Good post

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PSJRam
With all due respect to Deadpool (and I don’t mean that in the cruddy way that some people say that just to follow up with something disrespectful. There's little doubt that DP knows what he's doing and has proven it year after year. I'm certainly a novice as compated to him), I see it a bit differently.

32. Pitt - They either trade out (Levis) or more likely they stay put and take Porter Jr., its a need, its a fit. It makes too much sense.
*I don’t think anyone is worried about them taking a QB so a team interested in in Levis or Hooker doesn’t need to move up this far. I think Porter has been the dream scenario for the Steelers. He’s a very, very good player that is a great value at 32 and they are a family atmosphere in Pitt. The ties to his father make this a storybook type of thing.

Yeah, no one thinks the Steelers are drafting a QB, but for teams that want a QB, are you willing to take the chance on missing one because you were convinced the Steelers wouldn't trade out of 32? I wouldn't. What muddies this a bit is that there are 2 Qbs left, so in theory, you could see what the Steelers do and hold tight until 1 of the 2 QBs are gone, and then make your move. That said, I think it would have to be a heck of a draft pick haul to get Pitt off of 32 and Porter Jr.

33. Arizona - They may or may not need a WR, they need a QB, they need a ILB. They could just about go anywhere. They need a CB. Cam Smith
*I don’t think anyone is worried about them taking a QB so a team interested in in Levis or Hooker doesn’t need to move up this far. Buddha Baker is NOT happy in AZ. He is the type of guy to be a no show or show up and not participate. I think they select Branch here and either trade Baker or let the two of them be an excellent safety tandem. If Baker stays, could even play Branch at CB with the idea that they could move Baker when it’s better for the team to move him and still have Branch to fill that role.

That was a typo, I meant to type CB, not QB. They have Murray. I apologize. Same situation for Arizona as Pitt. Regardless of what Pitt does, if they get blown away by a trade offer, how do you not accept it. Its a deep draft moving forward in rounds 2-4.

34. Det - THey need a DE, CB and TE. THis could be Mayer, White or Ringo. I'll go with Keion White at DE.
*I’m thinking this will be a TE (Mayer, Musgrave or Washington). They are a blue collar type of team so I think Mayer is probably the guy because he’s already adept in both the pass and blocking game. Musgrave is more capable of stretching the field and Washington is basically a small tackle with some move skills and pretty good hands. The Lions DB’s got a little better as the season moved on but I do think a CB or DE is in play as well. My guess is DE before CB. This could also be a spot where someone looking to trade up for Levis or Hooker might be worried that all of the Lion’s “gushing” about Jared Goff isn’t enough for them to not draft a viable back up plan by taking one of the QB’s here.

Det is the wild card. I cannot figure out what they are doing, other than overdrafting guys. They could go with Levis. I do like Mayer as a fit as well.

35. Indy - They need a CB/S/OL - I think this is the absolute floor for Branch. Seems like too good to pass up situation.
* To me, this is the most likely spot for anyone wanting Levis or Hooker, to move up to. We KNOW Indy is not going to draft a QB. But, I think teams looking at the Rams, with the next pick, could be wondering if the Rams would consider Levis or Hooker a really good value at #36 and with Stafford getting older and having injury history, the Rams may be the team to get in front of. I think possibly Tennesee or the Raiders (Jimmy G is just injured far too often) could look to trade up to this spot and grab a QB. I agree that if Indy stays in this spot that a DB is the likely choice unless they think really highly of one of the interior OL players. I’m not sure that Tackle value is very good here.

I can't argue with any of that. Makes total sense.

So that leaves the Rams with:

2 OCs, 2 OGs and 2 OTs (Tippmann & Schmitz, Torrence and Mauch, Bergeron and Duncan)
3 CBs - Phillips, Ringo and Turner
5 EDGE - Adebawore, Tuipulotu, Foskey, Hall, Ojulari
3 TEs - Mayer, Musgrave and Washington
2 WR - Hyatt and Downs

*I think that possibly 1 of the OL, 1 and 1 of the TE on the list above can reasonably be gone. Before the Rams pick. I think that if Branch or Smith is on the board, it would be harder for Detroit to go with Mayer over either of those DBs.
I think that the Rams will have an opportunity to trade down especially if both Levis and Hooker are on the board. I’m taking all of the OL out of the equation with pick 36 (not because I don’t think that Tippmann or Schmitz wouldn’t be a really solid pick, but because I don’t think the Rams will take an OL until pick 77, at the earliest.
So, don’t the Rams at least have to think about Levis or Hooker at this spot? I think they do. It could allow them to look at a bright shiny 1st round left tackle in 2024.
If they don’t want either of those QB’s then I think they can find a partner to trade back. Raiders are only 2 picks back, Tennessee is only 5 picks back and Green Bay (gotta think they want a back up plan to Jordan Love) is 6 picks back. Not sure what you pick up for those reasonably small moves, but certainly if they were willing to move back no more than 6 spots, there are still going to be around 12-15 of the guys on the list above still available. Heck, if they trade back as many as 6 spots and 12-15 guys on the list are available, I’d look to trade back another 3 or 4 spots.
The main thing is that if they do trade back, it needs to be in small increments and they need to get additional picks no later than pick 150 which, is 15 picks into the 5th round ( I think).

I think the Rams absolutely have to look at both QBs. It would be reckless not to. That said, a QB with your first pick in the 2023 draft hurts the theory of a remodel with plans for contending 2024. That 1st pick has to make some kind of impact in year 1 or 2. Levis and Hooker won't.

Doing this will allow them a really good player and a great return on what started at the 36th overall pick. I’m not even going to think about picks 69 or 77 until I see where things stand at around pick 60.
I’d also like to see them use some of those picks in the 171 to 191 range to possibly get them another pick, or 2, in the top 150.