The Rams biggest need

Sheriff Joe Bags | RamsShowcase.com

The LA Rams NFC Championship loss to the Seattle Seahawks stings a little bit more after the conclusion of Super Bowl LX. The end of the game didn’t bring comforting thoughts of the Rams losing to the eventual champions (two years in a row). Instead the taste of ‘what could have been’ is all that remains. The Rams were dangerously close to playing in the final game of the season and it’s at least reasonable to think they had a legitimate shot at adding another ring to the collection if they had made it.

Alas, the Rams didn’t beat the Seahawks and didn’t play in the Super Bowl. Seattle fielded a strong team for the 2025 season, but the Rams made it a photo-finish. Los Angeles has no one to blame for not finishing their season in Santa Clara but themselves.

Entering the 2025 offseason, the Rams had some obvious needs: Improving an already great group of pass catchers, making sure the offensive line is veteran led, stopping the run, and more firepower in the secondary.

For the pass catchers, the Rams made a move that wasn’t exactly fan-friendly to begin the offseason by letting go of Super Bowl LVI MVP Cooper Kupp. The pain was alleviated with the addition of All-Pro WR Davante Adams - ultimately improving the group. It did not hurt that WR Konata Mumpfield and TE Terrence Ferguson were added via the 2025 NFL Draft.

Bringing back Super Bowl Champion Coleman Shelton to start at Center was a move that immediately made the Rams offense a better run unit overall as Beaux Limmer ended his rookie season missing a block in the biggest moment of the year.

On defense, the Rams made some changes to improve against the run. Letting Bobby Brown IV hit the open market while bringing in DL Poona Ford from the Chargers and LB Nate Landman from the Falcons. This change was felt as early as week 1 up front against the run.

The secondary is a bit of a different story. The Rams entered the 2025 offseason with the secondary as a need, more specifically, the cornerback position. With the season now over, it’s clear the Rams will enter the 2026 offseason with the same need.

There could be any number of reasons that cornerback was not addressed last offseason, but ultimately we as fans entered the season hoping that the pass rush would make up for any short comings in the back end. That was not the case and in multiple big games when it mattered the most, the Rams secondary cost the Rams in major situations.

Week 3 against the Eagles, Week 5 against the 49ers, Week 13 against the Panthers, and Week 16 against the Seahawks are all examples of games where a stronger cornerback room possibly translates into wins; also included could be the NFC Championship Game.

In all of those games, there was a moment where the Rams pass rush had the opportunity to close it out. Instead, teams sped up their process with quick release plays allowing playmakers to operate in the open field. The corners didn’t seem to be able to adjust to this allowing multiple comebacks, third down conversions, and extended drives.

One thing the Patriots were able to deploy against the Seahawks that the Rams were unable to was a true lock down corner. Christian Gonzalez is exactly that and made multiple plays over the course of the game that helped solidify that on the games biggest stage.

Knowing that a need is a need is only the first step. Shut down corners aren’t just abundantly available for the choosing. Ask your friends to list the top 10 quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, edge rushers, or linebackers and the list is fairly easy to compile. For most fans, naming 10 corners who are truly part of the upper echelon is difficult to fill in.

The Rams have had a history of making big moves that turn weaknesses into immediate strengths just by letting someone else use their allotted draft picks. That could be the course of action for the Rams again this offseason with Matthew Stafford returning (meaning no need for a quarterback this season) and two first round picks. In a league where there are plenty of teams with updated coaching staffs and roster holes, draft picks can be enticing. That begs the question, what team would be willing to part with one of these guys?

In no particular order, Derek Stingley Jr., Quinyon Mitchell, Devon Witherspoon, Patrick Surtain II, Michael Jackson, Sauce Gardner are considered to be the best in the league right now at the position. There are some names missing here, sure, but the point is these players all play for teams who are competing. Gardner likely wouldn’t be on the move from the Colts as they likely feel like they are decently close to being a playoff team and acquired him mid-season. Texans, Eagles, Seahawks, Broncos, Panthers are all playoff teams and likely wouldn’t be interested in moving off their shut down corners for a coin toss in April on finding the same - Insert Family Guy meme here.

Another option is to seek a player who is seemingly about to break out. The Rams did this with Emmanuel Forbes Jr. who had 2025 streaks of playing extremely well in the secondary, but ultimately was inconsistent over the entire season.

There may or may not be legitimate draft options for the Rams. Delane, McCoy, Terrell, Cisse, Abney II are all potential options in the top end of the draft and surely there will be plenty of research done on these names from the Rams scouting staff. It’s certainly possible one or more of these players are the next big thing in the NFL, but that could take years to fully come to fruition.

Simply put, just because we all can see that the Rams have a need at cornerback doesn’t mean that the attempt to revamp it will be successful.

Overall, the Rams corners are all individually good players. The room on paper seems to be at least respectable. Which would lead us to look at coaching. I’m reluctant to say that Aubrey Pleasant is having any sort of negative impact on the Rams because I think he is a very undervalued coach, but it is worth exploring all possible reasons for the weak spot.

Pleasant also serves as the Rams Assistant Head Coach and has interviewed for three teams for a defensive coordinator position (Chargers, Cardinals, Browns). As a fan, it’s hard to see exactly what goes on in meetings or closed practices where the real coaching work is done. All we get for a perspective is what happens on the field on Sunday. With that evidence, I’m at least willing to pretend to point a finger in the coaching direction.

I don’t intend to leave you on the rather pessimistic outlook that really good top end corners are near impossible to find, but… well here we are. It’s not that it’s impossible and the Rams are surely an intriguing landing spot for anyone who could be in the market for a change of scenery. The Rams have the cap space, the draft capital, and a history of big moves to bring another ring to Los Angeles.

Addressing this particular weakness can be a little more complicated than finding an awesome pass rusher and there is so much that goes into playing in the back end of an NFL defense.

What we can feel confident in is that the position will be addressed in some capacity.

@SheriffJoeBags | @RamsShowcase