This draft rests on Rapp and Henderson

[TheTackle]

I liked this draft, I was a little hot about Henderson but really didn't know anything about the kid (and my emotions were a bit clouded over the enigma that is Gurley's knee). But this draft is not about studs. I think we got some great depth and good role-players. What this draft does is set us up well for next year when we lose a lot of guys and need to go into the draft most likely looking for one or two day 1 starters.

I think we'll be less inclined to reach for need next year.

I'd argue that all the trading allowed us to stay squarely in the middle class of the draft and build depth with contributors.

If we're gonna say the draft rests on anyone, I think you have to include Gaines and Long with Henderson and Rapp.

Your right. On all counts. When McVey talked about dynamic playmakers - I wasn’t picturing a RB either. I thought we might go TE, but thought he meant on both sides. That was one reason I was certain we were about to pull the trigger on Murphy. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. I like the players we drafted, so I’m not crying over spilt milk. Just pointing out that for all the trading, the difference was these two players over the 1st round pick. The rest was a wash

 

[Akrasian]

The Rams aren't the only team scouting players or trying to draft the best players. You make it sound as if the Rams are drafting with 31 other teams that have idiots running things.

Right. It's mainly the Cardinals that have idiots running things. The other teams do okay some of the time.

 

[TheTackle]

Fowler joined the team Midway through the year. No way he was as impactful last year as this year with an off-season with the team. Fowler this year is an upgrade over Fowler last year

I hope so and am on record here saying we should tie Fowler up before he signed. I also wanted us to go after a bonified RDE/Edge - so, on that score I would say we are one - hugely key - player short

As Snead joked, perhaps we end up trading our 1st round pick away before season start. It will depend on Obo and co. We need two to break out, including Fowler

 

[Akrasian]

I liked this draft, I was a little hot about Henderson but really didn't know anything about the kid (and my emotions were a bit clouded over the enigma that is Gurley's knee). But this draft is not about studs. I think we got some great depth and good role-players. What this draft does is set us up well for next year when we lose a lot of guys and need to go into the draft most likely looking for one or two day 1 starters.

I think we'll be less inclined to reach for need next year.

Later picks often take a while to develop, so given the lack of picks they did what they could to get guys to develop, with likely more help in 2019 than last year's class gave the Rams in 2018. And in 2020 (at this point) the Rams have all their picks, plus likely two 4th comp picks. Even picking last each round they should be able to get good talent to fill some free agency holes.

 

[TheTackle]

The Rams aren't the only team scouting players or trying to draft the best players. You make it sound as if the Rams are drafting with 31 other teams that have idiots running things.

Yee of short memory. How long did we go again without a winning season. I’m going soft on you, but can start to ramp things up if you like . It is well proven one great draft can make a super bowl champ. End of story

 

[WestCoastRam]

I hope so and am on record here saying we should tie Fowler up before he signed. I also wanted us to go after a bonified RDE/Edge - so, on that score I would say we are one - hugely key - player short

As Snead joked, perhaps we end up trading our 1st round pick away before season start. It will depend on Obo and co. We need two to break out, including Fowler

Pass rush outside of Donald will be fine. FINE. Not great but not terrible. (And I would say it was pretty bad last year - outside Donald - before Fowler got here).

 

[Angry Ram]

This is not to negate what Snead and McVey did, but after pulling off more trades than I can ever remember in Rams history, Snead could have stayed put and picked practically all the same players bar Henderson and Rapp

Byron Murphy anyone?

Staying put could have brought in (for example)

Murphy, OT Bobby Evans, FS Chauncey Gardens-J, DT Greg Gaines, OT David Edwards, LB Dakota Allen (Scott would prob have been a priority FA)

They clearly wanted Henderson (in a big way) and were very comfortable taking Rapp who looks like a solid pick one pick back from Nasir Adderley (who has star potential)

I was surprised by the Gaines trade - thought they were trading up for Mack Wilson! Wanted Edge D’Andre Walker who went 1 pick ahead of our T David Edwards pick. Might we have shipped the 7th to get above them? Just my two cents

LB remains a shining weakness going into 2019 with the DL significantly weakened...

Just because they did something different, instead of taking "your guys", does not mean they made the wrong decisions.

 

[JackDRams]

Really? You think our trades caused a butterfly effect, whereby every other team didn’t pick the players they wanted?? I am not bitter, I am just making a solid point. All that trading amounted to no top pick, Rapp and Henderson - the rest ended up playing out almost identically, if we had stayed put

Yes, I think Murphy might have been the pick if I me, but they clearly liked Rapp enough to trade down. I wonder who they would have stayed at 31 for?

Yes, there is a butterfly effect. Let’s say the rams stayed put and took Byron Murphy. He is now unavailable. So who do the cardinals pick? The draft is now instantly different. Maybe they take a different position. Which effects the teams drafting behind them. The fact that you don’t see a butterfly effect here, drastically reduces your ability to argue your opinion properly. Maybe they valued David Long very highly and take him instead of Murphy. Now the Rams can’t get him.

 

[ReekofRams]

The draft rest on Rapp and Henderson? What about David Long and Greg Gaines? Gaines is going to be a major part of the rotation on the defensive line according to the coaches. David long is our CB of the future.

And we don’t really know what the other four guys the Rams picked will bring do we? So how can we we judge them as unimportant? Plus it takes a few years to actually judge a draft. What would have happened if had judged last years draft only by last season? It wouldn’t have looked to good for the Rams. This year with Brian Allen, Joe Noteboom, Micah Kiser, and others playing, last years draft looks pretty good. In the same way this draft will be judged on its productivity in a few years from now.

So no this draft does not rest on just Rapp and Henderson.

 

[TheTackle]

Just because they did something different, instead of taking "your guys", does not mean they made the wrong decisions.

I have never said they did ANGRY? Time will tell

For the record, I started a post ‘Trades Trades Trades’. Check the time I posted, it was hours before day two started, so you can’t say I didn’t see it coming!

 

[OldSchool]

Just because they did something different, instead of taking "your guys", does not mean they made the wrong decisions.

Shhhhh the next few months are great for this! Don't ruin our entertainment by pointing this out we might have less threads to read and laugh about

 

[Merlin]

These drafts take 3 years dudes, c'mon we all know that. I mean I badly wanted some players who were on the board at 31 added to this team, some of them clear fits with everything I look for. But the obvious thing here is that the Rams had specific role priorities:

1. They wanted to improve run defense on the nose. This was obvious two years in with Wade's defense struggling against the run for most of that time. Players they wanted (probably Simmons & Lawrence) were nabbed early oh well. The guy they got is the prototype in some ways, I've heard some guys like Kirwan go on over the years about the ideal nose being athletic and stumpy, former FB types who can pack on the muscle and stand up to the traffic in the middle and here we get a guy who was precisely that in a former FB who converted. He ain't Lawrence, but next to Donald he might be just as effective in his primary role of anchoring in while AD does his thing.

2. They wanted better instincts and tackling on the second level against the run. This really surprised me, figured they'd go after a safety who has the coverage and deep middle ability first since they're harder to find, but they specifically targeted the best run defending safety in the draft. He is going to be out there on third down getting some snaps this year in a hybrid LB/S role.

3. Lastly they wanted depth on the OL just as they said. I wanted Risner, oh well didn't happen as they prioritized S/LB. It's hard to argue with their approach, as our run defense has been bad on an epic level for a team of this quality (outside of a small window late season & playoffs).

Right now our OL depth is green as F, but looks better than it did. Our CB depth looks a ton better with a CB4 who can actually COVER in the event someone goes down. Our DL looks better on the starting level and NT depth is better now that we aren't counting on a guy who didn't sniff the field in 2018 to start this year. And ILB looks a ton better with Matthews and a mix of kids who can do different roles.

I'm pumped up and ready for camp. Let's goooooo!

 

[TheTackle]

The draft rest on Rapp and Henderson? What about David Long and Greg Gaines? Gaines is going to be a major part of the rotation on the defensive line according to the coaches. David long is our CB of the future.

And we don’t really know what the other four guys the Rams picked will bring do we? So how can we we judge them as unimportant? Plus it takes a few years to actually judge a draft. What would have happened if had judged last years draft only by last season? It wouldn’t have looked to good for the Rams. This year with Brian Allen, Joe Noteboom, Micah Kiser, and others playing, last years draft looks pretty good. In the same way this draft will be judged on its productivity in a few years from now.

So no this draft does not rest on just Rapp and Henderson.

Great argument. Only if they took Murphy (or another prospect at the top) they could still have taken Gaines without trading. Read the post before you throw it under a bus through flakey arguments

 

[TheTackle]

These drafts take 3 years dudes, c'mon we all know that. I mean I badly wanted some players who were on the board at 31 added to this team, some of them clear fits with everything I look for. But the obvious thing here is that the Rams had specific role priorities:

1. They wanted to improve run defense on the nose. This was obvious two years in with Wade's defense struggling against the run for most of that time. Players they wanted (probably Simmons & Lawrence) were nabbed early oh well. The guy they got is the prototype in some ways, I've heard some guys like Kirwan go on over the years about the ideal nose being athletic and stumpy, former FB types who can pack on the muscle and stand up to the traffic in the middle and here we get a guy who was precisely that in a former FB who converted. He ain't Lawrence, but next to Donald he might be just as effective in his primary role of anchoring in while AD does his thing.

2. They wanted better instincts and tackling on the second level against the run. This really surprised me, figured they'd go after a safety who has the coverage and deep middle ability first since they're harder to find, but they specifically targeted the best run defending safety in the draft. He is going to be out there on third down getting some snaps this year in a hybrid LB/S role.

3. Lastly they wanted depth on the OL just as they said. I wanted Risner, oh well didn't happen as they prioritized S/LB. It's hard to argue with their approach, as our run defense has been bad on an epic level for a team of this quality (outside of a small window late season & playoffs).

Right now our OL depth is green as F, but looks better than it did. Our CB depth looks a ton better with a CB4 who can actually COVER in the event someone goes down. Our DL looks better on the starting level and NT depth is better now that we aren't counting on a guy who didn't sniff the field in 2018 to start this year. And ILB looks a ton better with Matthews and a mix of kids who can do different roles.

I'm pumped up and ready for camp. Let's goooooo!

Great post. I agree. I started this topic, because I thought it would lead to an interesting discussion. Hell, it led to talk of a butterfly effect LOL. If only the cardinals had not taken a QB first, right now we might have drafted Dexter Lawrence! You never no....

 

[OldSchool]

Great argument. Only if they took Murphy (or another prospect at the top) they could still have taken Gaines without trading. Read the post before you throw it under a bus through flakey arguments

Class answer btw. And as for your classy response you don't know that. You assume that could have happened but you have no clue what would have happened or what changing that pick and not making the trade would have done to future picks.

 

[TheTackle]

Class answer btw. And as for your classy response you don't know that. You assume that could have happened but you have no clue what would have happened or what changing that pick and not making the trade would have done to future picks.

No I can't, but following that logic, you can't say I am wrong either... They had a plan for Gaines and I 'guarantee' you one thing, it did not involve 'definitively trading down' from 31 before the draft even started!! Most likely, they would have used one of those late 3rds.

But, yes, there are no guarantees in life except death and taxes. Long may be a better pro than Murphy. I am the poster who predicted we would trade down before the round started - so people are way wide of the mark to suggest my post is sour grapes.

 

[12intheBox]

That literally makes no sense? As for Fisher, I think it would have taken Aaron Rogers to save his job, the offense was that bad

I am not raining negativity here. Byron Murphy looks like a stud and there were other players taken - e.g. Risen - who might well go on to have better careers than our picks at CB and OL. To say that is not blasphemy. After all the were not simply throwing darts hoping to hit one. Henderson might be a star, same with Rapp, but if not and Murphy or another player rated 30 spots higher is, they made a mistake

Of course it makes sense. Anything moves that would have improved the Rams before Jeff Fisher we’re fired - would - using hindsight - be the wrong moves. We had to stink for him to be let go - remember they had already agreed on a contract extension! Thank goodness we sucked so bad when Goff was a rookie. And it had to be that year that he was fired otherwise McVay would be coaching the 49ers right now.

 

[Mojo Ram]

Yee of short memory. How long did we go again without a winning season. I’m going soft on you, but can start to ramp things up if you like . It is well proven one great draft can make a super bowl champ. End of story

A long time. Now we're winning again consistently. What does that have to do with this draft or any of the people currently running it?

So now we're onto the Rams' '99 draft winning them SB 34? Is that what you're implying? Or just in general one draft can create a championship team? Both are not true.
End of what story?

Nevermind. I feel like i'm wasting my time with this conversation. Your opinions matter here, but i disagree with them. Cheers.

 

[Memento]

No, this draft depends on how well these rookies step up to eventual starting roles in 2020. Aside from maybe four rookies (Rapp at big nickel safety, Long as a fourth cornerback, Henderson as a returner and change of pace back, and Gaines as a nose tackle), this is a redshirt draft.

Hopefully we get to see how Evans and Edwards - along with Rapp at strong safety, Long at starting corner, Henderson at backup running back, and Gaines - do next year rather than this year. If they have to step in this year, we've had injuries.

 

[Mojo Ram]

If Whit doesn’t hit free agency, or signs elsewhere - who was going to play LT? We got lucky Whit was available in the first place. Look at how it worked out for the Bengals. They should have locked him up, period. Instead, they had a disaster. The Robinson miss could and in al probability should have still been costing us even now. Thankfully Whit dropped in our lap and Snead and McVey made sure he didn’t get away

That's not how FA works. Teams don't just go and get anyone they want and hope and pray that they get lucky that the guy they want is miraculously available right when they need them.

Teams prepare for FA years in advance and when it comes time to present your pitch you're competing against many other teams for that players services. The Rams did their homework and landed Whitworth.

Seemingly by your (draft) logic if the Rams had lost out on Whitworth it would be bad FA....but because they got him it was luck.