4 Rams in danger of losing their roster spots to other players after Week 7
By Bret Stuter
(1) - Veteran DB Tre'Davious White
I was as guilty as anyone in my optimistic assessment of the team signing former Buffalo Bills All-Pro DB Tre'Davious White. While White was coming off two consecutive and very serious injuries, his career had never had a season without at least one interception and allowing opposing quarterbacks to complete even 60 percent of passes thrown to his receiver.
Until this season, that is.
Making matters far worse is the fact that White allowed four touchdown receptions to his receiver in four games. Historically, he had never allowed more than four touchdowns for an entire season. In fact, in 66 games in his career prior to this season, out of 343 targets, he had only allowed nine touchdowns.
So yes, he's been struggling.
He has been struggling so much that since the team reactivated DB Darious Williams, White has been a healthy scratch. His name has appeared on the inactive list in both Week 5 and 7. And as it now stands, I don't think that will change anytime soon.
You see, undrafted rookie defensive back Jaylen McCollough out of Tennessee has been getting an increasing number of defensive snaps in this secondary. And by all rights, he is the player that the team hoped they got with Tre'Davious White. You see, out of 45 defensive snaps, this guy has already picked off three passes.
One of which was a pick-six.
What is insane about this is the fact that Jaylen McCollough is leading the Rams in interceptions comfortably. His three interceptions is two more than the next player in that category. And he has only played 45 defensive snaps all season.
While White and McCollough may not play identical positions on paper, the defense can work around that fact by starting Darious Williams and Cobie Durant on the corners, Kamren Curl and Quentin Lake at safety, and using Jaylen McCollough in the slot DB role. After all, McCollough has only allowed 50 percent of passes targeting his receiver to find their mark.
As of right now, the most likely scenario for this team is to waive or trade Tre'Davious White and sign former Rams DB Ahkello Witherspoon off the practice squad. White has simply not shown enough to get defensive snaps this season. That is reason enough to lose a roster spot.
As always, thanks for reading.