How do Rams cornerbacks compare to rest of NFC?

Looking at depth charts in the conference after free agency and ahead of the draft

Following the Jalen Ramsey trade, L.A. Rams fans will have to get familiar with new names in the secondary next season. Perhaps some names that are not even on the roster as of early April, with cornerback being a high priority going into the 2023 draft.

With free agency largely finished, there won’t be much more activity on the veteran market until after teams know who they came away with in the draft. Until then, we do have a good picture of what rosters will look like in 2023 and an ability to assess where the Rams rank going into a draft in which they won’t have a first round pick.

I know how confusing it can be to assess what other teams look like in comparison to L.A. given that a lot is happening at once—just not a lot happening with regards to players joining the Rams, of which there has only been one addition: Hunter Long—so let’s breakdown some position groups as they relate to what Sean McVay currently has on the roster. Perhaps then fans will gain the necessary perspective to make adequate judgments on the quality of L.A.’s roster going into the draft and the rest of the offseason.

This is a picture of the top-three cornerbacks, the slot corner, the defensive coordinators, and the first round picks available to teams in the NFC. I have ranked them based on players and 2022 DVOA performances and a little bit of judgment, but of course rankings can only be trusted to the degree with which you will agree with them; I don’t pretend them to be perfectly accurate.

I did not officially rank the Rams. Instead, I’ll rank the 15 other NFC teams and then let you, the fans, decide for yourselves.

Some guides:

New Player in 2023

2021 or 2022 FIRST OR SECOND ROUND PICK

*2021 or 2022 Pro Bowl

I will list defensive coordinator in parentheses, then which first round pick(s) that team has this year

Cornerbacks

Cowboys (Dan Quinn) – Trevon Diggs*, Stephon Gilmore*, DaRon Bland, NCB Jourdan Lewis (First round pick: 26)

Eagles (Sean Desai) – Darius Slay*, James Bradberry, Greedy Williams, NCB Avonte Maddox (First round picks: 10, 30)

Packers (Joe Barry) – Jaire Alexander*, ERIC STOKES, Keisean Nixon, NCB Rasul Douglas (First round pick: 15)

Saints (Joe Woods) – Marshon Lattimore*, Paulson Adebo, ALONTAE TAYLOR, NCB Bradley Roby (First round pick: 29)

Commanders (Jack Del Rio) – Benjamin St-Juste, Kendall Fuller, Cam Dantzler, NCB Danny Johnson (First round pick: 16)

Bucs (Kacy Rodgers/Larry Foote) – Jamel Dean, Carlton Davis, Zyon McCollum, NCB Dee Delaney (First round pick: 19)

49ers (Steve Wilks) – Charvarius Ward, Deommodore Lenoir, Ambry Thomas, NCB Myles Hartsfield (First round pick: None)

Falcons (Ryan Nielsen) – A.J. Terrell, Casey Hayward, Darren Hall, NCB Dee Alford (First round pick: 8)

Panthers (Ejiro Evero) – JAYCEE HORN, Donte Jackson, C.J. Henderson, NCB Jeremy Chinn (First round pick: 1)

Seahawks (Clint Hurtt) – Tariq Woolen*, Mike Jackson, Coby Bryant, NCB Julian Love (First round picks: 5, 20)

Giants (Wink Martindale) – Adoree’ Jackson, Cor’Dale Flott, Nick McCloud, NCB Darnay Holmes (First round pick: 25)

Lions (Aaron Glenn) – Jeff Okudah, Emmanuel Moseley, Jerry Jacobs, NCB Cam Sutton (First round picks: 6, 18)

Cardinals (Nick Rallis) – Marco Wilson, Antonio Hamilton, Nate Hairston, NCB Isaiah Simmons (First round pick: 3)

Bears (Alan Williams) – Jaylon Johnson, Kindle Vildor, Jaylon Jones, NCB KYLER GORDON (First round pick: 9)

Vikings (Brian Flores) – Akayleb Evans, ANDREW BOOTH, Tay Gowan, NCB Byron Murphy (First round pick: 23)

Now without ranking them, let’s look at the Rams cornerbacks unit following the Jalen Ramsey trade:

Rams (Raheem Morris) – Derion Kendrick, Robert Rochell, Shaun Jolly, NCB Cobie Durant (First round pick: None)

Where do you think that this group ranks as compared to the other 15 NFC teams? Number one? Number three? Number 16?

Notes

• When considering the 2023 draft, teams that are heavily linked to first round cornerbacks early on would be the Lions, Falcons, and Bears. Maybe the Eagles could be a sleeper team there because of the contracts, age for Slay and Bradberry.
• What I didn’t notice until today is just how heavily slanted the number of cornerbacks going to the AFC instead of the NFC over the last two years: Of 17 first and second round cornerbacks since 2021, 12 have gone to the AFC. One name that isn’t even listed here that went to the NFC is Kelvin Joseph, a second round pick of the Cowboys in 2021 who has largely been a bust.
• The Cardinals could draft a cornerback with their first pick but it’s safe to assume that they would like to trade down before doing that. Names like Devon Witherspoon, Christian Gonzalez, and Joey Porter Jr. are being linked in the top-15 picks, with Deonte Banks, Emmanuel Forbes, Cam Smith, and Kelee Ringo getting some momentum for the latter half of the first round.
• Slot cornerback has never been more important in the NFL than it is today. A guy like Isaiah Simmons or Julian Love might be a “safety” by some definition, but being able to cover different types of receiver inside the hashes is really the skillset teams are looking for here.