The Rams found a scapegoat for their slide from NFC Champion a year ago to out of the playoffs this year. It's Wade Phillips, for some reason, even though his defense was the one thing that went right in last year's Super Bowl loss. Phillips should land a new job before much longer.
When he does, that's a defense I'll be interested in in fantasy drafts. It will probably rank among the league leaders in both sacks and takeaways.
Since his last failed stint as head coach in Dallas (2007-2010) Phillips has served as defensive coordinator in eight of the last nine years -- three years in Houston, two in Denver, two with the Rams. Only two of those teams ranked outside the top 6 in fantasy scoring, using a system that awards 1 point for sacks, 2 for takeaways, and 6 for touchdowns. All but two of those defenses ranked in the top 10 for sacks, and all but two ranked in the top 10 for takeaways.
| PHILLIPS AS COORDINATOR, 2011-PRESENT | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Sack | Rk | Take | Rk | FF Rk |
| 2011 | Hou. | 44 | 6 | 27 | 12 | 14 |
| 2012 | Hou. | 44 | 5 | 29 | 9 | 6 |
| 2013 | Hou. | 32 | 29 | 11 | 32 | 32 |
| 2015 | Den. | 52 | 1 | 27 | 7 | 3 |
| 2016 | Den. | 42 | 3 | 27 | 7 | 5 |
| 2017 | LAR | 48 | 4 | 28 | 5 | 3 |
| 2018 | LAR | 41 | 15 | 30 | 3 | 3 |
| 2019 | LAR | 50 | 4 | 24 | 8 | 6 |
The Panthers and Giants have hired young, offensive-minded head coaches recently. Perhaps Phillips will find himself in one of those defensive coordinator jobs.
--Andy Richardson