Turf Show Times
Can Cobie Durant put it all together for Rams in year four?
One of the biggest question marks on the Los Angeles Rams’ roster heading into the 2025 season is the cornerback position. Out of Darious Williams, Cobie Durant, Ahkello Witherspoon, Derion Kendrick, and Emmanuel Forbes, who will emerge as LA’s starters? While on the surface the Rams are seemingly attempting to solve the position with a volume approach, it’s also fair to wonder whether this group is good enough for the team to meet their lofty expectations. A trade for Jalen Ramsey may be on the horizon; however, that still may not be enough to cement LA’s status as contenders in the NFC conference.
In my view the player to keep an eye on is Durant, who enters his fourth season with the team and the final year of his rookie contract. Durant is the individual with the most potential staying power out of the position group. A successful 2025 season could bring him a sizeable payday and long-term job security. His production over his first three seasons was inconsistent at best, but at his heights you see someone deserves to start at outside corner.
It’s hard to gauge exactly what sort of player Durant is. He had an encouraging rookie season that suggested the best was yet to come after hauling in three interceptions and limiting opposing passers to a passer rating of just 76.3. The Rams traded Ramsey to the Miami Dolphins ahead of Durant’s sophomore season and it seemed he deserved a chance to start in the star’s absence.
The good news is that the sophomore slump wasn’t as bad as it seems at first glance. The PFF season grades indicate a steep drop in performance; however, it can truly be chalked up to a slow start to the year and then recovering in line with his career performance over the back half of the season. These were Durant’s game grades for the first five weeks of 2023:
Compare that to his final five games of the season and you can start to see the makings of a return to form:
