impactful for the Rams as he was for the Broncos, the window for the club to win its first Super Bowl in Los Angeles just opened even wider.