If Tua Togovailoa falls in 2020 NFL Draft, can LA Rams benefit?

The LA Rams are sitting solidly in round two of the 2020 NFL Draft. But if Tua Togovailoa falls in 2020 NFL Draft, can LA Rams benefit?

As the LA Rams await their turn in the 2020 NFL Draft, there will still be storylines of interest to the fans. There is a new stream of thought emerging from NFL pundits that the Miami Dolphins will not select Tua Togovailoa with the fifth pick of the 2020 NFL Draft. And with that move, the dominoes of the draft begin to fall rapidly.  If the Dolphins do not select Tua at five, and instead select a dominant offensive tackle, that forces the Chargers to decide whether to go with the clouded medical history of Tua Togaovailoa at six, or select the cleaner medical history of Justin Hebert at that position.

If Tua falls past the Chargers at six, then all hell breaks loose in this 2020 NFL Draft. And that could benefit the LA Rams. Here’s how.

A team capable of moving up in the 2020 NFL Draft will have multiple picks before the LA Rams ever step up to the podium, or in the case of the 2020 NFL Draft, call in their pick. But in order for any team to get to Tua Togovailoa, they will likely need to surrender multiple picks to do so.

The benefit to the Rams is in that crop of picks that go from one team to another.  The reason that may benefit the Rams lies in the shopping lists of those teams.  In short, if both teams need a quarterback, linebackers, edge rushers, and offensive tackles, the trade up for Tua Togaovailoa eliminates one team from making selections at the other positions.

The logic rests upon one NFL team amassing a huge number of picks. Let’s use the Miami Dolphins as the team trading back. Now, let’s spitball and place the Denver Broncos as the team seeking to trade up for Tua at five.  To get to the fifth spot in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Broncos would likely need to offer picks 15, 46, 77, and 178 for starters.  All those picks transfer to the Miami Dolphins for the fifth pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

But now that the Dolphins own so many picks, they will likely NOT draft multiple linebackers, edge rushers, offensive tackles. They will distribute picks to reinforce their entire roster. So the transfer of multiple picks from one team to another to select Tua Togovailoa could eliminate competition for positions the Rams are prioritizing in this draft.

As Tua falls, more and more teams will suddenly be “within reach” of one of the better QB prospects in this draft.  And therefore, more and more teams will want to trade up to get him.

Even if the Rams do not trade into round one, tonight’s draft could have a significant impact on the Rams draft on day two. We’ll be happy to keep you posted.