Secondary: is it bad?

[Merlin]

Keep seeing that comment. Let's take a look. We'll start with PFF rankings:

Witherspoon: 57.1
Kendrick: 44.3
Durant: 42.3
Fuller: 59.2
Yeast: 70.5

According to PFF we have one guy doing his job at a starter level.

Now let's see how well the actual league rankings compare (Top 15 Top 10 Top 3):

Opponents PPG: 21.5 (12th)
Opponents 3rd Down Conversion: 22.22% (2nd)
Opponent Average Passer Rating: 88.5 (16th) <note: last year was 90.8 for reference>
Sack Percentage: 5.56% (24th)
Opponents Passing Yards Per Game: 159.4 (4th)
Opponents Yards Per Pass: 5.9 (T-10th)

What stands out here is that this secondary is playing quite well. They are limiting yards, teams are throwing against them carefully, and they are getting off the field. These things do not happen with a shit secondary.

Also on top of that it's not like they are being protected with a top front. The boys up front are getting some timely pressures but that needs to improve. So overall if you were to tell me this offseason that our defense would be inside that top 15 in points allowed alone I would have been surprised and quite happy. But they are showing signs of potency besides that.

So if you are loading PFF for your takes I suggest you take them with a grain of salt. Because clearly what we are getting here is recognition bias in the gradings. I am not saying all these guys should be grading out as top starters. Rather that it seems unlikely they're that bad when they are showing so well in key metrics.

 

[Merlin]

Also and btw just like last season I am not reviewing game film (All 22 being shit quality the last season I paid for it) so I welcome takes from those who are.

 

[Jacobarch]

The Rams are 1-1 against two playoff teams. I'd say we're getting it done at this point. As long as they improve every week they'll be fine. Id like to see JJIII to get some more snaps. We know he can cover.

 

[WestCoastRam]

Something's gotta give with that secondary. Two more games and teams will have enough tape to start really attacking our coverages and how our CBs and safeties handle things like leverage. I could see them really getting abused then... but, there's room for them to improve technique over that time and possibly even an eventual elevation of a guy like Tomlinson.

Only time will tell.

 

[Merlin]

I agree Tomlinson needs to be one of the 3. What I am not sure of is who I sit to make that happen. And that is a good thing in conjunction with the metrics listed above I think.

 

[Angry Ram]

They got lucky the shitters didn't connect on some of those deep passes bc they def got cooked at times. But they don't look terrible terrible.

 

[Merlin]

Every team misses passes every week. That way lies madness and unnecessary bean counting.

 

[Kupped]

I think more than one thing can be true.
The group is performing well as a unit... and it's early in the season and teams can and may figure out if there are weaknesses to exploit.
For now? Better than some expected and I'm enjoying them.. particularly yeast and Witherspoon.

 

[So Ram]

The Rams are 1-1 against two playoff teams. I'd say we're getting it done at this point. As long as they improve every week they'll be fine. Id like to see JJIII to get some more snaps. We know he can cover.

He use to be good in coverage & better than Taylor Rapp.

 

[Riverumbbq]

Besides an elite starting EDGE and an improvement next to Ernest Jones at ILB during free agency next season, I'd like to see the Rams make a play for one of potential free agent CB's Jeff Okudah or CJ Henderson. These 3 positions plus another strong offensive leaning draft should put us back into deep play-off contention. And we can afford it ...
jmo.

 

[Psycho_X]

I'm ok with them so far. Yeast looking like a great safety so far. Everyone else starting are your average NFL secondary player. No one is great but serviceable. If a few players like Young, Turner, Yeast, etc keep improving with experience the defense can easily be in the top third of the league by end of season and that's all we'd need for a deep playoff push if our offense keeps up their current trend.

My way too early opinion for offseason needs on defense is a fast outside cover CB, an outside dlineman with pass rushing ability, and improved depth at ILBer.

 

[Reddog99]

I think we'll find out just how good they are when they start playing some of the better QBs in the league. Playing a healthy Joe Burrow would've been a great chance to find out.

 

[El Chapo Jr]

The secondary isn't bad but they aren't good either. I'd say they are a bit average given the sample size. Unfortunately the average part may bite us in the ass from time to time if they're isnt a rush. However, with that said, they are young and have room and time to improve.

 

[PARAM]

Bottom line for me is this. Regardless of whether they're getting beat or will be figured out in a couple of weeks, they should be GROWING too. So what they're doing now may not be what they're doing in 2, 3 weeks. And don't look now but Byron Young has 1.5 sacks and AD hasn't exploded yet. When he does, BY will get even more (as will AD) and it's an improvement for the secondary.

 

[oldnotdead]

So if you are loading PFF for your takes I suggest you take them with a grain of salt. Because clearly what we are getting here is recognition bias in the gradings.

I absolutely agree as we have seen this over and over with those bozos.

Also, IMO they aren't playing their best people. Where are Shelley and Tomlinson? Kendrick is playing as well as he can but he has limitations. Witherspoon is playing okay but if he gets beaten he's toast as he has zero makeup speed. They should be starting Durant and Tomlinson and Shelley as their nickel. Don't like their length? Then quit drafting short CBs. Short CBs can play boundary but they have zero cushion with their technique. They must play right on the WR's hip. Regardless those are the best three CBs the Rams have they need to play them ready or not. The Niners exposed the CB's limitations that they are starting.

Durant isn't a nickel DB, i.e. SCB. Durant is a boundary CB and Shelley is their SCB. Durant and Tomlinson have the speed to matchup with outside WRs and Shelley has the experience and agility you want at SCB. Play them now and they will grow into their positions sooner than on the practice field.

Lake has the speed, i.e. range, lacking in Fuller and Johnson has the experience to play a deep FS. They should be the Ram's secondary.

 

[brucebruce]

They got lucky the shitters didn't connect on some of those deep passes bc they def got cooked at times. But they don't look terrible terrible.

some qbs are more accurate than others and at different types of throws. clearly, deep accuracy is something purdy is not top-tier. rams didnt get lucky on those misses. the dbs arent great and neither is purdy at the deep ball. every qb has limitations. he's a dink and dunker who limits turnovers which is perfect for their yac receivers and high-powered offense.

or we can say the 9ers were lucky that tutu didn't go deep for a walk-in td that caused stafford's grounding penalty. or lucky that the rams received a couple of penalties that were flat-out wrong.

 

[TexasRam]

I’ve seen worse secondaries. Durant Kendrick and Witherspoon are competing and in position to make a play on the ball or the WR when the ball is arriving half the time. If they were bad CBs you would see then arriving late all the time.

One major problem though is we are getting no turnovers. Another is we don’t have a guy that can shutdown a #1WR. Therefore a QB can get comfortable. He doesn’t need to avoid half the field or worry where the dangerous intercepting CB is.

I’m not trying to shit on Raheem, but when he dialed up the 5 and 6 man pressure packages vs the Hawks we shut them down in the second half. This is the way. We need balls hurried. Vs the Niners we saw much less of this. We saw delayed blitzes two times that didn’t get there quick enough and we got burned. We did see a cover 0 blitz inside the 10 on third down that forced Purdy to throw early before Mcaffrey could turn around. We need more of that. The Chiefs don’t have great CB’s either but they have excellent pressure packages that Spags constantly brings and it makes that secondary look all world.

We don’t have the front 7 of the Niners to assist the backend like they do, so we need to bring immediate 5-6 man pressures the way the Chiefs do, until we can get our Brian Burns etc. Jones though, should be heavily involved each week in blitz packages.

Finally, we definitely need to get Shelly and Tomlinson looks. Kendrick’s is not only getting beat deep constantly, though Purdy missed the throws, but his technique is garbage. Thus the penalties.

 

[jrry32]

Seems like an okay unit. Our guys have flaws. Kendrick can get roasted at times. But they're not terrible.

 

[snackdaddy]

Overall, our success lies with the offense. If they're gonna contend for a playoff spot the offense has to carry the load. The defense only needs to be average if the offense continues to play like it has. 23 points isn't bad but it woulda been more if not for Kyren's miss on the interception. Stop those mistakes and this team will win more than projected.

 

[LARAMSinFeb.]

We've played 2 playoff teams and have come out with the #2 O and #6 D. I think our secondary must be doing something right because they're left hanging out there a long time every play. QBs have time to watch mountains form via tectonic processes back there.