The Los Angeles Rams are reuniting with John Johnson, agreeing to a one-year deal with the veteran safety. Johnson’s return alters the outlook of the secondary and it will undoubtedly affect how the depth chart shakes out ahead of Week 1.
Prior to a two-year stint with the Cleveland Browns in 2021 and 2022, Johnson was with the Rams from 2017 to 2020. Johnson quickly became a starter when he joined the Rams in 2017 and became a defensive captain rather quickly, producing 32 pass breakups and eight interceptions in his four years in Los Angeles.
Before Johnson reunited with the Rams, the starting safeties for the 2023 campaign were expected to be Jordan Fuller and either Quentin Lake or Russ Yeast. Fuller was listed as the starting strong safety, while Yeast and Fuller were battling to be the starting free safety.
Considering his previous experience with the Rams, and the fact he’s still a productive safety at only 27 years old, Johnson figures to slide in as the starting free safety this season. That means that guys like Yeast, Lake, and Jason Taylor II will be relegated to reserve or special teams roles to begin the upcoming season.
At the moment, the Rams may not have confidence in either Yeast or Lake making the leap to full-time starter yet. While Johnson’s presence will almost certainly prevent him from starting, Lake has been moving around the defense throughout training camp, even playing dime linebacker in practice.
Besides Yeast and Lake seeing their chances of starting decline, the odds of undrafted rookies Quindell Johnson and Tanner Ingle making the roster have also taken a hit. The same goes for Richard LeCounte III. The five safeties that are expected to remain on the roster are now Johnson, Fuller, Yeast, Lake, and Taylor.
It’s highly improbable that the Rams consider keeping six or more safeties on the 53-man roster, which means that Johnson, Ingle and LeCounte’s best chance to remain in Los Angeles is via the practice squad. Along with bringing experience and production to the secondary, Johnson’s return to the Rams will make it interesting when the team needs to decide their depth chart at the safety position.
