St. Louis Rams Closing Evaluations: What Grades Do the Cornerbacks Receive?

Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Lamarcus Joyner: The Rams expected to add a athletic and intense element to their defense at the nickelback position when they traded up to draft Lamarcus Joyner in the second round of this year’s draft. Instead, the severely undersized defensive back was outplayed by two of his fellow rookie corners, E.J. Gaines and Marcus Roberson, and he was a healthy scratch for three straight weeks near the end of the season.

Joyner had some bright moments; he had 40 tackles, one sack, and was credited with defending two passes. However, he had too many noticeable breakdowns in coverage. Pro Football Focus gave Joyner a team-worst -3.9 grade in coverage. While we’ve seen with other players—namely Arizona’s Tyrann Mathieu—that size is not a requisite for success in the defensive backfield, it seemed that Joyner’s lack of size really hurt him at times when he was attempting to bring down bigger offensive players in 2014.

Joyner inevitably is going to be given the benefit of the doubt for a while due to his status as the 41st pick in this past year’s draft. If he wants to be a successful pro, though, he’s going to have to make adjustments to his game so he can move his way back up the depth chart.

GRADE: D

Next: Marcus Roberson