The Los Angeles Rams defense benefits greatly from having Jalen Ramsey in the secondary. He’s able to do a multitude of things on the back end, whether it’s shadowing the opponent’s No. 1 receiver, blitzing off the edge, helping in run support or dropping back into zone coverage and reading the quarterback’s eyes.
But his presence on defense also makes the Rams’ wide receivers better. Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, Van Jefferson and the rest of the wideouts have to go up against Ramsey every day in practice, whether it’s in 11-on-11 drills or one-on-one reps with the All-Pro cornerback lined up across from them.
Woods says his battles with Ramsey in training camp and practice are intense, which is the way both players prefer it. But because of that, it makes going up against other cornerbacks on Sundays much easier for Woods.
“It’s really cool because I get to see him at practice every single day,” Woods told CBS Sports in a recent interview. “Our training camps are very competitive, and I like that. He practices exactly how he plays. He goes hard, he doesn’t like any receivers catching passes on him, he talks trash. And me, I want to catch every single ball thrown my way. So it’s really, really intense at practice. Going at it with him makes us receivers always compete hard. It makes Sundays really easy because we’ve seen the best defensive back every day during practice.”
Woods said Darrelle Revis is the toughest defensive back he’s had to go up against in his career. Woods didn’t face Revis when he was in his prime from 2009-2011, but Revis was still a Pro Bowler in 2014 and 2015 with the Patriots and Jets when Woods was with the Bills.
And while “there’s no one like him right now in the NFL,” Woods says, Ramsey is the closest.
“The closest person to him would be Jalen Ramsey, and he brings a little bit different things to the table than Revis does. But both are elite, both are the best,” Woods said.
The Rams gave up two first-round picks and a fourth-rounder for Ramsey, but they’d make that trade again in a heartbeat after seeing the way he played in 2020 – and with how much better he makes the team’s wideouts in practice.