In three of the Rams’ last four games, Jalen Ramsey was tasked with covering the likes of DK Metcalf, Mike Evans and DeAndre Hopkins. He didn’t exclusively line up across from those three wideouts, but more often than not, Brandon Staley stuck Ramsey on them.
It worked to near-perfection with all three receivers being held under 60 yards, but Ramsey’s role will likely change on Thursday night against the Patriots. Not only are they a run-first offense, but New England also lacks a true No. 1 receiver, which the Seahawks, Bucs and Cardinals certainly do not.
Casual NFL fans probably won’t even recognize most of the wideouts on New England’s depth chart, especially with Julian Edelman sidelined by a knee injury. The group is led by N’Keal Harry, Damiere Byrd and Jakobi Meyers, but none of them are truly game-changers.
That should cause Staley to adjust his plan for Ramsey this week, likely sliding him back into that “star” role he’s referred to multiple times this year.
Essentially, the “star” role is another word for the slot defender. With Ramsey’s versatility, size and speed, he’s a perfect player for that spot – and we saw him play there earlier this season against teams such as the Giants, Washington and in the first game against the 49ers.
It opens the door for Ramsey to do a lot of different things on the field. He can match up in man coverage on the slot receiver, drop back into hook zones and blitz off the edge, all of which he’s capable of doing.
The biggest benefit of playing Ramsey in the star spot is that he remains close to the action, which Staley mentioned in Tuesday’s media session.
“He’s risen to the occasion against the premier players in this league and the way we’ve tried to utilize him is to be where the action is,” Staley said. “I think that him being able to move right to left, outside to inside, has given us a great deal of flexibility. You talked about solar systems, the thing about Jalen is there isn’t any responsibility on the field that he doesn’t have command over.”
Against the Giants, he was matched up against Golden Tate often, but he also blitzed a handful of times and made plays near the line of scrimmage. His best play of that game was on a swing pass to Tate where Ramsey blew up the lead blocker and made a huge hit on the wideout.
When he’s in the slot, Ramsey can also help more in run support. Take a look at this play where he blitzes off the edge and assists on a tackle with Greg Gaines, stuffing the running back behind the line of scrimmage.
That’s not something he can necessarily do when assigned to take away a No. 1 receiver.
Ramsey will certainly be needed in run support on Thursday night against the Patriots. No team in the NFL has run the ball more than New England, and only two teams have rushed for more yards than Bill Belichick’s squad. Cam Newton is a big reason for that, scoring more rushing touchdowns (11) than passing ones (5).
The more often Ramsey can be near the line of scrimmage, either blitzing or simply coming up in run support from the star position. As he’s shown time and time again, Ramsey is more than just a cornerback.
“It’s a position that kind of combines several different skillsets. You’re a little bit of a corner, you’re a little bit of a safety, a little bit of a linebacker – inside linebacker and outside linebacker because you’re kind of a rusher too,” Staley said back in October. “So, it’s a spot that you have to possess all those qualities of those four positions. You’ve got to be able to process because things happen quickly inside. So, you need a guy that can see and a guy that can think and operate quickly. So, those are things that he does well.”
Thinking quickly, reading a play and reacting suddenly are all things Ramsey does well. They’re also traits needed when facing an offense that utilizes a lot of play-action, read-options and even RPOs.
There should be no doubt about Ramsey’s role in this game against New England.
[vertical-gallery id=642072]