We went up 1.5 games on win total afier mcduffie trade.

Who do you like at 207, 231, 250 and 251?

This is not a deep draft and I’m thinking this will be more difficult this year.

Sam Roush TE from Stanford. Solid blocker but not going to wow anyone. Doubt he’ll make it to 207 but if we hadn’t resigned Higbee I would have considered trading a late pick to move up a bit to get him.

De’Zhaun Stribling WR from Mississippi. Decent size, good run blocker and the deep speed you can’t coach if it isn’t there.

Jeff Caldwell WR from Cincinnati. Blew up at the combine. Size speed combo means he is doubtful to be available at 207. Can he block and why so little production on a team that put up decent offensive numbers?

Pat Coogan - Center from Indiana has been mentioned in quite a few mocks on this board. Seems to have dropped in the rankings this offseason.

Kaleb Proctor DT-undersized DT with quickness. Can shoot the gap.

Micah Morris OG-athletic guy with legit size. Plays high but seems to do well in pass protection.

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For grins and giggles

Not sure what he has left but we need a 3rd WR and he needs a ring much like OBJ. Sign him if he clears any felony charges or Evans or whoever and use 13 for Sadiq or an OL. That would be some firepower for Matthew.

A truly good man and a legend of the game.

RIP

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Had made the assumption we were likely looking into a corner at 13 ... not as likely now. Who do you see as a possible choice now that they have McDuffie?

LB Sonny Styles?
TE Kenyon Sadiq?
WR Makai Lemon?
Still going after a CB and doubling down on the secondary?
S Caleb Downs if he falls?

Who do you think the Rams take?

This is exciting!!!!!

I think Trent McDuffie would be a HUGE addition for us. I’m okay with losing the 29th pick.

We might be trading back our 13th though now…

I am going to be killed by some for (re)raising this, but it's quiet, and I am not sure we properly debated this:

"A football-move in the NFL, as per the 2025 rule change, is defined as a ball carrier both tucking the ball away and turning upfield, combining two actions into one"

I ask because Kupp not only didn't reach the 1st-down marker, but also did not complete a "football-related move" prior to the ball being jarred free by the ground. He caught it and was down before he made the move with the ball coming out as part of the process. That is clearly an incomplete pass, and I would feel mighty lucky if a call like that went our way. On both fronts, it should not have been ruled a first down.

My first instinct was incomplete pass, so, in real time, without the benefit of replay, how exactly did the officials decide there was a football move as his momentum brought him forward towards the line? I rewatched the game last night, at great pain, and yet again, didn't see it, do you?

Are we being gaslighted by the NFL, commentators, and the past official calling the game live on air?!

I have advocated for taking Kenyon Sidiq on many different threads for weeks now. This article sums up all the reasons very well. I know they need a DB, and in this draft one can be acquired with pick #29. I don't believe all the Ty Simpson chatter; if they come out of the first round with Sidiq and a great young DB it's a home run.

Now that we have many of the testing results, I’d be interested to see what everyone’s top 13 is. Obviously that is because we pick at 13 and, according to what your board is, we are guaranteed to get a shot at (at least) one of your top 13. For this exercise, we are going to assume that everyone’s health checks out fine. Past injury history is still a factor, but, clean bill of health currently for this exercise.

Mine:

1. QB Mendoza – Takes care of our future QB problem
2. S C.Downs – A blue chip stud to anchor our secondary. Can play nickle, FS, or SS for us.
3. CB McCoy – No knee injury and he is talked about as a blue chip player. Could be our new Ramsey for our SB run.
4. CB Delane – Just a stud CB. Just behind McCoy but no slouch either.
5. LB Styles – I have him above Reese because he is a proven all world MLB who I think could rush the passer on the edge, similarly to his teammate.
6. Edge Reese – Excellent athlete, lacks experience at edge for me to put higher
7. EDGE Bailey – Just a freaky guy that knows how to get after the QB
8. EDGE Bain Jr – He is pretty similar to Verse, which is not a bad thing
9. RB J.Love – He would be amazingly fun in our offense, would need a trade of one of our backs for this to work IMO. He'd be ranked higher if I knew we had a trade lined up.
10. S Thieneman – I knew this guy was a balled, I didn’t know he would blow the combine up this emphatically. This guy could and should be tried at CB some and could play the nickle as well as either safety position easily.
11. WR Lemon – He measured better then I expected. My favorite WR in this draft. Another WR in the mold of Puka out there would not suck.
12. WR Tyson – Probably the best all around WR in the draft. Injury history is pretty bleak however.
13. TE Sadiq – Was always intriguing but the combine was legendary. The offense he was in at Oregon did not utilize him as much as perhaps it should have.

Realistically, I couldn’t be mad about any of the above players being our pick at 13. How does yours look?

Draft Day 2026 goes like the following:

1. Raiders - Fernando Mendoza, QB, Indiana
2. Jets - Arvell Reese, EDGE/LB, Ohio State
3. Cardinals - Francis Mauigoa, OT, Miami
4. Titans - Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State
5. Giants - Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State
6. Browns - Monroe Freeling, OT, Georgia
7. Commodes - David Bailey, EDGE, Texas Tech
8. Saints - Jeremiyah Love, RB, Notre Dame
9. Chiefs - Kenyon Sadiq, TE, Oregon
10. Bengals - Rueben Bain, EDGE, Miami
11. Dolphins - Carnell Tate, WR, Ohio State
12. Cowboys - Mansoor Delane, CB, LSU

Phone isn't ringing and no one wants to trade up.

TWO QUESTIONS

Who would you take?
Who do you think the Rams would take?

So early in the AM today I had a very odd dream. I was in London for some sort of work-related seminar, a two-day event.

The first day went off without a hitch, the second was a bit more interesting. I was struggling to get packed up and ready to fly home and still make the event. I'm running late so of course the cab decides to meander it's way through town, ultimately dropping me not where I'm supposed to be but in some random--nice but random--bar/restaurant.

Where I meet up with my old friend, Jeff Fisher who is crazy suprised to see that I'm in town. We talk a while and he invites me to dinner that evening beofe my flight leaves.

And the alarm goes off, I wake up and wonder "WTF was that!?"

Key losses:
Jimmy G-string (it’s time)

Curl and Durant ($$)
DW and Spoon (upgrade)

Havenstein (retired)
Higbee ( he signs with the titans as they try to build a winning culture by by signing a vet with a ring)

Key additions:
Jalen Watson (CB) he’s projected to get somewhere around $12.5-14 mil/per. I suspect it might cost the Rams more than that due to a bidding war. $15.5-16 per?

Marcus Mariotta (QB) Kingsbury vouches for him. He’s seen the field a lot more than Jimmy g in the last 3 years. Has he ever played on a good team?

McCreary re-signs.

No change in my 1rst round picks because I, as many others here, like the idea of grabbing a WR and a CB with the first two picks. I know everyone has “their guy” for those picks, so I’ll just stick with mine.

(WR) Denzel Boston
(CB) Brandon Cisse
All other picks have changed
Now that that’s out of the way…

2/61 (OT) Caleb Tiernan (N’western)
This is a big dude at 6-7,325. Excellent technique and plenty of starts. The Rams need three Tackles to play 20-21 games. I have seen too many games where T3 has had to play on the left side and the offense has fallen off the cliff.

3/93 (S) Zakee Wheatley (Penn st)
Excellent tackler. Kam Curl’s replacement. He will have a solid NFL career somewhere.

5/167 (CB) Hezekiah Masses (Cal)
The best CB nobody is talking about? He’s big enough at 6-1 and covers like a blanket. Excellent closing on the ball. This guy might not make it to the 167th pick, but he would be a great pick if he did. I would not mind seeing the Rams trade up a bit to grab him. Another possible 5th round sleeper.

6/205 (DL) Devin Eastern (Minn) The Rams have both Turner and Fiske coming up for new contracts in the next couple years. Plus, the Rams could use some more beef on the DL.
At 6-4,296 Eastern fits. Solid producer at Minn. Strong with a quick get off at the point of attack.

6/208 (LB) Lander Barton (Utah)
6-3,233, he has the production and wears a “C” on his uni. His highlights begin with him catching passes! Both ways? A Ram type.

7/232 (G) Giovanni El-Hadi (Mich)
Good push on contact. Anchored a top program. Developmental pick for the IOL.
I don’t see the Rams signing both Avila and Dotson. Be prepared.

7/250 (KR/PR) Karden Wetjen (Iowa)
He was the best return man in the country last year averaging 27 yds on PRs and 30 yds on KRs. Why not take a look?

7/256 (QB) Kelvin Durham (JCS)
Big kid with a nice touch on the ball. The question is can he drill a pass to the sticks on a comeback or out on 3rd and 8.

The main areas of focus here was keeping a top OL to protect #9 for as long as he wants to play and remaking the secondary.

As for who gets re-upped in the next two years, who knows? I just wanted to have some protection, knowing not everybody will get a new deal.

Would you sign Brandon Aubrey and i know it sounds ridiculous but what a weapon. The guy can give you pts instead of a punt. Mevis was fantastic but can he hit the Bombs like Aubrey?? Probably wont happen but im drinking and dreaming. Probably shouldn’t be but fuck it. While im at it I would l love to see Mike Evans in horns. Yea i know.. idiot right? ✌

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Here is a list of the Rams 2026 coaching staff. There are 25(!!!) coaches. 25. Or almost a 1:2 ratio coach/player on the 53 man roster. Is this normal across the league? I'm old enough to remember George Allen had 6 assistants, and one was Vermeil as the first ST coach in the league. (There were also 17 draft choices back then too. 17.)

• Sean McVay — Head Coach
• Kliff Kingsbury — Assistant Head Coach
• Nate Scheelhaase — Offensive Coordinator
• Dave Ragone — Associate Coordinator / Quarterbacks
• Rob Calabrese — Wide Receivers
• Ryan Wendell — Offensive Line
• Scott Huff — Tight Ends
• Ron Gould — Running Backs
• Zak Kromer — Assistant Offensive Line
• Brian Allen — Assistant Offensive Line
• Robert Woods — Assistant Wide Receivers
• Eric Yarber — Senior Offensive Assistant / Wide Receivers
• Brian Johnson — Senior Offensive Assistant
• Robert Wright — Senior Defensive Assistant
• Chris Shula — Defensive Coordinator
• Giff Smith — Run Game Coordinator / Defensive Line
• Greg Williams — Inside Linebackers
• Jimmy Lake — Pass Game Coordinator / Defensive Backs
• Chris Beake — Safeties
• Joe Coniglio — Outside Linebackers
• Drew Wilkins — Pass Rush Coordinator
• Mike Hunter — Assistant Defensive Backs
• Bubba Ventrone — Special Teams Coordinator
• Kyle Hoke — Assistant Special Teams
• Dan Shamash — Game Management Coordinator / Assistant Tight Ends

5. Safety​

Good year to need ... a deep safety
Bad year to need ... a box safety

If you are looking for the next Nick Emmanwori, who was of course, the next Kyle Hamilton ... look elsewhere. Maybe stop looking altogether. The thing about unicorns is there's only one (or two) of them, and efforts to replicate them too often involve pinning toy horns on unknowing horses.

There are a couple of big safeties in the draft and free agent classes that might, at first brush, look like potential hybrid linebackers like Emmanwori and Hamilton. Toledo's Emmanuel McNeil-Warren is 6-foot-2 and over 200 pounds, and Kansas City's Bryan Cook (a highly underrated player in the market right now) is 6-foot-1, 206 pounds in his own right. But both are better as deep coverage players than box players, with range and hitting power over edge-setting strength.

The overall strength of this safety class is in its deep players. That's where Jaylinn Hawkins spent almost all of his time on a one-year deal with the Patriots, and he has played himself into a solid second contract. It's where Reed Blankenship has primarily been with the Eagles; he's due for a middle-tier veteran contract as an average starter. It's where Coby Bryant, one of the unheralded contributors to the Seahawks' Super Bowl defense, has played in the past two seasons in Mike Macdonald's system. (Bryant even has a CB background from his days in college.) Kam Curl and Kevin Byard III are other options further down the list.

While the class mostly has players who win from deep alignments, safety gets the fifth spot here because it's still deep overall (deep, as in there are a lot of them, not deep alignments). Teams in desperate need of a quality man coverage safety in the box will ring up Nick Cross, a longtime starter for the Colts who will see a competitive market. Teams that like to blitz their safeties will reach out to Chicago's Jaquan Brisker, a fine player who might fall too low on Chicago's laundry list of free agents to be successfully retained.

The most linebacker-esque safety of any note might be the star of the 2026 draft class, Caleb Downs. Used with Budda Baker-esque aggressiveness by Matt Patricia last season in the Buckeyes' defense, Downs has the quickness, route recognition and instincts to have an absurd range of influence when playing in short zones, while still having the requisite mass and play strength to fit the run. He's a more traditional box safety with some nickel ability, a la Baker or Brian Branch. He reminds me of prime Malcolm Jenkins in that you want him as near the action as possible; he'll both make plays himself and make pre-snap calls that unlock other second-level players.

I have two wild cards I'd want to look at if I were an enterprising general manager -- one in free agency, one in the draft. The veteran is Jalen Thompson. He has played over 4,900 snaps in the past five seasons for the Cardinals and just finished out his second contract, but he's only 27. (He turns 28 this summer.) Jonathan Gannon's three-safety defensive structure in Arizona was quite unique, and Thompson's role is difficult to map onto other teams. I think a more traditional deep safety job would benefit him well.

The draft wild card is LSU's A.J. Haulcy, who weighs in somewhere near 220 pounds. With serious stopping power as a downhill hitter, he reminds me at times of current Steeler (and rising free agent) Kyle Dugger. Common refrain for the safeties, but here it is again: Haulcy played more from depth than you'd expect for a player of his mass, but he could be more of a traditional box safety at the NFL level for those teams looking to still live in a single-high world.

Downs is the only true star across the free agent and draft classes, but don't be surprised when McNeil-Warren joins him in the first round -- and multiple other safeties (Oregon's Dillon Thieneman, Penn State's Zakee Wheatley, etc.) are right behind in Round 2.

4. Running back​

Good year to need ... a starting back for right now
Bad year to need ... a young back to start for the next four years

The running back class is all free agency this year ... and what a class it is. The headliners are Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III and Breece Hall, seemingly the lone Jet not to get dealt at the deadline. Travis Etienne Jr. (Jaguars) and Javonte Williams (Cowboys) represent the second tier of options. Tyler Allgeier (Falcons), Rico Dowdle (Panthers) and Kenneth Gainwell (Steelers) all fill out the very respectable third tier. After all, Allgeier and Dowdle have been 1,000-yard rushers, and Gainwell would have been a 1,000-yard receiver this season if Aaron Rodgers had his druthers!

Of those seven backs, all save for Gainwell could reasonably be the RB1A on a team in 2026. (Gainwell is just too small.) Dowdle and Allgeier are particularly fascinating options to me. Allgeier is a bruiser who has benefited from relieving Bijan Robinson, but we've seen him produce at a higher volume (210 carries for 1,035 yards in his rookie season). No, his top speed isn't particularly fearsome, but for an offense looking to just grind out positive yardage to support a high-flying passing attack (hello, Chiefs), he's a great target. Dowdle had a weird stretch of taking over the Panthers' lead back role, then losing control of it over the course of this season. But over the past two seasons, he's ninth among all backs in rushing success rate and 13th in rush yards over expectation.

While the top of this free agent class won't measure up to 2024, when Josh Jacobs, Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry all changed teams, I do think that Walker and Hall are legit needle-movers. Walker had the third-highest explosive run rate of all RBs this season, and his lightning-strike running style saved the Seahawks offense down the back half of the season. Does he get out of Seattle after that dominant postseason run? I'm not sure. But Hall is destined to escape New York, where bad quarterback play has derailed his rookie-season promise. It's easy to forget, but this guy had 76 catches in 2023 and another 57 in 2024. He's a sleeping dual-threat giant.

The team that misses out on a solid free agent running back better hope it is drafting in the top 10, because Jeremiyah Love (Notre Dame) isn't just the crowning jewel of this running back class -- he's the only top-tier option. The RB2 in the 2026 draft might end up being Love's teammate at Notre Dame, Jadarian Price, who could emerge into a high-volume runner out of Love's shadow. Price is crafty and smooth, but he lacks the contact balance and breakaway speed that made Love the Irish's runner of choice.

In addition to Price, there are enough RBs available that we'll see several leave the board on Day 2 and into early Day 3. Nicholas Singleton (Penn State) is a personal favorite, but he broke his foot at the Senior Bowl. Jonah Coleman (Washington) has juice, but he is undersized at 5-foot-9 and 228 pounds. Mike Washington Jr. (Arkansas) is dense and physical and dangerous in the open field, but he has fumbling issues. This is the thing with this running back class -- everyone has a big limiting factor.

I'm sure a few Day 2 picks will hit. But in general, this is an offseason to solve your running back problems in March, not April.

It’s that time of year… Let’s talk draft in Rams Talk! Most new NFL topics are now mostly draft related or have draft implications.

We will keep Mock Drafts in the Draft Forums.

Thank you!

CGI

Assistant WR Coach

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