‘I like the connection of the group that you can feel’: Sean McVay pleased with what he’s seen early in OTAs from Rams’ secondary

WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – There was only so much to be gained with no live contact and a seven-on-seven setting in last Thursday’s Rams Organized Team Activity (OTA).

However, it still offered the chance to evaluate the secondary, and how it was moving and operating on a foundational and conceptual level. And from what head coach Sean McVay has seen, he likes the versatile options at its disposal.

“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 after last Thursday’s OTA. “You’re seeing (cornerback) 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 I’ve really been pleased with the trajectory of the teaching progression and then the guys’ ability to be able to give the feedback, show it in some of these jogthroughs, and then we’ve done some seven on where that’s tilted towards the offense.”

That McDuffie is “all over” the secondary makes sense, given Pro Football Focus charted him playing 479 snaps at cornerback compared to 209 in the slot/box or on the defensive line last season. Both his and safety Quentin Lake’s position flexibility – Lake also plays the star position – are two of the key ways for them to unlock those different configurations in the defensive backfield.

There’s still a ways to go before the start of the regular season, let alone training camp, and last week was only the first week of OTAs. Still, McVay is pleased with the start of the process of seeing how all the pieces fit together.

“I think we’ve had some really good competitive plays defensively that I’ve been really proud of those guys and I just like the competitiveness and I like the connection of the group that you can feel,” McVay said.