Two players the Los Angeles Rams will be asking a lot of in 2023 are Cobie Durant and Derion Kendrick. They’re both second-year cornerbacks who were role players and part-time starters last season, but with Jalen Ramsey, Troy Hill and David Long Jr. gone, they’re likely to be the top two cornerbacks.
If they don’t step up, the Rams are going to be in major trouble defensively. Fortunately, the early returns this offseason have been positive and both cornerbacks seem to be trending in the right direction.
During a meeting with defensive coaches, Sean McVay said he’s seen great things from Durant and Kendrick.
“I’ve seen tremendous strides from DK and from Cobie Durant, when you’re talking about the corner position,” McVay said, as seen on “Behind the Grind”.
McVay then asked Dont’e Deayon, a former Rams cornerback who’s now a coaching fellow, what he thought of the two young defenders.
“Outside is a dawg. Inside, I feel like you will have the little learning curve of, ‘Hey, you got to get to the D gap.’ It will be a great battle to see who is going to stand up on an island,” Deayon said.
McVay agreed, saying “I think that is great stuff.”
Durant didn’t play a ton as a rookie in 2022, but he still picked off three passes and led the NFL in interception return yards (151) despite only playing a third of the defensive snaps. Kendrick played 15 games and started six of them, and while he did go through some growing pains midway through the year, he was also thrust into action much sooner than expected because of injuries.
Now with a full offseason to work as the projected starters, Durant and Kendrick should be much more comfortable heading into the 2023 campaign.
