LA Rams already fixed 2 of 5 items on 2022 punch list

Punch List: Item IV – Sizing up the LA Rams’ secondary

Even before the team projects to lose both Darious Williams and Donte Deayon to free agency, it was safe to suggest that the Rams’ secondary needed attention. The team managed to patchwork a quilt-like secondary to blanket receivers throughout the 2021 NFL season, but it was not an easy task.

Per Lineups.com, the Rams used four different safeties through the course of the 2021 NFL season, and six different cornerbacks. That is ten players on the active roster. Right now, the LA Rams have ten players total on their active roster, Reserve/Future contracts, and who ended the season on IR. That is an alarming razor-thin margin of error for a secondary unit that is so vital to the team’s success.

Of course, those numbers do not reflect the addition of retired safety Eric Weddle to help lead the team throughout the playoffs.

Rams Roster: Emerging secondary talent needs reinforcements

I loved the emergence of both David Long Jr. and Nick Scott in the team’s postseason performance. Both showed far more than they had during the regular season, and Scott’s play was perhaps the key to the Rams even getting to Super Bowl LVI. He blasted (legally) Arizona Cardinals WR A.J. Green, and then followed that up by obliterating San Francisco 49ers’ WR Deebo Samuel. Clearly, hard-hitting tackles are his forte’.

Competing for playing time with those two will be second-year DB Robert Rochell, who I believe will make a strong enough case to earn a starting role. I am also eager to see what DB Kareem Orr brings to the secondary in 2022. I think the Rams will load up the secondary, both during and after the 2022 NFL Draft. Much like our Big Board for punters, I anticipate a Big Board for defensive backs in the days ahead.  The Rams need more secondary depth, and I believe they will emphasize the secondary with rookie additions.