Every year since about 2013 I post my review of the players they’ve scouted and then I channel my inner Les Snead and predict a draft strategy with a mock draft of what I think they will do.
This year I’m hoping to hone in a bit more by adopting an observation made by several recent articles posted and Deadpool. They’ve all noted that over the last 2 drafts, somewhere around 18 of the 19 players were seniors with a majority of them playing in the Senior Bowl.
Given this crucial trend, I’ve created something called priority visits. The Rams meet with a ton of players throughout the entire scouting season from January to April, but if you take the Rams’ private visits, weight everything towards seniors in general with even greater weight given to Senior Bowl meetings and participants more specifically, that net would capture nearly all of the picks the Rams have made over the last couple of years. Thus, I am defining a priority visit as a private visit, special individual workout, or a Senior Bowl meeting.
Based on that, here are the positions in order that have gotten the attention:
50 Players - 8 Safety, 8 CB, 5 DL, 5 RB, 5 OT, 4 IOL, 6 LB, 5 Edge, 2 QB, 2 TE
The safety position had 8 priority visits (6 PRI, 2 Senior Bowl). Six of them project to be drafted in rounds 1-2, one in rounds 4-5, and one in rounds 5-6.
The CB position had 8 priority visits (5 PRI, 2 Senior Bowl, 1 Workout). Five of the CBs project to rounds 2-4; the other 3 project to go in rounds 5 to UDFA.
The RB position had 5 priority visits. All of them had a private visit or special workout with some having other meetings including at the SB. One of them projects to be drafted in rounds 2-3 (Henderson), one in the 3rd to 4th round (Singletary), and three from the 6th - UDFA (Markeith Miller, Bruce Anderson, and Kerrith Whyte).
All 5 of the OTs they had priority visits with project to be drafted in rounds 1-2 except for one who projects to round 4-6 (Trey Pipkins). They had a private visit or workout with all of these OTs with the exception of Pipkins who they met with at the Senior Bowl.
At the IOL position, two of the three guys (McCoy, Jenkins) brought in for private visits are projected to go in rounds 1-2. The other, Nate Davis, looks to be in the 3rd range.
They had 5 priority visits with players at the IDL position. One projects to be drafted in the 1st to 2nd (Lawrence), 3 in the 3rd to 4th rounds (Saunders, Wren, and Keke), and 1 in the very late rounds (Cominsky).
LBs - Between private visits and Senior Bowl meetings there are 6 LBs. All but one (Vosean Joseph) are projected to be drafted on Day 3.
EDGE - They had 5 priority visits at this position. Ferrell projects to be drafted in the 1st. Three of them project to the 2nd through 4th, and one projects to the late rounds.
This leads me to....
10 predictions:1. They will trade back.It looks to me like they’re gearing up to take a player in the early 2nd round….unless someone like Ferrell or OT, Andre Dillard falls.
2. They will draft multiple OL, one being within their first two picks. The other will be in the late rounds.
3. If they draft an OT, there’s a good chance that he’s very versatile and they’ll start off playing him in the interior like Noteboom last year.
4. They will draft a RB! McVay has consistently said that they want to add explosive players and that statement has always been made in the context of offensive players. He’s not talking about the D side. RB is the only position they’ve worked out; they haven’t looked at TE or WR. And just 2 days ago he expressly stated that they will draft a RB. Also, I think Gurley is going to have to be managed very carefully and his workload is going to be significantly decreased.
5. They’ll draft a safety by the 3rd round. I really think they move back far enough from #31 to get an early to mid 3rd round pick. Late 2nd to mid 3rd will be the sweet spot for safety.
6. The only two positions Snead has stated or strongly suggested they’ll draft is OL and DL. I wouldn’t be surprised to see multiple picks on the DL too since they need bodies.
7. I’m going out on a limb here, but I’m predicting that Edge will not be a priority. They’ve resigned Fowler, picked up Matthews, and I get the feeling that they are a lot higher than many of us on Ebukam and others they drafted last year.
8. They won’t draft WR or TE.
9. An approximate draft order will be OL, S, DL as the first three picks, if not in that exact order. I’m leaning RB as the fourth position drafted in a surprise move with it being earlier than fans expect.
10. I expect Snead to move around a lot and ultimately end up with more than 7 picks. Those picks will largely be concentrated to about five positions: OL, DL, S, CB, RB.
Mock DraftTrade #31 to Denver for #41 and #7241 - Dalton Risner, OT / G - I don’t believe Bradbury, Risner, Lindstrom, and McCoy will all go in the top 45 so they take advantage of Denver’s desire to trade up and grab an extra 3rd.
Dalton is an experienced player, good technique, nasty attitude, and versatile. He can play every position along the line except LT. Strong performance at the Senior Bowl. He’d come in and immediately start at one of the guard positions.
Other names:
Chris Lindstrom, OG;
Eric McCoy, C;
Elgton Jenkins, C;
Rock Ya-Sin, CB - The point is, the visits point to a strong possibility that they go OL first.
72 - Darnell Savage, FS - Great instincts, high IQ, excellent coverage skills, strong hitter. Doesn’t have the prototypical size. Senior Bowl standout.
Other names: All of the safeties...one of them will drop.
Juan Thornhill, Nasir Adderley, Johnathan Abram, Deionte Thompson…
94 - Khalen Saunders, IDL - Snead Special: Saunders is a small school standout that shined in the Senior Bowl. The Rams have had about 4 visits with him leading me to believe he may be their favorite IDL target. I’m not sure he lasts until 94 so I wouldn’t be surprised to see a small trade up of 10-15 picks higher to grab him. He has a great combo of agility, athletic ability, and strength. Per PFF, he had the second-highest win rate among interior DL players in the one-on-ones at the Senior Bowl. That shows he can play at a higher level of competition.
Other names: Saunders may be gone but both of these guys -
Renell Wren, IDL;
Daylon Mack, IDL - should be there. Any of the 3 will resolve the Rams need for a NT letting Brockers play DE. Wren in particular also dominated in his one on one reps on the Senior Bowl. I think this is the area where they draft DL help.
99 - Devin Singletary, RB - Here’s your RB! His testing numbers at the Combine were disappointing which is why I believe he falls to the late 3rd/early 4th. But he has elite vision, contact balance, and start/stop ability that makes him extremely elusive. Per PFF, he was ranked second among all RBs in forced missed tackles per attempt.
He’ll help with keeping Gurley’s workload down while adding an explosive playmaking element to the offense. That is something he provides that Brown does not.
133 - Isaiah Johnson, CB - Converted WR with only 2 years experience getting by on natural talent. Loads of talent and the prototypical size, length, and speed you want. He could be a star with coaching. Senior Bowl participant.
Other names:
Kingsley Keke, DE or
CBs Iman Marshall / Jordan Brown / Corey Ballentine.
169 - Ross Pierschbacher, C - Four-year starter and highly intelligent interior line player who was consistent and technically sound. He fits the zone blocking scheme.
203 - John Cominsky, DE - Very athletic DL player, strong run defender. Needs to be coached up but teams are intrigued by his athleticism and tools. Rams met with him at the Senior Bowl and brought him in for a visit.
251 - Duke Shelley, CB - Small but very athletic slot CB that the Rams worked out.
