Let's Get Honest About the Rams Defensive Back Room

After the Los Angeles Rams refused to make a move for any defensive back this offseason, stating they had no intention of adding any player outside of Jalen Ramsey, the team will enter training camp with the players they have deemed good enough to produce a championship effort.

Ramsey, of course, was traded from the Miami Dolphins to the Pittsburgh Steelers, ending all talks between the Rams and South Florida as Ramsey joins the same division Jaire Alexander currently resides in, another top level defensive back that the Rams rejected from the get-go.

The Rams will likely rotate Darious Williams, Ahkello Witherspoon, Kam Curl, Kam Kinchens, Quentin Lake, Cobie Durant, Jaylen McCollough, Emmanuel Forbes, and Derion Kendrick in their secondary with Shaun Jolly and others potentially carving out a role for themselves.

The discussions within the Rams fan base is split with many expressing concerns or straight up disapproval with the current state of the defensive back room. It's understandable why Rams fans feel this way as it seems Les Snead has taken a very lax approach to his secondary since Super Bowl LVI.

Before the Rams won football's greatest prize, we all watched Snead wheel and deal defensive backs like it was no one's buisness, with players like Ramsey, Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib, John Johnson, and others roaming the secondary.

In recent years, Snead has done some odd things. Tre White was a failure, but I'm not going to criticize Snead for that move. It was always a gamble. However, it feels like whenever there's an issue, especially over the past two seasons, the Rams' solution was to sign Ahkello Witherspoon and keep it pushing.

While the Rams have made several big time additions, the lack of prioritization the organization has had towards their linebackers is now being transferred to their defensive back room.

Now, I'm not as negative as others regarding the defensive back room. I think they're built to do what they are designed to do. Form a shell that takes away easy throws, forcing quarterbacks to fit balls into difficult pockets of space while the Rams' dominant defensive line gets home.

Which is great for the regular season, but as we all witnessed in Super Bowl LIX, the game was changed for the Eagles when the defensive backs turned from forming the shell into straight up inducing turnovers.

There is a fear that a perceived lack of quality in the secondary may force the Rams to squander opportunities that other teams capitalize on.

However, I think we're not seeing the big picture. Look at the investment in the linebacker room. It is my opinion that Chris Shula is going to put more safeties on the field to form his shell while blitzing Durant and Witherspoon on a continual basis while dropping the linebackers into coverage.

Shula wants to induce turnovers through post snap picture changes of the coverage, something he can only do with committed players. It is my belief that it's character that drives Snead's vision for the room. He doesn't need the big name cover guys, he needs players who are committed to following the scheme and not doing their own thing.

That's why he didn't add anybody. It was always about maintaining the culture and manufacturing pressure with players who would give their all. That's why Witherspoon is back, that's why Ramsey isn't with the Rams (along with finances).

He needs straight-up villains in the secondary that want to put people on their behinds, and to be frank, he has them. Whether that pays off will be a defining point of the season, but expect nothing less than brutal play in 2025.