The Rams will be limited in what they can do in the offensive backfield. That said it is an intriguing possibility to see a top back drop to them in round 2 and it would be very hard to pass up on, but I think that draft real estate is sort of set aside for the lines (OL & 5T) which are where this team needs to improve the most.
But just looking at the backfield from a general view, I believe the following applies:
1. They lack physicality. By this I mean that when they face a physical defense or when they have a big lead and want to mash they have an answer in the ground game. Gurley can be a load when he's got blocking, but his health factors in here as well as that of Brown, who has not been there for the Rams in two consecutive seasons when they needed him (getting dinged up in limited carries is a bad characteristic for backup ball carriers). So I believe they will address this midrounds in the draft at the least.
Also irt addressing that physicality a FB is a possibility. The WCO certainly allows for that position to be used and McVay already tried to draft one he liked. This draft is very deep in ball carriers, so I plan to deep dive a bit on the physical backs who have showed some hands. Ideal scenario would be a physical back who has decent hands and can function as a FB in this offense, who would get plenty of snaps from spelling Gurley to blocking.
Now one wildcard here is if they move Gurley. This would surprise me btw, simply from a financial point of view, so I think it's a longshot. But if it happens it tells us that there are some issues behind the scenes with him and the Rams want to remove those issues because otherwise the time to break from him is 2022 where the team has an out. This would obviously change things quite a bit and make the Rams players in the early back market (from our round 2 spot or maybe even moving up to get the guy they want).
But to summarize this point I think they keep Gurley and replace Brown. Hendy is a very skilled young back, just add a physical element back there to eat snaps or block.
2. They need to draft a backup QB. Every year there's a handful of signal callers who would fit nicely in this offense mid to late rounds (Minshew was one last year) and I think the Rams need to take one of them. This would benefit the organization if they can hit on the pick, where they can translate McVay's teaching ability into cost savings in the backup job. Now some will tell me I'm nuts, that the backup has to be ready to lead this team and a young QB is too risky. But I don't feel like this team is going to win it all with most backup QB options. Foles and that deal was very much an outlier. So use that position to grab some upside and save money (last time I looked the cost of backup QBs runs upwards of $5M which can be a very big cost savings).
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/06/2020 07:15AM by merlin.
