LA Rams 5th worst offseason ranking is undeserved

What they could have done differently?

The final rebuttal to the ESPN offseason dismal ranking article is the repetitious citing of previously stated points.  He tries to rewrite history, claiming that the sudden uptick in Marcus Peters’ performance with the Baltimore Ravens would have happened with the LA Rams. Unfortunately, we know that the Rams defensive backfield improved dramatically when the team relied upon Jalen Ramsey, Troy Hill, and Nickell Robey-Coleman to defend passes in 2019.

That sprang from the disdain he professes once more to the LA Rams’ lack of attention to the offensive line in the 2020 NFL Draft. He states “With that in mind, they badly needed to use one of their second-round picks this year on helping their offensive line.” but fails to mention who, if any, offensive lineman were worthwhile selecting at either 52 or 57.  In fact, the only offensive lineman selected in round two who would have been on the board was Boise State’s Ezra Cleveland. Anticipating second-guessing on Rams’ draft picks, we even wrote a real-time article citing other players who were still on the board when the Rams picked at 52 and at 57.

Is Superstar RB worth less than developmental offensive lineman?

The final almost-too-painful-to-read statement was his claim that “Even if second-round pick Cam Akers turns into a superstar, the Rams should have waited to target a running back.” Huh? Is Ezekiel Elliott worth less than Ceasar Ruiz?  How can that statement be made with a straight face?  If the LA Rams determined that Akers was the embodiment of all their running back needs, why would they hesitate to select him when they did?

Unless an article states specifically who the Rams failed to select by selecting either Akers or Jefferson, that argument is worthless. The consensus of the 2020 NFL Draft was that the drafts elite status was only about four players, and the rest all dropped dramatically into a category of “talented but need development”.  Seven offensive linemen were selected in round one alone, and an eighth was selected before the Rams were able to pick.  Since the Rams had added not two, but nine offensive linemen since the 2018 NFL Draft. At what point is enough truly enough? Anyone can think what they think, and the ranking of the LA Rams offseason as the 28th in the NFL may be an accurate assessment.  But this ranking based on so many errors seems to be a matter of lining up perceptions to support an unflattering narrative, rather than assemble an objective narrative to support the actual facts.