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Let's talk about Rams roster, and how the team fumbled the plan so far

The team has not optimized the roster so far in 2024. Here's how:

By Bret Stuter

Jul 29, 2024; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay, general manager Les Snead, and chief of staff Carter Crutchfield talk on the field during training camp at Loyola Marymount University. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Jul 29, 2024; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay, general manager Les Snead, and chief of staff Carter Crutchfield talk on the field during training camp at Loyola Marymount University. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
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(4) - Rams shortage in the secondary

The LA Rams front office seems to have the safety position of this defense anchored for the next several seasons. But I cannot say the same thing about the cornerback position. The team drafted CB Tre Tomlinson late in the 2023 NFL Draft, and failed to address the position at all during the 2024 NFL Draft. Was that a mistake? We'll discuss that at a future date. For now, it did create a bit of a struggle for the team for the 2024 NFL season.

Injuries to veteran cornerbacks acted as a catalyst for a struggling secondary. And the impact of multiple injuries to cornerbacks triggered a call to act. But nearly a month later, the team has done nothing. Veteran cornerback Tre'Davious White, one of the veteran free agents signed to the team in hopes of upgrading a suspect pass coverage, failed to deliver.

The Rams did eventually signed former starting cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon to the practice squad, and then to the active roster. But a mid-season addition is always problematic, and Witherspoon was thrown into the vacated role from White. This was no upgrade. It was merely placing a new face on the secondary problem.

Neither Tre'Davious White nor Ahkello Witherspoon has delivered to their career averages.

I don't fault the front office for that. The personnel office tried and missed the mark. That happens. But where the front office had an opportunity to act far more quickly, they balked. The team could have added Ahkello Witherspoon as soon as veteran Darious Williams suffered his hamstring injury. That would have added six or more weeks to his integration.

Sometimes, you get what you pay for. But in the same line of thinking, you get what you don't pay for. The Rams failed to pay for a solid option at cornerback after losing both Derion Kendrick and Darious Williams in training camp. With Tre' Tomlinson also injured, there was no cavalry from either of the past two drafts to help the secondary meet that challenge.

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