The Rams did the right thing at the wrong time with this veteran player

The LA Rams football team and the fanbase does not always see eye to eye in term of player appreciation. There is the entire Ernest Jones IV situation, where the fans loved his no-nonsense attitude, his sure-handed tackling, and his ability to lead the defense in stuffing the run and in tackles, but the football didn't. Thus, Jones was traded away for next to nothing.

Meanwhile, there is the fans support of undrafted ILB Omar Speights, while the team has been backing ILB Troy Reeder unconditionally. With Reeder's latest injury, the team was forced to allow Speights to see action on the defensive side of the ball. Despite Speights impressive debut, the team has already begun to act to have another option for the ILB role.

But we have plenty of time to discuss those particulars.

The point is this team reacts rapidly to some injuries, and some roster depth challenges, but fails to do so with similar situations at other positions. What do I mean? When the LA Rams reported that veteran (and projected) starting defensive back Darious Williams suffered a hamstring injury in training camp in July 2024, the front office failed to act.

The team was in training camp, yes. But after losing DB Derion Kendrick for the season, and restocking the secondary with new faces, the front office and coaching staff overestimated the quality of the remaining healthy players on the Rams roster, and underestimated the amount of work needed to turn that group of players into a cohesive secondary.

Rams secondary needed help in Summer 2024

The secondary situation was compounded further when the team attempted to get Williams back onto the football field. As is often the case with any hamstring injuries, aggravating the injury or reinjury to the same site is at a much greater risk. The team discovered that after trying to get Williams folded back into practice sessions. He reinjured his hamstring, and was subsequently placed on IR to fully recover before trying to return.

So now, six weeks after Williams' original injury, the team was right back to being down two key cornerbacks. And yet, the urgency to act was still not a priority. You see, the front office needed an additional week before reinforcing the roster. When the team finally made a move, they re-signed former 2023 starting cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon.

But the team signed him to the practice squad:

Even as the front office and coaching staff passed over extending Witherspoon for the option of building a bigger, badder, better secondary in 2024, the team missed a golden opportunity to add him at the first sign of Darious Williams injury. Failure to do so cost the team and Witherspoon six weeks of valuable training and practice time.

Ultimately, even the move to reinforce the practice squad (and not the active roster) with Witherspoon seemed almost punitive in some fashion. How could the guy who started just one year earlier not be worth a spot on the active roster? Once again, the fans seemed to hold Ahkello Witherspoon in much higher regard than the football team.

Was it merely a precaution? The Rams elevated Witherspoon on September 28, October 5, and October 16 from the practice squad for game day eligibility. So even though the team hesitated to commit to Witherspoon initially, he proved to be the answer for the secondary's woes after all.

Rams finally make the right move, but at the wrong time

With the Rams secondary down two key contributors at cornerback in Derion Kendrick and Darious Williams, and banking on superb play from veteran DB Tre'Davious White after two NFL season were cut short by serious injuries, the team seemed to be taking some unnecessary risks long before the season ever started.

After the team finally opted to place Darious Williams on IR, only then did the team add Witherspoon. But placing him on the practice squad did nothing to aid the team's secondary on game day. It was not until the team began to elevate him to the active roster that the defense began to turn the corner. And that was after the team restored Darious Williams to the active roster.

NFL teams can elevate practice squad players to the active roster three times a year without using the NFL Waiver Wire before the NFL requires the team to either sign the player to the active roster or look elsewhere. Well, he performed well on game day three times, and so the team finally signed Ahkello Witherspoon to the 53-man Rams roster.

That news was reported on October 22, 2024.

As you may know, we often cite free agent options to consider at times of injuries to Rams players. And we named Ahkello Witherspoon as a perfect option to sign to help the team in early September. After realizing that the team may be content to keep him on the practice squad, we urged the team once again to include him as part of the secondary's solution going forward.

But it did not happen until seven weeks had passed in the 2024 NFL season.

Whether I have some insight into better options for the LA Rams roster is certainly not the point here. But I do find it intriguing, and even mystifying, how the team seems to hold productive players in little regard when it comes to directing opportunities their way. Some players do not perform well, and yet seem to get an unending supply of chances.

While other players, who have demonstrated the ability to perform very well for the team, and must beg, borrow, and steal every chance that they get.

No team can succeed by listening to the fans exclusively. But sometimes, fans do have a point. Eventually, the team comes around, and all is well. But at 3-4, you really have to wonder. If the Rams had signed Ahkello Witherspoon to the active roster sooner, Would the team have won one or two additional games?

We will never know. But it is something to think about. Thanks for reading.

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