EJ Gaines: The Forgotten Cornerback of the Los Angeles Rams

The drama of the Los Angeles Rams’ big, relocation offseason has been intensified by the contract disagreements between the team and their talented incumbent starting corner Janoris Jenkins.

The most notable move made by Los Angeles’ returning football franchise was the release of veterans Chris Long, James Laurinaitis, and Jared Cook in order to free up cap space for the team’s bevy of unrestricted free agents like Jenkins.

However, even after proclaiming his love for the city of Los Angeles, Jenkins reportedly turned down a 5-year, $45 million dollar contract extension offer from the Rams. This is probably due to the recent 6-year, $63 million dollar contract the Philadelphia Eagles currently have with their own starting cornerback Byron Maxwell, who underperformed after leaving the shadow of Richard Sherman but steadily improved as the season progressed.

So what if Jenkins actually decides to leave the bright lights of Los Angeles? What if Trumaine Johnson decides to go with him, considering the fact that he posted a picture of him and fellow pending unrestricted free agents Rodney McLeod and Jenkins himself claiming that they are a“Package Deal” on Instagram (Which has since been deleted).

The Los Angeles Rams would probably invest heavily into the secondary in the upcoming NFL Draft, but the management and fans shouldn’t forget about a man who hasn’t been in pads since the 2014-15 season.

EJ Gaines.

There’s nothing that really stands out when looking at the 24-year old cornerback out of the University of Missouri. He’s short for today’s NFL standards of the “big press corner” standing at 5’10” and weighing under 200 pounds. His 40-yard dash time is nothing spectacular either, running a 4.51 at the day of the 2014 NFL Combine. However—even after drafting Lamarcus Joyner in the second round—the St. Louis Rams selected EJ Gaines in the sixth round of the Draft.

After cornerback Trumaine Johnson got injured early in the 2014-15 NFL season, EJ Gaines saw action on the field almost immediately, starting opposite of Janoris Jenkins. If he put together an admirable effort while Johnson nursed himself back to health, it would’ve been a neat season for the young defensive back. However, Gaines not only played well for a sixth-round rookie—he was playing better than most other professional corners that season.

EJ Gaines only gave up one touchdown in his rookie season and never surrendered a catch longer than 23 yards—extremely impressive for any quarterback. He also only gave up 9.6 yards per catch, showcasing his integrity at the outside cornerback position (especially with a jumpy-cornerback like Janoris Jenkins on the other side)  .

His run defense was also encouraging for the Rams staff, accumulating 70 total tackles throughout the regular season. Despite missing 14 tackles, Gaines still managed to be in the Top-5 of all cornerbacks in terms of “Run Stop Percentage” according to Pro Football Focus.  Gaines also performed well as a gunner in punt coverage, helping Johnny Hekker solidify his status as a top punter in the league.

By the end of the season, the EJ Gaines had two interceptions and a team-high 14 passes defensed.

Fast forward to the 2015 offseason of the St. Louis Rams, which saw a change in the quarterback depth chart after relying on the fragile Sam Bradford for the past four seasons. Obviously, the Nick Foles experiment hasn’t worked out to this point, but that’s a topic for a different article (or the harsh criticism and rude remarks of the infamous Twitter-sphere).

That offseason, EJ Gaines was expected to compete with Trumaine Johnson for the second starting cornerback spot alongside Janoris Jenkins. Needless to say, Gaines was looking fine with a year’s worth of NFL experience under his belt. But on August 2^nd of 2015, Gaines was stepped on and initially diagnosed with a minor knee injury. However, Dr. Robert Anderson discovered a Lisfranc injury to Gaines’s foot after further testing.

“We’ve got a good group and unfortunately we’re down one.”

– Head Coach Jeff Fisher

Just like that, the promising athlete’s second season in the NFL was over before it even started.

The Rams’ secondary did just fine without him, however, with cornerback duo Janoris Jenkins and Trumaine Johnson playing at a very high level and Rodney McLeod developing into a solid free safety. The trio combined for 217 total tackles, 11 interceptions, 37 passes defensed, and four forced fumbles in the 2015-16 season alone.

The cornerback depth behind Jenkins and Johnson isn’t lacking by any means either. Marcus Roberson has proved to be a capable cover-corner and Lamarcus Joyner has been stepping up as a heavy hitter in the slot. The position will be extremely important next year, as the Rams are set to go against pass-catchers such as Julio Jones, Odell Beckham Jr., Brandon Marshall, Doug Baldwin, Julian Edelman, Jarvis Landry, Sammy Watkins, Mike Evans, Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd, and Kelvin Benjamin.

Yes, that list of wide receivers looks very scary for the Rams’ first season in Los Angeles. If the team manages to re-sign Jenkins, Johnson, and McLeod, it will allow EJ Gaines to slide inside (a role that he performed well in his rookie season) and create one of the best secondaries in the NFL behind a great front-seven.

However, we must brace for the less-than-ideal scenarios: the scenarios in which the Rams lose one, two, or all three of their defensive backs in the free agent market. EJ Gaines will have to return to form or come back even better to replace their production.

Is EJ Gaines better than Jenkins or Johnson? Probably not. Jenkins has improved dramatically since his early years of jumping routes while Johnson was snubbed from the Pro Bowl after locking down top receivers and accumulating seven interceptions by himself. But if Gaines recovers well from his surgery, he’ll be more than capable of playing at a high level as the starting corner of the Los Angeles Rams.

Get ready, Los Angeles; EJ Gaines might be a name to watch this offseason.