One defensive position might be a sneaky important need for the Los Angeles Rams to attack in the 2025 NFL Draft
The draft plans for the Los Angeles Rams have been under lock and key, causing plenty of speculation over the entire offseason. Draft analysts more often than not have shrugged their shoulders and guessed what the Rams could do, but the Rams beat to their drum. Some of that speculation has the Rams taking a […]
The draft plans for the Los Angeles Rams have been under lock and key, causing plenty of speculation over the entire offseason. Draft analysts more often than not have shrugged their shoulders and guessed what the Rams could do, but the Rams beat to their drum.
Some of that speculation has the Rams taking a safety in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Does it make sense for the Rams to take a safety in this draft? Should they?
The Rams deployed four different safeties for the vast majority of last season: Kamren Curl, Kamren Kinchens, Quentin Lake, and Jaylen McCollough.
Kinchens took over the "post safety" role from John Johnson III when he went down with an injury. This is more or less the deep safety role. Kamren Curl also played deep, particularly when the Rams played split-field coverages, but was used much more frequently than Kinchens as the main box safety.
Lake started the season bouncing between a post safety season and the nickel corner position before switching to the nickel almost full-time down the stretch (when the Rams' defense played its best football), while McCollough was deployed almost everywhere on the football field as the staff moved him around.
To lay it out a bit more simpler, the Rams' safety room looks something like this:
| Role | Starter | Depth |
|---|---|---|
FS | Kamren Kinchens | Quentin Lake |
SS | Kamren Curl | Jaylen McCollough |
Slot | Quentin Lake | Jaylen McCollough |
Box | Kamren Curl | Quentin Lake (Jaylen McCollough) |
It's an interchangeable group of players beyond Kinchens, who is by far at his best deep, and the coaching staff recognized that.
Kamren Curl is at his best closer to the line of scrimmage as a box safety/overhang. He made his money there in Washington, handling that role at a high level. Quentin Lake is a better nickel corner than he is a full safety, and his film has proven that. Jaylen McCollough is a decent jack-of-all-trades, but not really at his best in any one spot due to his lack of traits.
However, both Curl and Lake are in the last year of their deals, and the Rams have made an active point in avoiding paying or extending safeties. As general manager of the Rams, Les Snead has extended one safety: Mark Barron, who was essentially a linebacker, in 2016. That's the full list.
With both of them potentially leaving, that exposes two pretty big weaknesses in the Rams' secondary, with Curl as the other starting safety and Lake as the team's nickel and reserve safety. The Rams don't have a nickel on the roster who can step into Lake's role in the slot, and they don't have a capable safety behind Kinchens to assume Curl's role.
Should the Los Angeles Rams move established cornerback to make room for talented rookie in crowded secondary?
In a recent 2025 NFL mock draft done by all 32 beat writers for The Athletic, the Los Angeles Rams walked away with Florida State cornerback Azareye'h Thomas. "Thomas is a long corner with good range who gives the Rams the size they badly need in their secondary, to pair on the outside with veteran […]
Fans will point to Jaylen McCollough, who had three interceptions as a UDFA rookie, as the heir apparent. However, he allowed the ninth-highest EPA/target in the league, the 10th-most yards per coverage snap, the 21st-highest deserved catch percentage, and the 18th-highest QB rating when targeted. Additionally, he also never broke 20 MPH on GPS testing, even when working on special teams. His highest mark on defense came in at 18.82 MPH, which was the 104th-worst top speed for a safety in 2024.
So while on the surface, safety doesn't seem like a major need for the Rams, it might be a long-term need. In my mind, it makes more sense for the Rams to target a safety in this year's class instead of waiting for next year, so they aren't forced to press a rookie into the starting lineup in 2026.
With limited capital and a slew of other depth spots to fill out along the roster, it'll be interesting to see how the Rams opt to handle this spot in the 2025 NFL Draft or if they do at all.
