It only took 1 move in the offseason to stop losing sleep over Rams' secondary

The Rams were here a year ago

When the Rams regrouped for training camp, the team was a mixture of concern and optimism. At the same time, the Rams secondary roster was a mixture of veterans and rookies. Even veterans were a mixture of those who had experience playing for Chris Shula in the past and those who were new to Chris Shula and the Rams football team.

On paper, the Rams had assembled a seriously talented secondary. It had a superb pass coverage history, and some hard-hitting veterans who could not just break up passes but punish receivers who dared to attempt advancing the football. While I am certain to have missed some names, the major participants in last year's depth chart were these players.

• LCB - Darious Williams, Derion Kendrick, Tre Tomlinson, Cam Lampkin
• SS* - Kamren Curl, Russ Yeast, Jaylen McCollough,
• FS* - John Johnson III, Kamren Kinchens, Tanner Ingle,
• NB/Slot - Quentin Lake, Josh Wallace, Charles Woods, Shaun Jolly
• RCB - Cobie Durant, Tre'Davious White, AJ Green

Italicized names indicate injured or traded players
* indicates safeties played interchangeable roles

The challenges of the secondary one year ago were the unfamiliarity of the team with the players to fit their new roles, and the unfamiliarity of the players with the defensive scheme. Add the disruptive effect of injuries that impacted John Johnson III, Darious Williams, and Derion Kendrick, and you quickly see how there was a domino effect of challenges that gathered steam to derail plans early.

Add to the fact that the Rams discovered that veteran DB Tre'Davious White, signed as a low-risk, high-reward player who simply did not have the juice to start for the Rams, and the image begins to form. Veteran safety John Johnson was injured in Week 1 and sat out the remainder of the season. The Rams' first five games before their BYE week were a successive stream of disasters and disappointments that aimed at the defensive backs.

But early adversity forced the team to dig in its heels and fight back. The team signed former starting cornerback Ahkello Smith, traded away Tre White, welcomed back Darious Williams from IR, promoted rookie safety Kam Kinchens to a starting role, and even showed patience as safety Kam Curl learned how to excel in the secondary.

The Rams even claimed CB Emmanuel Forbes, a former first-round selection, off the Washington Commanders' waiver wire. So the team had added both Witherspoon and Forbes to the roster during the season. But just appearing on the roster is not the same thing as starting and playing well.

But one this is crystal clear. The Rams did address the secondary that struggled to open the 2024 NFL season. Now, did any of these changes make a difference?