Should The St. Louis Rams Consider Cornerback In The NFL Draft?

With the NFL Draft just a little more than a month away, there will be a lot of discussion about what the St. Louis Rams should do with the number ten overall pick. So far, the obvious wide receiver, offensive line, and trading back have been discussed, however, one option has been completely forgotten.

While it is obvious that the Rams need offensive line and passing on a receiver of the caliber of Amari Cooper would be hard to do, the fact of the matter is, both of those players could be gone by the time that the number ten pick rolls around.

At that point the Rams would be forced to either take the next best player available, which could be Kevin White, DeVante Parker, or Andrus Peat, they could trade back, or they could take a position that many may not consider a need at all, and that is cornerback.

Yes, the St. Louis Rams already have what many consider to be solid guys in Trumaine Johnson, Janoris Jenkins, and E.J. Gaines. However, all three of those players aren’t top-tier players. The Rams have a lot of number two guys, but they are missing that elite player in the secondary.

With what the Seattle Seahawks have been able to do on defense with that secondary, it just goes to show what having a good player on the outside can do to a defense.

If the Rams were to take a cornerback with the tenth overall pick, it would really leave one guy for them to take and that is Trae Waynes out of Michigan State. Why this guy hasn’t been brought up in conversation as to who the Rams should take is baffling as he is a perfect fit for what the Rams do.

The St. Louis Rams like mentally tough corners who aren’t afraid to play in man to man situations. Well, Waynes was asked to play on an island at Michigan State and did so successfully allowing only two touchdowns over the past two seasons.

He is a bump-and-run specialist being the fastest cornerback at the NFL Scouting Combine with a 4.31 40-yard dash. The Michigan State corner excels in deep, man coverage and can be smothering and disruptive against finesse receivers.

Not only that, the Rams like a physical cornerback who can tackle and Waynes is a wrap-up tackler who understands his responsibility against the run. This isn’t a soft, zone type corner who doesn’t like to play physical, this is a guy who understands and excels at it.

At the end of the 2015 season, both Janoris Jenkins and Truman Johnson’s contracts will be up and most likely, the Rams aren’t going to be able to bring both of them back. This then forces the Rams to replace one of them next year or let a player like Waynes grow this season and be ready to take over next year.

Not only that, but as mentioned above, the Rams could use an upgrade in the secondary. They have a bunch of number two guys, but they are missing that threat, that top-tier player. Waynes can be that guy.

All of the Rams’ cornerbacks aside from Gaines allowed over 70% completion percentage and even Gaines allowed 67%. As a team the Rams ranked 31st allowing 68.1% of ball to be caught. Compare that to a team like the Philadelphia Eagles who have one of the worst secondaries in the NFL, still they only allowed a completion percentage of 58.4%.

The Rams have a good defense, but it does have its weaknesses. The Rams had the 19th ranked secondary, allowed 7.6 yards per catch(24th), and opposing quarterbacks had an average 91.8 quarterback rating(22nd). Nothing to brag about.

In fact, the Rams ranked in the bottom half of the league in every passing defense category. Thats not to say the secondary is bad, as they did have their fair share of good games. It just means they need an upgrade both at cornerback and at safety.

The Rams defense is right there, but if they want to get to the level of Seattle, drafting a top-tier cornerback like Trae Waynes could help them take that next step.

Next: Have The St. Louis Rams Gotten Better In Free Agency

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