The Los Angeles Rams shook the NFC with their June trade for Myles Garrett. They sent Jared Verse and multiple future draft picks to Cleveland. One young defender now stands to gain meaningful ground from the move.
ESPN analyst Ben Solak named Josaiah Stewart the Rams’ top breakout candidate for the 2026 season.
Josaiah Stewart’s Opportunity in the New Rams Defense
Solak pointed to Stewart’s strong but under-the-radar rookie year in 2025. The third-round pick out of Michigan played just 166 pass-rush snaps in a rotational role. Those limited opportunities produced flashy results.
“Lost in all the Myles Garrett/Jared Verse hoopla is a pretty sick rookie season from Stewart. He was a rotational player with only 166 pass-rush snaps, but that’s part of the appeal for Chris Shula’s defense. Stewart is a subpackage player with legitimate drop ability, so Shula likes him on blitzing downs as a Swiss Army knife. And those 166 snaps were flashy. He can bend, pop with power and finish at the quarterback.
This is particularly important now that Verse has been swapped for Garrett, who figures to kick inside more often (given his superior size) in subpackage looks. That opens the door for more wide alignments for Stewart, who can carve out a role as a late-game closer.”
— Ben Solak, ESPN NFL Analyst, July 8, 2026
Garrett brings rare size and power for an edge player. He can align wider or move inside on passing downs without losing effectiveness. That flexibility matters in subpackage situations where the Rams like to stay multiple.
Stewart thrives when he can attack offensive tackles from the perimeter. His bend and first-step quickness play up in space. With Garrett handling more interior pressure, Stewart projects for extra reps in those wide alignments on obvious passing downs.
Shula’s scheme already values Stewart’s ability to drop into coverage or blitz from nickel and dime packages. The trade simply gives him a clearer path to consistent work. He no longer competes directly with Verse for the same outside looks.
Rams Push for More in 2026
The Rams finished 12-5 in 2025. They won a Wild Card game and a Divisional-round overtime thriller before losing 27-31 to the eventual Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship Game. The year prior they reached the Divisional Round and fell to the eventual champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Los Angeles has not hidden its intentions. Earlier this offseason the team traded for Pro Bowl cornerback Trent McDuffie from the Kansas City Chiefs and signed him to a long-term extension. Adding Garrett represents the latest aggressive step to maximize the final years of Matthew Stafford’s window.
Stewart fits the profile of a player who benefits quietly from those kinds of roster upgrades. His rookie production came in limited snaps behind established edges. More opportunities in 2026 could turn those flashes into sustained impact.
Garrett draws attention and forces adjustments. That attention can create cleaner paths for the second-year defender to collapse the pocket from the edge. Stewart’s power and finishing ability become more valuable when he faces one-on-one matchups rather than constant double teams or chip help.
The Rams’ defensive coordinator has already shown he trusts Stewart in multiple roles. Increased wide-alignment work on third downs and in two-minute situations would let Stewart operate as the kind of situational closer Solak described.
Training camp and preseason will reveal how quickly the new alignments take hold. Stewart enters 2026 with a clearer path to snaps than he had a year ago. The Garrett trade did not just add a star. It rearranged the pieces around him in a way that plays to his strengths.
