Rams’ signing of Jaylen Watson is flying under the radar

Jaylen Watson (35) at Rams

The Los Angeles Rams‘ offseason signing of cornerback Jaylen Watson has recently been lost in the shuffle. It’s probably fair because the trade acquisitions of Trent McDuffie and Myles Garrett figure to be monumental for the team. On draft day the selection of Ty Simpson earned more headlines than nearly any other move by the Rams. Now Aaron Donald‘s potential return is also garnering a lot of eyeballs.

But Watson was one of the best additions the team made all season. That was true in March and it is ever true today.

If we compare LA’s new cornerback to the players who started games a year ago, Watson is head and shoulders better than Cobie Durant, Emmanuel Forbes, and late-career Darious Williams.

The Rams effectively took a championship-winning corner duo from the Kansas City Chiefs and asked them to help their new team return to the pinnacle of the profession.

While the actual and potential additions of McDuffie, Garrett, Simpson, and Donald are intriguing, perhaps one of the strongest moves of the entire offseason was adding Watson.

What does the veteran corner bring to Los Angeles? Let’s take a look.

There were 67 cornerbacks that played at least 615 snaps (including playoffs) in 2025. Of those, Watson ranked as follows in important c

ategories from Pro Football Focus (PFF) grading:

• Defensive grade: 11th

• Coverage grade: 24th

• Run defense grade: 5th

• Tackling grade: 5th

• Pass rushing grade: 9th

• QB passer rating when targeted: 69.0

QB passer rating when targeted: 69.0

These are certainly impressive rankings, especially when you consider teams are often playing with two to three corners on the field at a time.

While we can debate how important run defense is for cornerbacks, Watson brings a physicality to the secondary that the Rams have been missing since they traded away Jalen Ramsey. LA will need this skillset against division foes like the 49ers who often find ways to get to the edge of the defense.

And Watson’s physical nature of play will help in more ways than just in the run game. For as good of a player as McDuffie is, he’s still fairly undersized. The Rams will likely ask Watson to take on opposing offenses’ bigger targets and give them all they can handle. It’s something he performed well at in Kansas City.

The Rams also struggle with missed tackles on defense, especially within their young core. Swapping Jared Verse for Garrett will improve this cause, as will adding sure-handed defenders like McDuffie and Watson. They each missed just four tackles for the Chiefs in 2025.

It’s fair to say that Watson is not yet on the level of a superstar corner; however, he’s cemented his status as an upper-tier starter. While he may not be McDuffie or Garrett, we really should be talking more about the impact of Jaylen Watson joining this defense.