How quickly will Rams choose a cornerback in the 2025 NFL Draft?

The Los Angeles Rams are making final preparations for the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft. Curiously, the Rams roster seems to be as robust as ever, with few glaring holes to fill. Sure, there are specific positions that are less potent or deep than fans wish, but for the most part, the team will be shopping for quality in the draft, more than quantity.

That can be said of several positions. The Rams have enough tight ends, running backs, offensive linemen, wide receivers, defensive linemen, and defensive backs to be quite competitive in 2025. The team may need to add depth to the inside linebacker and edge rushers to ensure adequate depth. But no position on the team is quite as confounding as the cornerback position

Everyone is back from 2024. Well, everyone but Tre Tomlinson, who was released earlier this year. That means that the team has 10 cornerbacks on the roster. But how many will make the 53-man roster? Perhaps less than half that number. So, who are they?

• Darious Williams | Year 8 | 5-foot-9 | 192 pounds
• Cobie Durant | Year 4 | 5-foot-11 | 182 pounds
• Ahkello Witherspoon | Year 9 | 6-foot-2 | 195 pounds
• Derion Kendrick | Year 4 | 6-foot-0 | 199 pounds
• Emmanuel Forbes | Year 3 | 6-foot-0 | 180 pounds
• A.J. Green | Year 4 | 6-foot-2 | 198 pounds
• Shaun Jolly | Year 4 | 5-foot-9 | 186 pounds
• Cam Lampkin | Year 2 | 5-foot-11 | 176 pounds
• Josh Wallace | Year 2 | 6-foot-0 | 189 pounds
• Charles Woods | Year 2 | 5-foot-11 | 185 pounds

So now the question becomes: Will the Rams add to their ranks by drafting one or more cornerbacks in this year's draft? If so, how quickly will the team select one?

In the 2024 NFL Draft, 33 rookie cornerbacks were selected. Three were selected in Round 1, seven were selected in Round 2, and three were selected in Round 3. Of last year's rookie class, eight were assigned a grade of 6.30 or better. In this year's rookie class, eight have a grade of 6.30 or better. Will NFL teams follow a similar pattern? Perhaps.

Every draft is different. In 2024, no defensive players heard his name called out until the 15th overall selection. In 2025, many mock drafts project two defenders (presuming Colorado Travis Hunter is an NFL cornerback) off the board among the top five prospects selected. It makes sense, as many of the top prospects in the 2025 NFL Draft play defense.

Still, what does this all mean for the LA Rams?

Well, the team gets little benefit for a Day 3 cornerback. Like it or not, any player not selected in Days 1 or 2 has little chance to make much of an impact for the team. So the Rams will almost certainly need to name a cornerback by the end of Day 2 to move the secondary needle. So, who should be considered among the likely candidates? If NFL teams follow the same discerning view of cornerbacks in 2025 as in 2024, the group of Day 2 cornerbacks likely ends when the prospect's grade falls to 6.20. So, who falls into that category?

The likely 2025 rookie cornerback prospects at or better than a 6.20 grade are:

• Colorado CB Travis Hunter | 6.89
• Michigan CB Will Johnson | 6.50
• Texas CB Jahdae Barron | 6.40
• Kentucky CB Maxwell Hairston | 6.37
• Mississippi CB Trey Amos | 6.35
• Florida State CB Azareye'h Thomas | 6.35
• East Carolina CB Shavon Revel Jr. | 6.34
• Kansas State CB Jacob Parrish | 6.30
• Notre Dame CB Benjamin Morrison | 6.20

So who have the Rams met with prior to the draft?

• LSU CB Zy Alexander | 6.15
• Virginia Tech CB Dorian Strong | 6.17

While NFL teams may target cornerbacks in Round 3 with a lower overall grade due to the lack of sufficient supply, it seems that the Rams are leaning towards targeting a cornerback in late Round 3 or early Round 4.

While not the cream of the crop, selecting a cornerback that early in the draft will almost certainly add immediate competition for a rotational role in the secondary. That should make the Rams training camp that much more enjoyable.

As always, thanks for reading.

Here are recent Rams articles that you may enjoy