Rams Have One of NFL's Top Safety Duos

Having veterans on a young roster is important to maintain consistency and ease any potential lapses from the inexperienced over the course of the regular season. The Los Angeles Rams have experienced this over the last two seasons on their way to two 10-win campaigns, including last season's deep playoff run that brought the now-reigning Super Bowl champions to the brink.

The Rams have begun entering championship contention as their young, yet talented team adds another year of experience and more quality talents that improve the team's

chances of success in 2025. All of this has been by the hands of one of the best head coach-general manager duos in football, Sean McVay and Les Snead. The two have turned a team once thought to be on the edge of rebuilding into the highly-regarded team they have become this offseason.

Arguably, the team's biggest strength heading into the 2025 season is their defense that features a bevy of young talents and sufficient veteran playmakers which was one of the best units late in the regular season and into the post season.

Defensive linemen Kobie Turner and Poona Ford were ranked by Pro Football Focus in their offseason interior DL rankings, showcasing the respect that is to be had among the Rams defensive front.

However, another position on the Rams defense is earning respect. In Pro Football Focus' latest safety rankings, Los Angeles' Kamren Kinchens and Kamren Curl were featured but in the back-half of the list. While this may come off as "disrespect," there are a lot of quality safeties in the NFL as the rankings provide.

Second-year player Kinchens came in at No. 20 despite not seeing consistent playing time and starting reps until halfway through the regular season.

"It took some time for the rookie Kinchens to break into the Rams' lineup," PFF analyst Zoltan Buday wrote. "He played just 83 snaps over the first seven weeks in 2024 but soon put together multiple breakout performances, recording two of the top-40 safety performances of the season. Those were a 92.6 PFF overall grade in Week 11 and an 87.8 PFF overall grade in Week 9."

Curl, a former seventh-round pick out of Arkansas, popped up at No. 26 in these rankings. The former Washington Commander had a strong season with the fifth-best pass rushing grade among safeties and a quality run defense grade, per PFF.

"Curl enjoyed a breakout season in 2022 when he ranked second in the league with an 82.9 PFF overall grade," Buday said. "While he has been unable to replicate that performance, his 2024 play was a nice improvement over his 2023 showing."

With Curl and Kinchens at the helm, the Rams defensive backend should be a strong unit in 2025. This gives way for the defense to emerge as a potential top unit this season.