Lacking Dominant Cornerbacks, Rams Gambling That Pressure Will Continue

Do the Rams have enough firepower at cornerback? That’s the lingering question beat writer Jourdan Rodrigue said hovers over the team before rookies and veterans report to training camp July 22 at Loyola Marymount.

And it’s a question that still lingers after Monday morning, when the Steelers acquired All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey in a trade with Miami.

Rodrigue said the Rams have eviscerated most of their defense since 2023, focusing primarily on rebuilding with young draft picks and getting maximum value from rookie contracts. But most of that focus has been on the team’s defensive front.

“Meanwhile, they’ve stayed relatively low-cost and very veteran at outside cornerback,” Rodrigue wrote last week. “Darious Williams (three years, $22.5 million) is their highest-paid player there at 32, fellow starter Ahkello Witherspoon is 30 and on a cheaper one-year deal and No. 3 cornerback Cobie Durant is on the final year of his rookie contract.”

When the Steelers facilitated a new contract for Ramsey as part of Monday’s trade, some clarity emerged as to why the Rams weren’t as interested in the seven-time Pro Bowler. Paying an individual at that position $26.6 million, his reported earnings as part of a reworked contract, clearly doesn’t align with the Rams’ greater cornerback philosophy.

Along with Williams, Witherspoon and Durant, the Rams seem content to enter the season relying on pressure from their defensive front while getting the most out of low-cost players at cornerback. They also have nickelback Quentin Lake and former first-round pick Emmanuel Forbes, a waiver-wire pickup late last season.

“The Rams are well-rounded at safety,” Rodrigue said, “but didn’t draft a cornerback in April.”

They haven’t drafted a cornerback since 2023, when they took Tre’Vius Tomlinson in the sixth round. But on the defensive front, they’ve obviously drafted some of the NFL’s best young talent.

They added to that front in April with Josaiah Stewart, an edge-rusher from Michigan selected in the third round. It was a classic Day 2 Les Snead selection, a player who isn’t expected to become a superstar. The Rams don’t need him to be. All they need from Stewart is depth and effort, and with the level of talent he joins in the greater pass rush, expect him to get plenty of sacks.

But many sacks come as the result of excellent coverage. The Rams are gambling that they’ll again get high-quality pressure to mitigate any issues they might have from a cornerback group most consider lacking firepower.

If the pressure and coverage don’t complement each other, the Rams could be looking at a disappointing start on a schedule that includes C.J. Stroud and Nico Collins, and Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith in the first three weeks.

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