OldSchool mock 2.0

[OldSchool]

So I have this sneaky suspicion McVay is going to spend a top pick, IE our 1st or 2nd round pick, on a WR. Kupp we have seen has had injury problems throughout his career. He's great when he's 100% and he and Stafford have an undeniable connection. But he's also soon to be 31 and it isn't unheard of for those kind of injuries to keep happening and show an early end to a career. Add to that we all know or feel Stafford has another year or two left in him so McVay will want to get the most out of that window. This is a mock with that in mind not necessarily what I want to happen. Also all my mocks the bottom end of it will mostly be directed at special teams. Also this mock will have to have some restructures to facilitate some of these signings.

Resignings:
Alaric Jackson
Coleman Shelton
Demarcus Robinson
Carson Wentz
Jordan Fuller
Royce Freeman
John Johnson III
Brycen Hopkins (insurance until Higbee comes back only)

Free agency:

Danielle Hunter Edge I've said before I'm not a fan of him don't like his effort or ability in run defense and think as much as he helps with pass rush he's a liability in the run game. Spotrac estimates a $20m aav so fit that in, it also can be a lesser hit year one and a bigger hit year 3 when Stafford and Donald and Kupp are off the books.

Noah Fant TE This might be a signing in all my mocks. It makes a ton of sense.

Kendall Fuller CB A CB1 signed in free agency after an Edge signed in free agency.

Draft:

Round 1 pick 19: Brian Thomas Jr WR LSU 6'4" 205 lbs with good explosiveness, I've seen it described as a violent change of direction, and short area acceleration. Good route runner, good size, good red zone target and very good at tracking the ball on deep throws. This guy added to Kupp, Nacua, Fant, Higbee(when he comes back), Allen and the RB room will make this offense deadly. I don't think McVay can pass up a guy like this. Some will say we could trade back and get him in another 5 picks or so but not messing with it and grabbing him now. Oh and the 2nd play in this highlight clip? Yeah that's a jet sweep that'll have McVay salivating


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJwwk7besX0&t=248s&ab_channel=JustBombsProductions


Trade pick 2-51 and 6-217 to Tampa Bay for 2-57 4-126 and 6-203 (for the trade chart junkies it's 384.6 going out 386.2 coming in)

Round 2 pick 57 : Connor Beebe OG Kansas State As you may have noticed no Dotson resigning. With the CB and Edge signed I'm thinking another $15+ million for a Guard might not be in the books. So we go and get one of if not the best pure OG in the draft. Beebe is a straight monster, reminds a lot of people of Avilla. He's 6'4" 335 lbs and just straight mean. Strong and when he sets his anchor it's damned near impossible to move him. You put him on the other side of Shelton and Avilla and we have an impressive IOL that other teams will envy.

Clip vs Texas which has very good IDL


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H31vf1kJgOs&ab_channel=DoABarrowRoll



View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q9F7X4mezk&ab_channel=Prospects


Round 3 pick 83: Spencer Rattler QB South Carolina Draft a kid to work a year or two behind Stafford and Wentz. There's a lot to like about his game, there's also stuff to work on. One of the biggest things to me is he's experienced, I see way too many of the QB's that don't make it were one or maybe two year starters. This kid has been around, a four year starter think I saw something saying over 1300 snaps in 4 years. Good arm strength, good release, spreads the ball around and can make all the throws. Mobile but not really a running QB. Knocks on him are his size, which isn't bad at 6'1" and I've seen 215-220 lbs so he's not a big stature QB.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF_SruRs9dA&ab_channel=KaliforniaHighlights


Round 3 pick 100: Mason Smith NT LSU A big man in the middle! He's 6'6" 318 lbs. A disrupter along the DL to help both in run defense and the pass rush. Every video I saw of him showed the same thing, he was double teamed A LOT, which he won't likely see much of in the NFL with Turner and AD out there too along with Young and Hunter.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X82CmtNT68Q&ab_channel=NFLFilmRoom


Round 4 pick 126: Cedric Gray LB North Carolina A repeat pick from mock 1.0. Upgrades the run defense a lot and is good in coverage. A guy that also could help ST.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd0yFNvjjk8&ab_channel=TarHeelTapes


Round 5 pick 153: Braelon Allen RB Wisconsin I've seen him projected anywhere from mid 2nd to mid 6th round. A 5th round pick to a lot of people seems right for Allen. Allen is way too big of a man at 6'2" 245 lbs to be running a 4.4 40 yard dash but he does it. The speed is there in the game tape. Guy is just a play maker when running the ball. What drops him to the 5th is he's not much of a route runner/pass catcher. He'll catch your screens and drop offs but won't be a guy we swing out wide often for miss matches. Also he's not the best pass blocker, putting it mildly. He'll have to work on this, ironically had a similar grade on this as Kyren. Biggest thing for me is he's a back that can run a lot like Kyren but has that extra gear to create separation coming out of a hole and can break off a run. His longest runs each of his 3 years at Wisconsin were 71 yards in 2021 96 yards in 2022 and only 53 yards last year. He's a potential game changer.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAZ_WCoZc6o&ab_channel=csp_graphics


Roudn 5 pick 154: Nelson Ceaser Edge Houston Good hands, dip and bend. Good size and speed on the Edge as well. But will need some time in the weight room to take his game up a notch. Until then is depth at edge and a contributor on coverage teams. Think he led the conference in sacks always a plus.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=701GThEi0F0&ab_channel=Prospects


Round 5 pick 177: Evan Williams Oregon An all around safety, good ball skills for a center fielder and can tackle but isn't the best in the box safety which is fine we have a couple of those. Comes in as depth and again ST coverage unit.

Round 6 pick 191: Andrew Raym C Oklahoma We let Allen go we need a backup Center. Could one day take over for Shelton but comes in now as depth. And hey drafting a center from here may help people get over a certain Center we didn't draft, just a little

Round 6 pick 203: Chau Smith-Wade CB Washington St This is my Senior Bowl player pick. Had a good week there, not a Mitchell type week, but was all around good. Not a big guy but is good tracking the ball. Also a guy that's depth and a coverage team contributor day 1.

Round 6 pick 212: Jared Wiley TE TCU A big man at 6'6" 253 lbs. Came into the passing game much more this past year with 47 receptions 520 yards and 8 TD. Good hands good size but not the fasted TE in the world and only an above average blocker. Not counting on offensive production but can develop and can again contribute on coverage teams.

Round 6 pick 218: Aaron Casey ILB Indiana Think I took this same guy in this same spot in 1.0 Want a different guy JD Bertrand, Omar Speights or Ty'Ron Harper
work just as well. Depth ILB and help on coverage teams.

Round 7 pick 237: Joshua Carty K Stanford. Yes it's a need but they still aren't people. Didn't sign a free agent so went with one of the obvious options.

I'll give just one priority UDFA for you as well. Lets go with M.J. Devonshire CB Pitt. He's a good sized CB


I think we may all be disappointed with the 1st round and McVay can't pass up a weapon. But he and Fant and Beebe along with Allen as a 2 headed monster with Kyren without question make this offense much better. We also add a vet CB and Edge along with help in the middle of the front 7. And biggest is we get a punt returner

QB: Stafford
RB: Williams/Allen
WR: Kupp
WR: Nacua
WR: Thomas JR
TE: Fant, Allen, Wiley and Higbee (4th due to no idea when he's back at this moment)
LT: Jackson
LG: Avilla
C: Shelton
RG: Beebe
RT: Havenstein

DT: Donald
NT: Smith
DE: Turner
Edge: Young
ILB: Jones
ILB: Grey
Edge: Hunter
CB: Fuller
CB: Williams
CB: Durant
FS: Fuller
SS: Yeast

P: Evans
K: Carty
KR/PR Devonshire

 

[Flatlyner]

Great job. I'm on board with the FA signings for certain, but, I'm not a huge fan of Thomas Jr and personally I'd be disappointed if we picked him at 19. There are a number of guys I'd rather have and that would help out a lot more IMO. Outside of that I like your picks. Not so certain they will roll the dice on another drafted QB this season, they have no clue about Bennett still and I assume want a vet for a back up.

Also, you have Williams, the safety we drafted, as the #2 CB? Not sure that is wise for us.

 

[OldSchool]

Great job. I'm on board with the FA signings for certain, but, I'm not a huge fan of Thomas Jr and personally I'd be disappointed if we picked him at 19. There are a number of guys I'd rather have and that would help out a lot more IMO. Outside of that I like your picks. Not so certain they will roll the dice on another drafted QB this season, they have no clue about Bennett still and I assume want a vet for a back up.

I resigned Wentz so Rattler is #3. And I get the Thomas comment but he looks like everything we need in an X WR.

 

[Memphis Ram]

I get that Kendall Fuller and McVay were together in Washington, but my fear is that he's going to get #1 shut down CB money in free agency when he maybe just a good #2 CB.

I considered Cooper Beebe as a possible replacement for Dotson, but it concerned me that he has played 41 of his 48 games on the left side of the line of scrimmage. Maybe it works, but I can't help but to think about how the Steelers moved Dotson to the left side after he played on the right side in college, and they were ready to move on from him. The Rams move him back to the right side and now he's about to get a huge payday.

If Braelon Allen is like the Packers A.J. Dillion, I'd hope the Ram go in another direction.

 

[OldSchool]

I get that Kendall Fuller and McVay were together in Washington, but my fear is that he's going to get #1 shut down CB money in free agency when he maybe just a good #2 CB.

I considered Cooper Beebe as a possible replacement for Dotson, but it concerned me that he has played 41 of his 48 games on the left side of the line of scrimmage. Maybe it works, but I can't help but to think about how the Steelers moved Dotson to the left side after he played on the right side in college, and they were ready to move on from him. The Rams move him back to the right side and now he's about to get a huge payday.

If Braelon Allen is like the Packers A.J. Dillion, I'd hope the Ram go in another direction.

I'm happy with Fuller as our #1 CB he's talented but there's risk with every free agent

As for Beebe I don't know that I'd worry too much about that. We did just afterall draft a college center and start him at LG with big success.

I'm not sure what AJ Dillon has to do with Allen though at all.

 

[Memphis Ram]

I'm happy with Fuller as our #1 CB he's talented but there's risk with every free agent

As for Beebe I don't know that I'd worry too much about that. We did just afterall draft a college center and start him at LG with big success.

I'm not sure what AJ Dillon has to do with Allen though at all.

Avila played LG during his final season in college.

I just mentioned Dillion because he's another big RB like Allen. Has one panned out since Bettis?

 

[Flatlyner]

Derrick Henry is post Bettis.

 

[OldSchool]

Avila played LG during his final season in college.

I just mentioned Dillion because he's another big RB like Allen. Has one panned out since Bettis?

And every year before that Avila played guard. The fact that Beebe has played LG doesn't mean he can't play LG. He's good just like Avila was coming out of college he's capable of playing RG in the NFL. He's better than Dotson.

Dillon and Allen are nothing alike. Dillon's game speed was "plodding" he's slow. Allen is not even similar at all to Dillon aside from size which he shares with good backs like Henry mentioned above, Najee Harris, Josh Harris is close to him similar also to Elliot. Just because he's big you think he's AJ Dillon? Ok guess you won't like him if he's picked but he's 30ish pounds heavier than Williams but faster and better acceleration.

 

[Londoner]

He's better than Dotson.

I wouldn’t be so dogmatic about a player who hasn’t played a single down in the league yet.

He may have the potential to be better than Dotson, but he hasn’t done anything against NFL-calibre opponents yet.

 

[Memphis Ram]

Derrick Henry is post Bettis.

That's a good one. All I could think of is Peyton Hillis.

 

[Memphis Ram]

And every year before that Avila played guard. The fact that Beebe has played LG doesn't mean he can't play LG. He's good just like Avila was coming out of college he's capable of playing RG in the NFL. He's better than Dotson.

Dillon and Allen are nothing alike. Dillon's game speed was "plodding" he's slow. Allen is not even similar at all to Dillon aside from size which he shares with good backs like Henry mentioned above, Najee Harris, Josh Harris is close to him similar also to Elliot. Just because he's big you think he's AJ Dillon? Ok guess you won't like him if he's picked but he's 30ish pounds heavier than Williams but faster and better acceleration.

Avila started 35 career games at TCU across four different positions (17 at center, 15 at LG, two at RT and one at RG). I don't know if Beebe is just as good, but I know Avila was getting first round talk last year along with O'Cyrus Torrence while Beebe is getting 2nd and 3rd round draft talk. Each draft class is different, but to my eyes Avila is the better pass protector for sure.

Anyway, Beebe could be able to make the transition to the right side of the line. I'm just saying that it's possible that he may struggle and not be as effective like Dotson struggled on the left side in Pittsburgh. In the end it depends upon the player. Some say it's no big deal. But some say it is an issue. Already better than Dotson?

BTW, I said IF Braelon Allen is like the Packers A.J. Dillion I'd hope the Rams went in another direction. Dillion's problem isn't speed. His problem is that he a big RB that doesn't play to his size.

 

[OldSchool]

Brian Thomas Jr running that fast at his size is insanely good.

 

[jrry32]

That's a good one. All I could think of is Peyton Hillis.

Memphis, I'm pretty disappointed in you lol. We had a multi-time Pro Bowl HB who was 6'2" 240 pounds.

 

[jrry32]

Seems like a good mock to me. My big criticism is Kendall Fuller. He's coming off a really bad year and has been more average than great during his career. I wouldn't sign him expecting to get a #1 CB. But I do agree with you that I think McVay will look for a weapon in the first couple rounds. If Brock Bowers falls, we draft him. If he doesn't, Thomas is certainly possible. Also wouldn't be surprised if we take a long, hard look at Keon Coleman if he falls due to his 40.

EDIT: I'll also say that Maason Smith is more of a 5-Tech than a NT.

 

[Memphis Ram]

Memphis, I'm pretty disappointed in you lol. We had a multi-time Pro Bowl HB who was 6'2" 240 pounds.

It was my understanding that Jackson played at around 225-235 lbs. while guys like Hillis, Henry, Allen, & Dillion were much closer to or at around 250 lbs.

 

[Memento]

It was my understanding that Jackson played at around 225-235 lbs. while guys like Hillis, Henry, Allen, & Dillion were much closer to or at around 250 lbs.

S-Jax, I'm pretty sure was around 240 lbs. He was always a big dude with bad intentions. My all-time favorite Ram.

Anyway, I like the draft, @OldSchool, but Karty's not falling to the seventh, Braelon Allen doesn't play up to his size...and I'm not sure about your plan at cornerback. Fuller doesn't strike me as a number one option, and then you only pick one cornerback in the draft, and it's late (and I'm not sure your second corner is undrafted).

 

[methomas50]

One of the bloggers was saying that since the Rams were looking at Mike Evans and Odunze , they are definitely looking for size on the outside. I think a speedy TE, either Y or Z would make this offense nearly unstoppable. Probably prefer a Y since that would boost the run game too.

 

[Memphis Ram]

One of the bloggers was saying that since the Rams were looking at Mike Evans and Odunze , they are definitely looking for size on the outside. I think a speedy TE, either Y or Z would make this offense nearly unstoppable. Probably prefer a Y since that would boost the run game too.

Keon Coleman would be perfect He's just the type of WR that Stafford could throw his 50 /50 balls too. Plus, he's a punt returner.

 

[methomas50]

Keon Coleman would be perfect He's just the type of WR that Stafford could throw his 50 /50 balls too. Plus, he's a punt returner.

If that is the case I would hope like Kupp and Puka, his football speed is faster than his track speed. If the scouts think so, then sure.

 

[Memphis Ram]

If that is the case I would hope like Kupp and Puka, his football speed is faster than his track speed. If the scouts think so, then sure.

He was said to be the fastest WR in the combine gauntlet drill like Puka was last year.