Rams Defense Gets Better With Acquisition Of Jalen Ramsey

There was a blockbuster trade in the National Football League on Tuesday as the Jacksonville Jaguars traded cornerback Jalen Ramsey of Nashville, Tennessee for three draft picks. Going the Jaguars way is the first-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, the first-round draft pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and the fourth-round draft pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

One might think that giving up three draft picks, including two first-round draft picks for a single player, is simply too much. However, a major reason why the Rams have lost three games in a row has been their defense. After giving up a total of 49 points in their first three games (all wins), the Rams have given up 105 points in their last three games. 

The most significant loss came on September 29, when the Rams gave up 55 points to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In that game, Jameis Winston had a marvelous outing as he had 385 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. 

It will now be interesting to see how many passing yards against the Rams secondary will now give up with Ramsey as their leader. After six weeks of the 2019 NFL regular season, the Rams have given up 241.3 yards per game. That puts them in the middle of the pack at 14th in the NFL. By giving three draft picks, Rams management will be hoping that the Rams secondary now will give up somewhere in the territory of 200 to 210 yards per game for the rest of the season. 

Time will tell if the 3-3 Rams will be able to catch up to the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks, who have had great starts to the season in the NFC West. The 49ers are at 5-0 and the Seahawks are at 5-1. But the addition of the 24- year-old Ramsey, who has nine career interceptions and 210 tackles with the Jaguars in four seasons, should help the Rams D in the short term and long term.