It's time to 'Spoon' feed this Los Angeles Rams struggling secondary

While I love the LA Rams 2024 NFL roster, the Rams secondary simply did not pan out just yet. Whether that is the result of injuries to no-less-than-three star defensive backs in veteran safety John Johnson III and cornerbacks Derion Kendrick and Darious Williams, the need to integrate injured veteran Tre'Davious White into this defense without foreknowledge of how far back he would rehab and recover, or simply the lack of chemistry by tossing the 2023 secondary aside and starting over, one this is crystal clear.

The team had a far better and more comprehensive secondary in 2023 while spending far less on the group as a whole. That's a huge problem in 2024. Yet there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

Or is there?

The team did mysteriously and reluctantly re-sign 2023 starting cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon to the roster. While he arrived and remained on the team' practice squad, it's simply a wave of the hand to allow Witherspoon to be elevated from the practice squad to the active roster for game day. Finally, that's what the team appears to be prepared to do:

The biggest question raised by a majority of Rams fans has been: What's taken the team so long to get Ahkello Witherspoon onto the football field?

There could be many reasons, none of which will ever be made public. It could be that the dollars made no sense until Witherspoon realized that he may sit out the entire 2024 NFL season, and the Rams injuries had reached critical mass. It's also possible that Witherspoon's declining effectiveness is something that the Rams wanted to distance themselves from this season.

It could simply be a matter of a player and his positional coaches did not see eye to eye.

Savvy veteran experience when needed most

While not necessarily a Pro Bowler, it's impossible to argue that Witherspoon did not outplay his veteran minimum contract in 2023.

He started all 17 games for the team last season (already impressive) and played 1060 defensive snaps. In that time, he made 52 tackles, picked off three passes, he allowed just 51 of 105 passes to find their target, (just a a 48.1 percent completion rate). He even recovered two fumbles for the team.

The problem was that he was not consistent. As the season wore on, he appeared to be hampered by an injury, an observation that was confirmed by several reports after the season. He allowed five touchdown passes, and missed nine tackles, a horrific 14.8 percent missed tackles rate.

But in 2024, even those bad stats would be an improvement over what this secondary is getting from some starters.

The Rams secondary has managed to shut down some very talented receivers. But the same secondary has managed to allow less talented players to shred them for huge games and to go on scoring sprees that may be the best games of their NFL careers.

And the LA Rams cannot take the Chicago Bears lightly in Week 4.

Just check these performances out:

• Week 1: Detroit Lions - WR Jameson Williams | 5 of 9 receptions | 121 receiving yards | 1 touchdown
• Week 2: Arizona Cardinals- WR Marvin Harrison Jr, | 4 of 8 receptions | 130 receiving yards | 2 touchdowns
• Week 3: San Francisco 49ers- WR Jauan Jennings | 11 of 12 receptions | 175 receiving yards | 3 touchdowns

It's obvious from this small data set that the Rams have a problem defending all receivers on the opposing team. Not just initially, but even trying to adapt and rotate coverages to counter what the offense is trying to do.

Clearly one or more players in this secondary are struggling. And that creates the opportunity for Ahkello Witherspoon to reclaim a roster spot and perhaps even his starting role in the secondary.

But to do so, he not only must be active in the game, he must see playing time.

Rams can spoon feed Witherspoon back into this secondary

It's simply not going to turn out that the Rams will send Ahkello Witherspoon onto the football field with the base defensive package. So at the most, Witherspoon is going to get limited defensive snaps in Week 4. But he will likely seen action on special teams. So he will have the chance to demonstrate improvements in tackling (a must).

But the Chicago Bears will be giving the defense plenty of work in terms of different groupings of wide receivers. And you can bet that having seen this defense struggle in three games so far, Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams is eager to get his season back on track by carving up this secondary for his one career-high performance.

But Ahkello Witherspoon could prevent that from happening.

Whether as a rotational substitution, or a key component of a sub package, Witherspoon is already familiar enough with many defensive backs, the Rams core defensive coaches, and how the Rams like to play defense. As such, he has every opportunity to make a positive contribution out of just a handful of plays, particularly if he breaks up a pass or gets an interception.

While I understand the interest in allowing chemistry and communication to form organically in this secondary, the Rams are 1-2 and have a legitimate shot at returning to .500. That means that this team must not sit back and hope for something better.

The time to act is now.

Ahkello Witherspoon may not be THE answer, but he can be part of the solution. And right now, partial credit sounds pretty good.

Thanks for reading.