6 stats and facts to know about new Rams CB Jaylen Watson
· Yahoo Sports
In the first hour of the legal tampering period, the Los Angeles Rams made a splash at cornerback. They agreed to a three-year deal with former Kansas City Chiefs corner Jaylen Watson, paying him $51 million with $34 million guaranteed.
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He reunites with Trent McDuffie, who was his teammate in Kansas City for the last four seasons. Watson went from being a seventh-round pick to now earning a sizable contract with the Rams, getting rewarded for his outstanding play in Kansas City.
Watson gives the Rams another quality starter on the outside, pairing well with McDuffie and the team's other defensive backs. His physicality and size will really stand out for Los Angeles, too.
Here are six stats and facts to know about the Rams' newest member of the secondary.
He took the path less traveled to the NFL
Though Watson isn't from California, he did play football in the area. He started his college career at Ventura College, which is about 40 miles from Woodland Hills, where the Rams' practice facility is located. After two years at Ventura, he transferred up to Washington State, where he spent another two seasons.
In between his time at Ventura and Washington State, he spent the 2019 season working at Wendy's back home in Augusta, Georgia. That's because he originally planned to transfer to USC but didn't qualify academically, so he took a year off from football in 2019.
He’s won two Super Bowls, both as Trent McDuffie’s teammate
Watson and McDuffie both joined the Chiefs as draft picks in 2022, McDuffie as a first-rounder and Watson as a seventh-round pick. They won two Super Bowls together with the Chiefs, putting together some outstanding performances for Kansas City as teammates.
Watson had two interceptions during the Chiefs' 2022 playoff run to the Super Bowl, making three starts in the postseason that year. His two picks came against the Jaguars and Bengals, helping the Chiefs reach the Super Bowl and beat the Eagles.
He’s forced the 5th-most tight-window throws since 2022
Watson played a lot of man coverage in Kansas City, which kept him in the hip pocket of receivers often. He may not have picked off very many passes (three in four seasons, plus two in the playoffs), but he forced a lot of difficult throws by opposing quarterbacks.
According to Next Gen Stats, Watson had the fifth-best tight-window rate (30.4%) forced by a cornerback since 2022, keeping the company of some outstanding corners such as Sauce Gardner and Patrick Surtain II.
Highest tight window rate forced in coverage since 2022, per @NextGenStats:
— NFL Researcher (@NFL_Researcher) March 9, 2026
1. Sauce Gardner – 34.8%
2. Patrick Surtain II – 31.1%
3. Joey Porter Jr. – 30.7%
4. Tyson Campbell – 30.5%
5. Jaylen Watson – 30.4%
> 200+ targets in coverage over span@RamsNFLhttps://t.co/sL49SuVtfx
He has a Relative Athletic Ccore of 9.21
Watson isn't a burner or a special athlete, per se, but he is athletic enough to match up with bigger receivers on the outside. He's 6-foot-2 and about 200 pounds, with 32-inch arms and a 38-inch vertical, according to his measurements and testing at the NFL combine. He posted an outstanding 11-foot broad jump and ran a respectable 4.51 in the 40, which is fast enough to be a boundary corner at his size.
Putting together all of his athletic traits, he earned a Relative Athletic Score of 9.21 out of 10, which is very good.
Jaylen Watson was drafted with pick 243 of round 7 in the 2022 draft class. He scored a 9.21 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 159 out of 2001 CB from 1987 to 2022. https://t.co/jSuO8mu17Y#RAS#Chiefspic.twitter.com/YJuF6Gte7P
— RAS.football (@MathBomb) April 30, 2022
He allowed the 8th-lowest passer rating among CBs last season
There were only seven cornerbacks in the NFL last season who played at least 400 snaps and allowed a lower passer rating than Watson. His 69.0 passer rating allowed ranked eighth at his position, according to PFF, coming in ahead of Pat Surtain (73.9), Derek Stingley Jr. (74.7) and Kamari Lassiter (71.1), all of whom are considered top corners in the NFL.
Watson gave up completions on only 59.3% of his targets, making life tough for opposing quarterbacks and receivers.
He’s only allowed 1 TD pass in the last 2 years
In the last two seasons combined, Watson has been targeted 94 times and allowed just 55 receptions. More impressively, he's only given up one touchdown pass in coverage. He's been excellent in the red zone throughout his career and has done a good job limiting big plays over the top in the last two seasons.
For comparison, Cobie Durant gave up eight touchdown passes and Emmanuel Forbes Jr. allowed seven last season.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Free agency: 6 things to know about new Rams CB Jaylen Watson