The Los Angeles Rams are entering the second season for newly-hired Defensive Coordinator Chir Shula, and that has proven to be a problem in objectively assessing this unit. Had the Rams hired a defensive coordinator from outside of the organization, the adaptation of new defensive strategies, tactics, familiarity, and competencies would be given a waiver. In essence, everyone would be willing to give this defense some slack.
But the team promoted positional coach Chris Shula to defensive coordinator, so nobody factors into their assessment of his second season. As a returning defensive coordinator, Shula is far more familiar with his players in specific roles. The front office has much clearer and concise knowledge of who will and who will not work in this defensive scheme. And the roster and depth chart itself more accurately reflect what and who Shula wants to play for him.
What did the Rams do in 2024 to set up the defense in 2025 to play more effectively? The Rams discovered that two rookie safeties are ball hawks (Kamren Kinchens and Jaylen McCollough), discovered that Ahkello Witherspoon is worth starting, learned that Tre White is not cut out to start in this secondary, and discovered that undrafted inside linebacker Omar Speights is far better than veteran ILB Troy Reeder.
Many cite the Rams' lack of attention to the secondary as a problem. But the Rams did address the defensive front, edge rushers, and inside linebackers. The team completely retooled the secondary in 2024, and it makes sense to give this group a pause in shuffling to regroup and showcase just how well they can coordinate pass coverage this season.
Is there an inherent risk to this gamble? Of course. But let's not ignore some mid-season roster additions, and the fact that the Rams' secondary was decimated by injuries to open the season. And one of the setbacks to this defense was self-inflicted, as the team traded away starting ILB Ernest Jones just as the 2024 NFL season was about to commence.
So, did the Rams do enough in the offseason?
No way, say the naysayers
To get noticed on social media, you need to tap into emotions. Whether rage or euphoria, the secret to attracting readers and listeners to articles or podcasts is to take the most outlandish position and then find the evidence to support that extreme opinion. But in doing so, we lose our objectivity and taint readers with the idea that there is only one truth, one correct opinion.
What do I mean? I have assembled three of the worst hot takes about the Rams defense made public this offseason. And before you delve into seeing what they have to say, keep in mind that their arguments are not intended to win a debate. They are merely trying to attract attention. So with that in mind, let's dive right in:
Exhibit 1
Oh no, here we go again. The sky is falling over the Rams' defense, and there is a flock of Chicken Littles out there willing to share their dismal outlook with anyone willing to check out what they have to say. The Athletic Show's host Derick Klassen pulled no punches when he lit into the Rams' defense with this diatribe:
"This defense still sucks. Like it’s not good. And maybe if they get Jalen Ramsey, I do think that that will shift my mind a little bit...I wanted more at defensive back. Even with Jalen Ramsey, I would have wanted maybe an earlier pick at defensive back. I would have wanted maybe another competition signing at Defensive Back. Like there were plenty of those mid tier corners that they could have signed. And I know that that’s not something they love to do.Derrik Klausen
This is a team that very much either likes to have a star at corner or they just don’t give a shit and they’ll throw anybody out there...This was one of the worst secondaries in the league last year. And even if they get Ramsey, I expect that to continue to be the case...the secondary unit as an individual unit is one of the worst in the league. Player by player, it’s one of the worst...
When you’re shooting for passable, I just feel like you leave yourself open for a lot of things to go wrong potentially. For the most part, this Rams defense was like the 24th best team in the league. And that was even true over just the second half of the year when these guys started to ramp up.”"
No stats. No evidence. Simply an argument about how he feels about the Rams.
Exhibit 2
However, the topic of how horrible the Rams' 2025 NFL season will be for the Rams' secondary was touched on by Rams beat reporter JB Scott, who proclaims that the secondary is not good enough. This has been a recurring theme that addresses optics rather than substance in this defense. What does Scott use to justify his dismal outlook? He cites Pro Football Focus tackling rankings:
"Of 128 corners to play at least 242 defensive snaps last year, these are how Williams, Witherspoon, and Durant ranked in Pro Football Focus (PFF)’s tackling metrics:JB Scott
Williams: 76th; 14.0% missed tackle rate
Witherspoon: 73rd; 15.0% missed tackle rate
Durant: 116th; 17.6% missed tackle rate"
Defensive backs are most effective by offering up pass coverages. How well did the Rams' defensive backs defend the pass? Let's do a quick peek at those advanced defensive stats via Pro Football Reference:
- Cobie Durant | 54.2% comp | 1 INT | 71.2 QB rating | 8 PDs | 3 MTkls
- Darious Williams | 64.4% comp | 101.7 QB rating | 7 PDs | 5 MTkls
- Ahkello Witherspoon | 65.2% comp | 96.9 QB rating | 9 PDs | 5 MTkls
- Kam Curl | 55.6% comp | 112.2 QB rating | 9 PDs | 10 MTkls
- Kam Kinchens | 73.2% comp | 4 INTs | 91.9 QB rating | 6 PDs | 6 MTkls
- Jaylen McCollough | 64.0% comp | 4 INTs | 68.5 QB rating | 4 PDs | 1 MTkl
- Quentin Lake | 65.1% comp | 107.8 QB rating | 5 PDs | 10 MTkls
Sure, you can cherry-pick bad tackling and use that lone statistic to present how horrific this secondary might be. But the secondary's primary function is to create turnovers and cover receivers. Some defensive backs have room to improve, but I don't see horrible anywhere among this bunch.
Exhibit 3
Athlon Sports' Taylor Hartman washes his hands of decrying the Rams' defense. Rather than citing his first-hand research, he points to how PFN’s Defense+ metric projects the Rams to be the 24th-ranked defense in 2025. But digging deeper into PFN's analysis, their justification is the retirement of All-Pro Aaron Donald, and just one draft selection among the first four rounds to declare the Rams defense dead on arrival.
This is a common error. One author simply acts like an echo chamber to the original author, and nobody dares to investigate. So let's help out this duo with additional facts that need to be shared.
As far as the 2025 NFL Draft, the Rams selected OLB Josaiah Stewart, ILB Pooh Paul Jr., and DT Ty Hamilton. The were three of just six rookie selections in the draft. Paul and Hamilton were selected in Round 5, an area of the draft where the Rams front office is particularly adept at uncovering diamonds-in-the-rough. That's why the PFN article stopped considering draft selections after Round 4.
No, the Rams will not get Aaron Donald back. He retired before the 2024 NFL season. But why ignore the fact that OLB Jared Verse was the 2024 NFL DROY? Or why ignore the facts that DT Kobie Turner, OLB Byron Young, and DT Braden Fiske were all finalists in the NFL DROY voting in the past two seasons? Hmmm.
It's tough to sell doom and gloom if you point to the sun rising on the horizon, I suppose.
What and why negative Nancies get wrong about the Rams defense
Arguments that omit contrary facts and try to appeal solely to your emotions and existing opinions are bad for the reader. Why? It reinforces flawed observations, turns a blind eye to data, and creates a mental fortress that is akin to religious zealots. So let's not try to do that.
If you show any mental resistance to these arguments, you find that many conflicting data, facts, observations, and things are true. It's vital not to get swept up in the torrential downpour of emotions, but to focus on the key points made, hold them up to the light, and view those points from different angles.
Most of the bad takes are based on tantrum thought processing. What do I mean? Read the arguments closely. In all three examples above, the opinion was a result of the author wanting or expecting the Rams to do something, and the Rams failing to do that. And so? The Rams' defense will be horrible because they did not do what the author wanted them to do.
Tantrum thought processing. It's like a married couple who argue continuously over loading the dishwasher. No matter how it's loaded, the dishes still come out clean. But the argument would lead one to believe that there is only one way to load dishes.
What they get wrong.
I - Don't homogenize the Rams' secondary. This team opened the 2024 NFL season by starting CBs Cobie Durant and Tre White, while switching up midseason to CBs Ahkello Witherspoon, Darious Williams, and Cobie Durant. Witherspoon was signed after the season started, and just in time to allow the Rams to trade away veteran CB Tre White. Williams was on IR for the first four weeks of the season, and even after returning, struggled to get back in the groove. The Rams front office and coaching staff learned painful lessons early in the season and used those lessons to improve the team as the year wore on.
II - What about that new defensive coordinator? The Rams' defense was not just an assembly of rookies with some new veterans trying to figure out their roles. This was a team that was trying to figure out how to optimize their production in Chris Shula's new defensive system. And Chris Shula, despite his promotion on the Rams staff, was trying to experiment and place his players into the best roles for them to succeed. Experimentation opened the defense up to discovery as well as failure.
III - Why does everyone miss the additions of Witherspoon and Forbes? The critics of this defense invariably insist on the belief that the front office did nothing to improve the secondary. But that is not true, as the Rams signed veteran free agent CB Ahkello Witherspoon and claimed former first-round selected DB Emmanuel Forbes off the Washington Commanders' waiver wire.
IV - Adversity was a huge reason for early-season struggles. When the Rams opened the 2024 NFL season, the defense had already traded away ILB Ernest Jones, lost DB Derion Kendrick for the season, and lost DB Darious Williams for four games. By the start of Week 3, the team had lost DB John Johnson, realized that Tre White was by far the worst cornerback on the football field, and had just signed Ahkello Witherspoon to the practice squad. And the team was even forced to give undrafted safety Jaylen McCollough playing time. Speed bumps? Perhaps. But it was the wild west start to the season that everyone remembers.
V - The best is yet to come. The worst critics of the Rams' defense are those who seem to be the least familiar with it. It's no secret that the Rams' pass rush put up 16 quarterback sacks in two playoff games against proficient offenses. It's not even a secret that the Rams' net passing defense average just 114 passing yards per game in postseason competition. But it's certainly not something that critics share when bashing this defense.
Hey, lots of things can go wrong. But lots of things have and can go right. I'm not touting this group as the top-ranked defense in the NFL. But I'm going to point out the fact that it is far from the worst defense too.
As always, thank you for reading.
