Tag: Kamren Kinchens

Rams rookie Kamren Kinchens is putting in the work and it’s paying off

Rams DC Chris Shula shared a cool nugget about Kamren Kinchens’ impressive work ethic

All eyes have been on Jared Verse and Braden Fiske as the premier players from the Rams’ 2024 draft class, but it’s third-round safety Kamren Kinchens who’s won two rookie awards in the last three weeks.

Kinchens, the two-time NFC Defensive Player of the Week, has taken his game to another level in the last month. It’s not just by chance, either. He’s been putting in the work and it’s paying off for the young safety.

Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula shared a cool tidbit Thursday about Kinchens’ dedication to improving, telling reporters that the safety has come in early and stayed late for the last month or so, spending extra time with assistant head coach Aubrey Pleasant and safeties coach Chris Beake.

“The coolest thing about that is for the last four or five weeks, he’s been coming in and meeting with ‘Aub’ and Beake extra. Almost every single night, every single morning, he’s in there,” Shula said. “You just see that progression and how he’s becoming more and more comfortable and you can see him communicating more comfortably.”

The Rams have dealt with injuries at safety this season, as they have at most positions. John Johnson III is on injured reserve and Kam Curl dealt with a knee injury that caused his snaps to be limited from Week 8-10.

Kinchens’ continued progression has made a big difference for the Rams, with the rookie pulling in three interceptions, forcing a fumble and recording a tackle for a loss in the last three weeks.

“Kam Curl ended up missing some practice with the knee injury, so he ended up getting a bunch of practice reps,” Shula said of Kinchens. “It was after the Vikings game when Kam went down with the knee and he ended up getting a bunch of practice reps. You just saw the growth throughout practice, and then he ends up going into the Seattle game and making plays and gaining confidence. So I think it’s just the confidence, the hard work that he’s put in and he’s seeing that hard work pay off and that just continues to elevate his performance.”

As any rookie does, Kinchens has gone through some first-year growing pains. He struggled a bit earlier in the season but he’s continued to improve, take better angles and put himself in position to make plays.

For a guy who had 11 interceptions in college, he’s certainly living up to his reputation as a ball hawk in the NFL with three picks in the last three games alone.

Kamren Kinchens wins NFC Defensive Player of the Week for 2nd time in 3 games

Kamren Kinchens has been named the NFC’s best defender of the week once again, the 2nd time in his last 3 games

Kamren Kinchens’ terrific rookie season continued with another standout performance against the New England Patriots on Sunday. And for the second time in three weeks, he’s been named the NFC’s top defender.

The league announced on Wednesday that Kinchens has been named NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his play in the Los Angeles Rams’ win over the Patriots. Kinchens helped seal the victory with his third interception of the season, picking off Drake Maye on the Patriots’ final drive of the afternoon when the Rams were leading 28-22.

Additionally, Kinchens had eight total tackles, one forced fumble and a tackle for a loss.

Kinchens is the first rookie in the NFL since 2019 to win Defensive Player of the Week twice in the same season, and he did it in a three-week span. The last rookie to do it was Nick Bosa five years ago.

According to Rams reporter Stu Jackson, Kinchens is also the first rookie since Brian Cushing to win the award twice in a three-game span when he accomplished it in 2009 with the Texans.

The rookie safety has been a standout for the Rams this season, making an immediate impact as a third-rounder out of Miami.

Rams rookie Kamren Kinchens has the makings of a future star in the NFL

Kamren Kinchens is getting comfortable in the Rams’ secondary and he’s showing why he could be a future star in the NFL

It was a surprise to see Kamren Kinchens’ name still on the board at No. 99 overall in the third round of the 2024 draft. He was a ball hawk at Miami, picking off 11 passes in the last two seasons alone, returning two of them for touchdowns.

He also laid the hammer quite a few times in college, proving to be a big hitter in the secondary when he sized up ball carriers. So why did he fall so far in the draft? Most likely because of his 4.65 time in the 40-yard dash, but with the Rams being a team that doesn’t prioritize testing numbers, they snatched him up.

That decision is already paying dividends because Kinchens is shining in the Rams’ secondary. He has three interceptions, one of which being a 103-yard pick-six, making 26 total tackles and forcing one fumble.

He was voted NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his two-interception game in Week 9 and on Sunday, he jumped off the screen again with his third interception. Pro Football Focus selected Kinchens to its Week 11 Team of the Week and also named him both Rookie of the Week and and Defensive Player of the Week.

The third-round draft pick out of Miami had his best game in the NFL to date, earning a 92.6 PFF grade to lead all defensive players in the NFL in Week 11. Along with an interception, he also finished the game with a forced fumble and two defensive stops.

His 92.6 grade was the highest of any defensive player in the league and also set a career-high for him through 10 games, making a huge impact on defense in the Rams’ win over the Patriots.

Sean McVay loves the aggression and ball skills Kinchens has shown up to this point and believes he’s only going to get better as he gains confidence.

“You could say, ‘What’s this guy about? What does the tape tell me what this guy is about?’ He’s competitive,” McVay said. “He’s tough. I thought he played pretty – it felt like he was sometimes playing at a different speed than everyone else yesterday. You could see he doesn’t flinch at the point of contact. I thought he made some great open-field tackles. He’s continuing to get an understanding. He’s got great range and great athleticism, but he’s continuing to get an understanding of, where do I fit within these coverage contours? Where are people trying to attack me? It’s another game where he ends up making a game-changing play to be able to close it out. I appreciate his awareness as a young guy to go down and just let us knee it out. I know [Christian] Rozeboom was yelling at him, but he’s a stud. I thought he really made his presence felt throughout the course of the game and the confidence is continuing to grow as he’s getting reps.”

Kinchens isn’t technically a starter and has only played 33% of the defensive snaps this season, but he’s having the impact of a playmaker every time he steps on the field. There have been some expected growing pains, whether it’s penalties, falling out of position in coverage or missing tackles, but Kinchens has been outstanding in two of his last three games.

As a third-round pick, he has a chance to be a future star in this league and every team that passed on him because of his 40 time is likely to regret it.

“He’s getting more and more confident,” McVay added. “He’s getting a bunch of reps in practice. A lot of that practice, performance and preparation is starting to equal game reality for these young cats. It’s cool to see.”

Rams Week 10 snap counts: LA makes changes at TE, LB and safety

The Rams made changes at tight end, linebacker and safety, turning two three young starters against the Dolphins

The changes just keep coming for the Los Angeles Rams. In addition to having three new starters along the offensive line on Monday night against the Miami Dolphins, they had three new starters elsewhere, too.

The snap counts show that Davis Allen is the new starting tight end over Colby Parkinson, Omar Speights leapfrogged Christian Rozeboom as the primary inside linebacker and Kamren Kinchens played more than veteran Kam Curl at safety.

These may not be permanent changes, and it’s possible that Curl is simply still nursing a knee injury that’s limited him in the last two weeks, but the switch from Parkinson to Allen seems like something that’s going to stick for a while.

Below are the full snap counts on offense and defense, with breakdowns of each position group.

Offense

Starting with the offensive line, Steve Avila, Jonah Jackson and Joe Noteboom all played every snap in their returns from injured reserve. Alaric Jackson and Kevin Dotson played every snap, too.

At tight end is where the most notable change occurred. Allen played 56 of a possible 70 snaps, leading the position group by a wide margin. Parkinson was second with 11 snaps played, barely more than the nine that Hunter Long got. Parkinson’s role has been decreasing for weeks and it seems he’s now officially a backup.

Kyren Williams continues to dominate the snap share at running back, playing 65 of the 70 snaps. Blake Corum came in for five snaps on one drive, touching the ball three times for a total of 15 yards.

At wide receiver, Cooper Kupp played all but seven snaps. Demarcus Robinson actually played more than Puka Nacua barely out-snapping him 58 to 55. That’s not anything to be concerned about with Nacua, though. Tutu Atwell was the No. 4 receiver with a 19% snap share, followed by Tyler Johnson (14%) and Jordan Whittington (7%). This was Whittington’s first game since Week 7.

Defense

Both Speights and Rozeboom played significant snaps, but for the first time all year, Speights led the linebacker group in playing time. He was on the field for 74% of the snaps compared to 62% for Rozeboom, and it was Speights announced as a starter, not Rozeboom.

At safety, Kinchens and Curl were both technically starters alongside Quentin Lake, but Kinchens played six more snaps than Curl. It’s unclear if that’s because of Curl’s lingering knee injury but it is something to monitor moving forward. Jaylen McCollough played 13 snaps as the fourth safety.

Cobie Durant and Darious Williams are the clear-cut top cornerbacks for the Rams, playing every snap in the loss. Ahkello Witherspoon’s role remains limited as the third cornerback, as the Rams prefer to deploy their safeties in nickel and dime packages instead of an extra corner.

Jared Verse and Byron Young remained the top edge rushers for the Rams with 45 and 43 snaps, respectively. Michael Hoecht’s role isn’t going anywhere, as he played 66% of the snaps, and Brennan Jackson rotated in for three plays.

Along the defensive line, Kobie Turner once again led in snaps played with a 79% share. Surprisingly, Bobby Brown III played more snaps (33) than Braden Fiske (28) did in the loss. Tyler Davis played 17 snaps and Jonah Williams played eight snaps of his own.

Rams rookie Kamren Kinchens named NFC Defensive Player of the Week after 103-yard pick-six

Rams rookie Kamren Kinchens was named the top defender in the NFC for Week 9 after his historic 103-yard pick-six

Kamren Kinchens had himself quite the day on Sunday and he’s earned national recognition for his performance against the Seattle Seahawks. The Los Angeles Rams rookie picked off two passes in the team’s overtime win in Week 9, including a 103-yard pick-six to give the Rams a 20-13 lead in the fourth quarter.

On Wednesday, Kinchens was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week for Week 9, a high honor for the rookie safety out of Miami. Both of his interceptions came in the red zone, not only keeping points off the board for the Seahawks, but putting points up for his own team by returning it for a touchdown.

His 103-yard return was the longest pick-six in Rams history and is also the fourth-longest ever in the NFL. Among rookies, it’s the longest return in the Super Bowl era, which dates back to 1967.

Kinchens has had an up-and-down rookie year thus far, going through some growing pains as a first-year player, but Sunday’s game was unquestionably his best yet in the NFL.

Kinchens is the second Rams player to win Defensive Player of the Week this season, joining Cobie Durant, who won it in Week 7.

Kamren Kinchens with 103-yard pick-six for Rams against Seahawks

Kamren Kinchens with a team record interception return for a Rams touchdown

The Los Angeles Rams gave up a couple of touchdowns late in the first half against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

Instead of folding, the Rams revved up after the break. They scored 17 straight points bridging the third and fourth quarters to take a 20-13 lead.

The touchdown in the fourth quarter was of the spectacular variety, as in a team record.

Karem Kinchens, who had 11 interceptions over his last two seasons in college at Miami, picked Geno Smith and returned the interceptions 103 yards.

The return was tied for the fourth-longest in league history.

Rams snap counts: LA benches two DBs, Blake Corum rises to RB2

Breaking down the Rams’ snap counts from Sunday’s loss to the Packers, which shows a big shakeup on defense

After starting 1-3 and struggling badly against the pass on defense, the Los Angeles Rams thought it was a good time to shake up the secondary. They made several changes to the defensive backfield on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers, including the decision to bench Tre’Davious White by making him a healthy scratch for the first time in his career.

Offensively, the Rams mostly kept the status quo. However, Blake Corum did take over as the No. 2 running back behind Kyren Williams. He replaced Ronnie Rivers in that role, playing a season-high 11 snaps in the 24-19 loss.

We broke down the snap counts below, starting with the offense.

Offense

After playing the third-most snaps of the Rams’ receivers last week, Demarcus Robinson played most of the game on Sunday, only missing two snaps. Jordan Whittington was a close second with a 92% snap share, and that was with missing the end of the game due to a shoulder injury. Tutu Atwell was WR3 again, with Tyler Johnson (11 snaps) and Xavier Smith (8 snaps) operating as the reserves.

At running back, Kyren Williams played 86% of the snaps, which is about his average for the year. Corum, not Ronnie Rivers, was his backup, with the rookie playing a season-high 11 snaps. He touched the ball six times on those 11 plays, rushing for 25 yards on five carries and catching an 8-yard screen pass.

Colby Parkinson remains the No. 1 tight end, playing 79% of the snaps. Hunter Long played 22% and Davis Allen played 4%, so the Rams did mix in some 12 personnel again on Sunday.

All five starting linemen played the entire game again, which is a good sign for their continuity.

Defense

The defense is where the biggest changes were made by the coaching staff, specifically in the secondary. White was benched after four games of being a starter, sitting this game out as a healthy scratch. In his place, the Rams gave Ahkello Witherspoon a prominent role (81%) and Darious Williams played 49% of the snaps in his season debut. Cobie Durant was a major factor in this game, playing all but three snaps.

Josh Wallace was also given a big opportunity as an undrafted rookie, playing 31 snaps, mostly as the nickel corner in the “star” role. That allowed Quentin Lake to be a more traditional safety, once again playing every snap on defense alongside Kamren Curl.

You’ll notice Kamren Kinchens’ name is missing from the list above and that’s because he was the other defensive back benched by Chris Shula. The rookie had been struggling in place of John Johnson III, so the Rams took him out of the lineup and gave him zero defensive snaps. That opened the door for Jaylen McCollough to play more, getting on the field for 15 snaps, coming up with a key pick-six on one of those plays.

At inside linebacker, it was still Troy Reeder and Christian Rozeboom manning the middle, but Reeder played just 86% of the snaps despite being the signal caller with the green dot. Rozeboom played 71% of the game as the No. 2 linebacker.

Byron Young continues to be the top option at edge rusher, playing 80% of the snaps. Jared Verse and Michael Hoecht were almost an even split, with Verse playing 69% and Hoecht plating 64%. They were the only three edge rushers again.

Kobie Turner played 81% of the snaps as the top defensive lineman, with Braden Fiske being the next-closest player at 51%. Bobby Brown, Neville Gallimore and Tyler Davis continue to rotate along the front, with Jonah Williams playing one snap in his debut with the team.

6 plays that cost the Rams in their overtime loss to the Lions

The Rams missed opportunities on these 6 plays against the Lions on Sunday night

The opportunities were there for the Los Angeles Rams in Sunday night’s loss to the Detroit Lions, but they were unable to capitalize. Every game has missed opportunities for both teams but the Rams will be kicking themselves about six specific plays in their overtime loss.

If they execute properly on these plays, they likely beat the Lions and start the season 1-0. From a failed fourth-down conversion to a costly penalty by a rookie defender, these six plays cost the Rams the most against the Lions at Ford Field.

Failed fourth-and-4 from Lions’ 23

It’s hard to blame Sean McVay for going for it in this situation. The score was 3-3 and the Lions aren’t a team you necessarily beat with field goals, so McVay wanted to stay aggressive and go for six instead of settling for three points. It was still early in the game, with about 6 minutes left in the second quarter, so they had plenty of time to make up for it.

It’s just unfortunate that the ball went through Cooper Kupp’s hands while trying to make a catch against tight coverage. Had he picked up the first, the Rams could’ve gone up 10-3 instead of allowing the Lions to lead 10-3 on the ensuing drive.

Matthew Stafford’s interception in end zone

This play was even costlier than the failed fourth-down conversion. The Rams had nothing going on offense in the first half but they put together a nice drive before halftime. On second-and-goal from the 8, Stafford floated a pass to Tyler Johnson in the end zone and it was picked off by Kerby Joseph, taking at least three points off the board for the Rams.

If that pass falls incomplete, at worst the Rams run one more play and settle for the field goal to make it 10-6. Better yet, they might’ve scored on third down to tie the game. An interception was the worst possible outcome.

Jameson Williams’ 52-yard touchdown catch

Tre’Davious White had a decent game but this rep was not one he wants to watch again. He got burned by a double-move, grabbed Williams and still let him run wide open down the left sideline for a 52-yard touchdown despite White being flagged for illegal contact.

It came on third-and-3 from the Lions’ own 48-yard line, too, so it’s not as if they were in field goal range. If White stays with Williams and forces an incompletion, the Lions either punt or go for it on fourth down instead of going up 17-3 early in the third quarter.

A.J. Arcuri’s holding penalty on Jordan Whittington’s touchdown

It’s always painful when penalties take points off the board. Arcuri’s holding penalty on the goal line when the Rams ran a perfect jet sweep to Whittington on second-and-1 was a backbreaker. It negated the touchdown and put the Rams in second-and-11, which forced them to take the field goal instead of a touchdown – a four-point swing. Whittington’s touchdown would’ve tied the game at 17 and given the Rams even more momentum.

Warren McClendon Jr.’s false start in fourth quarter

Leading 20-17, the Rams got the ball back with a chance to really put the game away late in the fourth quarter. From their own 20-yard line, they had second-and-12 with 2:31 left to play. There’s no guarantee they would’ve converted on the next two plays, but McClendon was called for a false start to make it second-and-17.

A 7-yard run by Kyren Williams set up third-and-10, but the bad news is Williams went out of bounds instead of staying in and forcing the Lions to use their timeout. Stafford’s third-and-10 pass was incomplete so the Lions got the ball back with two timeouts and 2:11 to play, eventually kicking a game-tying field goal.

Kamren Kinchens’ personal foul

On the Lions’ final drive of regulation, they got a huge assist from the rookie Kinchens. Sam LaPorta caught an 18-yard pass over the middle and Kinchens landed a helmet-to-helmet hit on the tight end, leading to a 15-yard penalty. So the Lions went from their own 36 to the Rams’ 31 in one play, already putting them in field goal range while trailing by just three points.

It was one of just five snaps played by Kinchens, but it was a very costly one.

How does John Johnson’s return impact the Rams secondary?

John Johnson III is back with the Rams, which complicates the depth chart in LA’s secondary

The Los Angeles Rams appeared to be done adding pieces to their secondary after drafting Kamren Kinchens and signing Kamren Curl, but Les Snead and Sean McVay made another notable move on defense this week. The Rams and John Johnson III agreed to terms on a new deal, bringing back the veteran safety for the second straight year.

Johnson didn’t earn a starting role until the second half of last season but the Rams clearly liked the way he played enough to add him to the mix again at safety. His return does complicate things in a secondary that already had several questions to answer.

The only certainties right now are that Curl and Darious Williams will be starters at safety and corner, respectively. Tre’Davious White is likely to be another starting cornerback, but that’s contingent on his health as he recovers from a torn Achilles. It remains to be seen who will cover the slot in the “star” role, a position Quentin Lake played last season, because Russ Yeast and Derion Kendrick are both getting reps there.

Could Lake be moving back to a more traditional safety role next to Curl? And if so, where does that leave Kinchens on the depth chart? And now that Johnson is back, does Kinchens have any chance to start as a rookie?

Last season, Johnson played most of his snaps as a deep safety. Assuming the Rams want to play him there again, he would be a natural fit to start next to Curl, who has been more of a box and slot defender in his career. The Rams have never really deployed a true free and strong safety under McVay, seeking safeties who can play either spot, so they might see Curl and Johnson as interchangeable.

Details of Johnson’s contract haven’t been released yet so we don’t know if the Rams are paying him starter money or the veteran minimum again like last year. That won’t determine his role, but it could be an indication of the team’s plan for him.

The biggest questions on defense following this signing are with Lake and Kinchens. The return of Johnson could mean the Rams want to keep Lake as the “star” and allow Johnson to compete with Yeast and Kinchens next to Curl. It’s hard to imagine Lake falling out of favor so much after a strong 2023 season that the Rams felt the need to replace him by signing Johnson.

No matter how things shake out, the Rams now have more depth and leadership in the secondary than they did a week ago. Johnson was fine with a backup role initially last season before working his way into a starting spot, so he’s a team player through and through.

This is a smart move by Snead and McVay, one that will guard against youth and inexperience creating weaknesses at safety.

New draft video reveals Rams landed 4 of the top 50 players on their 2024 big board

A new behind-the-scenes video from the Rams’ war room revealed that they landed 4 of the top 50 players on their big board

Every team goes into the NFL draft with a different arrangement of prospects on the big board. One team might have a player ranked 30th, whereas another has him further down the board at No. 60.

We’ll never find out exactly how the Los Angeles Rams laid out their big board for the 2024 draft but a new behind-the-scenes video from the war room does tell us something very interesting. During the latest episode of “Behind The Grind,” director of scouting strategy James Gladstone told Les Snead and Sean McVay that the Rams landed four of the top 50 players on their board by drafting Jared Verse, Braden Fiske, Blake Corum and Kamren Kinchens in the first three rounds.

“Verse, Kinchens, Fiske and then we got Corum, you’d be walking away with four players in the top 50 of our overall (inaudible),” Gladstone said.

Snead was understandably thrilled about the Rams’ first four picks in the draft, coming away with four players the team feels can have an immediate impact in 2024.

“This is going to be good, though. I’m actually jacked,” Snead said.

McVay felt the same way when the Rams were set to pick Kinchens at No. 99 overall.

“If you told me that at 99, we’d be able to pull off the (expletive) safety, I’d say no (expletive) way,” McVay said.

Verse and Fiske were obviously in their top 50, going 19th and 39th overall, respectively. The Rams moved up from No. 52 to 39 in order to select Fiske because they feared he wouldn’t be there at their original slot.

Corum was drafted 83rd overall and the Rams got Kinchens at No. 99, so based on their board, which had both in the top 50, those were certified steals. No wonder the front office and coaching staff are elated about the 2024 class they came away with.