Daniel Jeremiah: Rams show importance of depth in the draft

[theramswire.usatoday.com]
Daniel Jeremiah: Rams show importance of depth in the draft

Cameron DaSilva
February 27, 2022 8:52 am PT

Everyone talks about the star-studded roster that the Los Angeles Rams assembled en route to their Super Bowl title, but that team was much more than a collection of big names. In the Super Bowl alone, they got contributions out of Brycen Hopkins, Nick Scott, Darious Williams, A’Shawn Robinson, Greg Gaines and Ernest Jones.

Of course, Matthew Stafford, Jalen Ramsey, Aaron Donald, Von Miller, Cooper Kupp and Odell Beckham Jr. helped the Rams get to the big game, but throughout the season, their excellent depth was on full display.

Gaines, Scott, Hopkins, Kupp, David Edwards, Rob Havenstein, Tyler Higbee and Jordan Fuller were all drafted outside the first round, showing how much value there is in the mid-to-late rounds of the draft. Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network mentioned exactly that during his pre-draft conference call, pointing out how the Rams are an example of the importance of depth in a draft class.

So I think a lot of people have kind of looked at the top of this draft and have their thoughts about whether or not it stacks up with previous years, but I would just say kind of as I’m going through this process and watching all these guys and then paying attention through the postseason and seeing the Rams win the Super Bowl, I think the discussion about the Rams being a superstar team is obviously very valid, but I think if you look at that team and who some of their key players are and the home run picks they’ve had outside the first round to help really build the nucleus of that team, it shows you the importance of depth in a draft,” Jeremiah said. “I think this is a really good depth draft, especially when you get into the second, third, fourth round. There’s a lot of quality there, a lot of starters.”

The Rams will once again need to find value in the later rounds of the draft, being without a first- or second-round pick this year. They do have a third-round compensatory pick, but even that selection won’t come in the top 100.

Los Angeles has had success in Rounds 3-7 before, and that will need to be the case again in 2022.