It’s no secret that I was skeptical of the Los Angeles Rams trading for Trent McDuffie in the days before the move was reported. On this very site I penned a post titled “McDuffie is a slot merchant and doesn’t make sense for Rams”.
I came around to the move when the Rams continued their overhaul of the cornerback position and signed McDuffie’s former Kansas City Chiefs Teammate, Jaylen Watson, in free agency. The McDuffie trade was never going to be made in isolation. LA was hellbent on a significant makeover for this position group.
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The concerns I raised back in March are still relevant as we approach the regular season:
McDuffie isn’t best utilized outside
Through the first two seasons of his career, McDuffie played 1,114 of 2,018 snaps (55%) in the box or slot according to Pro Football Focus (PFF). It’s not a coincidence that these were probably his two best years in terms of production.
McDuffie started playing mainly outside in 2024. The results after the position change are nothing short of disappointing. Despite an injury shortened season with less than 700 snaps in 2025, he’s allowed 9 touchdowns and drew 16 penalties over the last two years. Opposing quarterbacks completed 99 of 157 (63%) of their passes for just over 1,000 yards and a passer rating in the low to mid 90’s.
It’s evident that McDuffie is best utilized in the slot. The Chiefs were better served to play him outside given their other options on the roster; however, it came at the detriment of individual performance for this specific player.
McDuffie doesn’t fit with Rams
We know the Rams don’t need a slot corner. They extended Quentin Lake during the regular season for the next three years.
Los Angeles has a glaring need on the outside as only Emmanuel Forbes and Josh Wallace are the only two corners under contract. Wallace also primarily plays in the slot and is Lake’s backup.
Over sixth months later we still don’t know exactly how McDuffie will be utilized in defensive coordinator Chris Shula’s defense. Head coach Sean McVay recently commented on the star corner’s deployment through organized team activities (OTA’s) which is the best kernel we’ve heard so far:
While McVay said some players will play just outside corner or just safety, they still have other players capable of playing safety, star, dime and money. McVay said “you’re seeing McDuffie all over,” a nod to his ability to play inside or outside.
“Guys are learning really all the spots on the back end, no different than really when (offensive line coach) Ryan Wendell cross trains our guys from the inside to outside,” McVay said earlier in OTAs. “You’re seeing Trent McDuffie all over. There are certain guys that’ll play just safety or just play outside corner, but then you got a lot of guys that can play safety, they can play the star position, they can play dime, money. But we’re teaching concepts and so that flexibility and that understanding of what are the core coverage contours that we want to play? What does that look like out of three-down, out of four-down front mechanics out of some of the known rush packages?
But the Rams truly only have two capable outside corners on the roster: Watson and McDuffie. If McDuffie shifts inside to play in the slot or the “star” position, someone will need to fill his spot on the outside.
For now the only option to man the perimeter is Emmanuel Forbes, who most fans would probably prefer to see on the sideline rather than being elevated to a quasi-starter. Forbes struggled mightily as a core piece of the corner back room in his second year with the team. He’s still a former first round pick whose best days could be ahead of him. Will a rising tide across the secondary lift Forbes to a career season?
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It’s a complicated question. McDuffie is a better player in the slot. The Rams need him outside as much as possible in order to keep Forbes off the field.
Does moving McDuffie inside often mitigate the effectiveness of the team’s trade for the corner, and what was the point of overhauling the cornerback room if the Rams are still going to play Forbes on the outside often?
Six months after the Trent McDuffie trade and there are still significant, looming questions surrounding this new-look secondary. Could McDuffie playing on the inside regularly prevent this defense from reaching their Super Bowl potential?
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