Look for LA Rams to grab offensive players with first two picks

It’s that offseason time of year, and it’s time to troubleshoot the weak and shallow areas of the LA Rams roster. Even before the Rams enter into any one-year contracts this season, the Rams project to be fairly hard hit by the 2022 NFL Free Agency market. Of 16 players anticipated to test free agency, four are offensive linemen, five are linebackers, two are defensive backs, and two are defensive linemen.

Knowing that the LA Rams prefer to draft to fill roster vacancies the following year, the first guess might be that the LA Rams may focus upon linebackers and offensive lineman. After all, the Rams need players at that position, and the 2021 NFL Draft would give the Rams a year to size them up, familiarize themselves with the NFL as a whole, and acclimate themselves to life in LA.

Common sense and the LA Rams are strangers when it comes to the NFL Draft.  Want proof?  The LA Rams used three of their first five 2020 NFL Draft picks on offensive skill players.  To be fair, they were the positions with the best depth and most talent.

So here we are again. Before any compensatory draft picks, the LA Rams are sitting on just 3 picks. They have the least presence in the 2021 NFL Draft before compensatory picks,  and even after a projected award of three valuable compensatory picks, will only have six picks overall.  Precious and few are the 2021 NFL Draft picks for the LA Rams. So why would the Rams use their first two on offense?

Head coach Sean McVay gets what Sean McVay wants. And he loves offense.

The LA Rams have plenty of needs. But the team won’t draft to ‘need’. At least not to the obvious ones. You can look for the team to use their first two draft picks on the following positions: quarterback, tight end, speedster wide receiver, power running back, offensive tackle, or center.  No defensive player in the lot.

Can the Rams pull it off? Well, the offense will be reinforced by second-year players OL Tremayne Anchrum, RB Xavier Jones and Raymond Calais, TE Brycen Hopkins, and WRs Van Jefferson, Trishton Jackson, and J.J. Koski, and of course QB Bryce Perkins.  Isn’t that enough?

Not if the goal is to win Super Bowl LVI. The LA Rams found plenty of defensive prowess on their roster in 2020, despite the loss of their entire starting linebacker corps, and two key defensive backs. With two free-agent signings, one player re-signed to a one-year contract, and three key drafted players (with later picks), the Rams rallied around the defensive schemes of Brandon Staley.  So what’s to stop the Rams from following that same pattern in 2021?

Of course, the Rams will be in need of cornerbacks this year. But the team can find a talented defensive back late in the 2021 NFL Draft. And the team will benefit from both Dont’e Deayon and Tyrique McGhee competing for playing time this year.

The Rams have proven time and again that they have successfully planned to refill roster holes each year, so they likely already have a 2021 plan in place. What does that mean for the Rams Draft class in 2021? A quarterback? A bookend offensive tackle? A new center? A deep burner? A wild ride and two new offensive players are what appear on the windshield right now.