Los Angeles Rams: Grading the Micah Kiser selection from 2018 NFL Draft

After trading up to the fifth round of the 2018 NFL Draft, the Los Angeles Rams helped fill a need at linebacker with Micah Kiser.

As expected, the Los Angeles Rams have been keeping themselves busy on Day 3 of the 2018 NFL Draft after only having one selection over the first three rounds as a result of previous trades, although it will totally be worth it. For the second pick in a row, the Rams decided to stick with the defensive side of the football by selecting Micah Kiser out of Virginia to help the team fill a much needed void at the linebacker position.

Despite all of the high praise Los Angeles has received over the last few months by making the defense even more dangerous than before thanks to key additions such as Ndamukong Suh, linebacker was the one area the team needed to improve on the most heading into the draft. With the defensive line stacked with Suh and Aaron Donald along with the new dynamic duo at cornerback in Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib, the Rams seemed confident in their chances of finding a solid linebacker at some point in the middle rounds.

That’s where Kiser comes into play when looking at how much of an impact he’s made over the years with the Cavaliers on the defensive side of the football. Not to mention, when looking at the history of Wade Phillips figuring out ways to bring out the best in the players he gets to work with, there’s even more reason to love this addition of Kiser in the fifth round.

Whether it’s his great tackling ability or simply the instincts he uses on defense, it’s easy to understand why Los Angeles was willing to move up into the fifth round in order to land Kiser when looking at the potential he brings to the table. Even before trading one of their top leaders on defense in Alec Ogletree a few months back, linebacker was already considered a top need for the Rams.

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With Kiser on board, this was another great step in the right direction to put the defense in much better shape than they were a few days ago before the start of the draft. Once again, give Sean McVay and company credit for landing a great value pick in Kiser, which is why this selection deserves a B+ grade wise.