Do the Rams struggle with talent evaluation at corner?

July 6, 2024 Sportextra NFL, Sports 0

When was the last time the Los Angeles Rams drafted a good corner?

In my view, I flash all the way back to 2012 when general manager Les Snead and then-head coach Jeff Fisher drafted Janoris Jenkins—who was a first round talent that fell because of character concerns—in the second round followed by Montana’s Trumaine Johnson in the third round. Johnson also had his share of off-field concerns; however, the duo started alongside each other for multiple seasons.

The Rams ultimately decided to apply the franchise tag to Johnson for the 2017 season before he left for the New York Jets in free agency the following year. Jenkins signed with the New York Giants after the 2016 season and earned second team All-Pro recognition along with Pro Bowl honors in 2017.


What is the Rams’ history at the position since? Well, they’ve identified talented players at corner but not necessarily ones they’ve drafted.

A complicated history with talent development at corner

Troy Hill had stints with the Cincinnati Bengals and New England Patriots before landing with the Rams in 2015 where he remained for five seasons as a UDFA out of Oregon. He rejoined the Rams in 2022 following a draft day trade with the Cleveland Browns.

Darious Williams was also an UDFA from UAB and signed with the Baltimore Ravens in 2018. He found his way to Los Angeles before the conclusion of the season and emerged as a full-time starter for the 2020 and 2021 seasons before leaving in free agency for the Jacksonville Jaguars. After defensive coaching and scheme changes in Jacksonville this offseason, Williams was released and may his way back to the Rams where he is expected to bring stability to one of the starting jobs at outside corner.

If you consider Lemarcus Joyner a safety, then the Rams waited until 2022 to draft a corner after taking both Jenkins and Johnson in 2012—a 10 year drought. Los Angeles selected Cobie Durant in the fourth round and Derion Kendrick in the sixth round of the 2022 class. Tre Tomlinson was selected in the sixth the following year in 2023. LA did not take a corner in the 2024 class.

EJ Gaines started at outside corner during the 2016 season for Los Angeles as a former sixth round pick out of Missouri. It’s debatable whether he played well in his time with the team, but he was ultimately included as part of the trade package in the Rams’ acquisition of Sammy Watkins in early fall 2017.

In absence of draft success, LA turns to veteran markets

The players that would hold starting roles at corner between 2018 and 2022 for the Rams were mostly acquired via trade: Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib, and Jalen Ramsey.


LA gave up both a second round and fourth round picks in order to acquire Peters from the Kansas City Chiefs. Those picks turned into Juan Thornhill and Armani Watts. Snead acquired Talib from the Denver Broncos at the start of the 2018 offseason in exchange for a fifth round pick. He appeared in just 13 regular season games for the Rams before the team had to effectively gift away draft capital for the Miami Dolphins to take on his contract in October 2019. He’d never play another snap in the NFL. While his time in Los Angeles was short, he played an important role in helping the Rams reach the Super Bowl in 2018 while starting alongside Peters. Peters was also traded midseason in 2019 to the Baltimore Ravens.

The Rams would make a third corner trade at the deadline in 2019—sending two first round picks to the Jaguars in order to acquire Ramsey who remained with the team through the 2022 season. Ramsey would go on to clash with Peters in a late season matchup between the Rams and Ravens, but ultimately the Rams saw Ramsey play some of the best football of his career in Los Angeles. He was a key contributor in the Rams 2021 season and victory in Super Bowl LVI.


In 2023 the Rams were facing the uncomfortable truth that their corner room with Durant and Kendrick lacked size, so they signed Ahkello Witherspoon—former member of the San Francisco 49ers and Pittsburgh Steelers—who started the entirety of the season for LA. Witherspoon is still a free agent, though the team elected to instead sign Tre White from the Buffalo Bills ahead of the 2024 season.

Do the Rams have a talent evaluation problem at corner?

It’s a bit of a chicken or the egg situation. Do the Rams prefer having veterans at corner in lieu of young players, or has their lack of success drafting the position forced them to turn to means of acquiring players other than the draft?

Their isn’t much draft history to go off of, though that is also the Rams’ own fault in some ways. Corner is a premium position, and we know that LA didn’t have many early draft picks between 2016 and 2023. It likely isn’t wise to draft a corner after the third round and expect them to play a meaningful role early in their career, and that’s why we saw the Rams invest in other positions between 2012 and 2022.


Still, the players that the Rams have selected at corner in the Sean McVay era have yet to find significant success in the NFL. The jury is still out on whether Cobie Durant can be a starting level professional. Derion Kendrick is best-served as a backup—though every team needs a player in that role. We haven’t seen much of Tre Tomlinson outside of the 2023 preseason, but there were signs that there’s something to work with.

If Durant and Tomlinson are unable to earn meaningful roles over the 2024 season, then it’s likely time to have concerns about the Rams’ ability to identify and develop talent at the cornerback position. This could spell trouble for the team even beyond this season.

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