The Rams knew the resume. Saw the highlights. Gathered all the intel required.
But they were not aware of Myles Garrett’s aura.
How could they?
It’s not tangible, nor easily defined.
It’s just there.
“You just feel him,” coach Sean McVay said Friday.
McVay felt and said that before. About Aaron Donald. About Jalen Ramsey.
But listening to Rams players talk about Garrett, this feels different.
Mystical.
“You can just feel his aura,” cornerback Trent McDuffie said.
Safety Quentin Lake explained it the same way.
“Just his presence,” Lake said, “his aura.”
The Myles Garrett effect is not confined to the defense.
“Everybody on the field can kind of feel this aura sitting on whatever side of the field he’s on,” offensive guard Kevin Dotson said. “You just feel this monster energy.”
Garrett, a 10th year pro and two-time NFL defensive player of the year, laughed when asked if he was conscious of his aura.
“I guess,” he said. “It’s great to hear that they have respect for me.”
Garrett, 30, is one of the biggest stars on a star-studded Rams team that is favored to win the Super Bowl, regardless of whether Donald comes out of retirement.
Garrett, the No. 1 pick in the 2017 draft out of Texas A&M, amassed 125½ sacks in nine seasons with the Cleveland Browns. He was defensive player of the year in 2023 and also last season, when he recorded a league-record 23 sacks.
In June, the Rams sent edge rusher Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick and future second- and third-round picks to the Browns for Garrett. He was regarded as the final piece for a franchise intent on winning a second Super Bowl title under McVay.
Garrett is acclimating to Southern California and a team that advanced to the NFC championship game last season before losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.
“It’s starting to feel like home rather quickly,” he said.
It did not take long for Garrett to ingratiate himself. His skill, work ethic and knowledge are imparted in the meeting room and on the field, edge rusher Byron Young said.
“It’s amazing,” Young said. “It’s art.”
Last season, Young recorded a career-best 12 sacks and was voted to the Pro Bowl.
With Garrett now lining up alongside him, the fourth-year pro is soaking in knowledge and learning from his example. Though Garrett, at 6 feet, 4 inches and 272 pounds, makes plays that can’t be replicated by others.
Garrett’s quickness off the ball is “insane,” Young said, noting that Garrett eats up “three or four yards,” with his first step.
“That right there alone is amazing,” Young said.
Garrett’s influence could be magnified if Donald, a three-time defensive player of the year, ends a two-year retirement to pursue another Super Bowl ring.
Garrett said he would not try to sway Donald’s decision. But he acknowledged that it would be exciting to be a “partner in crime” with the eight-time All-Pro.
“There’s a lot we can learn from each other,” Garrett said, “and I’d love to pick his brain on the things he does to attack his matchups and I think the same could be said vice versa.”
During training camp, Garrett and teammates are focused on blending their talents at all three levels of the defense.
Garrett is a “freak athlete for sure,” lineman Kobie Turner said.
“We definitely understand the opportunities that should get opened up,” said Turner, who had seven sacks last season, “and if those opportunities don’t open up and they leave him soloed up, he’s going to take advantage.”
There is “no question” Garrett will dominate, Lake said.
“So now,” he said, “it’s just making sure, ‘Hey, can we do our job so this guy can go cut it loose over there too?’”
Garrett has embraced the Rams’ culture, built during McVay’s nine seasons during which the Rams made seven playoff appearances and played in two Super Bowls, winning one.
He is eager to share his knowledge and experience but also learn from younger teammates. The Rams’ defensive front features Young, Turner, and linemen Braden Fiske and Poona Ford, among others.
“This group was doing great without me,” Garrett said. “I want to just try to help elevate other guys and the playmakers that we have here.”
There is still “a lot of rust to knock off,” during camp and the lead-up to the season, he said.
The Rams’ opener against the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia, will be their first opportunity to measure the benefit of Garrett’s presence. It’s the start of a season the Rams aim to end with a Super Bowl victory at SoFi Stadium.
“Maybe,” Garrett said, “the aura will increase over time.”