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The Los Angeles Rams had a golden opportunity to reunite with Jalen Ramsey this offseason after the Miami Dolphins put him on the trade block. No team was linked to Ramsey more than the Rams, but a trade never came together.
Instead, the Dolphins traded him to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for Minkah Fitzpatrick. Sean McVay's recent comments made it clear there were hurdles in the way of the Rams acquiring Ramsey, but they were still one of the two main teams involved in trade talks, per one report.
With Ramsey (and Jaire Alexander) off the table, where do the Rams turn next at cornerback? The likeliest answer is nowhere. They don't need to add a star cornerback to feel good about their secondary. They have talent in the defensive backfield, which is why they haven't been overly aggressive this offseason.
Looking at their current roster, there are plenty of reasons for optimism in the secondary.
Every team wishes it had a player like Lake in the secondary. He’s essentially the quarterback of the defense, leading that group despite only entering his fourth season in the NFL.
Last season, he was the defensive signal caller, playing every single snap throughout the year with the exception of a few in Week 18 when the Rams rested their starters. He played safety and nickel, doing everything the Rams asked of him.
That’s all likely to continue in 2025 as Lake enters the final year of his contract. Having his intelligence and versatility in the secondary is a difference-maker for the Rams, helping everyone around him elevate their play.
According to The 33rd Team, Durant allowed just 293 yards in coverage last season, which was fifth among all defensive backs who were targeted at least 50 times. Translation? Despite seeing a lot of passes thrown his way, he didn’t give up much yardage to opposing receivers.
He also led the NFL in interception return yards in 2022 when he was just a rookie and through Week 13 of last season, he allowed a passer rating of 0.0 on third down.
Witherspoon really locked in during the playoffs last year, which is a big reason the Rams blew out the Vikings and nearly upset the Eagles. Granted, it helps that the Eagles game was played in a blizzard, but Witherspoon started to heat up late in the year.
According to Pro Football Focus, Witherspoon allowed just 20 yards on four catches in the Rams’ two playoff games. His coverage grade of 73.0 was sixth-best among all NFL cornerbacks in the postseason, as well.
If he can pick up where he left off last year, the Rams’ secondary should get off to a much better start in 2025.
Williams had some tough outings in the middle of the year after he returned from injury, but once the final stretch of the season hit, he started to play better. From Week 15 on, he allowed a passer rating of just 49.7 in coverage, which was the seventh-best among cornerbacks with at least 55 snaps played in that span. He had one interception and zero touchdowns allowed, giving up a completion rate of only 50%, per PFF.
Like Witherspoon, he played some of his best football late in the year, which the Rams hope will carry over to 2025. In the right coverage scheme, Williams can be a playmaker on the outside.
Forbes has received positive reviews from his coaches this offseason, bulking up and putting in some good reps in practice. The former first-round pick from the Commanders is trying to turn his career around after a terrible start in Washington, and there’s a real chance he does so with the Rams.
In college, he picked off 14 passes in only three seasons, leading the nation twice in interceptions (2020, 2022), return yards and pick-sixes. There’s a reason he was drafted in the first round and the potential is still there for Forbes.
The Rams don’t need him to become a starter but if he does, it’ll be a major bonus.
Kinchens picked off 11 passes in his last two years at Miami and he proved as a rookie last season that it was no fluke. He pulled down four interceptions, tied for the team lead, and even had a pick-six – the longest interception return in franchise history.
He did go through a learning curve and struggled with some of his pursuit angles, but in coverage, he was a playmaker. Having a year of experience in the Rams’ system and a full offseason of work, Kinchens should only continue to get better in his second season.
Like many of the Rams’ defenders, Curl started slowly last season. However, from Week 10 on, he was one of the better safeties in football. According to PFF, he had the eighth-highest grade (75.9) of any safety from Week 10 through the playoffs, receiving grades of 70-plus across the board, from run defense and tackling to pass rush and coverage.
He may not be a DB who picks off many passes or creates turnovers, but he can play deep, in the box and near the line of scrimmage, which gives Chris Shula options in the secondary.
There’s no better way to help out the secondary than applying pressure on the quarterback up front. Thankfully, the Rams are very good at that. Their pass rush was arguably the best in the NFL late in the 2024 season, sacking Sam Darnold and Jalen Hurts a combined 16 times in the playoffs.
Pressuring the quarterback forces the ball to come out quickly, thus giving receivers less time to get open against DBs. If the Rams can continue applying pressure at the remarkable rate that they did late last year, the corners and safeties won’t have to cover as long.
That makes life a whole lot easier and will help the pass defense as a whole. If the Rams didn’t have a top-tier pass rush, the secondary would be a little bit more concerning.
The Rams gave up 24-plus points in each of their first five games of the season, starting the year 1-4. After the Week 6 bye, though, they only allowed more than 24 points four times. One of those games was in Week 18 when their starters were resting and two of them were against the Eagles.
From Week 7 on, the Rams gave up a passer rating of only 89.3 on defense, which was the ninth-best in the NFL during that span. They picked off 11 passes, tied for the fourth-most and allowed a completion rate of just 64%, 11th-best.
Some early struggles set the season off on the wrong foot defensively but the secondary did improve as the year went on.
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This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Rams DBs boast reasons for optimism despite missing on Jalen Ramsey
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Instead, the Dolphins traded him to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for Minkah Fitzpatrick. Sean McVay's recent comments made it clear there were hurdles in the way of the Rams acquiring Ramsey, but they were still one of the two main teams involved in trade talks, per one report.
With Ramsey (and Jaire Alexander) off the table, where do the Rams turn next at cornerback? The likeliest answer is nowhere. They don't need to add a star cornerback to feel good about their secondary. They have talent in the defensive backfield, which is why they haven't been overly aggressive this offseason.
Looking at their current roster, there are plenty of reasons for optimism in the secondary.
Quentin Lake is a quarterback on defense
Every team wishes it had a player like Lake in the secondary. He’s essentially the quarterback of the defense, leading that group despite only entering his fourth season in the NFL.
Last season, he was the defensive signal caller, playing every single snap throughout the year with the exception of a few in Week 18 when the Rams rested their starters. He played safety and nickel, doing everything the Rams asked of him.
That’s all likely to continue in 2025 as Lake enters the final year of his contract. Having his intelligence and versatility in the secondary is a difference-maker for the Rams, helping everyone around him elevate their play.
Cobie Durant ranked among the league’s best in yards allowed
According to The 33rd Team, Durant allowed just 293 yards in coverage last season, which was fifth among all defensive backs who were targeted at least 50 times. Translation? Despite seeing a lot of passes thrown his way, he didn’t give up much yardage to opposing receivers.
He also led the NFL in interception return yards in 2022 when he was just a rookie and through Week 13 of last season, he allowed a passer rating of 0.0 on third down.
Ahkello Witherspoon only gave up 20 yards in the playoffs
Witherspoon really locked in during the playoffs last year, which is a big reason the Rams blew out the Vikings and nearly upset the Eagles. Granted, it helps that the Eagles game was played in a blizzard, but Witherspoon started to heat up late in the year.
According to Pro Football Focus, Witherspoon allowed just 20 yards on four catches in the Rams’ two playoff games. His coverage grade of 73.0 was sixth-best among all NFL cornerbacks in the postseason, as well.
If he can pick up where he left off last year, the Rams’ secondary should get off to a much better start in 2025.
Darious Williams allowed the 7th-lowest passer rating from Week 15 on
Williams had some tough outings in the middle of the year after he returned from injury, but once the final stretch of the season hit, he started to play better. From Week 15 on, he allowed a passer rating of just 49.7 in coverage, which was the seventh-best among cornerbacks with at least 55 snaps played in that span. He had one interception and zero touchdowns allowed, giving up a completion rate of only 50%, per PFF.
Like Witherspoon, he played some of his best football late in the year, which the Rams hope will carry over to 2025. In the right coverage scheme, Williams can be a playmaker on the outside.
Emmanuel Forbes may be turning his career around
Forbes has received positive reviews from his coaches this offseason, bulking up and putting in some good reps in practice. The former first-round pick from the Commanders is trying to turn his career around after a terrible start in Washington, and there’s a real chance he does so with the Rams.
In college, he picked off 14 passes in only three seasons, leading the nation twice in interceptions (2020, 2022), return yards and pick-sixes. There’s a reason he was drafted in the first round and the potential is still there for Forbes.
The Rams don’t need him to become a starter but if he does, it’ll be a major bonus.
Kamren Kinchens is a certified ball hawk
Kinchens picked off 11 passes in his last two years at Miami and he proved as a rookie last season that it was no fluke. He pulled down four interceptions, tied for the team lead, and even had a pick-six – the longest interception return in franchise history.
He did go through a learning curve and struggled with some of his pursuit angles, but in coverage, he was a playmaker. Having a year of experience in the Rams’ system and a full offseason of work, Kinchens should only continue to get better in his second season.
Kamren Curl was the 8th-highest graded safety after Week 9
Like many of the Rams’ defenders, Curl started slowly last season. However, from Week 10 on, he was one of the better safeties in football. According to PFF, he had the eighth-highest grade (75.9) of any safety from Week 10 through the playoffs, receiving grades of 70-plus across the board, from run defense and tackling to pass rush and coverage.
He may not be a DB who picks off many passes or creates turnovers, but he can play deep, in the box and near the line of scrimmage, which gives Chris Shula options in the secondary.
The pass rush will make life easier on the CBs
There’s no better way to help out the secondary than applying pressure on the quarterback up front. Thankfully, the Rams are very good at that. Their pass rush was arguably the best in the NFL late in the 2024 season, sacking Sam Darnold and Jalen Hurts a combined 16 times in the playoffs.
Pressuring the quarterback forces the ball to come out quickly, thus giving receivers less time to get open against DBs. If the Rams can continue applying pressure at the remarkable rate that they did late last year, the corners and safeties won’t have to cover as long.
That makes life a whole lot easier and will help the pass defense as a whole. If the Rams didn’t have a top-tier pass rush, the secondary would be a little bit more concerning.
Rams allowed the 9th-lowest passer rating after their Week 6 bye
The Rams gave up 24-plus points in each of their first five games of the season, starting the year 1-4. After the Week 6 bye, though, they only allowed more than 24 points four times. One of those games was in Week 18 when their starters were resting and two of them were against the Eagles.
From Week 7 on, the Rams gave up a passer rating of only 89.3 on defense, which was the ninth-best in the NFL during that span. They picked off 11 passes, tied for the fourth-most and allowed a completion rate of just 64%, 11th-best.
Some early struggles set the season off on the wrong foot defensively but the secondary did improve as the year went on.
Follow Rams Wire on X, Facebook and Threads for more coverage!
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Rams DBs boast reasons for optimism despite missing on Jalen Ramsey
Continue reading...