LA Rams 2021 NFL Draft: 3 key offensive takeaways from day one
By Bret Stuter
III – What a tame wild ride
Of course, the fact that so few NFL draft boards were in agreement before round one was a bit discomforting, but in the end, the first round was pretty close to what I expected. Now, keep in mind that the terminology was a bit muddled. Since the LA Rams run a 3-4 defense, the term Edge tends to lean to outside linebacker, and linebacker tends to lean towards inside linebacker.
But in the 4-3 world, the edge rusher is the defensive end who has a hand in the dirt and race around the outside towards the quarterback. Linebackers in the 4-3 world include Sam (strong-side linebacker), Will (weak-side linebacker), and Mike (middle linebacker).
Edge rusher Joe Tryon from the University of Washington was the only pre-draft meeting player who the LA Rams had met with who was selected in round one. He is off to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as he was selected with the 32nd pick of the draft.
In the end, almost all quarterback-needy teams got their quarterback. The Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Jets, San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bears, and New England Patriots all chose a quarterback. The Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos chose non-quarterback players when they were at the podium. The Pittsburgh Steelers feared to be targeting a center, chose RB Najee Harris instead.