Which QB should the Rams draft in the 1st Round next year?

[Merlin]

He just looks like an NFL QB to me and most importantly a good fit for a McVay offense. He's not in the shotgun all the time and relying so much on RPOs. He attacks the middle of the field layering throws and not relying upon a bunch of jump balls. Good play action fakes. And he's played as well as he has vs. SEC defenses as a 1st year starter with a horrible rushing attack and WRs dropping passes. So there should be decent upside.

Hopefully, his safety blanket in TE Cuevas who has missed the past few games comes back for the playoffs. Then again, maybe not as that might help to increase his stock.

Finally, they shouldn't have to trade multiple 1st round picks to get him.

Upside is actually his problem I think.

If he had finished out his one year of starting the way he looked in the first half of the season, then I think he'd warrant that high selection. And I said as much during that stretch of games. Because his play during that stretch was simply that good. Good enough to where you put the smaller frame in the back seat and don't worry about it.

But sample size matters in evaluation when you are trying to project all these prospects. And when teams rack 'n stack them, particularly as it pertains to QBs who require a lot of growth to be the player that teams need, upside factors in very strongly. Again this is why a raw prospect like Richardson goes 3 overall. Or why Sellers would make sense in a redshirt type approach.

Now of course all it takes is one team to reach for that QB with lesser upside. Look at Carolina taking Young. Maybe he ends up an outlier and being elite too, at some point down the road. But I would be surprised by that, as I think at his height he's always going to miss options downfield and also miss defenders when he makes throws. Brees did it, so it can be done. But it's really fuckin hard to play QB at this level even if you have all the tools, let alone when your eyes line up below the shoulder level of your interior OL.

I actually liked the interview he did after the game. Kid looked extremely pissed off. Not shellshocked. Not confused. So if McVay evaluates these QBs and ends up jiving with this kid in the team whiteboard session during predraft and we take him I'll get behind it. The problem though is you may be able to get similar value on upside later in the draft on a different slightly built QB like Nussmeier, who had a whole world of shit going on at LSU, or Mateer or one of these other 6'1" dudes who project to this class.

And that opens up a top ten pick for something that helps our team. That we really feel during Stafford's last year or two. Like one of those big wideouts. Or a defensive stud to help that unit get the ball back to Stafford.

 

[Allen2McVay]

He just looks like an NFL QB to me ...

You mean like this guy ...

 

[den-the-coach]

He just looks like an NFL QB to me and most importantly a good fit for a McVay offense. He's not in the shotgun all the time and relying so much on RPOs. He attacks the middle of the field layering throws and not relying upon a bunch of jump balls. Good play action fakes. And he's played as well as he has vs. SEC defenses as a 1st year starter with a horrible rushing attack and WRs dropping passes. So there should be decent upside.

Hopefully, his safety blanket in TE Cuevas who has missed the past few games comes back for the playoffs. Then again, maybe not as that might help to increase his stock.

Finally, they shouldn't have to trade multiple 1st round picks to get him.

Well, in fairness I watched against Auburn and Georgia and he had a look of a journeyman backup to me. Throws were late and not accurate, however, he seemed to be under duress quite a bit. Oklahoma will be a good test because the Sooners have one of the best defensive play callers in college football with Thomas Brent Venables, so maybe Simpson will impress me more then.

 

[den-the-coach]

You mean like this guy ...

God if they had only kept Jaworski over Haden, this might have come true.

 

[PhillyRam]

And that opens up a top ten pick for something that helps our team. That we really feel during Stafford's last year or two. Like one of those big wideouts. Or a defensive stud to help that unit get the ball back to Stafford.

There is a possibility that the best player on the board, especially if they pick at 5 or 6, will be an edge. Then what did you do? Can you pass on an elite edge? Can you work him into a defense with both Young & Verse, not to mention Stewart? Do you take an elite edge with the idea that Young will not be re-signed?

Kendrick Faulk from Auburn could be a good fit since he is listed at 6-5 285, so he could be more of a pass rushing DL , 5 Tech, as opposed to a true edge.

They will have some tough decisions. It will be a fascinating offseason, especially if they do what we all hope they do and that is to bring home the Lombardi from Santa Clara.

 

[Memphis Ram]

Upside is actually his problem I think.

If he had finished out his one year of starting the way he looked in the first half of the season, then I think he'd warrant that high selection. And I said as much during that stretch of games. Because his play during that stretch was simply that good. Good enough to where you put the smaller frame in the back seat and don't worry about it.

But sample size matters in evaluation when you are trying to project all these prospects. And when teams rack 'n stack them, particularly as it pertains to QBs who require a lot of growth to be the player that teams need, upside factors in very strongly. Again this is why a raw prospect like Richardson goes 3 overall. Or why Sellers would make sense in a redshirt type approach.

Now of course all it takes is one team to reach for that QB with lesser upside. Look at Carolina taking Young. Maybe he ends up an outlier and being elite too, at some point down the road. But I would be surprised by that, as I think at his height he's always going to miss options downfield and also miss defenders when he makes throws. Brees did it, so it can be done. But it's really fuckin hard to play QB at this level even if you have all the tools, let alone when your eyes line up below the shoulder level of your interior OL.

I actually liked the interview he did after the game. Kid looked extremely pissed off. Not shellshocked. Not confused. So if McVay evaluates these QBs and ends up jiving with this kid in the team whiteboard session during predraft and we take him I'll get behind it. The problem though is you may be able to get similar value on upside later in the draft on a different slightly built QB like Nussmeier, who had a whole world of shit going on at LSU, or Mateer or one of these other 6'1" dudes who project to this class.

And that opens up a top ten pick for something that helps our team. That we really feel during Stafford's last year or two. Like one of those big wideouts. Or a defensive stud to help that unit get the ball back to Stafford.

It's a problem for those who rely too heavily on a QBs physical upside and not enough of the mental upside / experience. Teams swing for the fences for the former, but I've noticed that over the years that this has led to the vast majority of 1st round busts at the position.

Meanwhile, the league has enjoyed good QB play from guys who couldn't hold a candle physically to the busts that had the great physical upside. It's crazy that what may be the best QB in the 2021 1st round draft class may be the one with the least physical upside (Mac Jones).

All that said, I'm not saying a team should consider a 5'10" QB like Young. Or even a 6'0" QB like Tua Tagovailoa. But, until I'm shown otherwise, Simpson is right at or close to 6'2". Unofficially, he's listed at the same 6022 that Stafford was listed at when he entered the league (though the latter was/is thicker).

Nussmeier? Mateer? They may turn out to be nice later round selections. But, I don't see in them what I see in Simpson's one year sample size. Mateer relies too much on his legs and while I don't know the plays or intent, for some reason Nussmeier seems to make some of the dumbest decisions with the football. And this with his dad coaching in the league. He also can't seem to stay healthy. I would have thought that both would have gotten better this year. But, they didn't.

 

[Merlin]

There is a possibility that the best player on the board, especially if they pick at 5 or 6, will be an edge. Then what did you do? Can you pass on an elite edge? Can you work him into a defense with both Young & Verse, not to mention Stewart? Do you take an elite edge with the idea that Young will not be re-signed?

Kendrick Faulk from Auburn could be a good fit since he is listed at 6-5 285, so he could be more of a pass rushing DL , 5 Tech, as opposed to a true edge.

They will have some tough decisions. It will be a fascinating offseason, especially if they do what we all hope they do and that is to bring home the Lombardi from Santa Clara.

Yeah it's gonna be great drama for us on draft night. Should be the most enjoyable draft we've had under the McVay years.

I think you always take the elite edge if it's on the board. It's one of the four cornerstone positions so you take it and adjust downstream. Also it's funny you mention 5T because I think we'd then have a couple different options to play that technique in the draft pick as well as Verse. So when you get into third and long your rush potency is going to be juiced. And 5T are a talent group that are very hard to find elite players in, because of the requirement for power and rush technique. Best ones are usually the classic 4-3 end body types that are a supply/demand issue and so need to be taken early.

But I also suspect the Rams will have corner prioritized. Feels inevitable. Now what that looks like in conjunction with the board who knows. I am not a fan of the FAs in the corner group but then it's pretty rare to see a top corner hit the market and it's going to be more rare in the future with most of your top athletes choosing wideout nowadays. But I have to think that Shula desires better corners, which will open up call options for certain situations too. He's been limited at corner since he's taken the job. And the corner lists are always iffy as hell because those guys sort so heavy based on the forty time, so for example I want us to take Johnson but have no idea where he'll slot. Would not surprise me to see him jump. Or maybe we have a shot at him with that 32nd pick.

 

[dieterbrock]

Should be the most enjoyable draft we've had under the McVay years.

Most entertaining that's for sure!

 

[Merlin]

Nussmeier? Mateer? They may turn out to be nice later round selections. But, I don't see in them what I see in Simpson's one year sample size. Mateer relies too much on his legs and while I don't know the plays or intent, for some reason Nussmeier seems to make some of the dumbest decisions with the football. And this with his dad coaching in the league. He also can't seem to stay healthy. I would have thought that both would have gotten better this year. But, they didn't.

If you want to see ugly quarterbacking turn on some tape of Sellers. We can say the same things about him. Where will he slot though? Probably quite a bit higher than those others. And why is that? Because of upside, which includes sufficient height for the position and a stronger arm. Would he have shown more with a better OL? I think so, but you never know. There may be a team out there thinking he can be an offensive piece like Taysom Hill even if he can't do the QB1 role. So again this stuff all comes down to projections by the scouting.

Nussmeier and Mateer being later round selections was precisely my point. If teams look at the overall picture of Simpson's one season as a starter in college ball and decide he's a high floor QB with a let's say not too high ceiling, he's gonna slide. He won't be going top 5 that's for damn sure. Probably ends up as a round 2 grade and maybe a team takes him end of round 1. And maybe that team is the Rams. But what we're doing here is trying to guess how all the NFL teams are going to grade him. 30 teams may grade him as a QB2 at the NFL level and thus a midround pick, but all it takes is one team to take him earlier. So even after the draft it's not like we know where he was graded overall.

It's like talking previous drafts and comps for these guys, complete guesswork based on what our opinions were at that time. So this is why I'm trying to be somewhat open minded about where these guys might slot. I know that I don't stack a board and have a system and all that which will lend me some consistency. I just watch some tape of them and some interviews and place my bets.

 

[Merlin]

Most entertaining that's for sure!

Get all set up and psyched for a top ten pick and then Les trades down.

 

[Allen2McVay]

God if they had only kept Jaworski over Haden, this might have come true.
View attachment 73650

I was thrilled when they got Charle Young. I thought he would be terrific. I was wrong.

Played 13 seasons; and his three least productive years were his three seasons with the Rams.

 

[David Ray]

I was thrilled when they got Charle Young. I thought he would be terrific. I was wrong.

Played 13 seasons; and his three least productive years were his three seasons with the Rams.

Did he fail to beat out Terry Nelson because Knox prioritized blocking in the run game?

 

[Allen2McVay]

Did he fail to beat out Terry Nelson because Knox prioritized blocking in the run game?

I believe that was the case in 1977 ... Young's first year with the Rams AND Knox's final season with them.

But Young's next two years ('78 and '79) were under Ray Malavasi; and he remained a back-up.
Then he went to the Niners ... started three seasons, including the 1981 Super Bowl.
Finished-up in Seattle, with three more seasons as a starter ... under head coach ... Chick Knox! ... WTF!!!

 

[David Ray]

I believe that was the case in 1977 ... Young's first year with the Rams AND Knox's final season with them.

But Young's next two years ('78 and '79) were under Ray Malavasi; and he remained a back-up.
Then he went to the Niners ... started three seasons, including the 1981 Super Bowl.
Finished-up in Seattle, with three more seasons as a starter ... under head coach ... Chick Knox! ... WTF!!!

A real head scratcher as, I too, was pumped about the RAMS acquiring a Pro Bowl TE to work the middle of the field and compliment wideouts Harold Jackson and Ron Jessie with Joe Willie Namath throwing them the pigskin.

 

[Allen2McVay]

A real head scratcher as, I too, was pumped about the RAMS acquiring a Pro Bowl TE to work the middle of the field and compliment wideouts Harold Jackson and Ron Jessie with Joe Willie Namath throwing them the pigskin.

He was terrific in Philadelphia, returning to Southern California and a winning team. It was set-up perfectly.

I blame @dieterbrock.

 

[David Ray]

He was terrific in Philadelphia, returning to Southern California and a winning team. It was set-up perfectly.

I blame @dieterbrock.

Distracted by being back home? I guess we'll never know.

 

[den-the-coach]

I was thrilled when they got Charle Young. I thought he would be terrific. I was wrong.

Played 13 seasons; and his three least productive years were his three seasons with the Rams.

I liked Young too, but not at the expense of Jaworski. I knew when Jaworski went to the Eagles, the Rams had kept the wrong guy. Rams liked Haden because he was a winner at USC, but in the NFL, his height and his arm strength were issues and Haden seemed to better as a scrambler in college, in the NFL, players were better athletes and now Haden was short and slow.

 

[Allen2McVay]

I liked Young too, but not at the expense of Jaworski. I knew when Jaworski went to the Eagles, the Rams had kept the wrong guy. Rams liked Haden because he was a winner at USC, but in the NFL, his height and his arm strength were issues and Haden seemed to better as a scrambler in college, in the NFL, players were better athletes and now Haden was short and slow.

Then, you were much smarter than me because I did not see it ... Guess being better looking was not enough?

I did not think much of Jaworski at that time.

I just went back to look at Jaworski's stats with the Rams ... four years ... just three regular season starts ... under 43.5% completion % ... 1 TD and 8 interceptions. Yeah, you and Vermeil were both smarter than me.
And better looking ... Damn It!

 

[den-the-coach]

Then, you were much smarter than me because I did not see it ... Guess being better looking was not enough?

I did not think much of Jaworski at that time.

I just went back to look at Jaworski's stats with the Rams ... four years ... just three regular season starts ... under 43.5% completion % ... 1 TD and 8 interceptions. Yeah, you and Vermeil were both smarter than me.
And better looking ... Damn It!

Two games stick out for me that Jaworski played, beating the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night and defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in 1975 in the Divisional Round, where he was 12/23 for 203 yards and a TD, plus he ran for a TD too. The team was rallying around Jaws, he was that type of leader IMO, Knox made a huge mistake the following week going with Harris, but that has been posted about.

Now back then I am only 9, but felt Jaworski had all the intangibles for a QB and a leader. Much like Bradshaw with the Steelers. I also felt Jaworski would be better in the playoffs and he was solid with the Eagles, but was not good at all in the Super Bowl against Oakland. At to good looking, well, I went through that when the Rams went from the Godlike sent from Central Casting in Roman Gabriel to the dumpy bald John Hadl.

 

[Memphis Ram]

If you want to see ugly quarterbacking turn on some tape of Sellers. We can say the same things about him. Where will he slot though? Probably quite a bit higher than those others. And why is that? Because of upside, which includes sufficient height for the position and a stronger arm. Would he have shown more with a better OL? I think so, but you never know. There may be a team out there thinking he can be an offensive piece like Taysom Hill even if he can't do the QB1 role. So again this stuff all comes down to projections by the scouting.

Nussmeier and Mateer being later round selections was precisely my point. If teams look at the overall picture of Simpson's one season as a starter in college ball and decide he's a high floor QB with a let's say not too high ceiling, he's gonna slide. He won't be going top 5 that's for damn sure. Probably ends up as a round 2 grade and maybe a team takes him end of round 1. And maybe that team is the Rams. But what we're doing here is trying to guess how all the NFL teams are going to grade him. 30 teams may grade him as a QB2 at the NFL level and thus a midround pick, but all it takes is one team to take him earlier. So even after the draft it's not like we know where he was graded overall.

It's like talking previous drafts and comps for these guys, complete guesswork based on what our opinions were at that time. So this is why I'm trying to be somewhat open minded about where these guys might slot. I know that I don't stack a board and have a system and all that which will lend me some consistency. I just watch some tape of them and some interviews and place my bets.

Outside of pushing a player down to the Rams, I'm less concerned about where the high physical upside guys might slot.

Try as I might (and I've probably not be successful) I been geared more towards the title of the thread.