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Nov 26, 2023; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Why Getting Most out of This Player Is Critical for Rams’ Defense

Originally posted on Los Angeles Rams on SI
By Zak Gilbert | Last updated Jul 27, 2025 8:00 AM ET

Defensive coordinator Chris Shula on Friday revealed the linchpin of his unit. It wasn’t Jared Verse, Byron Young or Braden Fiske on the edges. And it wasn’t Kobie Turner or Omar Speights in the middle.

It was his defensive virtuoso in the secondary, Quentin Lake.

Lake's impact

“He’s everything,” Shula said Friday afternoon. “Communicator. He moves around. How I like to say it is he allows us always to get our best guys on the field. He can play nickel. These days, a lot of times when you are playing nickel, you get put in the run-through.”

Shula said that over the course of three plays, Lake can seamlessly transition between three distinctly different positions. He might line up as a linebacker in one of the Rams’ 4-3 packages, move to covering a slot receiver on the next snap, and then break up a deep third-down pass as a post safety, where he has coverage over half the field. That’s not all.

“He does all these different techniques and I think he's one of the best tacklers on the team,” Shula said, “but I think he's probably one of the most underrated physical players in the league. He's always been one of our best tacklers and he's been one of our best communicators, smart. You can do a lot of stuff with him just because you're not going to overload him and he's going to get everybody right around him.”

And that’s probably Shula’s meaningful compliment, that Lake improves the play of his defensive teammates. It’s a characteristic Shula can understand because, like Shula, Lake has NFL genes running in his veins and grew up with the pressure of following in those footsteps.

For a coach whose grandfather won more games than any head coach in league history, Shula is counting on a starting DB whose father earned five Pro Bowl selections over a 12-year NFL career.

An undersized linebacker for the Bruins, Carnell Lake played with Troy Aikman in college. Their 1988 UCLA team beat Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl and finished No. 6 in the final polls. Aikman went to the Cowboys first overall in the 1989 draft. Lake followed in the second round (34th overall), joining the Pittsburgh Steelers.

A safety in the NFL, Lake also had 25 career sacks, averaging 2.3 per season. His son, meanwhile, had two sacks last season as a 16-game starter for the Rams.

Lake followed in his dad’s footsteps and also starred at UCLA. The Rams selected him in the sixth round (211th overall) of the 2022 draft and the Rams are depending on his leadership in the defensive secondary.

The Rams re-signed veteran cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon and enter 2025 with the same starters on the outside, including Darious Williams. Former first-round selection Emmanuel Forbes joined the club on waivers after Washington released him in December. And another product of that 2022 draft class, cornerback Cobie Durant, might wind up carrying forward the momentum he started in the postseason.

“Cobie had an awesome game in the playoffs versus Minnesota,” Shula said, “and I think you saw what ‘D-Will’ and Ahkello did. As far as bringing in Emmanuel Forbes, he's been excellent and there's a lot of depth in that room.

“There are other guys there that maybe didn't get as much playing time that are lingering into the background that have done an awesome job as well. We're pretty excited about them. We're really excited about them, I should say. We really like what they bring to our defense.”

Catch breaking news from Rams camp, best served via OnSI. Follow @RamsInsideronSI and @BrockVierra on X (Twitter) for the most updated information. Plus, share your thoughts on Quentin Lake and the Rams’ secondary when you visit the Facebook page (here).

This article first appeared on Los Angeles Rams on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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