10 bold predictions for LA Rams 2024 offseason

2: Rams draft a shutdown corner on Day 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft

The LA Rams have a lot of needs to shop for in the 2024 NFL Draft, but I would be extremely surprised if the Rams do not select one of the top cornerbacks in the 2024 NFL Draft on Day 1. While the order of the top five cornerbacks may change after the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine, my top five CBs in this draft currently include:

1. Iowa Hawkeye CB Cooper DeJean
2. Clemson Tigers CB Nate Wiggins
3. Alabama Crimson Tide CB Kool-Aid McKinstry
4. Alabama Crimson Tide CB Terrion Arnold
5. Georgia Bulldogs CB Kamari Lassiter

The Rams have enough rookies added to the defensive side of the football at the edge and defensive line in 2023 to view those positions as a Best Player Available option. But the Rams cannot let another draft slip past them without infusing new talent onto the roster, particularly a premier cornerback.

The absence of All-Pro DB Jalen Ramsey was felt in the Rams secondary in 2023. While I believe that veteran CB Ahkello Witherspoon played well for the Rams, the front office seemed content to infuse slot cornerbacks to the Rams roster, and hope that the coaching staff could develop one or more into an outsider cornerback. Unfortunately, the Rams did not accomplish that goal successfully.

Shutdown CBs do not appear in the NFL Free Agency market often. When they do show up, the cost is astronomically high. I believe that the Rams success with drafting key contributors in the 2023 NFL Draft will give them enough courage and confidence to attempt to find and select a shutdown cornerback who can make an immediate impact in this Rams defense in 2024.

And I think that he will.