Top 25 NFL free agents for 2018
10. Lamarcus Joyner, DB, Los Angeles Rams
Despite missing four regular season games, the arrival of Wade Phillips as Rams’ defensive coordinator clearly agreed with Joyner this year. Pro Football Focus graded him as the third-best safety in the league. As the regular season wound down, he had great grades as a tackler and in coverage.
Another good one from Pro Football Focus: Lamarcus Joyner is leading NFL safeties in passer rating allowed in his coverage area, at just 22.7 on 22 targets. He has intercepted three of those.
— Alden González (@Alden_Gonzalez) December 4, 2017
Updated this Lamarcus Joyner story with some numbers courtesy of Pro Football Focus: He has the highest coverage grade among safeties and, at 5-foot-8, has missed zero tackles. Zero. ... https://t.co/1KL1z3awPr
— Alden González (@Alden_Gonzalez) December 15, 2017
In a true statement on the value of good coaching, as we saw throughout the Rams’ roster this year, Phillips openly lamented how little Joyner had played in previous years under Jeff Fisher.
"We came in, we watched the film from the year before and we said, ‘This guy’s one of our best players and he only played half the time — what should we do?'” Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips recalled. “We said, ‘Well, let’s play him all the time then.’ It sounds simple, but he’s too good a player not to be on the field, in my opinion. And he thought the same way. I saw ‘Hard Knocks.’ I think he felt the same way."
Joyner’s versatility as a slot cornerback/safety hybrid carries great value, even though he’s undersized at 5-foot-8 in the mold of an Antoine Winfield-type. Joyner’s free agent market will be deep with suitors looking for just that kind of player in the secondary.