LA Rams Draft 2021: Pre-draft meeting tracker and analysis

Which draft round has the most focus?

The LA Rams have been working the pre=draft meetings hard. Despite just six picks, the LA Rams must be fully prepared for a chaotic draft. Even then, this draft is still likely to surprise a few teams as it occurs.

So based on the NFL.com prospect rankings, where are the LA Rams focusing their meeting frequency? Well, that’s a curious matter.  When you line up the number of picks, and the number for meetings, the Rams are most definitely skewing their meetings to align with the later rounds.

Round Two  (one pick) (2 meetings)- Washington OLB Joe Tryon, Wisconsin-Whitewater OC Quinn Meinerz

Round Three (two picks) (1 meeting)- Florida State CB Asante Samuel Jr.

Round Four (one pick) (3 meetings)- UCLA WR/RB Demetric Felton, Western Michigan WR D’Wayne Eskridge, Auburn WR Anthony Schwartz

Round Five (no picks) (2 meetings)- Louisville RB Javian Hawkins, San Diego State CB Darren Hall

Round Six (one pick) (2 meetings)- Oklahoma St LB Amen Ogbongbemiga, Iowa WR Ihmir Smith-Marsette

Round Seven (one pick) (4 meetings)- West Virginia DT Darius Stills, Iowa DT Chauncey Golston, North Carolina WR Dazz Newsome, Oregon CB Thomas Graham Jr.

UDFA/Priority signing (17 UDFA slots) (3 meetings)- Auburn WR/KR/PR Eli Stove, UCF’s WR Jacob Harris, UCF CB Tay Gowan,

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From this overlay of where the picks fall versus where these players project to hear their names called, there are two logical solutions.

The first reason to explain the disparity is to conclude that the Rams draft board looks absolutely nothing like the NFL.com draft board. Perhaps they are working off a modified version of John Vogel’s 2021 LA Rams Draft board? But the other reason, while equally feasible, is much more intriguing. What if this pattern of meeting with Day Three projected prospects, over 82 percent of the meetings so far, is deliberate? The Rams picks are split 50/50. So why would the majority of meetings target prospects in rounds four or later?

Well, the answer to that is that the Rams expect to trade back. In fact, based on this evidence, it appears as though the Rams could abandon both third-round picks in an effort to salvo the draft with more than ten picks.  That could be incredibly wise, as most draft analysts cite the overall depth of the 2021 NFL Draft as uncanny at cornerback, wide receiver, linebacker, offensive lineman, and edge rusher.  Of course, the LA Rams