7 takeaways from the Rams' 2020 draft
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theramswire.usatoday.com]
Cameron DaSilva
The Los Angeles Rams spent the weekend adding playmakers on offense and versatile players on defense, selecting players such as Cam Akers, Van Jefferson and Terrell Burgess. What they didn’t do is make their inside linebacker and offensive line spots a huge priority.
It was an interesting draft haul, to say the least, but one with immediate implications and signs of changes coming in the future.
Here are seven takeaways from their 2020 draft class.
Inside linebacker isn’t a premier position in Rams’ eyes
Under Wade Phillips, inside linebacker wasn’t a position of much priority. That’s partly because they had Cory Littleton, but the Rams never made it a point to add top talent to the inside linebacker spot.
That remains true under Brandon Staley, assuming he had a say in the team’s draft plans. The Rams didn’t draft a linebacker until No. 234 overall when they selected Clay Johnston, who tore his ACL in October.
The coaches and front office feel good about the team’s linebacker unit as it is, which is a huge risk considering how little proven talent there is on the roster. Micah Kiser will probably be one of the starters, with Travin Howard and Kenny Young competing for the other spot.
It’s one of the most inexperienced linebacker groups in the NFL, but one with some potential, too.
They’re confident in the offensive line
The biggest surprise for the Rams in the draft was their decision to ignore the offensive line until their very last pick. They had opportunities to draft linemen on Day 2 and early on Day 3, but they passed up all of those chances in favor of players they clearly had higher on their board, even if they weren’t at positions that needed to be addressed.
Les Snead said after the draft that the Rams like their offensive line group, specifically mentioning Austin Corbett as a key player.
“Definitely, that’s obvious, because we didn’t address OL until later,” he said of whether the team likes its current group. “But I think Sean’s mentioned it, we’ve been drafting young players for the last two, three years. Even when Sean mentioned yesterday trading for (OL) Austin Corbett, it was just a couple years ago that he was the 33rd (overall) pick in the draft and even this year we wouldn’t have been able to pick an Austin Corbett.
“So, we did go into it probably a little different than maybe the outside of our building where, OK, hey, it’s a major, major glaring weakness the Rams offensive line.’ We felt confident that if we continue grooming and developing these players they’d have a chance to become a really solid offensive line.”
Whether this works out or not remains to be seen, but ignoring the offensive line after seeing the mess that it was last year is a huge risk for the Rams.
Gerald Everett is on his way out
Whether it’s in a few months or in a year, Everett almost certainly won’t be wearing horns much longer. The team drafted Brycen Hopkins in the fourth round, who offers a similar skill set to Everett as a dynamic receiver with good speed and athleticism in the open field.
Everett will be a free agent in 2021 and the Rams already have Tyler Higbee, who they extended last year. It’s safe to assume that even if the team likes Everett right now, the coaches aren’t confident he’ll turn into a No. 1 tight end, so it’s hard to imagine the Rams paying up to re-sign him next offseason.
“We really like our tight end room right now, but we had [Hopkins] highly rated and felt like he could come in and carve out a role early but also later,” Snead said. “We didn’t have to make that pick, but sometimes when you make those types of picks, there’s an element of drafting in a microscope, but also with a telescope and you feel like, ‘Hey, the guy can make plays.’”
WR changes are coming in 2021
With the selection of Van Jefferson in Round 2, the Rams seemed to back off of their “vote of confidence” for Josh Reynolds, as McVay put it leading up to the draft after Brandin Cooks was traded. As much as the team might like Reynolds in the immediate future, he doesn’t seem to be part of their long-term plans.
He will be a free agent next offseason, but so will Cooper Kupp. Jefferson is closer to Kupp than he is to Reynolds in terms of his skillset, which is certainly interesting. He’s a precise route runner who wins with his technique, not his athleticism.
Might the team be preparing for Kupp to leave in free agency next year if he commands a huge contract? Or was the Jefferson pick about preparing to let Reynolds go? Either way, it’s highly likely that one or the other will be gone next year.
David Long Jr. isn’t a lock to start
When the team declined Nickell Robey-Coleman’s option for 2020, it seemed logical that David Long Jr. would step up as the No. 3 cornerback – whether that meant he’d play outside with Troy Hill in the slot, or vice versa. That isn’t necessarily true now that Terrell Burgess is in the mix.
Burgess is a safety by name, but he also plays in the slot a lot. After he was selected, McVay mentioned his ability to play nickel corner, calling it “an ideal situation.
“I think when you look at some of these versatile safeties, you think even just in our division, you look at what Jimmie Ward is able to do for the 49ers where he has great range playing in the post, but then in some of those known-passing situations there’s a confidence to drop him down and cover on slots,” McVay said.
Burgess could win the slot cornerback job out of the gate, and at the very least, he’ll get on the field in “big nickel” and dime packages. That will force Long to step up and win the job when the Rams use their base nickel packages.
Rams will be a run-heavy team in 2020
The Rams may have a quarterback making $33.5 million per year, but Jared Goff isn’t going to be the focal point of the offense. The running backs will. By drafting Cam Akers with their first pick, the Rams put their focus on the running game.
It was a bad sign for the team’s feeling about Darrell Henderson, but also an indication that McVay wants to get back to running the ball consistently like they did with Todd Gurley in 2017 and 2018.
“Sean and his group have been really good when we’ve been able to run the football,” Snead said. “Adding Cam , continuing to develop Darrell, to go with Malcolm (Brown), that’s definitely going to get us to where we want to be doing that.”
For better or worse, the Rams are going to be an offense that wants to establish the run and utilize a complementary passing game through play-action. That doesn’t show much confidence in Goff, but it’s how the team wants to operate, and that’s evident with the selection of Akers.
Dime and “big nickel” packages will be used a lot
You’re going to hear the terms “dime” and “big nickel” a lot in 2020 when watching the Rams defense. Essentially, it means they’re going to have three safeties on the field with two cornerbacks outside and two linebackers in “big nickel” packages, or three safeties, three corners and one linebacker in dime sets.
That’s all made possible with Burgess’ arrival, and the team’s depth at cornerback. We saw Phillips use this a lot in 2019 with Marqui Christian, keeping Littleton as the only inside linebacker on the field a lot of the time.
That’ll continue this coming season with Taylor Rapp, John Johnson, Burgess, Long and likely Micah Kiser. Stopping the run will be difficult in these packages, but in today’s pass-happy NFL, it’s all about limiting air yards.
