2020 Draft Prix Fix

[BStanRamFan]

I love when people put out mock drafts because it tends to show where people's priorities are for the team. Usually mocks (especially mine) require some sort of prospect to fall where they normally wouldn't, which is fun to envision, but not realistic. So below is my pre-draft Prix Fix menu of players. I've layed out 5-10 players in each round that could be available when we pick. Pick from there and make your own mock. This set up does not include trades.

 

Some of the 2nd round guys could slip into 3rd. Some 3rd round guys could pull into 2nd. I have NO CLUE who to in place for 5th and beyond.

2nd Round (#52) pick one

• Lloyd Cushenberry (IOL LSU)
• Matt Hennessy (IOL Temple)
• Zach Baun (EDGE Wisconsin)
• Cear Ruiz( IOL Michigan)
• Julian Okwara (EDGE Notre Dame)
• Jordyn Brooks (LB Texas Tech)

3rd Round (#84 #104) pick two

• Malik Harrison (ILB OSU)
• Tyler Biadasz( IOL Wisconsin)
• Bradlee Anae (EDGE Utah)
• Troy Dye (LB Oregon)
• Hakeem Adeniji (OT Kansas)
• Cam Akers (RB FSU)
• Josh Uche (EDGE Michigan)
• Akeem Davis-Gaither (LB Applachian State)
• Anfernee Jennings (EDGE Alabama)
• Zack Moss (RB Utah)
• Nick Harris (C Washington)
• Willie Gay Jr. (LB Miss St.)

'Round 4 (#126) pick one

• AJ Dillion (RB Boston College)
• Eto Benjamin (RB Arizona St.)
• Van Jefferson (WR Florida)
• Darrynton Evans (RB Applachian St)
• Jonah Jackson (G OSU)
• Evan Weaver (ILB Cal)

 

 

[jrry32]

Frankly, this is a lot more generous than a typical mock would be lol.

52: Zack Baun

84: Tyler Biadasz

104: Zack Moss

126: Evan Weaver

[stl4life07]

Im thinking the Rams will trade down with one if not two of their first three picks thus if anyone does a mock draft include a trade down scenario. 

[Dr LBC]

3 hours ago, jrry32 said:

Frankly, this is a lot more generous than a typical mock would be lol.

That was my thinking as well.  Thinking that a number of these guys slip to the rounds projected here borders beyond optimistic to overly optimistic.  Uche, for instance, I just can't see lasting to the 3rd; he's far more likely to fall into the 2nd run on edge-rushers than he is to fall into the 3rd.

 

[stl4life07]

We cant forget that every year guys fall that we thought wouldnt. Teams reach like crazy for guys that we think should go later and again that pushes guys back. Imo just get the notion that certain guys wont be there when the Rams pick in the 2nd round or 3rd round because every year surprises happen when players fall. Not just when teams reach but medical issues, character issues, poor combines, not a scheme fit, etc... like just other reasons certain players fall. 

Edited April 1, 2020 by stl4life07

[RamsFan24]

This is what I would do with the options that where presented. We would grab 3 Immediate starters, and an possible 4th with Eno as our return specialist. This would put us in a very good position to succeed. I just hope Malik can get along with Ceasar and Josh, those rivalries are real, lol.

#52 Ceasar Ruiz-C, Michigan 

#84 Josh Uche-OLB, Michigan 

#104 Malik Harrison-ILB, Ohio State

#126 Eno Benjamin-RB/KR/PR, Arizona State 

[BStanRamFan]

13 hours ago, The LBC said:

That was my thinking as well.  Thinking that a number of these guys slip to the rounds projected here borders beyond optimistic to overly optimistic.  Uche, for instance, I just can't see lasting to the 3rd; he's far more likely to fall into the 2nd run on edge-rushers than he is to fall into the 3rd.

 

It's defintely optimistic, but I reviewed a bunch of mock drafts and you see the 2nd and 3rd round are fairly interchangeable. Some analysts say after like 12-18, the prospects grades become sort of fluid. 

These are alot of the names that stood to me and have been linked in our mocks lately. I'm sure there are alot more out there I forgot or overlooked. But it's fun to play the mix and match game.

[BStanRamFan]

3 hours ago, RamsFan24 said:

This is what I would do with the options that where presented. We would grab 3 Immediate starters, and an possible 4th with Eno as our return specialist. This would put us in a very good position to succeed. I just hope Malik can get along with Ceasar and Josh, those rivalries are real, lol.

#52 Ceasar Ruiz-C, Michigan 

#84 Josh Uche-OLB, Michigan 

#104 Malik Harrison-ILB, Ohio State

#126 Eno Benjamin-RB/KR/PR, Arizona State 

I think this would be my favorite possible outcome

[Dr LBC]

3 hours ago, BStanRamFan said:

It's defintely optimistic, but I reviewed a bunch of mock drafts and you see the 2nd and 3rd round are fairly interchangeable. Some analysts say after like 12-18, the prospects grades become sort of fluid. 

These are alot of the names that stood to me and have been linked in our mocks lately. I'm sure there are alot more out there I forgot or overlooked. But it's fun to play the mix and match game.

Yeah, therein lies the problem.  I don't trust the vast majority of publicly-available mock drafts to have an accurate read on where staffs and scouts actually value players (particularly with the further wrinkle of not being able to do any sort of medical follow-ups on any "med-reds" (flags) that may have flown up during combine evals) past the Top 20 picks.

The more dependable predictive trend is going off historical data of when/how-often the runs came in previous recent years (and these runs tend to occur regardless of the quality of the class and the depth only tends to increase the frequency and cut down the length of said runs).  This time last year guys like Darnell Savage, Tytus Howard, Kaleb McGary, and Chris Lindstrom were religiously mocked as Day 2-3 guys... all went in the 1st.  Sean Bunting, Lonnie Johnson, and JoeJuan Williams were being mocked as early Day 3 guys... one good run and they all went in the 2nd.  Max Scharping was a guy you never saw mocked above the 4th round prior to draft day, but he plays a premium position, and multiple runs made the position scarcity accelerate (which was predictable) and he ends up nearly picked in the Top 75.  A good rule of thumb is that if a guy plays a premium position, barring him getting flagged for a medical concern, plan on him going at least 15 picks ahead of wherever mocks have him if we're talking outside the Top 20.  It's not always going to happen, but it happens far, far more often than not.

[holt_bruce81]

5 minutes ago, The LBC said:

Yeah, therein lies the problem.  I don't trust the vast majority of publicly-available mock drafts to have an accurate read on where staffs and scouts actually value players (particularly with the further wrinkle of not being able to do any sort of medical follow-ups on any "med-reds" (flags) that may have flown up during combine evals) past the Top 20 picks.

The more dependable predictive trend is going off historical data of when/how-often the runs came in previous recent years (and these runs tend to occur regardless of the quality of the class and the depth only tends to increase the frequency and cut down the length of said runs).  This time last year guys like Darnell Savage, Tytus Howard, Kaleb McGary, and Chris Lindstrom were religiously mocked as Day 2-3 guys... all went in the 1st.  Sean Bunting, Lonnie Johnson, and JoeJuan Williams were being mocked as early Day 3 guys... one good run and they all went in the 2nd.  Max Scharping was a guy you never saw mocked above the 4th round prior to draft day, but he plays a premium position, and multiple runs made the position scarcity accelerate (which was predictable) and he ends up nearly picked in the Top 75.  A good rule of thumb is that if a guy plays a premium position, barring him getting flagged for a medical concern, plan on him going at least 15 picks ahead of wherever mocks have him if we're talking outside the Top 20.  It's not always going to happen, but it happens far, far more often than not.

I mean I get what you’re saying...but isn’t this just for fun? 

[jrry32]

17 hours ago, The LBC said:

That was my thinking as well.  Thinking that a number of these guys slip to the rounds projected here borders beyond optimistic to overly optimistic.  Uche, for instance, I just can't see lasting to the 3rd; he's far more likely to fall into the 2nd run on edge-rushers than he is to fall into the 3rd.

 

It's always hard to anticipate who will fall or rise. But right now, Baun is being consistently mocked in the top 40 picks (much to my chagrin, because I want him). Hennessy is more likely to go in the 3rd round. Uche is more likely to go in the 2nd to early 3rd (but as a tweener, he's a guy who could conceivably fall). I don't see Jennings going on Day 2. He doesn't offer enough as a pass rusher. But this class EDGE class is a bit hard to peg because it absolutely sucks after the first round. There are a couple guys I like, but I don't see a lot of guys with tremendous upside.

[holt_bruce81]

I haven't followed this draft nearly as much as I have in the past. I mean I've been following the draft for a long time and I usually still knew the guys getting drafted in the 6th-7th rounds...but this year, I'd be lucky to name 15-20 prospects total. With that being said, I hope the front office addresses the O-Line and RB position earlier rather than later in the draft. I'm still a big fan of drafting a stud RB early, so I hope one slips to the Rams in the 2nd. With Gurley not being the same player he was a year ago, the entire offense took a hit and wasn't the same. I'm sure a lot of little things contributed to that, but I know a lot of it was opposing defenses not being afraid of our run game. 

Edited April 1, 2020 by holt_bruce81

[Dr LBC]

2 hours ago, jrry32 said:

It's always hard to anticipate who will fall or rise. But right now, Baun is being consistently mocked in the top 40 picks (much to my chagrin, because I want him). Hennessy is more likely to go in the 3rd round. Uche is more likely to go in the 2nd to early 3rd (but as a tweener, he's a guy who could conceivably fall). I don't see Jennings going on Day 2. He doesn't offer enough as a pass rusher. But this class EDGE class is a bit hard to peg because it absolutely sucks after the first round. There are a couple guys I like, but I don't see a lot of guys with tremendous upside.

There are a couple guys who barely get talked about who I think are potential "Tanoh Kpassagnon," "Dawuane Smoot," even "Yannick Nkagoue" type picks who get picked Day 2 purely on the back of potential and "what they could do" vs "what they have done" specifically because of the lack of top-end depth of this EDGE class.  Jonathan Garvin for one.  I won't be surprised in the slightest if (particularly with the increased uncertainty created by not being able to do as thorough medicals as normal as we have this year) a team finds themselves more willing to sweep Alton Robinson's character questions into their blindspot.  Darrell Taylor and Highsmith could definitely benefit from a couple of runs earlier than expected, possibly Betiku also.

[jrry32]

56 minutes ago, The LBC said:

There are a couple guys who barely get talked about who I think are potential "Tanoh Kpassagnon," "Dawuane Smoot," even "Yannick Nkagoue" type picks who get picked Day 2 purely on the back of potential and "what they could do" vs "what they have done" specifically because of the lack of top-end depth of this EDGE class.  Jonathan Garvin for one.  I won't be surprised in the slightest if (particularly with the increased uncertainty created by not being able to do as thorough medicals as normal as we have this year) a team finds themselves more willing to sweep Alton Robinson's character questions into their blindspot.  Darrell Taylor and Highsmith could definitely benefit from a couple of runs earlier than expected, possibly Betiku also.

Taylor has a lot of traits, but he doesn't know how to use them. He's a worthwhile project in the 3rd. I didn't like Garvin's tape. Felt his effort sucked and didn't see the skill to compensate (he has traits, though). Robinson has some speed rushing potential, but he plays so weak and soft. Highsmith just didn't interest me at all. He could corner against inferior competition, but I don't see his traits winning against NFL talent. I haven't scouted Betiku. Is he worthwhile?

[Dr LBC]

32 minutes ago, jrry32 said:

Taylor has a lot of traits, but he doesn't know how to use them. He's a worthwhile project in the 3rd. I didn't like Garvin's tape. Felt his effort sucked and didn't see the skill to compensate (he has traits, though). Robinson has some speed rushing potential, but he plays so weak and soft. Highsmith just didn't interest me at all. He could corner against inferior competition, but I don't see his traits winning against NFL talent. I haven't scouted Betiku. Is he worthwhile?

I'm not advocating them for us, I'm simply giving them as examples of guys I expect to get pushed up boards because coaches/teams arrogantly buy wholesale into the belief that if a guy has traits and "just needs development or polishing" that they are absolutely the staff capable of executing that development.  I also feel like guys with multiple flags for past injuries (Greenard, for instance) probably end up going later than projected because teams aren't going to have the benefit of having their own medical professionals examine them.