Van Jefferson - Inside the Draft

[bluecoconuts]

Since people liked the thread on Terrell Burgess, I figured I'd do another one on Van Jefferson, with a few other notes thrown in as well.




In this video you can see some video of his family during draft night. You can actually watch the entire thing on his sisters YouTube channel.



At the end of the video, his sister is recording their father, Shawn Jefferson (who's the Jets WR coach now), as he's talking about answering different calls (I'm assuming congratulatory ones), and she asks him how he feels about Van being drafted by the Rams.

Shawn immediately says relieved, says that the Rams are a great team for him because we throw the ball, and we're a great situation to be in and it'll make him a better pro than college player. He also says he's with a great receivers coach in Eric Yarber.

Shawn goes on to say he was hoping Van would go to a team that is serious about football and winning and he thinks the Rams are one of those teams, mentions he knows Les Snead (Shawn was going to interview for Rams WR coach back in 2016 but the Dolphins swooped him up first), and he thinks that Van is going to be good for us.

Excited to see what he does on the field, I think he's going to fit in really well with our group.

 

[EasyE]

Mcvay makes people glad to be drafted by the Rams...what a change from days of olde......thanks Coach and Les!

 

[dolphinlover123]

Cam, Van, Burgess they all seem like high character kids

 

[oldnotdead]

I honestly never thought he would drop to the Rams. When he did I was ecstatic because of how he plays the game. This guy is a game one starter that's how polished he is. He has everything you want in a #1WR and we are looking at Wood's eventual replacement. People think Woods is a good route runner, and he is, but Van is better. Woods is fast but Van is faster. Jefferson is also taller than Woods. He was my #1 WR choice but I expected him to go in the bottom of the first or the top of the second.

He's the perfect scheme fit for McVay's s offense. He can line up at all 3 WR positions and can beat press man coverage. With his height and speed, he's a mismatch for most slot CBs and that is where I expect him to play this year. They got first round talent in both Akers and Jefferson and both are impact players. I kept thinking Dobbins would be the one on the board with Akers going at the bottom of the first or top of the second round.

Then you add in Lewis and Burgess in the 3rd round and the Rams have 4 legitimate steals in their first 4 picks. Regardless of what happens with the rest of the draft class, the Rams got 4 starters with their first 4 picks and that is an amazingly good draft by any measure.

 

[badnews]

I honestly never thought he would drop to the Rams. When he did I was ecstatic because of how he plays the game. This guy is a game one starter that's how polished he is. He has everything you want in a #1WR and we are looking at Wood's eventual replacement. People think Woods is a good route runner, and he is, but Van is better. Woods is fast but Van is faster. Jefferson is also taller than Woods. He was my #1 WR choice but I expected him to go in the bottom of the first or the top of the second.

He's the perfect scheme fit for McVay's s offense. He can line up at all 3 WR positions and can beat press man coverage. With his height and speed, he's a mismatch for most slot CBs and that is where I expect him to play this year. They got first round talent in both Akers and Jefferson and both are impact players. I kept thinking Dobbins would be the one on the board with Akers going at the bottom of the first or top of the second round.

Then you add in Lewis and Burgess in the 3rd round and the Rams have 4 legitimate steals in their first 4 picks. Regardless of what happens with the rest of the draft class, the Rams got 4 starters with their first 4 picks and that is an amazingly good draft by any measure.

I completely agree. Brilliant, brilliant work to draft in such a way that our lack of 1st round picks from the Ramsey trade didn't stop us from leaving the draft with the guys we needed.
Those top 4 guys all have the talent to become big time contributors for the Rams. Can't ask for more than that from a draft, espescially with the picks we had to work with.

 

[RamsOfCastamere]

I honestly never thought he would drop to the Rams. When he did I was ecstatic because of how he plays the game. This guy is a game one starter that's how polished he is. He has everything you want in a #1WR and we are looking at Wood's eventual replacement. People think Woods is a good route runner, and he is, but Van is better. Woods is fast but Van is faster. Jefferson is also taller than Woods. He was my #1 WR choice but I expected him to go in the bottom of the first or the top of the second.

He's the perfect scheme fit for McVay's s offense. He can line up at all 3 WR positions and can beat press man coverage. With his height and speed, he's a mismatch for most slot CBs and that is where I expect him to play this year. They got first round talent in both Akers and Jefferson and both are impact players. I kept thinking Dobbins would be the one on the board with Akers going at the bottom of the first or top of the second round.

Then you add in Lewis and Burgess in the 3rd round and the Rams have 4 legitimate steals in their first 4 picks. Regardless of what happens with the rest of the draft class, the Rams got 4 starters with their first 4 picks and that is an amazingly good draft by any measure.

Van is polished but I don't think it's fair to Woods to say a recently drafted rookie is better than him at routes already. Woods is the best route runner on the team and is amongst the top in the NFL.

 

[snackdaddy]

Van is polished but I don't think it's fair to Woods to say a recently drafted rookie is better than him at routes already. Woods is the best route runner on the team and is amongst the top in the NFL.

Can't disagree with that. Woods has been a huge part of what the Rams offense does. But I can say we have 3 receivers who are terrific route runners and have a great understanding of their positions. I wouldn't be surprised if Jefferson beats out Reynolds for that 3rd WR spot.

 

[So Ram]

Van hasn’t done crap!!! I did like a catch he had in the Senior bowl.He got beyond the sticks which was a nice site.
Robert Woods and Copper Kupp have made an excellent combo.Both excellent route runners. Van Jefferson will get better because of then & Coach Yarber.

 

[badnews]

I completely agree. Brilliant, brilliant work to draft in such a way that our lack of 1st round picks from the Ramsey trade didn't stop us from leaving the draft with the guys we needed.
Those top 4 guys all have the talent to become big time contributors for the Rams. Can't ask for more than that from a draft, espescially with the picks we had to work with.

I meant I completely agree about the teams draft strategy.
I think Jefferson is a big steal and will fit right in hopefully, but I can't agree he is already a better route runner than Woods. Woods is a phenomenal WR in every meaningful way and until VJ learns to block downfield like Woods does so well, and makes the plays he is supposed to on an NFL field, I can't or wont compare a rookie to one of our best players.

 

[FarNorth]

I honestly never thought he would drop to the Rams. When he did I was ecstatic because of how he plays the game. This guy is a game one starter that's how polished he is. He has everything you want in a #1WR and we are looking at Wood's eventual replacement. People think Woods is a good route runner, and he is, but Van is better. Woods is fast but Van is faster. Jefferson is also taller than Woods. He was my #1 WR choice but I expected him to go in the bottom of the first or the top of the second.

He's the perfect scheme fit for McVay's s offense. He can line up at all 3 WR positions and can beat press man coverage. With his height and speed, he's a mismatch for most slot CBs and that is where I expect him to play this year. They got first round talent in both Akers and Jefferson and both are impact players. I kept thinking Dobbins would be the one on the board with Akers going at the bottom of the first or top of the second round.

Then you add in Lewis and Burgess in the 3rd round and the Rams have 4 legitimate steals in their first 4 picks. Regardless of what happens with the rest of the draft class, the Rams got 4 starters with their first 4 picks and that is an amazingly good draft by any measure.

If Jefferson is better than Woods we have struck gold. And he could be. Either way agree the Rams' top 4 picks are steals. These all are impact players who are going to make their presence felt sooner rather than later. Great job of scouting and draft execution by Snead and company. Considering no first rounder one of top set of picks I can remember from the Rams. Can't wait to see them on the field.

 

[kurtfaulk]

I meant I completely agree about the teams draft strategy.
I think Jefferson is a big steal and will fit right in hopefully, but I can't agree he is already a better route runner than Woods. Woods is a phenomenal WR in every meaningful way and until VJ learns to block downfield like Woods does so well, and makes the plays he is supposed to on an NFL field, I can't or wont compare a rookie to one of our best players.

were you just arguing with yourself?

.

 

[OC_Ram]

I’ve Been on this kids jock since Jr High, which isn’t illegal cause my b day is Feb 29th so at 60 I was legally 15. I was banging the table for this guy in the 1st before the tables were even set up, then I learn we didn’t have a 1st. So yes I am glad that the next Jerry Rice is a Ram and more importantly that Snead read our message board And saw what I posted, that’s why we got this guy. Why is this font blue? I’m legit! Frickin smurfs

 

[SeminoleRam]

I’ve Been on this kids jock since Jr High, which isn’t illegal cause my b day is Feb 29th so at 60 I was legally 15. I was banging the table for this guy in the 1st before the tables were even set up, then I learn we didn’t have a 1st. So yes I am glad that the next Jerry Rice is a Ram and more importantly that Snead read our message board And saw what I posted, that’s why we got this guy. Why is this font blue? I’m legit! Frickin smurfs

The next Jerry Rice? I would have settled for the next Isaac Bruce or Torry Holt!!!

 

[badnews]

were you just arguing with yourself?

.

Yep. That's exactly what happened.

 

[oldnotdead]

I have no doubt that Van will be the #3 (slot) WR this year. Reynolds was strictly a short zone WR with problems separating on medium to deep routes. He also had 3 drops last year (7% of his targets) which is a problem. Josh has the measurables you would want in a WR but he simply didn't take advantage of his playing time last year. IMO that's why they drafted Van in the second round. You don't take a backup with a second-round pick. Normally, starters are in rounds 1-3 with developmental players in rds 4-5 and PS type and STs guys in rds 6-7.

The Ram's 2019 draft was a perfect example of that. Rapp in the second round followed by Henderson, Long, and Evans in the 3rd. They ended the draft with Edwards in the 5th and Scott and Dakota Allen in the 7th. That is very classic drafting. Snead is following that pattern but he's so good at talent evaluation he gets better than average players with his picks. He even followed that pattern in this last draft. Old school drafting still works and it's why his o-line is made up of guys taken in rounds 3 & 4. You take o-line in rounds 2-4 generally because of the time it takes to develop them and high bust rate. In another post I had talked about a draft a few years ago where there were I believe 5 LT's taken in the top 15 picks. 3 years later only 2 panned out and only one validated his draft position.

Looking at this draft I'm really impressed.

 

[badnews]

Looking at this draft I'm really impressed.

That's good.
Just don't like it too much or somebody will make fun of you.