Tag: Donte Deayon

Donte Deayon, Corey Liuget among Rams’ coaching fellows for 2023

Donte Deayon is 1 of 6 Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellows this year with the Rams, helping coach their cornerbacks

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The Los Angeles Rams announced six members of their Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellows program, two of whom played for the franchise in the past. Donte Deayon, who won Super Bowl LVI with the Rams two years ago, and Daren Bates are the two former members of the Rams organization who will take part in the fellowship program.

The other four coaching fellows are Corey Liuget, Chuckie Keeton, Vontrell King-Williams and Kyle Washington. The six members of the fellowship program began working with the team during the second week of OTAs and will continue through minicamp later this month.

From the Rams: 

The fellowship is named after the late Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach, who first introduced this concept to the NFL in 1987 when he brought a group of minority coaches to San Francisco 49ers’ training camp. The fellowship is designed as a vocational tool to increase the number of full-time NFL minority coaches in the league while exposing fellows to the methods and philosophies of an NFL coaching staff.

Deayon, Bates and Liuget are just beginning their coaching careers, with this fellowship program being a potential pathway to future jobs. Keeton is currently an offensive analyst at Marshall, King-Williams is a defensive analyst at Auburn and Washington coaching the quarterbacks at Northwestern State.

With the Rams, Deayon will assist with coaching the cornerbacks, Bates will work on special teams, Keeton will coach the running backs, Washington will help with the receivers and both King-Williams and Liuget will coach the defensive line.

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Ex-Giant Donte Deayon announces retirement from football

Former New York Giants defensive back and fan favorite, Donte Deayon, has announced his retirement from football.

Donte Deayon, the diminutive cornerback who overcame long odds to carve out a productive NFL career, is retiring from football at age 29.

Deayon made the announcement on Thursday via social media.

Deayon, listed at 5-foot-9 and 159 pounds, made the New York Giants roster as a long-shot undrafted free agent out of Boise State back in 2016 and played three seasons for Big Blue.

During his time with the Giants, Deayon played in eight games with 16 total tackles. He signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Rams in 2019 where appeared in 13 games over three seasons and earned a Super Bowl ring as part of the Rams’ team that defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI.

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Former Rams CB Donte Deayon retires from NFL

Donte Deayon, who played three seasons with the Rams, is retiring from the NFL at the age of 29

For the second time this week, a former member of the Los Angeles Rams is retiring from the NFL. Cornerback Donte Deayon, who spent three years with the Rams from 2019-2021, is retiring at the age of 29 after playing six years in the NFL.

Deayon was part of the Rams team that won the Super Bowl last February, playing two games that postseason. Including the playoffs, he played 16 total games in his Rams career, recording three pass breakups and 34 tackles.

Deayon originally joined the Rams practice squad in 2018 after he was cut by the Giants, who he spent the first three years of his career with. He made his Rams debut in the 2019 season.

Below is his retirement announcement, which is a letter he sent to Commissioner Roger Goodell.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CpS_8vsPviO/?hl=en

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Odell Beckham Jr. among ex-Giants to earn a Super Bowl LVI ring

Odell Beckham Jr. is among a handful of ex-New York Giants to earn a Super Bowl LVI ring as members of the Los Angeles Rams.

The Los Angeles Rams are Super Bowl LVI champions after defeating the Cincinnati Bengals, 23-20, at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.

The game saw Matthew Stafford & Co. overcome a multitude of injuries to complete a comeback victory, culminating with Cooper Kupp hauling in the game-winning touchdown over ex-New York Giants cornerback Eli Apple.

Speaking of ex-Giants, several will wake up on Monday morning as champions. Here’s a look at which former blue bleeders have a ring coming their way.

Analytics show how Rams CBs have fared in coverage this season

Jalen Ramsey has been dominant in coverage like usual, but how have the Rams’ other cornerbacks performed in coverage thus far?

When a quarterback takes the field against the Los Angeles Rams, there’s a good chance he’s surveying the defense to see where No. 99 and No. 5 are. Jalen Ramsey, who is sporting the No. 5 jersey this season, is someone that quarterbacks know not to target in the passing game, which is something that Trevor Lawrence got a preview of in Week 13.

Ramsey has not been targeted often this season, but when the All-Pro cornerback has passes thrown his way, teams aren’t having much success against him. Besides Ramsey, Darious Williams and David Long Jr. have seen the most snaps at cornerback for the Rams thus far, so how have they fared in the first 13 weeks?

The chart below uses completion percentage over expected and target rate to show how corners are performing in coverage, including Ramsey, Williams and Long Jr.

Ramsey is in the elite section where quarterbacks are completing 8% less of their passes over expected as Ramsey has been targeted on fewer than 15 percent of his coverage snaps. Once again, quarterbacks are wise enough to know that putting the ball in the vicinity of Ramsey usually ends in a disappointing outcome.

Meanwhile, with Ramsey not seeing much action through the air, Williams is being targeted more often on the other side of the field. Williams has been targeted on more than 15% of his coverage snaps, but he has limited quarterbacks to a completion percentage about 4% lower than what is anticipated.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Long has struggled mightily in coverage, even though he’s rarely been targeted. The Michigan product has been targeted on nearly 12 percent of his coverage snaps while having quarterbacks complete around one percent more of their passes over expected.

Long has seen only 22 more snaps than Dont’e Deayon, who has replaced Long as a starter on defense. So if this graph was to be made in a couple of weeks, we’d likely see Deayon’s coverage numbers instead of Long.

Ahead of Monday night’s anticipated rematch with the Arizona Cardinals, the Rams will need Ramsey, Williams, and Deayon to be at their best versus Arizona’s slew of talented wide receivers.

4 Rams players who deserve a bigger role in 2nd half of season

We are at the midway point in the season and these four players on the Rams deserve a bigger role in the remaining eight games.

We have reached the halfway point in the season as Week 10 is prepared to kick off in what is an 18-week season for the first time in NFL history. The Los Angeles Rams are positioned near the top of the NFC with a 7-2 record, good enough for second place in the NFC West behind the Arizona Cardinals.

At this point of the season, we have a decent grasp of who is going to play pivotal roles for the Rams. Matthew Stafford is going to be the lead man on offense, with Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, and Darrell Henderson dominating touches.

On the defensive side of the ball, Los Angeles will rely on Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey, Leonard Floyd, Von Miller (when he makes his debut), and Darious Williams, among others. There are also guys like Ernest Jones and Greg Gaines that have been thrust into heightened roles due to injuries or roster decisions.

Even though Los Angeles won’t want to alter too much of what it has going on, there are still some changes that could be in the works. With eight more games on the schedule, here are four players on the Rams that deserve to see a bigger role in the back half of the season.

Watch: Dont’e Deayon mic’d up is the best Rams video of the year

If you don’t already love Rams CB Dont’e Deayon, you will after watching this mic’d-up video.

Dont’e Deayon’s ascent from practice squad player to starting cornerback has been fun to watch this season, and not just because it’s worked out so well for the Rams the last three weeks. Deayon is simply a joy to watch – and listen to.

The 5-foot-9 cornerback has the biggest personality on the team and despite not being an established veteran, he’s not afraid to talk trash, celebrate after a big play and get his teammates jacked up before the snap.

Deayon showed all of that on Sunday against the Texans when he was mic’d up. It’s absolutely the best mic’d-up video the Rams have done this year, even better than Matthew Stafford’s when he faced the Lions. Right off the bat, Deayon talked to an official about watching bigger receivers pushing off and grabbing him.

“How you doing, ref? Today, you see I’m a smaller body, right?” he said. “Gotta watch the push-off and the grabbing. You know what I’m saying? You gotta watch them. They’ve got a bigger receiver, so, all right? But I’m gonna be aggressive – not handsy – just aggressive. So you gotta watch. Appreciate you.”

The video sure doesn’t disappoint because Deayon is an absolute character – and a really good cornerback, too.

Rams sign Dont’e Deayon to active roster, place Jake Funk and Johnny Mundt on IR

The Rams made a handful of roster moves Tuesday, promoting Dont’e Deayon and Buddy Howell to the 53-man roster.

With Johnny Mundt and Jake Funk suffering season-ending injuries against the Giants on Sunday, the Los Angeles Rams wasted no time placing them on injured reserve. The team moved both players to IR Tuesday, opening up two spots on the 53-man roster.

Rather than signing an outside free agent to fill those positions, the Rams promoted from within. They signed Dont’e Deayon and Buddy Howell to the active roster, bringing them up from the practice squad.

Deayon was temporarily elevated from the practice squad for Week 6 but this is a more permanent opportunity for him, at least until Darious Williams returns from IR. Howell had been elevated from the practice squad in Weeks 3 and 4 but hasn’t yet played an offensive snap.

Against the Giants, Deayon played 88% of the defensive snaps, a career-high for the young cornerback. He played well alongside Robert Rochell and Jalen Ramsey, too, allowing six catches on 12 targets for a total of 37 yards. He also made two stops and four total tackles, flying to the ball on defense.

Howell will help replace Funk as the No. 3 running back, though as long as Darrell Henderson Jr. and Sony Michel are healthy, he isn’t likely to get many opportunities on offense.

Notably, the Rams didn’t promote Kendall Blanton to the active roster as a replacement for Mundt, indicating Jacob Harris and Brycen Hopkins will get the first crack at that role.

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Dont’e Deayon impresses Sean McVay with standout performance vs. Giants

Dont’e Deayon got his first reps of the season on Sunday and impressed Sean McVay with the way he played against the Giants.

The secondary of the Los Angeles Rams has undergone some alterations this season, especially with Darious Williams on injured reserve. With more opportunities to go around, Dont’e Deayon made his season debut for the Rams in Week 6 versus the New York Giants.

Following Sunday’s rout of the Giants on the road, Sean McVay had glowing remarks about Deayon’s outing in Week 6.

“Double D is a really smart, instinctual player, great competitor,” McVay said. “He did a great job being able to play outside. He played some inside, played over 50 snaps for us and was a heavy contributor in a big way. I thought he did a great job. Definitely wasn’t too big for him, came up and made some tackles as an enforcer in some of the run fits. He did a really good job. I was really pleased with him.”

Besides the injury to Williams, David Long Jr. was struggling at cornerback for the Rams. As a result, Long has seen fewer than 30% of the defensive snaps in the past two weeks.

On Sunday, it was Robert Rochell and Deayon who saw the most time alongside Jalen Ramsey at the cornerback position. With Ramsey being moved around constantly in the defense, Deayon did see some playing time on the outside.

Despite him being an undersized defensive back at only 5-foot-9, Deayon wasn’t afraid to get involved in making tackles, combining for four tackles on Sunday. Deayon saw a career-high 88% of the snaps on defense for the Rams and seized the opportunity he was given.

Given the success the secondary of the Rams had in Week 6 against the Giants, I’d expect Deayon to continue seeing an increased role until Williams is able to return to the secondary.

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4 Rams players to watch vs. Chargers in preseason Week 1

Here are 4 players to pay attention to in the Los Angeles Rams’ Week 1 preseason contest against the Los Angeles Chargers.

While it’s in the form of preseason football, we finally have the opportunity for NFL games grace to the screens of our televisions again. The offseason can sometimes be a time for you to pick up a new hobby or sport to watch, but it’s time to insert football back into our lives. For the Los Angeles Rams, they will kick off their preseason schedule against their neighbors in the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday, August 14.

Anyone that considers themselves a fan of the Rams knows that Sean McVay tends to stray away from having starters play many — if any — snaps in the preseason. McVay has already been quoted as saying that Matthew Stafford won’t ever play in the preseason as long as he’s the head coach in Los Angeles. Even though we won’t get many opportunities to see the starters play, there are a few players to keep an eye on for the Rams in their first preseason matchup versus the Chargers.