How do you really feel about the draft & UDFAs

[oldnotdead]

Okay, guys let's hear how you honestly feel about the draft, more specifically the players drafted and the new group of UDFAs. Has your opinion of the team and their season prospects changed?

I loved the draft. This team definitely improved. Avila is a huge piece of that OL wall. Whether he stays at LG long term or moves to center. I think they might be looking at him as a LG long term because they signed a center in McAlister or they can extend Shelton. They can move him to Center next year and play Maginn at LG. I like Maginn a lot. He plays with a nasty demeanor which you need. With McClendon, Maginn, McAlister, Thomas, and Toner they have a lot of OL combinations options and what looks like some serious depth.

I really loved Young and frankly was shocked he fell all the way to the third. This guy has some serious potential and IMO he will be an upgrade to Floyd. Now you add in Hampton to play SAM behind him and this pass rush potential really has changed. That is on top of Hoecht, Hardy and Mathis. I see Mathis as a better version of Keir Thomas and see him playing behind Hoecht. Like the OL they have a lot of combinations they can play in rotation at edge.

With this potentially being Donald's final season, Turner is obviously looked upon as their 3T of the future. I think combined with Murchison and Brown that IDL could be very good after Donald retires be it in 2024 or 2025.

I really like what both Z. Evans and Hodges-Tomlinson bring to the Rams. Both are underrated talents, who I think will play bigger than their draft position. HT is as close to being a lockdown SCB as you are going to get. Evans could be that missing piece and it offers the Rams security depending upon what happens with Akers after this season. Personally, I would like them to extend Akers but who knows if they will or if he will warrant it. Regardless I think the Rams are truly 3 deep at RB this year.

I love what Nacua and Allen bring as two important role players this year. Allen might give them that TE who can catch and block. Nacua gives Stafford another tall Z/Y receiver for Stafford with good hands.

I think they got a solid P and will have a very good PK regardless of who wins the kickoff.

The Rams got better and deeper where they had to. This is going to be a good team this year. My faith in Snead is unshaken.

 

[Loyal]

I have already said that I really like the draft. Why would I have lied after the draft?

 

[ottoman89]

Honestly, I feel fucking great.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

I liked the draft. I don’t ever expect any real impact players after round 2. Sometimes teams get lucky and a gem falls in a later round, like Tariq Woolen did last year for Seattle.

No matter what they did, there will still be holes and steep learning curves in the 2023 season, on defense.

I love the Avila pick. I like the Turner pick a lot. Young seems like a gamble to me. Elite speed but playing the run in the NFC West is important. I’m not crazy about a speed rusher only type. I think it will be too obvious when Young is on the field and teams will run right at him. He won’t have much help from the corners either. The Rams have some poor tacklers in the secondary.

The rest of the draft is just a wait and see. A guy can do great in college but suck in the NFL. It seems like there are a lot of hit or miss types afte round 3.

Projecting any undrafted free agents to be important starters is just crazy talk. Sure, they may get lucky on one but that’s not common. Getting lucky on two is very uncommon, aside from special teams, of course.

At least they got a good base for keeping the culture strong and they won’t have any players failing for lack of effort. That’s a plus.

The 2024 season predictions are off base imo. 2025/2026 are more likely for serious contention, because they still have holes to fill with quality players.

 

[RamDino]

I know many of us feel like you have to wait 2-3 years to find out how good a draft you had, and I understand that, but I still think you can grade the draft picks right after the draft. And I like what Snead has done. He traded back for multiple picks, picked linemen early and often, got smart and experienced players, and plugged a lot of holes. I don't know how the these kids will work out, but i really liked this draft and give them a B+. Now... getting rid of so many players in 1 year... that's another discussion.

 

[Loyal]

Honestly, I feel fucking great.

That's the Coors Light talkin'

 

[NJRamsFan]

Oldnotdead: Starts a thread with “Okay guys let’s hear”

Also Oldnotdead: Has never actually responded to, or interacted with anyone.

 

[Force16X]

i do not believe in the draft . except on particularly cold, windy days and even then i just turn the thermostat up.

 

[OregonRamsFan]

So I hope our draft produces some diamonds. Beyond that it’s all just wait and see for me.

 

[Kupped]

I feel like it was a sensible draft.. but we’ll have to wait to see if it was a good draft.
If Avila is a day one starter and a good one at that, he’ll have a pretty big impact on the offense.
The upside with Young, Hampton and Evans is significant.
Needed a backup QB.
Davis has an understandable skillset.
McClendon feels like a pick that could go either way.

I guess I’m just waiting to see.. but also just accepting that the defense is gonna be bad.

 

[Rams43]

I think Snead had an amazing draft considering our needs and the picks he had to work with.

He loaded up on both OL and DL plus edge. I predict that this will pay immediate dividends this year.

I think he got 2 steals in Tomlinson and Evans.

Love the Davis Allen pick, too. Now McVay can r-open his entire playbook.

Don’t go to sleep on the McClendon pick, either.

All in all, one of Snead’s more promising drafts.

 

[den-the-coach]

FWIW I really like the way Chase Blackburn went about getting his specialists. For one, drafting Ethan Evans, he gets a punter with a huge leg that also has the ability to kick off. The reason that Christopher Dunn did not get drafted was because of his inability to kick off, but he was the most accurate kicker in college football last season and the Lou Groza award winner, so the pairing with Evans is perfect.

Add in signing the best long snapper in CFB last season in Alex Ward, the UCF grad that @Selassie I daughter knows (I think I got that right) and I came away very pleased with Blackburn's additions. Add in Tanner Brown from Oklahoma State to provide competition for Dunn and I feel good about the specialists heading into training camp.

 

[snackdaddy]

Cautious optimism. Been there done that with draft picks. UDFA's. Camp stars. Only to see many of them fizzle out when the real games start.

With 14 picks the odds are better we find a few keepers. Who they are I don't know. The obvious one is Avila. Its possible Young and Turner need time but could be nice contributors in a year or two.

The rest its a crap shoot. Maybe they find a few rotational pieces with the day 3 guys. But I don't expect much in their first year.

 

[JYB]

Really liked this draft. Investing in the O-line was long overdue and I like that they deviated from their usual undersized interior lineman profile. IMO. I hope Avila is an acknowledgement that they HAVE to get more stout upfront if they want to compete with the Niners. I love the Young pick -- he'll be Floyd's equal, at worst. Thought the Wake DL was taken early, but he seems to be getting good reviews, so we'll see. I like what they did with a lot of their lower round picks and hopefully got a handful of starters there. Hodges-Tomlinson should get a lot of playing time immediately. Got a punter with a cannon for a leg, who can also kick off. And I really like what I see in Bennett and I don't understand why the national media think so little of him -- other than not having a cannon for an arm, I see few glaring weaknesses and a whole lot to like about his game.

Heard a report (I think from Ellenbogen) that the player they were trying to trade up for in the first round was Kincaid. And also that that they were targeting Marte Mapu at the Byron Young pick, but the Pats took him one pick before them. Hope that's not true. Avila and Young vs Kincaid and Mapu? Yuck. Have to believe that's misinformation. But IF true -- and that's a big if -- my faith in the front office would be severely shaken.

 

[Selassie I]

FWIW I really like the way Chase Blackburn went about getting his specialists. For one, drafting Ethan Evans, he gets a punter with a huge leg that also has the ability to kick off. The reason that Christopher Dunn did not get drafted was because of his inability to kick off, but he was the most accurate kicker in college football last season and the Lou Groza award winner, so the pairing with Evans is perfect.

Add in signing the best long snapper in CFB last season in Alex Ward, the UCF grad that @Selassie I daughter knows (I think I got that right) and I came away very pleased with Blackburn's additions. Add in Tanner Brown from Oklahoma State to provide competition for Dunn and I feel good about the specialists heading into training camp.

My daughter-in-law... she played on the UCF golf team and got to play an extra year because of covid and 2 free masters paid for too. My son knows him also, but his wife got to know him well because the athletes all kinda hang together. They tell me that he is a strange one personality wise... hell... the poor bastard had to spend all his time around kickers - what do you think is gonna happen.

He's a master at snapping though. We are very fortunate to have signed him.

 

[OldSchool]

I really feel like I said in all the threads about the draft and udfa.

 

[ottoman89]

That's the Coors Light talkin'

WHORES LIGHT?! I'M FIGHTING YOU!

 

[den-the-coach]

I really feel like I said in all the threads about the draft and udfa.

 

[oldnotdead]

Oldnotdead: Starts a thread with “Okay guys let’s hear”

Unlike some, I believe that everyone has a right to their own viewpoints. Too many on this board simply like baiting people just to get some weird satisfaction. I also wanted to gauge whether or not the draft had changed the overall somewhat negative view of many fans in regard to this coming season.

I think most fans view the draft as having strengthened this team making them more competitive, filling holes and giving them better depth across the board.

I've always felt this team is better than most realize. I believe that even more so now. Also, I think most myself included is this was a foundation-building draft, to set up for a very focused draft next year.

I said weeks ago that this team was going to change and be different. In some ways I see this team looking like that team of 2017 and 2018, i.e. a team you better not sleep on. If just 3 or 4 players play as advertised, i.e. above their draft pick this team can indeed be sneaky good.

It's clear the Rams focused on the OL (Avila, McClendon, Thomas, Toner, Maginn, and McAlister), the edges with Young, Hampton, and Mathis. McClendon is an interesting pick in regards to where they project him playing. Warren is built like an OG, at 6'4" with 34" arms. He plays nasty with the ability to make second level blocks. He looks like he plays the run better than as a pass blocker. It sounds like a RG more than a RT. A lot of his shortcomings are technique related, except his heavy feet. Better technique can compensate for that to a degree. So do they project Bruss at LG, Avila at C, and McClendon at RG in 2024? All I know is that they have multiple options on the OL. McClendon is why I felt they would take an OL in the 5th. He could be a very good run blocking RG.

They improved both the OL and front 7, both foundations of classic team building. Hodges-Tomlinson, along with Zach Evans IMO will both see a lot of snaps. It will be very interesting to see if they play Hampton as a SAM OLB (where Ebukam played) aligning behind Young who should be the replacement for Floyd at JACK. I can see Mathis replacing K. Thomas who played behind Hoecht at DE. Mathis will give them an early down rotational option at DE. If this is indeed what they doing I like it. This front 7 could be very good this year if played properly.

It wouldn't surprise me if Morris played a base nickel with Jones and Hampton as his LBs. I think Fuller might be in his last year. They certainly brought in a lot of safeties among the UDFAs. It fits if you are going to play almost entirely a zone secondary. The strength of the secondary depth would be in zone type DBs and that safeties would be the best fits.

Again I say that the success of this season will be on how good of a job the coaches do. When you have a young team coaching is the crucial difference.

 

[TexasRam]

The draft is a complete crapshoot by any measure. History supports that fact.

This is why moving back and getting more picks is normally a sound approach. So is drafting multiple players at a position. Both of which we did.

I feel like we will land some starters and solid contributors just based upon our approach as stated above.

Another thing this Regime does is look for system fits. I feel that is a wise approach because several players fail at the NFL level due to being drafted into a system that doesn’t match their skillset or experience.

As for the players we drafted I’m hopeful with a few but also think it could render too many Jags.

I definitely wouldn’t start writing in some UDFA’s as future starters. That is highly unlikely.

We may have missed out on some stars because we were too passive ironically.

Wait and see.