Draft Discussion Thread

[Flounch]

Plus he was emotionnal and crying when Snead call him on the phone. 

[BStanRamFan]

My thoughts on the draft:

Overall Grade:B-

Really liked Kiser, Obo, and Kelly picks. I think they have the chance to make the biggest impact year 1. Felt like we may have reached for a few guys, but that's common in most draft and with the amount of picks we had, reaching is inevitable. Snead, McVay, and Wade had a clear direction they wanted to go and that was depth at Oline and Dline. I guess they didn't feel comfortable with the backups behind Suh, Donald, and Brockers. Hard to count on Easley to stay healthy. Grooming Oline for the future is always a smart play. Wish we took the WR from ND with one of our 6ths (Equanimous Brown). I also would have liked to see Goff draft a QB to groom. It could turn out to be profitable down the road if he was able to coach him up.

I still look for us to add another edge rusher in FA after camp cuts. Ebukam, Longacre, Obo scares me if that's the top 3.

The idea of making a move for Shane Ray comes into play now after seeing Denver take Chubb. I'm curious what it would take to get him away from Denver while I still on a rookie deal, but then becomes another mouth to feed. 

Seeing Tavon go is sad a little because he was a good guy, but it needed to be done. He had no role here and being able to restructure his deal + trade him for a 6th is a stroke of genius by Snead.

[jrry32]

13 hours ago, RamRod said:

John Kelly’s tape vs Florida was nice

 

Yea, Kelly is a beast. He was a victim of circumstance, like Todd Gurley in 2016. Tennessee's play-calling was terrible, their offense lacked talent outside of him, and his OL sucked in the running game. He was constantly breaking tackles in the backfield. Check out his 2016 rushing numbers when compared to Alvin Kamara:

Kelly - 98 rushes, 630 rushing yards, 6.4 YPC, and 5 rushing TDs

Kamara - 103 rushes, 596 rushing yards, 5.8 YPC, and 9 rushing TDs

Kamara is a better player than Kelly (and a better athlete), but Kelly runs angry, has insane contact balance, and very underrated quickness (he's a lot more elusive than you expect a power HB to be, kind of like Marshawn Lynch in that regard).

[DEE RAWL]

Yup.  Was probably my favorite pick of the draft.  Love how hard he runs.  Excited to see what he can do in the passing game.  

[chris00cm]

Forty time and broad jumps are proven to be the most important factors to running back success at the next level (besides draft capital, obviously).

Most successful running backs to run a 4.65 (or higher) at the combine since 2006:
Corey Clement
Rex Burkhead
Theo Riddick
Stevan Ridley
Joique Bell
Arian Foster 

Their broad jumps compared to John Kelly's 10'00" mark:
9'07"
10'05"
9'10"
9'10"
10'00"
N/A

This idea is going to generate a ton of hate, but it's hard to ignore. He's an outlier if he can parlay his career into any amount of success.

[Flounch]

We are asking him to be a good back up not to be a feature back...

[NVRamsFan]

So I’m confused, he ran a 4.5 40 at the pro day and his broad jump was good so what’s the issue with Kelly?

[chris00cm]

5 hours ago, Flounch said:

We are asking him to be a good back up not to be a feature back...

That's very fair. 3rd down receiving role seems to be his calling card. If there's anything that translates to the next level, it's his receiving ability. At a healthy ~215 pounds, that's rare size for someone with chops like his.

[chris00cm]

5 hours ago, NVRamsFan said:

So I’m confused, he ran a 4.5 40 at the pro day and his broad jump was good so what’s the issue with Kelly?

NFLDS has him at a 465. Best source for pro day numbers.

[NVRamsFan]

1 hour ago, chris00cm said:

NFLDS has him at a 465. Best source for pro day numbers.

Two times at his pro day first run was 4.65 second was 4.5. 

[chris00cm]

Shared my irrelevant draft grades in the NFL Draft. Thought I'd share them here as well since I have yet to comment on this class as a whole.

Brandin Cooks: Best receiver in this class, giving DJ Moore a run for his money. Hard not to like this pick. A
Sammy Watkins: Produced admirably for a season. Did more than the box score would let you believe. But I, and the Rams staff probably expected more. In his defense, he arrived late in training camp and had to go from Buffalo's "offense" to an entirely different scheme. Also netted us a 3rd in 2019. B
Joseph Noteboom: Was at the top of my board at the time of the pick. Love the situation and potential. He has everything you want as a starting/developmental LT in the league. A+
Brian Allen: A better version of his brother, Brian is the gifted version of what everyone wanted out of Jack Allen in 2016. In a draft with two or three late round centers were taking, I'm okay with this pick. B
John Franklin-Myers: One of those picks that came out of no where. Was my second favorite pick of the Rams. Dominated at a small school, but has proven he can hang with the big boys through all the tests. Basically the football-loving version (hopefully) of everyones favorite 3-tech back in the day, Christian Ballard.  A+
Micah Kiser: Two down thumper. Mega producer. Fits all the cliche's. Fits a big need and would bet money he's the first in the draft class to play significant snaps. Not a fan of the player personally but can't ignore the need. B
Ogbonnia Okoronkwo: Safe to view him as a situational pass rusher and will likely rotate behind Samson Ebukam. I don't like him as much as most, but I am a fan of his game and there is a role for him. B+
John Kelly: Everyone will mention how much better he was than Kamara. But we should also realize Kamara had plenty of flaws as a prospect. He just landed in what was literally the best situation possible. I don't like the profile or his comparables at the next level. Those who like him should say he's a poor mans Kareem Hunt, while I see something much less. D

The rest of the picks aren't really worth evaluating. They'll either be the last player on the active roster, gameday inactives, or practice squad fodder. 

Jamil Demby: Guard depth. 
Sebastian Joseph:  Wade Phillips hand picked his nose tackle. 
Trevon Young: Outside linebacker depth.
Travin Howard: 211 pound linebacker who looks to be a special teamer.
Justin Lawler: Defensive end depth.

[jrry32]

On 5/1/2018 at 10:41 AM, chris00cm said:

Forty time and broad jumps are proven to be the most important factors to running back success at the next level (besides draft capital, obviously).

Most successful running backs to run a 4.65 (or higher) at the combine since 2006:
Corey Clement
Rex Burkhead
Theo Riddick
Stevan Ridley
Joique Bell
Arian Foster 

Their broad jumps compared to John Kelly's 10'00" mark:
9'07"
10'05"
9'10"
9'10"
10'00"
N/A

This idea is going to generate a ton of hate, but it's hard to ignore. He's an outlier if he can parlay his career into any amount of success.

Let's add a few more to the list:

Kareem Hunt - 4.62 40

Alex Collins - 4.59 40

Dion Lewis - 4.62 40

Jordan Howard - 4.59 40

Carlos Hyde - 4.61 40

Eddie Lacy - 4.64 40

Spencer Ware - 4.62 40

Alfred Morris - 4.63 40

Mark Ingram - 4.62 40

LeGarrette Blount - 4.70 40

This feels a lot like the Cooper Kupp debate to me. In fact, you compared him to Kareem Hunt (poor man's version), and the measurables seem to fit:

https://draftscout.com/members/ratings/tsx_profile.php?pyid=1003045

https://draftscout.com/members/ratings/tsx_profile.php?pyid=129933

[StLunatic88]

6 hours ago, chris00cm said:

Shared my irrelevant draft grades in the NFL Draft. Thought I'd share them here as well since I have yet to comment on this class as a whole.

Im alittle confused how you give a pick like Franklin-Myers an 'A+', a guy who still has a lot to prove against this level of competition, but Kiser a 'B', who has a likely shot to be a Day 1 starter for us. 

[chris00cm]

13 hours ago, StLunatic88 said:

Im alittle confused how you give a pick like Franklin-Myers an 'A+', a guy who still has a lot to prove against this level of competition, but Kiser a 'B', who has a likely shot to be a Day 1 starter for us. 

I mean, do you see who's in front of Kiser? lol

[chris00cm]

16 hours ago, jrry32 said:

Let's add a few more to the list:

Kareem Hunt - 4.62 40

Alex Collins - 4.59 40

Dion Lewis - 4.62 40

Jordan Howard - 4.59 40

Carlos Hyde - 4.61 40

Eddie Lacy - 4.64 40

Spencer Ware - 4.62 40

Alfred Morris - 4.63 40

Mark Ingram - 4.62 40

LeGarrette Blount - 4.70 40

This feels a lot like the Cooper Kupp debate to me. In fact, you compared him to Kareem Hunt (poor man's version), and the measurables seem to fit:

https://draftscout.com/members/ratings/tsx_profile.php?pyid=1003045

https://draftscout.com/members/ratings/tsx_profile.php?pyid=129933

Measurables are spot on for Hunt. I just realistically can't expect everyone that measures out like him to produce. He was an exception of the rule in a perfect situation for his skill set. 

I view the draft like an investor. I like players that have the highest "success" rate. Looking at a players athletic profile is the most efficient way of doing that. That's not me saying I take Kelly's production at UT with a grain salt, he was a mega-producer there. That's the only reason he was drafted. Do outliers hit? Very seldomly. When that happens, I admit my mistake and move on. But I am always against investing draft capital in outliers, and that's the reason Kelly fell so far in the draft.