Rams bringing in Jachai Polite for visit brings hope of potential first-round steal

Could Jachai Polite be a good fit for the Los Angeles Rams at No. 31 if the defender happens to slip in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft?

As the Los Angeles Rams continue to prepare for the 2019 NFL Draft, it looks like the NFC champions are considering the possibility of Jachai Polite at No. 31 following an impressive career at Florida.

However, the Rams know that Polite has a lot to prove over the next few weeks since his offseason can best be described as a disaster, whether it was the negative attitude at the combine in February or his recent poor outing at Florida’s pro day.

Even if some will claim Polite deserves some benefit of the doubt for dealing with a hamstring injury, some NFL scouts are still bothered by his actions from the combine.

No player in Polite’s position should ever bash teams the way he did at the combine just for providing some criticism for the edge rusher, but at least from the perspective of the Rams, they were the one team he happened to praise due to a good interview.

This factor alone isn’t the main reason behind the interest expressed by Los Angeles since Polite’s talent alone from his time with the Gators make him seem worthy of being a first-round pick.

Does this mean Polite could fall to the Rams at No. 31 if every other team leading up to the pick decides to pass on him as a result of his horrendous offseason? While Los Angeles will have plenty of great options to consider with the selection, it is a good sign to see the team meeting with Polite since depending on how the visit goes, this could turn out to be a steal.

If it wasn’t for all of the negativity surrounding the combine along with the poor performance at Florida’s pro day, whether the hamstring was still an issue or not, the argument can be made that a few months ago, Polite was guaranteed to be a pick in the top 15.

However, the Rams have been in this position before where they believe players like Polite are worth taking a risk on talent wise since Wade Phillips is one of the best in the game at defensive coordinator for a reason.

Plus, if Polite does happen to be available, and Los Angeles strongly considers going with him near the end of the first round, just imagine what kind of damage he could do as a rookie while teaming up with the two-time Defensive Player of the Year in Aaron Donald.