Jalen Ramsey was shocked he finished outside top 10 CBs in Pro Bowl fan voting
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theramswire.usatoday.com]
Cameron DaSilva
Jalen Ramsey joined the Rams midway through the 2019 season after a trade from the Jaguars, but he immediately improved the overall level of the defense. Despite having to learn on the run and get acclimated to Wade Phillips’ defense rather quickly, he made an impact almost right away for L.A.
He still managed to make the Pro Bowl, too, after playing half the season with Jacksonville and the other half with the Rams. It wasn’t his best season, but it was understandable given the circumstances.
Now having a full year in L.A., Ramsey is playing arguably the best he ever has. He and Aaron Donald are the centerpieces of the Rams’ No. 1-ranked defense, and both were once again named to the Pro Bowl.
This year’s selection meant more to him, though, because of the way he got in. It wasn’t fans that voted Ramsey through. It was the coaches and players who helped make Ramsey a Pro Bowler after he finished outside the top 10 among cornerbacks in fan voting.
“It meant a lot, to be honest with you,” Ramsey said about the honor. “I never take any of my victories in my life for granted. I honestly don’t,” he said this week. “But I can probably say this one meant a little bit more to me, just because I found out I wasn’t even top 10 in fan voting.
Ramsey initially reacted by saying “I still love the fans,” but in his media session, you can tell it put a chip on his shoulder. The corners who finished ahead of him in the top 10 were (in order): Xavien Howard, J.C. Jackson, James Bradberry, Marlon Humphrey, Carlton Davis, Jaire Alexander, Joe Haden, Kendall Fuller, Malcolm Butler and Marcus Peters.
Howard, Humphrey, Alexander and Bradberry were the only corners in that group to actually make the Pro Bowl.
Always oozing confidence, Ramsey made it very clear that there aren’t 10 cornerbacks – or even 10 defensive backs – in the NFL right now that are better than him.
“This is no shock to nobody else, but I definitely can’t name 10 corners better than me in this league – defensive backs better than me in this league,” he said. “So that was shocking to me. But it’s all love. But to see the opposing coaches and the opposing players who I go up against week in and week out, see what I’m putting on film and had the respect voting for me going to my fourth straight Pro Bowl, that meant a lot. So, it was cool.”
Pro Bowl voting is one-third fan voting, one-third player voting and one-third coach voting, so Ramsey got plenty of help from his peers this year. As he said, there certainly aren’t 10 better cornerbacks in the NFL right now, and even though he has just one interception, he’s consistently locking down receivers such as DK Metcalf, Mike Evans and DeAndre Hopkins.
An All-Pro selection, which is voted on by media members, should be coming Ramsey’s way this year, too.
