If you’ve watched the Los Angeles Rams the last two weeks, you probably think Marcus Peters is having a terrible season. He was burned badly by Mike Evans on a long touchdown, and the following week, he appeared to get beat again by DK Metcalf for a 40-yard touchdown. His missed tackle against David Moore on a screen pass resulted in another touchdown, leading to a lot of criticism from those on Twitter.
The scores by Evans and Moore were on Peters, but Metcalf’s wasn’t; Sean McVay and Eric Weddle said as much.
As bad as those plays were, Peters has actually put together a good season so far. He has three passes defensed, a pick-six and a fumble recovery in five games, looking improved over last season.
Pro Football Focus released its 25 highest-graded cornerbacks in the NFL through five weeks and Peters ranks seventh.
Peters has always been a gambler, but over his first three seasons, the good plays made up for the occasions in which he would get beat. That wasn’t the case last season. Peters got burnt deep on several occasions and was one of three cornerbacks to allow over 20 yards per target on passes 20 or more yards downfield on 10-plus deep targets. His performance this year has been more reminiscent of his time in Kansas City, highlighted by undercutting a Winston pass and taking it to the house in Week 4.
Peters is in a contract year, so putting together a strong 16-game season would be huge for his financial future. Whether it’s the Rams or someone else, a team is bound to pay him a healthy chunk of change this offseason when he becomes a free agent.
The Rams have a history of letting defensive backs walk instead of giving them a second contract, which could very well be the case for Peters. If he becomes a top-five cornerback again like he was at one point in Kansas City, he might price himself out of L.A.
