Rams should consider trading up for Jawaan Taylor in second round

After trading down in the second round, the Los Angeles Rams should consider trading up for Florida’s Jawaan Taylor.

In what really shouldn’t have been that much of a surprise, the Los Angeles Rams ended up trading down out of the first round during the 2019 NFL Draft on Thursday, meaning the NFC champions will now select at No. 45.

Originally, the Rams entered the draft without a second-round pick, and while it was frustrating to some to see Sean McVay extend his streak without a first rounder to three years in a row, deep down this was a great move by the organization.

Plus, since some of the players Los Angeles was most likely targeting will end up being available at No. 45, why wouldn’t the Rams be excited over trading down?

With that being said, it will be interesting to see which players end up being strongly considered by Los Angeles since they have a few key positions that could use some depth, especially the offensive line.

Between Andrew Whitworth most likely retiring after the 2019 season along with the departures of Rodger Saffold and John Sullivan this offseason, the Rams are expected to address the offensive line at some point in the next two days.

That’s where Florida’s Jawaan Taylor could come into play, as the argument can be made that seeing the offensive tackle slip out of the first round was one of the biggest surprises from Thursday.

Like most rookies, Taylor certainly can bring a lot to the table for the Rams, whether it happens to be his ability as a run blocker or simply the way he handles blitzes from opponents.

There’s no question that Taylor would be a great fit for McVay’s offense, and would be in a great position to learn from key veterans like Whitworth to make his rookie transition a little smoother, but also the availability factor could come into play here.

As much as Los Angeles would love to see Taylor manage to slip to No. 45, from a realistic standpoint, that seems unlikely to happen since he’s arguably one of the top prospects available heading into the second round.

Basically, if the interest were there for the Rams to land Taylor, they would most likely need to trade up higher in the second round for this to happen.

But as crazy as this may sound for Los Angeles since they easily could have just kept their original pick in the first round, even if it meant trading up just a few more spots for Taylor, this could be worth it in the big picture for the Rams.