Former UCLA Star Quietly Enjoying Breakout NFL Season

Former UCLA Bruins star Quentin Lake is enjoying a breakout NFL season with the Los Angeles Rams.

Dec 8, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams safety Quentin Lake (37) celebrates against the Buffalo Bills in the first half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Rams have been one of the best teams in football over the last couple of months, roaring back from a 1-4 start to win the NFC West division title.

While the Rams clearly have some issues in the midst of their revitalization, some terrific individual performances have helped them reach this point.

One player who has been phenomenal this season has been safety Quentin Lake.

Lake has racked up 111 tackles, a couple of sacks and five passes defended heading into Los Angeles' season finale and has been a crucial member of the defense throughout the year.

While the former UCLA Bruins star hasn't been stellar in pass coverage, he has been terrific against the run, boasting an 80.7 grade against the run, via Pro Football Focus.

Considering that the Rams haven't been great defending opposing rushing attacks as a whole in 2024, Lake's presence in the defensive backfield has been vital to prevent Los Angeles from getting gashed on a weekly basis.

The 25-year-old is now in his third professional season after being selected by the Rams in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL Draft.

Lake barely played during his rookie campaign, logging just 10 tackles and a sack in nine games. Last season, the UCLA product began earning more playing time, finishing with 53 stops, a fumble recovery and six passes defended.

While he began showing flashes in 2023, Lake didn't truly establish himself as an integral part of Los Angeles' defense until this year.

The issue for Lake is that the Rams now have a bit of a glut at the safety position, as Lake will be contending with Kamren Kurl, Kamren Kinchens and Jaylen McCollough for playing time moving forward.

Lake is under contract through next season, but based on the depth Los Angeles has at safety, it may very well opt to place the Pittsburgh native on the trade block this coming offseason.

Should that end up being the case, Lake would surely have numerous potential suitors wanting to add the young defensive back to their squad.

But for now, Lake is preparing for a potential Super Bowl run with the Rams.

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