How the Rams Defense Survives Starting Corner Being Placed on IR
On the day after the Los Angeles Rams beat the Titans in Tennessee, the Rams announced that they had to place their starting cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon on IR. Witherspoon injured his shoulder on a run stop, and it was reported after the game that it was a broken clavicle. This is unfortunate timing for Witherspoon, who has been playing great football through the first two weeks after his first full offseason with the Rams. Before the injury, the Rams likely considered him to be the team’s best cornerback. In Week One, he was a major contributor in holding Nico Collins to only 25 yards, winning multiple one-on-one matchups against the star receiver. The timetable for a broken clavicle is somewhere between six and 12 weeks, and the Rams can be hopeful that he will return at some point this season. In the meantime, the Rams’ defense will need to find a way to survive.
After Witherspoon left the game, the Rams were still able to close out what started as a tight game against the Titans, with the defense playing a significant part in swinging the game in LA’s favor. Thus far, the Rams’ defense has played great, holding the Texans to just nine points and the Titans to 19. As the Rams move on to face the Philadelphia Eagles in Week Three, the question for the defense is whether they will continue their outstanding play against their greatest opponent thus far. Witherspoon’s injury only places a more glaring question mark over how well the Rams can contain an Eagles offense that sent them home in last year’s NFC Divisional Round.
The good thing for the Rams is that they have reasons to be bullishly optimistic about the rest of the defense. Byron Young made his presence known against the Titans’ battered offensive line, and the rest of the young defensive line is deep and practical, especially behind a number one pass rusher like Jared Verse. The Rams may have also found an absolute steal in Nathan Landman, who stabilizes a linebacker group that has shown talent despite so little money being invested in it. More importantly for replacing Witherspoon’s production, the Rams have a secondary that is deep, even if they don’t have the same high-end talent as other teams.
When talking about their secondary, Sean McVay and the coaching staff have continued to repeat the phrase, “We believe we have four starting corners.” These four corners were Witherspoon, Cobie Durant, Darious Williams, and Emmanuel Forbes. Both Durant and Williams have proven to be solid options. In his short time in Los Angeles, Forbes has flashed the talent that initially made him a first-round selection for the Washington Commanders. The Rams also have Quentin Lake and Josh Wallace, who both play mostly as safeties but have skill sets that are flexible and overlap with the corners. Lake or Wallace may end up taking more minutes as cornerbacks in Witherspoon’s absence.
In terms of making a roster move, there is likely no player in free agency who will be able to replace Witherspoon’s effectiveness and comfort level with the Rams’ system. A trade does not make that much sense when Witherspoon is likely to return late in the season. It would not make sense to give up assets to buy a corner, and it is unlikely that there is a corner available that is better than Durant, Williams, and Forbes, who already know the Rams system. Moving forward, the Rams will have to rely on their remaining three corners and will likely look to their practice squad to replace Witherspoon’s spot on the roster.
This summer, the Rams had to make a difficult decision on which corners to keep on their active roster. They had a handful of players in their secondary who they would’ve loved to stay around as depth pieces for something like a Witherspoon injury, but they only had one roster spot to give. They ultimately decided to keep Wallace for his versatility, and that allowed two of their players to be claimed by other teams, Charles Woods to the Patriots, and Derion Kenrick to the Seahawks, where he has already snagged an interception against Aaron Rodgers. Kenrick would be an ideal promotion candidate if he weren’t claimed; however, the Rams were able to keep both A.J. Green and Cam Lampkin on their practice squad. They will likely promote one of them to fill Witherspoon’s roster spot, with Green being perhaps the more likely option.
