2021 NFL Draft

[stl4life07]

For what it’s worth Mel Kiper Jr gave the Rams a B+ grade which is tied for 4th best out of every team. He said he likes nearly every player Les picked because of value. He said Tutu will make an early impact on short routes and jet sweeps. Also Kiper Jr said Jones could’ve snuck into the 2nd round. He said what stopped him from giving the Rams an A was the fact they surprisingly didn’t take an OL prospect.

Edited May 2, 2021 by stl4life07

[FrantikRam]

Drafting OL this year would have been for next year - we as fans always think rookies can come in and start, but it's nowhere near a guarantee.

How we drafted, I'm thinking we will extend Corbett before the season. If we do that, we will have 4/5 of our OL locked in for 2022 (Corbett, Edwards, Havenstein and then Evans and Anchrum).

Given who Darius Williams' agents are, and his age, he's going to go after the most amount of money he can get (which he should) - likely means he's gone after this year. Which means we will have cap space to play with. We will also likely have 10 picks in next year's draft.

So while the future outlook for the OL might be bleak, we will have options next year, which will include bringing back Noteboom potentially.

This draft prepared for any other FAs to leave next year, so the only concern for FA and draft will be the OL and then backfilling some depth at CB, ILB and S

[Dr LBC]

8 hours ago, BStanRamFan said:

The feeling I have right now is the same feeling I've had in past drafts. "Why did we address these positions and ignore others? Why did we pass on X to take Y?"

I will say I'm a little more scared this year than most with Brad Holmes gone, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt that they know what this team is missing. 

Tutu is STILL a head scratcher to me for where he was picked, but alot of draft outlets had him as the 4th best WR and a 2nd round talent. If they can get him to add 20lbs+ I'll feel better about it.

Jacob Harris is my favorite pick of the draft. He has the potential to be whatever he wants in the league with that size and elite athleticism. 

 

Meaningless Post Draft Grade: B-

We did fill many needs (DL, ILB, WR, CB, Special Teams), but didn't address O-line at all until UDFA. First pick was a reach IMO, but we did manage to turn 6 picks into 9 and take some high upside prospects while already having starters entrenched at all 22 positions.

We were largely need-based drafting, which I'm not fond of pigeonholing yourself into doing, unless you're willing to move around ALOT (up AND down), because it leaves you a bit too at the mercy of what the other teams leave for you. But, I think (and I can definitely be wrong), where we've been hitting the traditional "premium" positions that most "experts" advocate value-drafting at has been through trades. It's an acceptance that if we're going to commit high-value contracts to these players we know they're already at high performance-level at high-premium positions (QB, edge, CB). If the FO and McVay (right or wrong) had felt more confident in Goff relative to the contract they gave him (that's on them, but if they felt they made a mistake, at least they were proactive in addressing it), I'm fairly confident we would have still traded our 1st this year for Orlando Brown.

It's clearly not a long-term solution, but that doesn't mean it's not sound, just unconventional (which is always going to draw criticism from the conventionalists because it bucks tradition) and risky. But this FO has shown they're nothing if not willing to risk it to get the biscuit.

[JonStark]

On 5/1/2021 at 12:44 PM, RamRod said:

Green wasn't. He was picked right before us.

We could've had him at 88. 

[BStanRamFan]

14 hours ago, Dr LBC said:

We were largely need-based drafting, which I'm not fond of pigeonholing yourself into doing, unless you're willing to move around ALOT (up AND down), because it leaves you a bit too at the mercy of what the other teams leave for you. But, I think (and I can definitely be wrong), where we've been hitting the traditional "premium" positions that most "experts" advocate value-drafting at has been through trades. It's an acceptance that if we're going to commit high-value contracts to these players we know they're already at high performance-level at high-premium positions (QB, edge, CB). If the FO and McVay (right or wrong) had felt more confident in Goff relative to the contract they gave him (that's on them, but if they felt they made a mistake, at least they were proactive in addressing it), I'm fairly confident we would have still traded our 1st this year for Orlando Brown.

It's clearly not a long-term solution, but that doesn't mean it's not sound, just unconventional (which is always going to draw criticism from the conventionalists because it bucks tradition) and risky. But this FO has shown they're nothing if not willing to risk it to get the biscuit.

Yeah I agree with this. The risk is solely placed on the O-line. Apparently they are very confident with what we have in place and their back ups.

I'm less concerned about Center than I am about Whit. His age and health scare the $hit out of me and we would have to trot out Noteboom or Evans if he goes down. That's really my only gripe with their entire approach to things is the lack of depth and back up plan at O-line with the oldest LT in history in place lol 

[BEASToftheEAST4]

So we took two guys in Harris and Skowroneck that both fit the mold of WR/TE tweener. I’m assuming one will be listed as a TE and one as a WR. I’ve seen most people mention Harris as a TE but with his height, weight and speed, it just makes the most sense for him to be a big bodied WR. And Skowroneck seems like a much better candidate to transition to TE. 
what do you guys think ends up happening with them? For what it’s worth, I think the Rams social media listed Harris as a TE and Sko as a WR, which is the opposite of what I’d do, personally. 

[BStanRamFan]

2 minutes ago, BEASToftheEAST4 said:

So we took two guys in Harris and Skowroneck that both fit the mold of WR/TE tweener. I’m assuming one will be listed as a TE and one as a WR. I’ve seen most people mention Harris as a TE but with his height, weight and speed, it just makes the most sense for him to be a big bodied WR. And Skowroneck seems like a much better candidate to transition to TE. 
what do you guys think ends up happening with them? For what it’s worth, I think the Rams social media listed Harris as a TE and Sko as a WR, which is the opposite of what I’d do, personally. 

I think Johnny Mundt is off the team next year lol 

[RamRod]

2 hours ago, JonStark said:

We could've had him at 88. 

He went 87th to the Steelers.

[JonStark]

1 hour ago, RamRod said:

He went 87th to the Steelers.

Wow, I had that way wrong. Must have had a little more to drink that I thought thanks to the first pick. 

[NVRamsFan]

Wow just read a stat on the Athletic only three players in the last 20 years caught a pass in the nfl weighing 160 lbs or less.

[rocky_rams]

43 minutes ago, NVRamsFan said:

Wow just read a stat on the Athletic only three players in the last 20 years caught a pass in the nfl weighing 160 lbs or less.

hopefully he bucks that trend. Or he gains some mass and goes up in weight 

[FrantikRam]

On 5/2/2021 at 5:48 PM, Dr LBC said:

We were largely need-based drafting, which I'm not fond of pigeonholing yourself into doing, unless you're willing to move around ALOT (up AND down), because it leaves you a bit too at the mercy of what the other teams leave for you. But, I think (and I can definitely be wrong), where we've been hitting the traditional "premium" positions that most "experts" advocate value-drafting at has been through trades. It's an acceptance that if we're going to commit high-value contracts to these players we know they're already at high performance-level at high-premium positions (QB, edge, CB). If the FO and McVay (right or wrong) had felt more confident in Goff relative to the contract they gave him (that's on them, but if they felt they made a mistake, at least they were proactive in addressing it), I'm fairly confident we would have still traded our 1st this year for Orlando Brown.

It's clearly not a long-term solution, but that doesn't mean it's not sound, just unconventional (which is always going to draw criticism from the conventionalists because it bucks tradition) and risky. But this FO has shown they're nothing if not willing to risk it to get the biscuit.

 

How do you figure we were need based drafting? We got extremely good value with all our day three picks and they came out and said they were taking Ernest Jones no matter what - none of that seems like drafting for need to me - I see this as a draft where their first two picks were players that they wanted and then the rest of the draft they let come to them and got great value.

[JonStark]

18 hours ago, rocky_rams said:

hopefully he bucks that trend. Or he gains some mass and goes up in weight 

I don't see him bucking that trend, but I also worry about him putting on mass and not being the same player they thought they were getting. I honestly just don't see any way that pick is worth it unless he returns kicks and becomes Devin Hester 2.0. 

[rocky_rams]

14 hours ago, JonStark said:

I don't see him bucking that trend, but I also worry about him putting on mass and not being the same player they thought they were getting. I honestly just don't see any way that pick is worth it unless he returns kicks and becomes Devin Hester 2.0. 

I absolutely hate this pick. If it doesn’t work out then it may allude to Holmes being more responsible for our success in drafts and if that is the case, then it may signify the beginning of the end for Les Snead.
 

Because drafting was the main thing we used to measure Sneads success 

[stl4life07]

Todd McShay loves the Rams taking Tutu. He said he is going to be a star with Stafford.