Turf Show Times
The Los Angeles Rams drafted Braden Fiske shortly after Aaron Donald retired, but the two have still managed to spend time together anyway, including working out and going to sporting events. The duo has never played together, although that could change if momentum continues to lean towards Donald return from retirement, giving every member of L.A.’s defense an exciting chance to play with an NFL legend. It would be an opportunity for Fiske to learn directly from the man himself on a week-to-week basis, something that can’t be replicated unless you’re teammates, but Donald’s presence on the roster would come as a double-edged sword.
Two years ago, Fiske finished third in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting and he was poised to develop into one of the best 3-4 defensive ends in the league. But if Donald is on the roster, the chances of Fiske’s playing time going down for the second year in a row means that his development is headed in the wrong direction.
If Fiske, Kobie Turner, and Poona Ford are meant to be one of the best defensive lines in the NFL already, leading a group that also includes recent draftees Tyler Davis, Ty Hamilton, and Tim Keenan as backups, would Aaron Donald’s return be exciting in the moment but stunt the Rams’ future?
Braden Fiske is 26. If the Rams go as deep in the playoffs as they intend to go, Fiske will turn 27 before the NFC Championship. So it’s not like L.A. has another five years to develop Fiske, he’s actually supposed to be as great as he’ll ever be right now.
And that certainly did not look like a concern after Fiske’s rookie season with 8.5 sacks.
Not only was Fiske a second-round pick, the Rams traded a future second-round pick to move up for him in 2024. He rewarded Les Snead’s faith by wreaking havoc—alongside Jared Verse and Turner and Byron Young—to the tune of 8.5 sacks, 22 pressures, and 10 TFL on 661 snaps. He added 1.5 sacks in two playoff games, giving him 10 on the entire year.
There is no replacing Aaron Donald, but that was pretty damn impressive.
Fiske still flashed some of those talents in 2025, including 2 sacks in the playoffs:
However, the proof is in the pudding and the pudding is playing time:
Chris Shula clearly felt it was safe to reduce Fiske’s snap count, going down from 661 to 542, or just 48 percent of L.A.‘s total defensive snaps. In return, Tyler Davis got 42 percent, up from 29 percent in his rookie year. That is essentially a sixth-round pick proving to be nearly as important as a second-round pick from the same class.
But we don’t talk about it because Ty Davis didn’t get 10 sacks as a rookie.
Fiske’s reduction in playing time can certainly be spun as a positive, if it means that L.A.‘s total defensive line core is more diverse...
