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

The LA Rams, who do not step up to the live podium of the 2021 NFL Draft until the 57th pick, realize full well that their fate rests largely on how the draft board falls or shakes out for them. So much depends on what every other team picking before them, 56 picks in all. And what the Rams can do is dependant upon what teams do ahead of them. But that cannot be an excuse, as the team has learned the hard way in the past that the drafting process is imperfect.

Case in point:  The Rams 2020 NFL Draft delivered Ohio State safety Jordan Fuller to the LA Rams at the 199th pick. That same draft also delivered Utah hybrid cornerback/safety Terrell Burgess to the team at the 104th pick. Two NFL caliber safeties, embedded over 100 rookies into the draft.

The Rams may start both of their 2020 drafted safeties in the same backfield this upcoming season. . . and both were drafted after the 100th pick.

You see, picks numbering three digits doesn’t necessarily mean your team is relegated to choosing a special teams’ player or a kicker. True gems fall in the NFL draft every year, just as surely as birds sing.

Catch a falling star

And sometimes, a gem doesn’t need to fall at all. It could be hiding in plain sight right in front of you because the teams picking ahead of the Rams didn’t have a particular need at that position, the player doesn’t fit their scheme, or a host of other reasons known only internally to that team.

It’s the eagle-eyed team that can discern the wheat from the chaff. For that’s the bird who reaps the benefit of a plug-and-play addition to their roster, at a price that’s easy on the wallet. The rookie contract is like a stimulus payment that injects a dose of financial liquidity into the family budget. And if ever a team needed a fiscal draft stimulus, it’s the Rams.

Their lot is sealed – marquee players don’t typically drop to day two, let alone to the 57th pick. The Rams certainly need to hit a few home runs, uncover a few gems in the 2021 NFL Draft.  But despite limited access, a hit-or-miss 2020 college football season, no 2021 NFL Scouting Combine, and a lot more work falling upon ill-prepared scouting departments, the opportunity for finding elite talent anywhere in this draft still exists.

In fact, it may have improved the Rams’ chances of catching a falling star. The lack of a consensus beyond the first handful or so of the first players off the board will make this a wild ride indeed.. It may just take a little extra effort, a more discerning eye, and the courage to take a flyer on players with fewer press clippings, and more uncertain outcomes.

Late draft picks are where the value is at

That is precisely why picking players from the latter rounds whose star shined during the Senior Bowl is a good way to hedge your bets, improve the odds, dilute the house advantage a bit. In this year’s truncated collegiate season due to Covid, at least you know a Senior Bowl standout has experience under his belt.

One particular GM comes to mind who loved choosing stars from the Senior Bowl in a decade-long run  –  Ozzie Newsome, former GM of the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens GM found late-round talent that could immediately take the field and deliver impact.

It was kinda’ his modus operandi (MO) Of course, that is the same basic principle applied by LA Rams’ GM Les Snead. It was that Senior Bowl focus that drew the Rams to less-discussed wide receiver Van Jefferson and Tremayne Anchrum. And the results are every bit as impressive today.

When Nagy talks, Snead listens

Snead values the opinion of one Jim Nagy, the Director of Reese’s Senior Bowl, in that department. If Nagy likes a player, you’ve just lessened the odds of picking a clunker, a draft bust, if you follow his lead. Nagy has a sharp eye for talent, and when he speaks, it behooves NFL executives to pause, look and listen.

And while the Rams may have historically done well with late picks, they do some other draft stuff well, too.

The LA Rams do a good job of showing one look before the NFL draft and then delivering a different strategy on draft day. With too few picks to miss on any of them, that scenario is taking shape for this year as well. The Rams need help at offensive line, linebacker, and cornerback both in 2021 and most certainly for 2022. So that is where we should expect the Rams to draft. Let’s get started:

Let’s get centered first

With the  57th pick of the 2021 NFL Draft, the Los Angeles Rams select offensive center Creed Humphrey from the University of Oklahoma. And in their first selection of the 2021 NFL Draft, the Rams move to shore up the offensive line, a critically important step to ensure the success of new quarterback Matthew Stafford.

Not Quinn Meinerz? No. A true NFL-ready center.

The LA Rams will most certainly need to fill the center position, and while the LA Rams’ General Manager Les Snead has talked about how difficult the offensive center position is to fill from an NFL Draft, that is nevertheless, precisely what they should do this year.  If Oklahoma Sooners’ offensive center Creed Humphrey falls to the Rams at No. 57, they’ll toss that nonsense aside. Humphrey stands 6-foot-5, weighs 312-pounds, and has a strong wrestling background.

Nagy’s choice

And Nagy practically drools over this guy.

The word around is that he is one of the best Sooners’ offensive linemen, and any of that group that became draft-eligible was, indeed, drafted, so that says something right there. But he’s a big ole snarler who delivers play after play.  Right now, the Rams would field a much stronger offense with that type of player hiking the ball.  He represents tremendous value to the Rams at the 57th pick and would receive a standing ovation if the Rams should pull the trigger on him there.

Plan A

The LA Rams have needs, but the draft board can fall in several directions. The Rams need an outside linebacker, inside linebacker, and offensive tackle. But how will the draft board fall for the Rams? If you run online simulators, the paths vary tremendously after the second round. So why fight it?

We just ran the simulator multiple times (because we do the heavy lifting) and made note of which talented player showed up most often. In the first run, we grab LB-OT-Edge and in the second run, we grab OT-Edge-LB. In both paths, we end up with the same positions addressed. You can decide which version you prefer.

With the 88th pick of the 2021 NFL Draft, the Los Angeles Rams select linebacker Cameron McGrone from the University of Michigan.

The 6-foot-1, 232-pounder has played the Mike, a.k.a. middle linebacker position,  in college and in a blitz-heavy defensive scheme there, to boot, which makes scouts say he will have an easier time adjusting to the NFL.

Limited 2020 action, unlimited potential

Unfortunately, because of the disrupted Big Ten collegiate season, he saw action in just five games in 2020. But from what he’s shown on the field, he’s ready for the next level. That’s good because the Rams defense is ready for him.

It’s been pointed out that he has athletic ability sufficient to cover tight ends down the field. With this Rams defense, and with the teams that the Rams will face this year, pass coverage from all its non-defensive linemen is crucial.

He’s got all the skills you look for in a linebacker, too: a solid run defender plus a sure open-field tackler. He can drop back and cover and blitzes sneaky well. He played through numerous nagging injuries last season, displaying gritty toughness.

That’s not a bad arrow to be able to deploy from your defensive quiver of options in today’s pass-happy NFL. As the Rams have added solid play in the secondary and the defensive line, the last missing piece to the puzzle is the linebacker role. McGrone can become such a keystone player for the Rams defense in 2021.

Blindside protection

With the 103rd pick of the 2021 NFL Draft, the Los Angeles Rams select offensive tackle Walker Little from Stanford University.

Fee-Fie-Foe-Fum

Standing 6-foot-7 and weighing 320 pounds, Little has the gargantuan size and the length necessary to maintain that all-important leverage against opposing defenders and contain them for that extra second or milli-second which will be so critical for Stafford’s long-ball game.

He’s just a giant-sized mauler, a bona fide bully of the blindside. He’s the type of player who looks the part even before the pads go on.

The Stanford connection

At his alma mater of Stanford, where offensive line play is rather renowned, that’s one tough lineup for a rookie to crack. Little was the youngest true freshman in the last 20 years to start on their line  ‘Nuf said.

His talent shines through. His sheer size alone makes him, well, difficult to avoid. And when he locks up the defender in a block, combined with his overall strength, you’ve got yourself a solid anchor point that ‘ain’t moving backward much. He gives no ground.

Little’s got the pedigree and actually has often been favorably compared to the play of the Rams’ own Rob Havenstein. That’s a good thing because the Rams need to have successors on the roster for both Andrew Whitworth and Havenstein, and Walker Little is truly a giant step in that direction.

Oh, and here is another little tidbit about Little. He will have the chance to follow his former college offensive line coach Kevin Carberry into the NFL. Now, who wouldn’t love to see that happen?

A bit edgy

With the 141st pick of the 2021 NFL Draft, the Los Angeles Rams select outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper from Ohio State University.   And the LA Rams add to their outside linebacker roster by selecting this 6-foot-2.5 254-pound monster. Safety Jordan Fuller, who has lobbied hard for Cooper this off-season, will be oh-so-very pleased.

The Rams organization will be, too.

All Cooper did in his final season with the Ohio State Buckeyes was grade out as the highest-rated pass rusher in the Big Ten, according to Pro Football Focus. That goes along with 77 total tackles, 15 tackles for losses, 10 sacks, and two fumble recoveries.

‘Nother Senior Bowl sizzler

And he balled out at this year’s Senior Bowl, as seen below:

Cooper’s a big reason why Clemson did not repeat as collegiate champions this year, as he bedeviled likely top draft pick quarterback Trevor Lawrence the entire game and brought consistent pass rush. That game performance alone put him squarely in the binoculars of NFL pro scouts.

Fast, sneaky quick, and explosive, little more needs to be said about Cooper’s ability than below, as the edge rusher finds himself in some sterling company amongst pass rushers who’ve found success in the NFL. Jonathon Cooper has looked the part of the terrifying runaway freight train of an NFL pass rusher for two years. It happens in the 2021 NFL Draft for the LA Rams.

Plan B

Of course, there is always a chance that the position and/or player targeted by the LA Rams will not be available when the Rams step up to the podium. So they’ll need to have a Plan B in place to navigate a different order of draft prospects.

With the 88th pick of the 2021 NFL Draft, the Los Angeles Rams select offensive tackle Spencer Brown from Northern Iowa.

Fee-Fie-Foe-Fum. Wait, we already did that? Well, then Fee-Fie-Foe-Fum-2.0

Well, how else do you introduce a 6-foot-8 314-pound behemoth offensive tackle? Spencer Brown is the silver dollar of rookie prospects. That’s because he is just as valuable on either side of the offensive line. He played at the offensive right tackle at Northern Iowa, but he has all of the makings to flip around to the other side.

Balances on the head of a nail

Dancing bear, ballerina elephant, pick a cliche that gives a vivid image of a huge creature balancing on the head of a nail and you’ve got a description for Brown. Brown is huge and lean and muscular. He was very athletic and was a standout at baseball and basketball. The influence of other sports is readily on display and gives rise to his ability to remain balanced and aggressive on the offensive line.

A late conversion to the offensive line, his Senior Bowl work shows that he has room to grow and develop. But with the Rams in a draft-now-play-later situation, Brown’s outer-space upside could be just too darn simply irresistible.

Brown may be a tad raw, but he’s huge already and can still pack on more muscle. He will need to learn how to achieve and sustain better leverage on smaller defenders, but the Rams have two incredible mentors in Andrew Whitworth or Rob Havenstein who can both show him the ropes, coach him up. A good fit for the Rams, today and tomorrow.

At the edge of a new destiny

With the 103rd pick of the 2021 NFL Draft, the Los Angeles Rams select outside linebacker Patrick Johnson, from the University of Tulane.

At 6-foot-2 and 255 pounds, Tulane edge rusher Patrick Johnson has a compact and feisty fierceness when he takes the field. In this scenario, the Rams’ second third-round pick adds a fierce defensive blue-chip player to the roster. He is absolute production, a player who starts fast and keeps on going: In 34 college games, he registered 120 tackles, 34 tackles for loss, 21 sacks, 11 pass breakups, and six forced fumbles.

He is not a tall and lanky edge guy. But the Rams have gone muscular and compact at defensive lineman before, with one Aaron Donald with no regrets. So why not expand the search to include a similar style of a player off the edge?

Pin Ball wizard

He is a thumper in run defense, able to shed blockers to bounce the ball carrier type. In pass-defense? He is solid in the zone defense that is a base for inside linebackers. As for man or more involved pass defense? He’ll need to keep working on it.

But he’s young and coachable. He has versatility, a solid understanding of NFL defenses, and would be a huge chip in facing the uncertainty of the 2022 NFL season and who will play inside linebacker then. But on the flip side, Johnson has the right body frame to slide inside. Why? Well, pair him with the next prospect…

Virginia’s versatile backer

With the 141st pick of the 2021 NFL Draft, the LA Rams select linebacker Charles Snowden from the University of Virginia. And with this pick, the Rams truly gamble upon the tremendous potential of an athletically gifted player who needs to bulk up for NFL durability.

Seriously, this linebacker is 6-foot-7 and weighs 232-pounds. He has the size for an edge rusher but has the strength and length to play a 4-3 SAM (strongside linebacker) role.  The Rams could use someone who can line up on the same side as the offensive tight end and be responsible for covering the tight end or running back on pass plays.

LA hybrid ILB/OLB role?

That versatility gives him a chance to take on ILB/OLB Justin Hollins role. Right now, he is projected like an undersized edge rusher. He certainly has the reach and length to be a problem for quarterbacks even if he’s ridden in a wide arc. So how is this young linebacker undersized? Well, at 6-foot-7, his frame should carry the weight at 270-pounds. At 232, he is more gazelle than a rhino, and that does not bode well for his early success in the NFL.

His length is simply dramatic, and it’s that length of body and corresponding reach that will pose problems to opposing quarterbacks. Refined, his long outstretched paws could strip the ball from a passer’s hands as he winds up to throw, not to mention bat down a few throws. He is a stretcho, a young man who can extend his arms beyond expectations to disrupt the quarterback’s windup.

That kind of arm extension is extremely useful at getting to the quarterback, and clogging passing lanes to frustrate the throw.

Close-out the draft

With the 207th pick of the 2021 NFL Draft, the LA Rams select wide receiver, Rico Bussey, from the University of Hawaii.

After addressing needs in the best possible way in the 2021 NFL Draft, the LA Rams use their 207th pick to add another wide receiver to the roster. But, this is a deep receiver class, and there are good reasons to take a chance on this prospect.

The 6-foot-1 193-pound wide receiver Bussey is an intriguingly speedy receiver with a large catch radius. He runs solid routes and creates separation with extremely sophisticated hard cuts. What more can you ask of a wide receiver?

Bussey was useful as both a possession receiver and a big-play threat for the Rainbow Warriors.  But if there’s a weakness to his game that he will have to work on for the pros, it’s his hands. The ends of each arm that, if trained properly, will eventually become the ticket to NFL stardom for a receiver.

Hawaiian gold rush

Although he showed flashes of potential, he dropped 16-of-120 catchable passes over his last three seasons, for a drop rate of 13 percent. That’s why he’s projected as a seventh-round pick or UFDA on most boards. Fix that? He’s gold.

With a nod toward one of my all-time favorite NFL quotes, as uttered by one Freddie Mitchell of the Philadelphia Eagles, “I’d like to thank my hands for being so great today.”  Why draft someone who could fall out of the draft? Well, this guy is not just an obvious successor for Nsimba Webster, but he could be a protege of wide receiver DeSean Jackson.

Perhaps if the Rams can coach him up in that department and if they take a flyer on Bussey, the team might be getting a true diamond in the rough.

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.

Notable UDFA priority signings (5)

The disparity among multiple draft profiles is so dramatic right now, that there are multiple players who project as a day-two prospect on one site, and yet are among the priority free agents on another site. Some do not even register at all. So with that in mind, here are some priority free agent signings who may hear their names called in the 2021 NFL Draft as early as round two:

California outside linebacker Kuong Deng is a 6-foot-6 250-pound stretcho off the edge who could morph into a very versatile defender among the linebackers. (see Stretch Armstrong video in a previous slide)

Ohio State linebacker Tuf Borland is another Buckeye who loves that pinball banging that goes on at the defensive line of scrimmage. He is a 6-foot-0 229-pound Tazmanian Devil in the heart of the defense. The Rams will definitely need inside linebackers for 2022, so grab another one here.

UCF cornerback Tay Gowan has already been noted meeting with the LA Rams, among many other NFL teams. He is that 6-foot-2 185-pound super-secondary player that seems to be a trademark of new defensive coordinator Raheem Morris.

Penn State offensive tackle Will Fries is a 6-foot-6 312-pound behemoth with an NCAA career of competing against some of the best defenders in the NCAA week in and week out. He may not a plug-n-play in 2021, but in 2022 he could be ready to play a significant role for the LA Rams offensive line.

Oregon State CB Nahshon Wright is a 6-foot-4 188-pounds cornerback who also fits that super-secondary version of a big defensive back who can slide to safety, outside cornerback, or even to the slot. He’s a towering defender, which in itself is bound to cause headaches for quarterbacks.

In the end, it’s about improving the talent on the team, from wherever it may come. In this mock, the Rams land top talent throughout the draft, and continue that pursuit well after the draft ends. That is why, after all, the Rams remain successful despite no first-round picks.