The Rams come out of the bye week with a massive win after finally making a move to address weakest position on the team
The LA Rams finally made a move to address the worst position room on the team ahead of the NFL trade deadline
The Los Angeles Rams were rumored to be in the market to make a move before the NFL trade deadline closes next week, particularly at cornerback. It’s been the weakest position room on the team since last season, and LA never elected to make a move to change it throughout the offseason.
They changed their tune coming out of the bye week, making a trade with the Tennessee Titans to add cornerback Roger McCreary. McCreary, a former second-round pick, is in his fourth season in the NFL and is on the last year of his contract.
A career nickel, McCreary was acquired via a pick-swap between the Titans and Rams. The Rams sent a fifth-round pick (the one they acquired from trading LB Ernest Jones) and will take on one of the Titans’ three sixth-round picks. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the sixth rounder will be the one latest in the round.
How does Roger McCreary fit the Rams?
On the surface, the addition of McCreary makes a lot of sense. He’s been an outstanding slot cornerback this season for the Titans, allowing a success rate in coverage of just 33.3%. McCreary is a shifty coverage guy, but his lack of size pushed him inside into the slot. Given the Rams’ coverage woes, adding a good player here makes sense.
It’s just…not the right kind of player they needed, in my opinion. McCreary is a career slot guy for a reason. He’s 5’11, 190 pounds with short arms (0th percentile arm length). The Rams needed size on the outside given their issues with physical receivers since Ahkello Witherspoon went down. McCreary can play outside, but he has just 13 snaps there in the last two seasons. He doesn’t have the size or ability to match up with the type of players that have given the Rams the most trouble, no matter how physical his play is.
Additionally, Quentin Lake has thrived since moving over to nickel full-time this season. Lake has always been significantly better in the nickel than playing deep. The slot was the one position the Rams didn’t need to make an addition at in my opinion…and they did it anyways. I’m not convinced it was the right move to make. Asking either of McCreary or Lake to play out of their best positions isn’t a move I’m a big fan of.
However, my colleague and fellow NFL writer Kyle Crabbs sees the move completely different and called it a “massive win for the Rams”.
“The reason I like this move the most for the Los Angeles Rams for the thing it gives them most — versatility. Safety Quentin Lake has emerged as a tremendous player in the nickel for the Rams but he’s capable of being more and playing in split field shells. With a rush front like the one the Rams have, possessing a number of interchangeable pieces that can allow for exotic coverage rotations is paramount to maximizing the confusion of opposing quarterbacks post-snap. Lake can play deep or in the nickel. Cobie Durant can play inside or outside — and he has played a majority of his snaps both on the perimeter and inside going back to his earlier years with the Rams in 2023 (349 snaps in the slot versus 265 snaps outside).
The Rams simply don’t have another player who can tackle and play physically as an inside or outside player. Emmanuel Forbes was an admirable roll of the dice but he isn’t built to insert into run fits on the edge and his tackling & physicality on the perimeter are liabilities. Forbes is missing nearly 30% of his tackle challenges this year and is allowing a passer rating of 153.0 on targets. The Eagles, in particular, picked on him repeatedly in an early season matchup. The solution for the Rams? Add another player with coverage versatility and better combativeness to help disguise the coverages more effectively. McCreary can play inside out and is a physical player despite his lack of stature.“
The Rams had to have seen something in McCreary’s film that sold them on the idea of taking a low-risk swing on the former Auburn Tiger. It’ll be interesting to see how he fits, how quickly they can deploy him, and what moves they make to accomodate him in the lineup.
For now though, Rams fans should be happy to see the team actually made a move after they neglected to all offseason long.
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