LA Rams draft Nagy’s choices Creed and Cooper in latest mock

Physical corner

With the 251st pick of the 2021 NFL Draft, the LA Rams select cornerback Antonio Phillips from Ball state.

This 6-foot-0 190-pound cornerback from Ball State is an ideal fit for the LA Rams secondary, whether it be cover-one, cover-two, or cover-three. He is a sure tackler and can play with his face to the football field virtually the entire game.

He ranked as the 121st-highest cornerback for his senior with an overall grade of 69.6 (71.5 Coverage, 58.9 Run Defense, 77.9 Tackling), according to our friends at Pro Football Focus (Subscription required). Antonio Phillips is a late-round cornerback on several draft boards, but a day two defensive backs on others.

Great fit for Raheem Morris D

The professional eyeballs of NFL scouts say Phillips projects best in a scheme that asks him to play deep zone coverages such as Cover three or Cover four, certainly a need for the Rams against the pass-happy NFC West.

And who better to learn the ropes of playing cornerback from than the NFL’s best in Jalen Ramsey? All the while, this young man becomes an ideal defensive back to assume the various facets of the LA Rams’ newest defensive scheme.

In this part of the draft, every team is taking flyers on players, making choices with uncertain outcomes (I guess the same goes for the entire draft process), but you hope to find backstops and depth here as well.