I had been thinking of going a couple days ago. Checked out some flights, was going to look into hotels, etc. Then I saw this. Yikes.

Yeah, I'm doing this at my folks' house, so it might take either a short time or a long time. Here we go with some trades first (doubt the Rams will do it, but I'm not the Rams):

#13 overall to the Carolina Panthers for #19 overall and #51 overall.

(Carolina moves up for Kenyon Sadiq. We move back.)

#19 overall (Panthers) to the Chicago Bears for #57 overall, #60 overall, and a 2027 first.

(The Bears move up for Akeem Mesidor to bolster their pass rush, while we trade down to accumulate more picks, including a first-round pick in 2027, which will be a much stronger draft than this one.)

#61 overall and #93 overall to the Miami Dolphins for #75 overall and #87 overall (Eagles).

(Swap a second and a late third for two thirds. Miami gets an opportunity at Chris Brazzell II.)

-

#51 overall (Panthers) - D'Angelo Ponds, CB, Indiana.

#57 overall (Bears) - Gennings Dunker, OC, Iowa.

#60 overall (Rams) - Chris Bell, WR, Louisville.

#75 overall (Dolphins) - Elijah Sarratt, WR, Indiana.

#87 overall (Eagles) - Nadame Tucker, EDGE, Western Michigan.

#207 overall (Texans) - Hezekiah Masses, CB, California.

#232 overall (Ravens) - Red Murdock, ILB, Buffalo.

#251 overall (Comp) - Fa'alili Fa'amoe, OT/OG, Wake Forest.

#252 overall (Comp) - Keyshawn James-Newby, EDGE, New Mexico.

(Ponds is my favorite player in this class. No surprise I take him. Dunker and Sarratt are other favorites (I think Dunker can play center, and Sarratt reminds me so much of Kupp), and Bell is a worthy gamble at #60; if he was healthy, he'd have been a first-round pick. Tucker might be a reach, but I think he could be an underrated edge rusher. Masses is skinny, but he's got an amazing sense of where the ball is in the air. Murdock has the NCAA record for forced fumbles, Fa'amoe is a big and athletic tackle/guard hybrid. Keyshawn James-Newby is an outstanding pass-rusher who needs work on his run defense.)

Won't do the roster; don't have the time. Feel free to shred me.

If you get a chance to catch the NFL Live replay, they just had a good segment on the guys who have drawn McVay's plays over the years. Basically the guys who take his plays and then draw them in the playbook or on the week's script/ playbook for the players. They interviewed Cohen, Taylor, Scheelchase, etc...

BTW, they also mentioned that McVay will be on Monday's NFL Live show.

Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!

As I look at it, 13 is looking like a sweet spot to be in range of a difference maker or trade partner. IMO there are WRs who will make a difference available later is all.

When you have the kind of FA that we did, it screams trade in round 1 and pick 13 is far from an unlucky spot this year

Listening to Cossel, I feel strongly that we should wait on a WR. There are so many who fit our scheme deep into round 3. As he says, they come in all different flavours, X Z RAC inside/outside flex

With a trade down to the 20s, Omar Cooper and KC Concept would pick up 30 to 40 receptions minimum in our offense. Both could be more successful than Tyson because McVay will scheme them open and they both have the chops and plenty of juice

That’s not to say I wouldn’t trade up for a difference maker, especially if Sonny Styles is in reach! Can you imagine this defense with him in it?!

Im a huge fan of Rodriguez too if we did trade with someone for a 2027 first at the back end of round one early two. Either of those two LBs would elevate our defense day one. OK, Styles looks special both on film and in shorts! We are talking generational talent and one heck of a football player with pedigree, but Rodriguez is a hell of a prospect too and his film might be even better

If we do not trade up/down, I’m coming round to the idea of taking the second TE from Oregon or another CB at 13. Another impact CB would put this defense over the top. We could trade Parkinson whose value will never be this high again. Sadiq is a better blocker and it’s not even close across the rest of the metrics and tape

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my microsoft thread creator has an article about the possibility of cousins and the rams..

it says cousins is interested because he wants to get a title/ring...

anyone else seeing this stuff?

my take..

if not JG, i'll take cousins all day long... for the right price...

go rams

slo

opening day today as Major league baseball kicks off with the hated Yankees against our local San Francisco Giants here. As a Dodger fan, of course I should be just rooting for the meteor to hit, but all kidding aside my buddy and ex teammate has lived in the dream today as his son throws out the first pitch!

I hope you guys can appreciate my divided loyalties today, but I hope Logan Webb does well and gets off to a good start. I couldn’t be more proud of him. Besides rooting against the Yankees thats never a bad thing, right?

I think the Dodgers can make up that one game and then some.

Play ball!!

Curious how we’ll leverage this info to extend Puka. What do you guys think?

By now the Rams have the top 13 of their board (and of course much more than that) all finished up I am sure. And will undoubtedly know who the pick will be depending on how it goes no matter what the scenario is. So I'm curious what your boards look like. If you had to stack one, where you would follow that priority come hell or high water by selecting the top name on it, what would your board be.

Gonna put mine up, which of course looks nothing like any of the teams I am sure, nor does it look like any of the media boards that I know of. Not that I'm reading those sites. I really don't but here we go. Also to the colors: Blue Chip, Top 15, Bottom 15 in the first round of a draft of good quality throughout.

1. QB Mendoza (remarkable consistency, all the tools)
2. RB Love (rare talent with production)
3. ILB Styles (rare talent with production)
4. Edge Bailey (on the bubble as a blue chip but his tape is great)
5. S Downs (he's gonna be a box safety)
6. Edge Bain (arm length knocks him down)
7. CB Delane (definite top 15 type)
8. WR Tate (mid first type so on bubble to my eye as a top 15)
9. S Thieneman (has top end tape ranging the middle which is harder to find than box safeties)
10. OT Freeling (he's here because I think he has a chance to LT in the NFL)
11. OG Ioane (I would take him before the OT conversions in Fano and Mauigoa who are also going to be OGs)
12. ILB Reese (he's here on the strength of his athletic profile, i.e. upside plus versatility)

Let me say first I'm over all these fucking Edges with short arms. I like some who are on the board here but I don't want another Edge who can't finish. Also I penalized the injury risk types and they're not in the mix for me at 13.

If McVay wants a WR: I would go Boston. Won't cry if it's Lemon or Cooper but not the way I'd go.

If McVay wants a DL: I would go Miller or McDonald. Miller can 5T for you so I'd give him the nod. McDonald is better at just destroying the interior blocking schemes. But both these guys shut down run games on the interior at a high level and that is something we need to free up previous investments in that defensive front.

If McVay wants a swing OT who can move to OG to replace Avila after the season: I would go Mauigoa or Fano. Both have a chance to be excellent OGs. By the way this OG group as a whole is really good, given the short arm pandemic in this draft with some of the better OT options likely moving inside on top of a strong group. So you don't have to go OG early unless you really like one of these dudes. Lastly Proctor is a massive OT but I think he's going to be a very good RT in the NFL. I don't think he's a blind sider.

If McVay wants a QB: I would try to dissuade him from taking Simpson at 13.

We know the tale of the tape. 9 years, 8 winning seasons, 7 playoff appearances, 2 Super Bowls, 1 Lombardi, 92-57 (.617) regular season, 10-6 (.625) in the postseason. Awesome right? Not Bill Belichick. Not even Andy Reid. But take a deeper dive and you might find he's been even better than his numbers.

He's coached in the absolute toughest division in the NFL. Sure his success contributes to that ranking but the division as a whole, is better than all the others. So he's been playing that toughest division twice as much as any other. The #2 division is the NFC North and the Rams play them every 3 years, as opposed to every 4 years vs AFC teams. So not only twice as much vs the #1 division but more often vs #2 division, than 4 of the other 7 divisions. Read: It hasn't been easy.

More on the NFC West over the last 9 years.

The NFC West has averaged 2 playoff teams per season. The next closest is the AFC North, surprising enough, with 1.77 postseason teams.
As a division, the West has averaged 35.4 wins per season (almost an average of 9 wins per team). The #2 division (NFC North) averages 34.8 wins and #3 (AFC North & West) 34.2 wins.
Though the NFC North amassed 45 wins in 2024 as a high water mark, and the AFC North (2023) and NFC East (2022) had 43, the NFC West's high is 41 (2025) but they've hit the 40 mark twice (2021, 2025) while no other division has done it more than once.
And finally, 5 of the last 9 NFC Super Bowl representatives have come from the NFC West (2 winning, the Rams and Seattle).

It really hasn't been easy and after everything is considered, his performance is obviously better than just his wins and losses and postseason success. It is a great time to be a Ram fan!

Just saw that he passed.

I'm actually afraid to, as I have enough games destroying my productivity. But this looks like a detailed GM simulator.

Now that we have discussed draft preferences, strategies, and umpteen players followed by just as many opinions on those players, maybe it’s time to take a look at some guys already on the roster who may be ready to step into bigger roles.

If there’s one thing the Rams have excelled at since Snead has been the GM, it’s the ability to obtain and develop talent via day 3/UDFA and plucking players from another team’s PS—guys who have performed well for the Rams and even gone on to have solid careers.

Recently retired Darius Williams is a prime example. So is Nick Scott, who is currently carving out a nice living. Heck, we can go all the way back to Rodney McCleod.

Here are some noteworthy bottom of the roster/PS guys who might figure into the draft strategy this year.
*sometimes the team site and others are not up to date, so if I mention a player who is no longer under contract, feel free to correct me.

WR- at 6-3/211 True Edwards fits what many of us feel should be on the Rams’ shopping list, no? He played well enough in preseason last year to stick around. Having a big wideout to play outside the numbers, being the understudy to Adams, makes it even easier to draft Lemon at #13. Pressley leads a brigade of smaller WRs. Not sure where they would fit in this year, but maybe next?

IOL-because I had seen Dedich called into action the previous season, I knew he would make the roster as proven depth; but after him, the most impressive player I saw on the OL last preseason was Wyatt Bowles. I was disappointed the Rams let him get away, but they got him back. Who knows where Limmer is in that depth hierarchy now, but he has real game experience. Dylan McMahon is another IOL developmental player the Rams have retained. Where would he fit? And of course Acuri is still hanging around.

LB-after Landman and Speights, we know Dolac is there, but what about Elias Neal?
Strictly STs? Grant Stuard might seem a bit on the small side. Don’t recall seeing him play at all.

CB-what is the general opinion on Josh Wallace and Cam Lampkin? I didn’t see enough from Wallace to allay my concerns regarding the secondary. Glad the Rams picked up two huge improvements there, but they could use another solid CB to go with Forbes.

Anybody else you would like to mention for consideration?
Just how big of a factor do you see these aforementioned players being when the Rams draft?

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For you old head fans like me (and maybe some of you younger fans who are interested) this was a great game. I remember the lateral to Candidate like it was yesterday. He went off in his first start. Lot of players from the Jets I just forgot about.

It’s really interesting to see how different the game looked (TV quality) and was played/officiated in that era.

Rams have a pretty complete roster, it's impressive. The Rams are also in a very interesting position where they seem to be actually serving two timelines and doing a great job at it. You have to draft VERY well to make that happen... and the Rams have been the best drafting team in the NFL for a few years now.

Things I'm wondering...

-Who's the backup QB? Do they take a flyer on a rehab project? Anthony Richardson? Will Levis? Players of that ilk? Or do they keep Jimmy G? Or get a different vet?

Who's the #3 WR? I don't think any of us believe that player is on the roster. Now.. they could go a couple of ways.. look for a bargain as they did with Demarcus Robinson a couple of years back, after all it's the 3rd WR. Or.. invest with a high draft pick? (If I made this call I would be doing everything I could to trade down from 13. I think there are mulitple WRs in the 2nd who can contribute immediately).

-Who is the 3rd tackle. This is a huge question and it can be answered in a couple of ways.. they could still look for an older vet to stand in.. or draft a tackle in the first three rounds this year.

-Who is Beaux Limmer? Is he a player? Is he Bobby Evans or is he Warren McClendon.. meaning is he a guy who can really develop into a plus starter on the inside? I think Center is the single position that could be upgraded the most on this roster at this point. I may be off on that.. Ilb next to Landman could be that. But.. yeah.. is Limmer developing?

-Who will start next to Landman? Will there be competition here?


It's a remarkably small list of concerns, tbh.

But.. I do think trading back and using some of that draft capital to fortify the Oline backups this year would be really, really smart.

Per X

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Starts back on June 11th. Cannot wait!! No crowds as yet.

An explanation...

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Had to laugh at the comment that some are as fast as WR's -- not quite.

Interesting article. For years the Seahawks had a recruiting edge because Washington had no state income tax, something the Rams and 49ers couldn’t offer in California. Now Washington’s new tax on high earners could chip away at that advantage. The fact that GM John Schneider is already talking about it publicly says a lot.

​

ESPN - New WA Tax law could affect Seahawks Recruiting

Once FA is done - or mostly done - I like to look at what roster spots are virtually locked in. A lot of fans here have opinions about players like Coleman Shelton that are not realistic - those aside, I think its relatively easy to predict positions the Rams will draft, because of how intentional we are. That said:

QB (2) - Stafford/? - I have a feeling we will not keep three this year and elect to use that spot for special teams depth - but it is possible we keep 3 again, I'm going to go with 2 for now though. Likely Jimmy.

RB (3) - Kyren/Corum/Hunter

WR (5) - Puka/Adams/Whittington/Mumpfield/Smith - Smith was always a no brainer to return. He improved as a WR and as an ERFA, is very cheap

TE (4) - Ferguson/Parkinson/Higee/Allen

OL (8) - Jackson/Avila/Shelton/Dotson/McClendon/Quessenberry/Limmer/Dedich - Limmer and Dedich having starting experience, and Quessenberry being re-signed

DL (6) - Fiske/Turner/Ford/Hamilton/Johnson/Davis - all have gotten roles and playing time

EDGE (4) - Verse/Young/Stewart/Thomas

ILB (4) - Landman/Speights/Stuard/Dolac

CB (4) - McDuffie/Watson/Forbes/Wallace

S (4) - Curl/Kinchens/Lake/McCollough

ST (3)


Offense notes:

We still need our backup QB. It is most likely to be Jimmy IMO, but until we sign him there is an outside shot that we spend a day 1-2 pick on a QB - ultimately, I think its going to be a vet

RB - rookie RBs never do a ton under McVay (outside of Cam Akers, randomly) - so to me, Hunter is a full on roster lock despite not getting any time last year. Especially given how critical RBs are in pass pro and the need to learn there - first time in a while that we don't draft this position IMO

WR - I mentioned it above, but its worth saying again - Smith was actually pretty good as a WR last year - even if he's not our punt returner, IMO he will be on the roster. That said, very confident there will be a draft pick here*

TE - I know some want Sadiq....I don't get that. TE is almost never worth that high a pick, and Ferguson looks like he is going to be a beast - I think these guys are locked in

OL - I think these 8 are probably safe....we could end up cutting DQ if we draft a T high enough, but even if we do I think its safe. I am very confident there will be a draft pick here*

DL - I would be shocked if we add to this group - all are previous investments

EDGE - with Young hitting FA next year and it unlikely that we will be re-signed IMO, this is a sneaky high draft pick potential. Plus you can never have enough pass rushers - I do think we add someone to this group*

ILB - Dolac was pretty good on teams and we just signed Stuard - that said, I think a 5th ILB would make sense. The special teams investment, plus someone to possibly compete with Speights that is better in coverage would make sense*

CB - we need another long CB - the star/slot role has depth now with Lake/McDuffie/Wallace - need another long CB who also contributed on special teams*

S - special teams demon*



So what you end up with for most likely in the draft is:

OL/WR - likely to be day 1/2 picks

EDGE/ILB/CB - one of these possible on day 1/2

EDGE/ILB/CB/S - some combination of this group is likely to be our day 3 picks

Other possibilities: punter and return specialist that can double as a WR, especially if we trade down and accumulate picks. Evans is scheduled to make $3 million this year and is average at best. Getting more dangerous in the return game is always a positive.


Look for these positions to be drafted:

OL/WR/EDGE/ILB/CB/S/P?

Look for these to be ignored:

QB/RB/TE/DL/K

Didn't see it here, so please delete if it's a repost. Fun watch

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