St. Louis Rams: 5 Darkhorse Candidates to Make the 53-Man Roster

Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Imoan Claiborne, CB

Prior to last week, it looked like there was going to be a pretty significant hill for Claiborne, one of the Rams’ top undrafted free agents, to climb in order to make the team. The team already had E.J. Gaines, Janoris Jenkins, and Trumaine Johnson in place as starting-quality corners, while 2014 undrafted free agent Marcus Roberson made a very strong impression in his rookie year, and it’s still too soon to give up on last year’s second-rounder, Lamarcus Joyner, even though he repeatedly struggled as a rookie.

That all changed last week, however, when it was announced that Gaines will miss the entire 2015 season with a lisfranc injury. That development pushed Johnson back into a full-time starting spot and opened up a nickelback competition between Joyner and Roberson. The domino effect from this injury, however, is that Claiborne, who played at Northwestern State and attended the Senior Bowl this January, has a real chance to make the team. The 5-foot-10, 190-pounder will now be competing with third-year player Brandon McGee (who still has not practiced due to an injury) for a fifth cornerback job that is likely to exist on the 53-man roster.

Claiborne made a great first impression on the game field last Friday, coming up with an interception to end the first half against Oakland. He’ll need to have more strong performances over the next three preseason games, while also keeping up the good work on the practice field. Claiborne certainly will also need to become more levelheaded over the next couple weeks, as a punch thrown at Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant this week during a joint practice wasn’t necessarily the best look for the undrafted rookie.

Next: Marshall McFadden, LB