While I always temper my opinions about who the Rams draft with a never-say-never grain of salt, I am just baffled at the fan and draft guru sentiments that the Rams will use a 1st or 2nd round pick on a QB.
If they do, it nearly certainly means Stafford has told the Rams that he'll be retiring after this year. And I would put the odds of that up there with AD coming out of retirement to play. Meaning, pretty unlikely.
Snead has said over and over, and has drafted over and over, that he drafts for need. He looks first and foremost at NEED, and then the BPAs to fill those needs. Do the Rams NEED a QB? Or a backup QB? NO!
What do they NEED in a big way? Edge rusher and DT. They don't NEED a CB. They don't NEED any oline.
But even NEED has priorities and levels of immediacy. They NEED IMMEDIATELY Edge and DT that can contribute right away because they have holes there.
But after immediate need, what else? I'd say in order of priority, they need to get a Kicker, a kick/punt returner, and an ILB to go alongside Jones.
Next in priority after that (in order): a RB with potential starting ability, a WR with potential WR2 ability, a TE that has potential TE2 or TE3 ability. Maybe an OT with LOT potential.
What we do NOT need at all is: QB, CB, Safety.
I think ILB as a moderate priority is being overlooked by fans and draft guys for a couple of reasons. This is the last year on Jones' rookie contract. There is no guarantee the Rams can keep him after this season and his contract is going to be costly. Second, the Rams bevy of ILBs after Jones are pretty pedestrian. They need a much better ILB to go with Jones. And, with AD gone, I can see more 2 ILB sets to help protect the middle against the run.
Bottom line: 3 of the Rams first 4 picks will be about Defense, and will include Edge and DT as the likely first 2 picks in whichever order the Rams board has the players stacked. The O player would likely be a WR who has excellent Returner ability. I could also envision the Rams taking 2 DL in the first 4 picks, or a DL and an ILB to go along with Edge, or even 2 Edge guys, thereby making the top 4 an all-defense top 4.
But this QB in rounds 1 and 2 talk also defies what the guys who really know football (like PFF and the staff at the Athletic) think. And nearly every mock they do has the Rams with an Edge or a DT taken first and second.
The other thing is that despite who the media thinks, and most fans think, are the top 3 Edges, and top 2 or 3 DTs, the Rams don't necessary think that. So, who they have their eye on could be quite different than what we think. The Rams want SPEED and quickness on D more than just about anything else. I think this makes Latu less a candidate for the Rams than many think. I'd guess Chop Robinson and Jared Verse might interest them more than Latu.
They also like very quick DL with versatility, which is why I think they may rank Fiske and Newton higher than most teams.
4 more weeks and we can go back and see who's crystal ball works the best.
