They're Great
This one was easy. If you don't care about the details, you can stop reading this thread after the next sentence. Drew Azzopardi is Rob Havenstein. PFF likes Azzopardi and ranks him as a 3rd round prospect, which is about where Hav was projected to go. The Rams drafted Hav late in the 2nd round and in my mocks that year I took him for the Rams a round later in the 3rd. Other experts seem to hate Azzopardi. Some have him as an UDFA. I completely understand this. After all, on paper, Hav didn't look like a good draft prospect.
Hav's Combine testing numbers are ridiculously bad. I bet Rich Eisen could have beaten him in most of the drills. Per Mockdraftable, Hav's 40-yard dash time was so slow (5.46 seconds) that it is only 13th percentile for OTs. His 10-yard split was 16th percentile. His broad jump 14th percentile. His short shuttle 24th percentile. His 8.28 second 3 cone (Is that number right? How can you run the drill that slow? Did he stop at the last cone to eat a sandwich?) is 6th percentile. His 16 bench reps (and no, he doesn't have super long arms) was 3rd percentile. If we compared his bench to all OL, he was 2nd percentile. Hav's athletic spider web apart from his height and weight isn't a web; it is a cornflake. Or as Lance Zierlein put it in his draft profile for Hav: "Doesn't look the part... looks oafish."
Hav's career wasn't entirely smooth. You might remember there was one season he played hurt and was terrible. Injuries robbed him of the very end of his career as well. In between, Hav sometimes had trouble handling speed rushers. For most of his career, however, he was a rock on our OL, very reliable and consistent. He as a critical reason the Rams were able to run the football effectively, a very crafty and intelligent player with underrated footwork. When we used midzone runs, Hav was outstanding at torquing defenders out of the gap to widen the hole. He was also a great combo blocker. At the peak of his career, he was one of the best RTs in the NFL. I think there was one year that he had a strong claim for the top spot. Good job, big oaf.
Hav's draft class had a ton of 1st round busts. So, in a redraft Havenstein would be a high 1st round pick. Minimum he's top half, maybe top 10 overall. If we could only have one of them, which player would be more valuable, Todd Gurley or Havenstein? Gurley was more valuable at his peak, but due to his injury situation, his Rams career was only about half as long as Hav's career. Is it better to have a great RB for a relatively short period or a good OT for a much longer period? I think it is an interesting question to debate. Which would you choose? Ultimately, we needed both. Gurley was ineffective when the OL was bad. On the other hand, what's the point of a great OL if you don't have a good RB?
Since the bar is set so high, it is very unlikely that Azzopardi will match Hav's career achievements. Still, if his naysayers are right and he ends up only being a late round to UDFA prospect, you don't even have to ask whether I'd be interested in this player. I think he has a chance at being a starting RT in the NFL. Warren McClendon is on an expiring rookie contract. Keagan Trost is a rookie, so by definition unproven. If Alaric Jackson doesn't show he can be trusted, Trost might need to play LT. So, it doesn't take much imagination to see the Rams having an urgent need at RT entering 2027. Jackson himself is a former UDFA. Could the Rams steal another starting OT without investing much or any draft capital?
This one was easy. If you don't care about the details, you can stop reading this thread after the next sentence. Drew Azzopardi is Rob Havenstein. PFF likes Azzopardi and ranks him as a 3rd round prospect, which is about where Hav was projected to go. The Rams drafted Hav late in the 2nd round and in my mocks that year I took him for the Rams a round later in the 3rd. Other experts seem to hate Azzopardi. Some have him as an UDFA. I completely understand this. After all, on paper, Hav didn't look like a good draft prospect.
Hav's Combine testing numbers are ridiculously bad. I bet Rich Eisen could have beaten him in most of the drills. Per Mockdraftable, Hav's 40-yard dash time was so slow (5.46 seconds) that it is only 13th percentile for OTs. His 10-yard split was 16th percentile. His broad jump 14th percentile. His short shuttle 24th percentile. His 8.28 second 3 cone (Is that number right? How can you run the drill that slow? Did he stop at the last cone to eat a sandwich?) is 6th percentile. His 16 bench reps (and no, he doesn't have super long arms) was 3rd percentile. If we compared his bench to all OL, he was 2nd percentile. Hav's athletic spider web apart from his height and weight isn't a web; it is a cornflake. Or as Lance Zierlein put it in his draft profile for Hav: "Doesn't look the part... looks oafish."
Hav's career wasn't entirely smooth. You might remember there was one season he played hurt and was terrible. Injuries robbed him of the very end of his career as well. In between, Hav sometimes had trouble handling speed rushers. For most of his career, however, he was a rock on our OL, very reliable and consistent. He as a critical reason the Rams were able to run the football effectively, a very crafty and intelligent player with underrated footwork. When we used midzone runs, Hav was outstanding at torquing defenders out of the gap to widen the hole. He was also a great combo blocker. At the peak of his career, he was one of the best RTs in the NFL. I think there was one year that he had a strong claim for the top spot. Good job, big oaf.
Hav's draft class had a ton of 1st round busts. So, in a redraft Havenstein would be a high 1st round pick. Minimum he's top half, maybe top 10 overall. If we could only have one of them, which player would be more valuable, Todd Gurley or Havenstein? Gurley was more valuable at his peak, but due to his injury situation, his Rams career was only about half as long as Hav's career. Is it better to have a great RB for a relatively short period or a good OT for a much longer period? I think it is an interesting question to debate. Which would you choose? Ultimately, we needed both. Gurley was ineffective when the OL was bad. On the other hand, what's the point of a great OL if you don't have a good RB?
Since the bar is set so high, it is very unlikely that Azzopardi will match Hav's career achievements. Still, if his naysayers are right and he ends up only being a late round to UDFA prospect, you don't even have to ask whether I'd be interested in this player. I think he has a chance at being a starting RT in the NFL. Warren McClendon is on an expiring rookie contract. Keagan Trost is a rookie, so by definition unproven. If Alaric Jackson doesn't show he can be trusted, Trost might need to play LT. So, it doesn't take much imagination to see the Rams having an urgent need at RT entering 2027. Jackson himself is a former UDFA. Could the Rams steal another starting OT without investing much or any draft capital?