After Saquon Barkley ran past, through and over them twice last season, the Rams made a big move to stop the Philadelphia Eagles’ star running back from doing it again.
Ostensibly, general manager Les Snead and coach Sean McVay signed lineman Poona Ford to improve the overall run defense. To give a young ascending front an experienced player.
But it really boiled down to one thing: Stop Barkley.
“I have heard that,” Ford, chuckling, said this week. “But, you feel me, I don’t look at it like that.”
Maybe not. But Rams fans who cringed while watching Barkley amass more than 200 yards rushing and score on two long touchdown runs in each of the Rams’ defeats by the Eagles last season hope that is the case.
The Rams gave Ford a three-year contract that includes $17 million in guarantees, according to Overthecap.com. They also signed linebacker Nate Landman to a one-year, $1.1-million deal.
Through two games — victories over the Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans — both moves paid off as the Rams gave up only one touchdown.
But Barkley, mobile quarterback Jalen Hurts and a line led by tackles Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata present an entirely different challenge for a Rams team regarded as a Super Bowl contender.
Ford, 29, played five seasons with the Seattle Seahawks and one season each with the Buffalo Bills and the Chargers before joining the Rams. He has played against Barkley twice.
In 2022, Ford and the Seahawks limited Barkley to 53 yards and a touchdown in 20 carries in a 27-13 victory. In 2023, when Ford played for the Bills, Barkley rushed for 93 yards in 24 carries in a 14-9 Bills victory.
Signing defensive tackle Poona Ford was at the forefront of defensive changes the Rams made in the offseason to beat Saquon Barkley and the Eagles.
(Stew Milne / Associated Press)
“He’s a tough runner, a physical runner,” Ford said, “and it’s just really, everybody get to the ball.”
Barkley, the reigning NFL offensive player of the year, sprinted virtually untouched to the end zone four times against the Rams last season.
He rushed for 255 yards and scored on runs of 70 and 72 yards in a 37-20 Week 12 victory over the Rams at SoFi Stadium. He rushed for 205 yards and scored on runs of 62 and 78 yards in the Eagles’ 28-22 NFC divisional-round victory at Lincoln Financial Field.
“You feel like you play good, you play good, and the next thing you know, boom, he hits it,” Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula said this week when asked about Barkley. “Just have to do it every single snap because at any point he can break the game open.”
The 5-foot, 11-inch, 310-pound Ford aims to help stop that from happening again.
Ford, 29, began his career with the Seattle Seahawks in 2018 as an undrafted free agent out of Texas. He played five seasons for the Seahawks, and then played the 2023 season with the Buffalo Bills.
Last season with the Chargers, he had three sacks and intercepted a pass.
After an aggressive recruiting pitch from McVay, Ford signed with the Rams.
“You know coach McVay, he’s pretty intense,” Ford said before the season. “How could I not?”
Defensive line coach Giff Smith, who previously worked for the Chargers, said he spoke with edge rusher Khalil Mack and Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. when the Rams were pursuing Ford.
“They love him,” Smith said, “so I knew we would mix well.”
Rams defensive tackle Poona Ford runs on the field before a win over the Tennessee Titans on Sept. 14.
(John Amis / Associated Press)
It did not take long for the self-described “pretty chill” Ford to blend with other players in his position group.
“Poona fits in perfect,” said veteran lineman Larrell Murchison, who was hosted by Ford during a college recruiting trip at Texas. “They all thought he was quiet when he first got here and now…no!”
Said Ford: “Once I get comfortable with the group, I’m able to express myself more and be myself like my family and close people know.”
Rams players on defense and offense noted that Ford is more than a run stopper — he has 11 ½ sacks — and that he can make plays across the field.
“That dude is strong as hell,” edge rusher Jared Verse said. “He’s strong and he’s stout, you can’t really move him. And you think like, ‘Oh, Poona is just a big run stopper or somebody that could just help with the run.’
“That man can rush.”
After edge rusher Byron Young recorded a sack in the opener, he said Ford had “suffocated everything” along the line and made his job easier.
“Just having him right there, clogging the hole, like taking on two, three sometimes,” Young said, laughing. “You can’t complain about that.”
Landman and fellow inside linebacker Omar Speights said Ford’s ability to handle double teams and slow down running backs helps them make plays. By not allowing ballcarriers to get to the second and third levels of the defense, Ford also is limiting contact sustained by defensive backs, safety Quentin Lake said.
Ford’s experience and “mature presence” have been welcomed by a mostly young front that includes linemen Kobie Turner, Braden Fiske, Tyler Davis and rookie Ty Hamilton.
“We’re built with guys in Year 1, 2 and 3,” Fiske said, chuckling. “Just to have that veteran presence, it’s like in a way a calming presence of ‘Hey, this guy’s got his stuff together.’
“Kobie’s obviously super smart, but we still have our youthful moments on the field. So to have that veteran presence… is very reassuring.”
In Eagles victories over the Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs, Barkley rushed for a combined 148 yards and two touchdowns.
Ford is looking forward to helping the Rams neutralize Barkley and the Eagles on Sunday.
And beyond.
“Everybody’s been playing great,” he said. “Looking at what we’ve done, it kind of has me excited for the future, once we hit our stride and how good we can really be.”
This story originally appeared on LA Times
