Jaylen McCollough: The Rams' Man on the Rise

How Jaylen McCollough ended up on the Rams remains one of the NFL's greatest mysteries. The ball-hawking safety was somehow ignored by general managers and went undrafted leading to his signature and arrival in Los Angeles.

From the moment he stepped into the facility, the Rams knew they had a dude and considering the dire situation within their defensive back room at the time, McCollough would have more than enough opportunities to carve out a role for himself.

Not only did he carve out a role, he turned his situation into a blessing for his career and the Rams. After a strong training camp, McCollough established himself as a rotational player, assuring his inclusion on the 53-man roster before the final preseason game of 2024.

McCollough came through for the Rams on multiple occasions last season, securing the game-winning interception against the Raiders, an interception that helped spark the team's turnaround from 1-4 to NFC West champions along with becoming a critical member of the Rams secondary.

Looking at the numbers, when McCollough plays, the Rams win. If McCollough is on the field for 27% or more of the Rams defensive snaps, the team is 7-1 with the only loss being in the season finale when the team benched their starters. The team is 3-6 when McCollough sees the field less than 27% of the time and in those three wins, the defense gave up 19.6 points per game.

In the eight games McCollough played over 27% of the snaps, the Rams gave up 19 points a game. That includes the shootout against Buffalo and the regular season finale against Seattle, two games that could be regarded as outliers. If we remove those games from the total, the Rams averaged 13.3 point per game given up on defense.

In comparison, looking at the six losses suffered by the Rams in which McCollough was not on the field for at least 27% of the snaps, the Rams gave up 29.1 points per game. If we remove the top two highest points total scored against the Rams, calling them outliers, in the remaining four games, the defense gave up 24.3 points per game.

The numbers do not lie. When Jaylen McCollough plays, the Rams win.