Kneejerk Central: Rank the Rams' Draft

[Merlin]

We must strike while the anger is hot.

 

[FrantikRam]

A

I am always optimistic, but this is the first time since possibly 2017 where we seemed to get real value at almost every pick.

I also have zero issues relying on internal development. Where others see huge issues in the secondary, I see four players who were drafted last year who have had a year to get the scheme down and learn how to be a pro.

I was thinking T in the second if we wanted to go OL, but as soon as I read about Avila and, coupled with Bruss coming back, you can visualize that McVays plan is to not allow pressure up the middle, and then Stafford can manipulate the pocket to help whoever our LT is.

The biggest issue was pass rush - and we basically hit that with shock and awe.

The punter looks legit.

The TE adds to that room and competition.


Obviously kicker is a need...the only other starting role would be ILB next to Jones

 

[BuffaloRam]

B+ - the approach taken to maximise the number of players who can fill holes should be the the right one for 2023. Good depth on the D side of the ball and investment in the trenches will help the team in the long run. Bennett fills a void - probably taken a bit early in the draft.

A good couple of days for the FO

 

[I like Rams]

I gave a B+. The Bennet pick was a head scratcher until I realized that he fits the mcvay back up mold to a T, so we really shouldn't have been so surprised.

Alot of the picks addressed our needs, it's now up to seeing who sticks. I think enough will stick to make this draft the grade I gave it.

 

[Neil039]

I think an A-. They went after needs, drafted a few projects (typical for Snead), and looked for depth to fill out the roster. The first three picks were excellent, the Stetson pick seems be a bit early (maybe Stafford made the pick), and they got guys who can contribute this year.

All IMO of course.

 

[Badfinger]

B+. Good profiles (work ethic, love for the game, athletic ability) for most if not all of the picks. Adept trading yielded more picks for a team in need of bodies. Shotgun approach to edge rushers was telling, and a good tactic in this particular draft. Opening with a hog mollie center started us off well. No complaints here.

 

[OldSchool]

Addressed the lines especially with 3 edge rushers. Got a couple corners with upside. Not a fan of the WR pick but that's fine. Got a backup QB that Stafford and the staff love.

 

[IowaRam]

C

Every team gets a C

 

[oldnotdead]

All that matters is that they filled this roster and helped to complete it. This is now a competitive roster capable of taking the division if they stay healthy.

 

[Curt760]

IDK, I was hoping they take Darnel Washington that Georgia TE. Would have been a boost to running game and pass protection not to mention he seems to have a wide catch radius. Though defense needs players so...

 

[Merlin]

Avila is a slam dunk day one difference maker. He should instantly impact the offense positively. None of us expected OL at the top due to years of abuse by the Rams on draft day, but they sure did make a great call this year by sucking it up and taking the big guy.

Young we'll see. He's an upside pick. I think he is part of that price of moving down in terms of the draft steering them to OL with the first pick and after making the right call you gotta accrue picks somewhere. So then we miss on guys like Hall who I am sure they would have liked. But Young does have good film. I've been watching him more than any of these guys after the pick and think there's a reasonable chance the Rams can get the most from him. But it's still a wait and see deal vice a deal where you know the guy is gonna slay it day one. Probably gonna have an adjustment period before we feel him and there's a gulf between a guy who can give you some sacks next to AD like say Fowler or him growing into a real dawg and solving blindside for years.

Turner is an intriguing pick. Rams have a plan for him on the rush as per Les, with him and AD duoing in the middle. I like DL who are naturally tough to move and this guy has that element to him. But he's not overpowering in that way. Also he's not in AD's class in terms of quickness to counter that. So where his ceiling is no idea, thinking he's at worst a rotational type who helps us year one. At best he's AD's replacement if he up and retires suddenly. Not a day one difference maker, though he has a chance to start most likely at 5T for us, that's his best spot with AD taking up 3T. If he wins that 5T job then maybe we have something.

Bennett is the QB pick we knew was coming. Not the QB we knew was coming but a strong backup option for us that makes McVay feel good if Stafford misses time. I think his ceiling is a backup but we'll see how it goes. Quality addition for the room all around. Backup QB.

Hampton is a dice roll on another twitchy edge, a bit undersized so he's a project. Depth and teams.

McClendon is a project for the OL pipeline. Depth role.

Allen I will say has some intriguing skills for development. Role will be TE depth chart and teams.

Nacua is another large possession option WR. What makes him a bit different from Skow and McClutch is he's a guy who can be plugged into the slot and be productive. He's a chain mover and has a real chance to squeeze someone we like off this roster. I shall call him mini-Kupp.

Tomlinson for where he was taken will have every opportunity to win a slot role. They may even let him play outside the hash if he comes in hot because our options out there are fucking ugly opposite Durant. So for a late round choice this is a really strong pick and represents real potential to start. Cannot complain about that.

Mathis is my kind of Edge. I like 'em rangy and menacing with a little pop to them. But he's another project to load that room, raw gristle for the pressure mill. Depth and teams.

Evans is a Snead boom/bust pick. I fucking hate that it's at RB and that shit triggers me badly. But maybe we finally get on the boom side of the ledger at RB as we are overdue. Nice talent level. Role should be depth but there is room for him to be needed as a rook so hope he's locked in.

Taylor is a box safety with some upside. Depth role and teams if he wants to make the roster. Scott path hopefully, if we hit on him.

Johnson is my favorite day three pick. Interior rotation addition for the DL, boy has some pop to him, physicality that I prefer. Will be in the mix if he comes into camp hot for the 5T role potentially. But either way good depth pickup for the DL roster.

Going into this draft we knew it was a reload deal where Les would move down and add pick volume. They did that and missed out on some guys I would have loved to have. Whether those picks we added move the bar we'll see.

Strengths of the class are they restocked the defensive front, which was no small feat, and added a critical need at OG to ensure our old QB doesn't get killed. I think to some extent the draft steered them to take OL early, but I'll take it lol.

Weaknesses of the draft is that our secondary is a shambles. We have a hole at boundary corner. Our safeties are iffy at best. Neither of those things were likely affected for this year by this draft haul. Also RB, which has been a problem every year for McVay since we lost Gurley, they went with a risky pick. And lastly will add that we lost two 1T and I am not sure we have a good NT plan in that room. Who's our NT? Brown? We need some oversized beef I think, and if not we're gonna get run off the field vs divisional opponents.

Now we can play with each others dicks here and act like every pick is gonna hit but we have been doing this long enough to know that rarely happens. So this is a good draft I think. Solid in many ways that we needed it to be. But it's not that draft that gives us hope of a quick reboot.

Kneejerk Grade: B+

 

[Merlin]

C

Every team gets a C

You and OS should get a hotel.

 

[El Chapo Jr]

Knee jerk, B...... realistically, TBD but apparently we got some twitchy coke headed motherfuckers

 

[FrantikRam]

Fuck it I'm stupid excited so...

QB - Stafford/Bennett (preseason will be hella fun to watch)

RB - Akers/Williams/Evans

WR - Kupp/Van/Tutu/Sko/McCutcheon/Puka

TE - Higbee/Allen/Hopkins/Long

LT - Boom/Jackson
LG - Avila/Anchrum
C - Allen/Shelton
RG - Bruss/McClendon
RT - Have/Arcuri

DL - AD/Turner/Brown/Brown/Hoecht/Williams/Copeland/Johnson

ILB - Jones/Hummel/Rozeboom/UDFA

EDGE - Young/Hardy/Mathis/Hampton/Thomas

S - Fuller/Lake/Yeast/Taylor

CB - Durant/Kendrick/Tomlinson/Rochell

K/P/LS

That's 53 - and note that we have a Super Bowl champ on the DL, at LB and in the secondary. But we need Jones to take a step, need one roomie pass rusher to make a splash and need Durant to prove as a consistent starter - if we do that, and AD is AD - I think we have a good chance at being a middle of the pack defense.

If our OL gets locked in - and I'm feeling pretty damn good about it right now - we have a great QB, the best offensive player in the league, some depth at TE, speed at WR and Akers who I think can finally put it all together.

This could be a top 10 offense, top 20 defense and given our schedule - I think that's a 10-12 win team.

And obviously the name of the game is competition - UDFAs will have a good chance to unseat some of the guys I put on there. Not a prediction as much as just looking at the roster after the draft. And I'm liking what I'm seeing.

 

[OldSchool]

You and OS should get a hotel.

I gave it an A smartass

 

[muggmeister]

Turner is an intriguing pick. Rams have a plan for him on the rush as per Les, with him and AD duoing in the middle. I like DL who are naturally tough to move and this guy has that element to him. But he's not overpowering in that way. Also he's not in AD's class in terms of quickness to counter that. So where his ceiling is no idea, thinking he's at worst a rotational type who helps us year one. At best he's AD's replacement if he up and retires suddenly. Not a day one difference maker, though he has a chance to start most likely at 5T for us, that's his best spot with AD taking up 3T. If he wins that 5T job then maybe we have something.

I don't really mind this draft. I only wished we had traded back up in the 3rd round 5 spots(in lieu of Turner) to draft either Henley or Simpson (ILBs) as either one would have likely earned a starting role next to Jones.

With no first and bunch of late rounders I give it a B grade, unless Young turns into a sack machine, then an A.

 

[Merlin]

This could be a top 10 offense, top 20 defense and given our schedule - I think that's a 10-12 win team.

Must be some good scotch. Diggin the optimism though.

 

[Memento]

Steve Avila - A+. Easy grade there. He's the offensive lineman we've dreamed about for years but never came close to getting...until now.

Byron Young - B. Vast amount of potential, but how long do you wait on a twenty-five-year-old rookie? I admire his perseverance, though.

Kobie Turner - A-. Maybe he's a round early, but I can't find much fault with this pick otherwise. Solid versatile lineman who should end up backing up Hoecht if they ever wise up and move him to 5-tech.

Stetson Bennett - D. He was probably my last quarterback on the list. His attitude rubs me the wrong way, and he does have character concerns. If he's strictly a backup, I think we'll be fine, but if Stafford gets hurt again, I think we're in deep shit.

Nick Hampton - B+. Solid production. Undersized and not likely to add more mass, but with his athleticism and production at both ILB and EDGE, there's always a place for that.

Warren McClendon - B+. I love this kid. Technician, powerful, maybe a little slow in his feet, but hey, that's what Havenstein had issues and strengths with.

Davis Allen - B. Solid receiving tight end, whom I could also see in an H-back blocking role. McVay must be dreaming of various packages for him, even though he really isn't that much of an athlete.

Puka Nacua - B+. Some may say he's too early, but I like the kid. I don't think he bumps McCutcheon off of the roster, but I bet he makes it as well. Good size, good hands, good routes...just a little bit slow.

Tre'Vius Hodges-Tomlinson - A+. I'll say it right now: steal of the Rams draft. If he was three inches taller, he'd be going first round. Sticky, ballhawk, sticks his nose in the running game, what's not to like?

Ochaun Mathis - C. Underwhelmed with another edge, would've preferred a cornerback. Athletic, but raw and underperformed.

Zach Evans - A-. Maturity and health issues aside, this kid is as talented as it gets. Definite value in the late sixth.

Ethan Evans - B. I like what the kid has shown, but it's still Division II and a punter. We'll see.

Jason Taylor II - B+. Solid, solid safety in the seventh. Could've easily gone two rounds higher.

Desjuan Johnson - B. Undersized 3-tech. Not really versatile, but has tons of TFLs and a fair amount of sacks. Should be interesting to watch.

Overall ranking: B. The Bennett and Mathis picks sink this grade. I think we should've gone heavier on cornerback or should've drafted another speedy receiver to compete with Atwell and Jefferson, and I won't even get into whom I would've taken over Bennett, but overall, it's a solid draft for a team that's both rebuilding for the future and competing with the core we have.

 

[Dodgersrf]

It was an A+, as soon as they drafted Avila and not a gadget.

 

[dieterbrock]

I give it an A
i think they really improved some areas and clearly believe in guys they brought in last year.
Sure I hate the Bennett pick, but it doesnt damper a great draft