Pity I can't include more than three (is it okay to name honorable mentions? If so, I'll just go through names at the end) But anyway, here my draft crushes are, and why I want the Rams to take them.
Cooper Beebe, OG, Kansas State.
(Elite guard, would immediately make us forget all about Kevin Dotson. He's a dominant and physical - if not as athletic and lengthy as others - guard who moves people in the running game with a mean streak the size of Mother Russia. But his strength lies in pass-protection. He's a 6'4", 335-pound wall. You can't go through him with bull rushes, you can't go around him with speed. He's smart, would fit our new power-gap scheme perfectly along with Avila (Imagine a left side of A-Jax, Beebe, and Avila (Avila switching to center), for example, if you wanted to keep Dotson and Havenstein, or even if Dotson isn't retained, you have Warren McClendon as a potential guard, whom I really like. There's not a defensive line alive who wouldn't get eaten the fuck up by them, and we'd be able to push the 69ers and Seahags around like they were toddlers. And the best part about Beebe? He's hacked it at left tackle before against a solid Mizzou front last year - and K-State won that game on the strength of the run-blocking of the O-line, led by Beebe moving bodies, and it was not even remotely close. He won them that game, and he nearly won the game this year. I wanted him in the second-round last year, but he stayed in school. I would not be shocked to see him go first round by a team wanting to pop him before someone else can get to him; he's the best interior lineman in this class - yes, even over the three centers: Sedrick Van Pran Granger, who is the best center in this class, Graham Barton (who is a former center who moved to left tackle, and is being looked at as a potential first/second round center, Jackson Powers-Johnson (who won the Rimington for the best interior lineman) - and anyone else at guard. He will do for a team what Avila did for us, and that's why he's my number one draft crush.)
Kris Abrams-Draine, CB, Mizzou.
(I have to rep my Mizzou guy, even if it's not Cody Schrader (I was torn, but decided to go with the better player). KAD isn't a big guy, which means he'll likely fall to the second or third round, but hot damn, if he's not exactly what you look for in an all-around corner. He's 5'11", 178-pounds, but plays like he's three inches taller and thirty-pounds heavier. He's physical, will look to punish any running back who comes near him, and he has a knack for game changing plays. He's had four picks this year (improving on his zero picks last year and three picks the year before), a total of thirty-three passes broken up in his career (that's PBUs alone, not even including the seven interceptions; adding those, forty passes defensed), and adding 2.5 tackles for a loss in his senior year, where he played a similar STAR role like what we used with Ramsey and tried to use with Durant - and actually succeeding. He's a former wide receiver whose plays on the ball in the air will remind you of Darious Williams; you can tell he's comfortable in coverage and that he can pick off anything. The fact that he will go into the slot, outside, match up with the best receiver, and even on the very rare occasions where he's beaten, he doesn't let it affect him; he has the shortest memory, I think, of any defensive back Mizzou's had in recent memory. He's not going to be more than a better D-Will playing Ramsey's spot, but he doesn't have to be in order to be a valuable cornerback for us. He will get you picks, game-changing plays, tight coverage, and yes, a willing and able tackler to boot who will fall to the second round because of his size, but be better than most of the corners taken before him.)
Brenden Rice, WR, University of Southern California.
(Yes, Jerry's son. I mean, yes, Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers, Rome Odunze, Emeka Egbuka, Johnny Wilson, Adonai Mitchell, Xavier Worthy, all of those top receivers are freakishly skilled, but Rice wins because he simply takes after his father, but in a bigger package, much like MHJr. He is a dominant route-runner. His hands are as dependable as they come. He's a smart player who makes himself open to a quarterback. He's 6'3", 215 lbs. And best of all? Deep threat. He's run 23 mph on measurements (which is basically a 4.3 flat) with a 1.43 ten-yard split (so he can cut on a dime), and has a vertical of 38 inches. So yeah, he outruns, outquicks, and outjumps the competition, and it's ridiculous to think that he won't get drafted in the first round because of statistics (Caleb Williams being his quarterback was not a good thing; Williams had a terrible year, and when he trusted Rice at the end, Rice made the most of it.), when everything - statistics and pedigree included, screams "first round pick". I've seen sites list him as a fourth-round pick, which I think is horseshit; he deserves just as much recognition as any of the top names, even though he won't go as high as them. I don't care who his father is; this is a receiver who will outperform his draft stock like Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, while bringing two things to the table that they don't: blazing speed and being a redzone threat. He's not as physical as them, but he's a willing and able blocker, and with speed like that, you can't cover him. Game over. Imagine Stafford throwing to Kupp, Nacua, Rice, Davis Allen and K-Will, while having A-Jax, Beebe, Avila, McClendon/Dotson, and Havenstein. This offense scores so much, Ethan Evans gets to relax.)
Honorable mentions includes all of the guys in my mock, especially Cody Schrader.
