Rams CB Jaylen Watson named team's X-factor for 2026

The Los Angeles Rams didn't sit on the sideline after watching opposing offenses torch their secondary game after game in 2025. Los Angeles spent the opening weeks of free agency rebuilding its defensive backfield from the ground up, trading for Trent McDuffie, signing him to a record-setting extension, then adding his former Kansas City running mate, Jaylen Watson, to play opposite him.

>FOX Sports' Ben Arthur sees that secondary overhaul as the key to the Rams' 2026 outlook, naming Watson the team's biggest X-factor.

When opposing offenses look to pass against the Rams' Myles Garrett-led defense, they'll likely look to throw away from star cornerback Trent McDuffie, twice an All-Pro selection. So if Watson can be a big-time playmaker on the opposite side of the field, L.A. could have a truly dominant defense.

Watson spent his first four NFL seasons in Kansas City after the Chiefs took him in the seventh round of the 2022 draft, developing from a depth piece into a starting corner who helped the franchise reach three Super Bowls and win two. He broke out in 2025, setting career highs across the board with 64 tackles, two interceptions, six pass breakups and two sacks while playing a career-high 96% of Kansas City's defensive snaps.

>Pairing Watson with McDuffie gives the Rams two former Chiefs starters who know what it takes to win in January, addressing a pass defense that ranked in the bottom half of the league last season.

>If Watson can hold up his end of the bargain across from McDuffie, Los Angeles' defense could finally match the firepower of its offense as the Rams look to close the gap on the Seattle Seahawks atop the NFC.

>This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Rams CB Jaylen Watson named team's X-factor for 2026