My first impression of the draft

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oldnotdead

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I knew going it this was a draft unlike any other, that the Snead and McVay pretty much said they feel the roster is set and have alluded to that for a while now. I knew that in their minds it was about rotational players who might end up starters and developmental players for the future. So with that in mind, I watched the draft unfold. This is my impression of the players noted soon after they were announced. Hopefully, I'm wrong about a few of them in terms of their ability to contribute.

By enlarge I'm not unhappy with the draft as they did come away with some high potential rookies like Atwell, Rochell, and Harris, and some intriguing players like Skowronek, and Garrett.

WR Tutu Atwell - Should see some snaps this season. McVay's young Desean Jackson. We will see if he can realize that expectation.

ILB Ernest Jones - I don't see anything that separates him from guys they already have. ILB is a part-time position. He's slower than the guys starting and Moncrief. He's going to have to earn it on STs or it's PS for him.

DT Bobby Brown III - Strictly a developmental pick. Looking forward as a possible 1T in 2023. Too raw to play this year. Another possible Sebas type of DL except he might be able to disengage from blocks.

CB Robert Rochell - A sleeper pick IMO. A chance to play some snaps this year. He's the Rams replacement for Troy Hill, but a much better player overall with outstanding speed for the position.

TE Jacob Harris - Somewhat raw but a possible future starter and TE terror due to his size and exceptional speed. A match-up nightmare.

DL Earnest Brown IV - Not sure where he fits in. Raw needs a lot of work, but more importantly, he's slow if expected to play DE and not quick enough to play 3T.

RB Jake Funk - Looks like an injury waiting to happen. Unless they think they can coach him up to play FB he might not make the roster.

WR Ben Skowronek - Seems too slow to make this WR roster, but has shown blocking ability. Is this their lead blocker? Interesting pick. He definitely has the size and the ability to catch those lead blocker passes.

Edge Chris Garrett - Lacks long speed but has an explosive first step (which was lacking in Brockers). Shows the ability work with his hands. Definitely a developmental prospect better than the average end of the draft pick.
 

OldSchool

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Raise your hand if you predicted Rams would take 3 WR and zero OL in this draft...
Especially after we heard DJax was the solution to our WR issues. This draft is a very hard pill to swallow.
 

thirteen28

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Raise your hand if you predicted Rams would take 3 WR and zero OL in this draft...

Especially when we needed more help with the latter than the former, and the draft was supposedly good for OL.

Really hope I'm wrong - and time will tell - but at the moment, I am seriously underwhelmed with this draft and super disappointed in McSnead.
 

Riverumbbq

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Without the 4'th round, I might be on a suicide watch.
 

oldnotdead

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  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #7
Jackson is here for one year. Both Snead and McVay talked about the need for speed. How many lamented the lack of a big-bodied receiver? Well, they got one with freaky speed!

This was about accepting the starters and depth that they have at most positions. They aren't rebuilding or even building. It was about maintaining. The mindset is entirely different.

I guess because I didn't have "high" expectations I'm not dismayed with the picks. But they do reveal what the FO thinks about his roster. I think they took the draft as it fell to them. If they didn't see value in those spots they traded back. I think they will end up hitting on 4 of 7 in this draft in terms of good roster players and perhaps even eventual starters. That's not bad by any measure.
 

El Chapo Jr

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This was such a shitty draft. Starting to think the guy in Detroit made a difference in our war room. I hope I'm wrong, but I definitely saw some stupid ass draft picks made. I get they have OL on the roster they believe but not drafting one to compete like Creed for example was just plain stupid. Our O lineman are world beaters. Add that Big Whit ain't getting younger either.
 

Allen2McVay

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I don't know guys.

Thought the Rams reached with their two Day-2 picks but these were two players they seemed to feel really strongly about.

I really like the Day-3 picks ... needed some DL-depth, added a solid CB prospect, two big red-zone targets, a high-effort Special Teams player and a tremendously-productive Division II edge-rusher.

Wish they had added another CB; and, really wish I knew what they were thinking about at Center.
 

Memento

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I'll grade it:

Chatarius (I absolutely fucking refuse to call him "Tutu") Atwell: F

(Easily one of the worst picks I've seen McSnead make. I can't imagine him doing well, I'm sorry. And Bolton went right after him. They picked a gadget player at best with the second round pick, likely because they panicked when the Hags took Eskridge. If they wanted a deep threat, Darden was for the taking, and he would've been a better pick at this stage than Atwell (or, hell, pick Bolton and then Darden!). He'll have to do an absolute fuckton to win me over.)

Ernest Jones: C+

(I've admittedly warmed up to him a bit. I still think there were better players, but I'm getting a JJ3 vibe around him, so I can live with it. He's a tackling machine, a good run defender. I have concerns about his overall athleticism and if he's truly a sideline-to-sideline defender.)

Bobby Brown III: A-

(BB3 (since we no longer have a JJ3) could be an absolutely dominant defensive tackle next to Donald. He's a load to deal with in the running game, and if he learns from Donald how to use his hands and gets his conditioning straight, we could be talking about a young Haynesworth.)

Robert Rochell: A-

(Rochell is my favorite pick in this class. He reminds me a lot of Marcus Peters, only without the attitude issues that plagued Peters. He's a ballhawk, always has his hands active without getting grabby, and blankets receivers. He's big and fearless. My only question is if he fills against the run, but if Ramsey mentors him, I can't imagine it as a problem.)

Jacob Harris: B

(This kid could be a steal. Key word: could. I'm glad he got drafted as a tight end, but it's going to take a while for him to bulk up to tight end status. We may not see a payoff until year three. It's a better draft pick in the fourth than, say, a first round pick, but that's still banking on a lot for this kid. He is a sold special teams player, so that helps his grade.)

Earnest Brown IV: C+

(I can get behind this pick. EB4 needs a lot of work with core strength and learning hand usage, and that'll take at least a year or two. I don't know if he'll ever be great, but if we're talking about a solid role player, yeah, I'm sold. Still, I think we could've made a better pick here.)

Jake Funk: D

(I admire their commitment to special teams, but you can't tell me there weren't better running backs on the board, namely Jermar Jefferson, Gerrid Doaks, Kylin Hill, just to mention a few. I can't put too much faith in a running back who has had two ACLs on the same knee. And I absolutely cringe at the name puns. Just...no.)

Ben Skowronek: C

(My favorite of the seventh round picks - which isn't saying much. If he can move to tight end (an H-back), be our answer to Kyle Juszcyzk, I'll be much more on board. Right now, I see someone who's far too slow to make an impact as a wide receiver, someone who could definitely get cut and be picked up, like Clay Johnston was. I'd have honestly picked Sage Surratt, just because of potential; if you're in the seventh round, you can gamble on that kind of stuff.)

Chris Garrett: D-

(Who? Again, who? You can't tell me that this guy is a better edge rusher than Charles Snowden. He's not athletic, not big, and he produced against much lesser competition.)

Overall Grade: C-

(Better players were available, and the Atwell pick, if it doesn't work out (in my opinion, likely), could set us back a year or two.)
 

AZRams

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Have concluded a couple of things about how McSnead work:

1)They have their own metrics that they apply when they evaluate talent.
2)They value fit over almost anything else.


And they weren't lying in the pre-draft PC on Tuesday...they don't think the OL needs help. We'll have to just wait and see...

kristen schaal fingers crossed GIF by HULU
 

AZRams

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Jackson is here for one year. Both Snead and McVay talked about the need for speed. How many lamented the lack of a big-bodied receiver? Well, they got one with freaky speed!

This was about accepting the starters and depth that they have at most positions. They aren't rebuilding or even building. It was about maintaining. The mindset is entirely different.

I guess because I didn't have "high" expectations I'm not dismayed with the picks. But they do reveal what the FO thinks about his roster. I think they took the draft as it fell to them. If they didn't see value in those spots they traded back. I think they will end up hitting on 4 of 7 in this draft in terms of good roster players and perhaps even eventual starters. That's not bad by any measure.
Good points. And Snead alluded to that in his day 2 comments about other teams poaching players they liked ahead of them.
 

xander47

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Listening to their predraft conference it did sound like special teams would be an emphasis. I look at nick Scott’s progression and Cory Littleton’s progression as a blue print for this draft. Better be in the top 10 for special teams this year with so much emphasis on it though. Secondary better be ready to play as well with the previous picks from the past few drafts having to step up. Long/rapp/burgess/fuller
 

payote75

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I said yesterday Snead has covid mcvay shut phone off and went auto pilot and would probably draft 5 receivers I was off by two lmao!!!

I like the draft a little better today as a whole. However even if none of the fancy names or target guys were taken or even if they had been we still will need to wait and see what happens maybe a couple shine at camp maybe they develop in couple years or maybe this was a horrible draft. I had at least 4 different players is take when we came up however I'm here with you guys for a reason. All we can do is get behind the picks hope they do well in udfa.

Last thing most important I hope it works because if Holmes was the key we are screwed.
 

AZRams

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Over on B/R's Community boards one guy made an interesting observation about McSnead's approach to getting talent:

Draft for depth, trade for starters.