Rams Roster Preview: Trumaine Johnson

When the St. Louis Rams decided to bring in head coach Jeff Fisher, one of the first moves that he decided to make was to revamp the Rams secondary. To do this, Fisher brought in veteran Cortland Finnegan, then he drafted two rookies on the 2nd day of the  2012 NFL Draft: Janoris Jenkins and Trumaine Johnson.

This off-season the Rams decided to make another change and released Finnegan, but the two younger corners remained.

Midway through the 2013 season Johnson became a starter. The move made sense. Finnegan was performing poorly and Johnson is a big and physical corner fit for the outside. Johnson wasn't an elite corner last season, but he played solid and consistent throughout the season.

Expectations

Johnson should return unchallenged as a starting outside corner. He's a tough corner the Rams seem to have faith in, since they didn't draft anyone to compete against him. This season will be Johnson's first season as the "Day 1" starter, so it will be interesting to see how he handles it. New defensive coordinator Gregg Williams should bring a more physical style to the defense and this should benefit Johnson. Press coverage and being physical with opposing receivers will be a benefit for Johnson, who had to play off coverage a lot.

This should be the season Johnson proves that he's an above average corner. Johnson has flashed his ability, by playing solid against top receivers. Plus, it the best trait Johnson has in his favor is the fact that he doesn't gamble and try to bait quarterbacks in, which is something that the opposite starting corner Jenkins does often. In fact, I would say Johnson was the Rams best corner back last season and that I would be surprised if he didn't improve this year.

Will Johnson be on the roster in 2014?

Well, the Rams did bring in a lot of defensive backs this off-season. They even drafted two corners in the draft this year. Okay, who am I kidding, Johnson will make the squad and hopefully develops into a really good corner.