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.
Last year I was fully right on 7 of my 10 predictions and partially correct on the other 3.
Link of last year's predictionsThis year I wasn’t going to do one because all of my predictions will be guessing since top 30 visits were cancelled and it’s my observation that the top 30 visits and the workouts - not just the general visits - are the most telling on their draft strategy and positional focus. Top 30 visits were replaced by Face Time calls this year but we only have a record of 12 of those and I believe they had an unlimited amount so their predictive nature is probably worthless. But I woke up this morning and felt like doing one anyway.
Positional BreakdownHere are the positions in order that have gotten the attention:
7 IOL, 7 LB, 6 Edge, 5 OT, 5 CB, 4 WR, 4 RB, 4 Safety, 3 DL, 3 TE, 2 QB, 1 K
OL - 12 visits total on the OL with 3 of them being recent Face Time calls. 4 of the 5 OTs are projected to be drafted in the 3rd round or earlier. 4 of the 7 IOL are projected to be drafted by the late 3rd/early 4th.
LB - Only 2 LBs, Jordyn Brooks and Akeem Gaither-Davis project to be early picks. The other 5 are projected to be drafted in the very late rounds. The one Face Time visit was with Frances Bernard who looks to be a 7th round player.
Edge - Of the 6 edge visits, Joshua Uche is the only that projects to be drafted in the 2nd round. The majority of them are projected by most experts to be 4th round picks, possibly late 3rd rounders. They met with Bradley Anae at the Senior Bowl and had a Face Time visit with Alton Robinson. I’d keep my eye on those two guys somewhere in the 100 to 130 range.
CB - Of the 5 visits one player projects to be drafted in rounds 3 to 4 - Reggie Robinson. They also had a Face Time call with him and Myles Bryant. All of the other CB visits are 6th to 7th types.
WR - Snead has said they have a WR picked out for every round and this was prior to the Cooks trade. That’s pretty telling. Of the 4 visits, one projects to go in the 1st - 2nd round (Denzel Mims), one in the 3rd - 4th (Van Jefferson), and the other two are end of draft types. After Cooks was traded, they had a Face Time call with Mims.
RB - Both Snead and McVay have all but said they will draft a RB. The question is where. Of the 4 visits, one projects to the 2nd (D’Andre Swift), one to the 3rd (Moss), one to the 4th (Darrynton Evans), and one very late (Jason Huntley). And like WR, their only Face Time call was with someone they’d have to draft with their first pick in Swift. Make of that what you will.
Safety - Two of the 4 visits project to be 3rd - 4th round picks and the other two project to be 7th/UDFA types. Their was one Face Time call with Kenny Robinson.
DL - Only 3 visits but two of them were Face Time calls. All three project to be drafted in 4th at the earliest to very late.
TE - 3 visits, no Face Time calls. I don’t expect to see one drafted.
QB - There is a lot of buzz on the QB James Morgan who had a Face Time visit with the Rams. He is being projected to be a 3rd to 4th round pick. Snead has drafted a backup QB in the 3rd round before in Sean Mannion. Is that their plan on how to handle the backup QB job this year? Their other QB visit projects to go undrafted.
K - They recently had a Face Time visit with a kicker who projects to the late 6th to UDFA. This was after they signed two kickers so they may still draft one.
This leads me to....
10 predictions:1. I’m going out on a limb early here. They will trade up from 52 for an explosive playmaker of some type be it Mims, Swift, or another highly touted WR or RB.
2. They will then trade back with pick 57 for multiple picks in the 3rd/4th rounds.
3. They will add an OL by the 3rd round and likely it will be an OT that they cross train and temporarily have competing at LG.
4. They will add 2 WRs since they were already looking for one prior to trading Cooks. As the roster stands now, they only have three bodies there.
5. There will be at least 3 draft day trades, possibly more. Snead has averaged 3 draft day trades in his tenure and they’ve done even more moving around since McVay has come on board.
6. A RB will be drafted by round 4. It may even be the first pick!
7. Since McVay has arrived the Rams have prioritized positions that potentially have a need the next year. They will draft a safety and likely one with coverage skills which means it will be late Day 2 or early Day 3.
8. This is really a guess but I feel they forego drafting a QB and pick up a vet in free agency.
9. The LB position may get 2 picks but neither will be early.
10. I expect Snead to move around a lot and ultimately end up with at least 8 picks. Those picks will be scattered over 7 positions: OL, WR, RB, Edge, LB, FS, CB.
Mock DraftTrade #52 and #104 to the Colts for #44
Trade #57 to Denver for #77 and #95
Trade #95 to the Jaguars for #116, #137, and #170
Another trade with the Colts - #137 and #199 for #122
44 - Denzel Mims, WR - They immediately go out and replace Cooks with a big, strong WR that can get deep. He’s got great ball skills.
The target could also easily be any of the top WRs who fall such as Tee Higgins, Jalen Reagor, or Brandon Aiyuk or any of the top RBs who fall.
77 - Matt Peart, OT- Snead is on record as saying their approach to finding their future LT is to just add bodies all the time that can play LT. Peart needs a year or two of development but has very high upside and is capable of being a good LT in the future. Between him, Noteboom, and Evans they are stacking the roster with potential Whit replacements. Some experts also project him to play guard and Kromer loves cross-training which is why the Rams have a recent trend of drafting a college OT and moving them to guard versus simply drafting guards. He would compete with Corbett for the LG position immediately.
84 - Zach Moss, RB - I’ve just got a feeling that Moss is the RB they’re targeting. He’d be great as a compliment to Henderson.
116 - Kenny Robinson, FS - A ballhawking single high Safety with great range and athleticism. He’d immediately be the 3rd safety and provide insurance if JJ walks next year.
122 - Lynn Bowden, WR - McVay recently discussed his desire for playmakers so they move up from 137 to nab another explosive player. Bowden is a 5'11" 204 lb gadget WR that ran a 4.39 40. He can play RB and QB. McVay would have fun with him in his scheme giving him touches with jet sweeps, end arounds, and maybe some wildcat stuff.
126 - Alton Robinson, Edge - A 34 edge with high upside. If he puts it all together, he’d be better than all the edge defenders we currently have on the roster. He’s athletic, got great bend and explosiveness. He produced top-five numbers in the 40, vertical, three-cone and 20-yard shuttle.
Bradley Anae, Edge would also be in consideration here if he falls. This guy shined in the Senior Bowl which means he’s on Snead’s radar.
170 - Myles Bryant, CB - Very sticky slot CB. He’d possibly allow David Long to move to the boundary and compete with Hill.
234 - Francis Bernard, ILB - This is a LB who is older than normal which is why he falls but he’s ready to play today. He excelled in coverage which means he may compete for the starting role next to Kiser. Or he’d be depth.
