The Los Angeles Rams have several star players on mega contracts - quarterback Matthew Stafford, defensive tackle Aaron Donald, receiver Cooper Kupp and cornerback Jalen Ramsey come to mind - but the roots of their Super Bowl-winning organization formed from the ability to unearth stars in the middle and late rounds of the NFL Draft.
While 2022 fourth-round nickel corner Decobie Durant has a ways to go before putting himself in that category, he's off to a fast start in his first training camp, logging two interceptions in Friday's practice, the Rams' first open session.
The 5-10, 183-pound Durant has quickly endeared himself to fans and media alike. However, the praise doesn't stop there for the 24-year-old South Carolina State alum, as Rams head coach Sean McVay has taken notice of Durant's playmaking ability, with the interceptions particularly catching his eye.
“I thought (the two interceptions) were great," McVay said. "Those were really competitive plays. One on down the field, we’re in a man coverage, then the other one he's kind of slipping underneath on a seam as he's carrying it outside in. He’s got great ball skills. I thought those were two really big time plays that Decobie made today.”
While training camp has just begun, Durant has been making plays all offseason for the Rams. According to McVay, Durant is a fast learner who can acclimate to new surroundings in a hurry.
"He made some plays even in the spring that stood out where you can see he's a great competitor, even when you watch his film," said McVay, citing Durant's standout two-interception game against the Clemson Tigers. "Similar to what I was mentioning about (Derion Kendrick) the other day. He just got a great play swagger. He's getting more and more comfortable.
"He is playing outside and inside, but he's getting a lot of work inside. And you can see there's a lot of nuances that we ask of that star position and he's getting more comfortable every day and making a lot of plays.”
As McVay alluded, Durant will play the "star" role in Los Angeles' defense, assigned to the additional defensive back on the field in nickel defenses. To start, Durant has to beat out veteran Troy Hill, who's back with the team after one season in Cleveland. Hill started all 16 games for the Rams in 2020, his fifth and final year in Los Angeles.
McVay views the Rams' excess of versatile defensive backs as a significant positive considering the variation modern NFL defenses require. Considering Durant's ability to play outside and nickel, he affords the Rams options on the back end. Still, the 36-year-old McVay likes what he's seen out of Durant at star.
“I think he's done a good job. I mean, you can't have enough guys that have the ability to play inside and outside," McVay stated. "When we're in some of our base defensive structures, you're going to ask those guys to play outside. But the more you can do and so much of this league now you're usually playing with five DB groupings.
"The more guys that can really play inside and outside, the better off you are but there are definitely – especially with just the landscape of the league offensively. There's a lot of different things that you ask of the guy that's playing that nickel spot whether it's being in the run fit, playing different leverages based on man coverage, some of the different zone principles that we're playing."
Should Durant emerge as a starter, he'd join a long line of middle-round draft picks to grow into key contributors in the Rams' secondary. From current starters, David Long (third round) and Jordan Fuller (sixth round) to the now-departed Darious Williams (undrafted) and John Johnson (third round), Rams general manager Les Snead has consistently hit on defensive backs outside of the draft's opening two rounds.
If OTAs and training camp are any indication, Durant is poised to add his name to the list. In the meantime, he'll need to continue stacking days like Friday, where he left McVay feeling confident about the future of the Rams' secondary.
"I've been really impressed. All of these guys are really quick studies. The game makes sense to all these young rookie DBs and really the rookie class in general. That was part of the reason that we really felt excited, but Decobie stood out today."
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