LA Rams rumored to meet 2nd time with Quinn Meinerz

The LA Rams are pretty good at scouring the 2021 NFL Draft class for prospects that may have slipped past other teams. That seems to be the plan for the young man out of Wisconsin-Whitewater by the name of Quinn Meinerz.  By all accounts, he is likely not even on the radar of some NFL teams’ draft boards, and yet he may be perched atop that of the LA Rams right now.

Once more, this young man was a standout at the Senior Bowl. And that is all it takes to show up for the Rams scouting department.  Of course, this will be a bit on faith, as he sat out the entire 2020 season, and was not very polished in his 2019 performance.

Want to talk about a prospect who is all over the board? Draft Network’s Jordan Reid cited him as a developmental guard in a draft profile from January 12, 2021. Two months later, after wowing everyone at the Senior Bowl, NFL Analyst Lance Zuerlein authored a glowing review of the young center and gave him a ‘starter within two years’ grade.

Let’s do this again sometime

So perhaps that is why the LA Rams have reported gone the virtual meeting route with the young man, and this time they brought the offensive line coach, Kevin Carberry.

We know that the Rams had their eye on Michigan’s center Caesar Ruiz in the 2020 NFL Draft, but the New Orleans Saints derailed that hope by drafting him in round one. Now the Rams have another chance to land their center of the future, so I truly expect the team to be rather aggressive on this one.

The Rams are one of a handful of NFL teams that flourishes with their understanding and draft selection process of small school prospects. And let’s not kid ourselves, Wisconsin-Whitewater is not an SEC conference school. But the football program there has been outstanding, thanks in no small part to the performance of Quinn Meinerz.

LA Rams draft scouts found a good one in Quinn Meinerz

And he has the right people singing his praises, such as Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy:

Quinn Meinerz is a solid get in this year’s draft class. He is a huge but prototypical center at 6-foot-3 and 320 pounds. He has a mean manner of moving the person in front of him against their will, and his pass protection is much better than his 2019 playing days. He has big strong hands, not only vital to handling and hiking the football, but to use when setting up his blocks.

He has a low center of gravity, which if you have ever played with Weebles, you know is very important to keep him upright against powerful defensive linemen. He is quickly shaping up to have the buzz and reputation as a keystone player – that is, a young center who can be the lynchpin of a great young offensive line well into the future.

Quinn Meinerz may be from a small school, but he has a big dream to play for the NFL and a bigger body of work that says that he can and should be a great NFL center. And right now, that is exactly what the LA Rams need. This won’t eliminate the chance of re-signing Austin Blythe, but it will absolutely up the completion from day one of training camp for the LA Rams offensive line.