The Rams’ cornerback group is full of youth and potential, from Cobie Durant down to rookie Tre Tomlinson. Ahkello Witherspoon added a nice dash of veteran experience when the Rams signed him, but there probably isn’t a cornerback room in the NFL that’s younger than Los Angeles’.
As such, there’s a lot of room for movement. The Rams could keep as many as six or seven corners this year and Jordan Jones is making the case to be one of them. The undrafted rookie out of Rhode Island played well in his preseason debut against the Chargers on Saturday night, leading the team with five tackles and constantly finding himself around the ball.
He wasn’t perfect in coverage, allowing seven catches for 65 yards, but Jones was often close enough to the receiver to make the tackle shortly after the reception was made. That’s a good sign for a cornerback, even if he’s allowing receptions.
He showed off his play recognition on this screen pass, which he blew up for a loss of yardage.
Rookie-on-rookie crime:
Rams rookie Jordan Jones, undrafted out of Rhode Island, quickly diagnosis and blows up this screen to Chargers first-round pick Quentin Johnston. pic.twitter.com/vCeGGyxt1r
— Seven Rounds in Heaven (@7RoundsInHeaven) August 13, 2023
Jones’ play caught the attention of Raheem Morris, who noted his impressive play with the first unit on defense – a group that included other potential starters such as Russ Yeast, Quentin Lake, Michael Hoecht and Byron Young.
“Jordan had a chance to go out there with the first group the other night and really did a nice job,” Morris said. “He made some mistakes, he made some really good tackles, he ran around, he played fast, and I look forward to him making the next step in this next game as well.”
That quote stemmed from a question about the star position, which is where Jalen Ramsey played for the last few years. The star is the defender who lines up in the slot, but he can also play outside cornerback when needed, too.
Jones played there on Saturday and has lined up in the slot throughout the summer, adding some depth behind Durant. The same goes for Shaun Jolly, while Tanner Ingle and Yeast have also gotten opportunities in the slot.
For now, it sounds like Jones is behind Jolly on the depth chart, but if he continues to impress in the preseason, he could earn himself a spot on the 53-man roster as the sixth or seventh cornerback.
“Cobie’s been out going out with the ones most of the time. We’ve seen a lot of Shaun Jolly out there with the twos and sometimes mixed in with the ones based on rotations of the day, so to speak,” Morris said. “And then that provided days when you gave Cobie a rest or Jolly due to a small tweak or setback. And then you got guys like Jordan Jones in there. You’ve been able to see Tanner Ingle go in there, and you’ve seen a bunch of different guys bounce around, a little bit of Russ in walk-through. So when you watch those guys go out and you’re developing all these guys that play inside, you’re just increasing their knowledge base.”
No one had a higher tackle grade for the Rams on Saturday than Jones, which is where he really stood out. He’s a physical defender, which is exactly what you need to be in order to play the star position. Jones just needs to improve in coverage, which we’ll hopefully see this weekend against the Raiders.
But there’s no doubt he’s a player to watch as we approach the start of the season.
