Not pleased with LA Rams draft class? You have company

The challenge of any NFL draft grade that flies onto the radar from the moment that the draft ends is obvious. How can you tell? Are you truly measuring what an NFL team did in a draft, or are you simply measure the difference (or in scientific terminology, the delta) between expectations and reality? And that is the challenge facing the LA Rams draft grades so quickly after the draft was held.

Let’s be completely honest. The 2021 NFL Draft class has not taken a single NFL snap, and yet we are reading the post-draft grades as though this year’s crop of rookies have been in the league for years and the designation of Pro Bowlers and NFL Playoffs have already appeared on their resume.

Draft grades at this time are a lot like a grade from art class. It’s not about the quality of the art, but the random interpretation of it. The LA Rams were expected to address the OL, CB, LB, Edge, and DL, and do it all with just six picks.  But how were they supposed to address those needs are what analysts look at.

So how did the Rams do?

The worst of the bunch gave the LA Rams draft grades of D-. That grade came from ProFootballNetwork (PFN) and the ever-cynical Matt Lombardo from FanSided. Of course, there is the other side of the spectrum, which was an A grade from NFL.com’s Chad Reuter. Mel Kiper Jr. generously awarded the LA Rams a B+ for the 2021 NFL Draft. The Rams average weighted grade came in at a C grade.

Let the draft dust settle

We give ourselves a wee bit more time. Not that our draft grading process is any more scientific. It’s simply the fact that many of the rookies chosen by the LA Rams were not on our immediate radar, and so our ability to judge what the Rams received in terms of a 2021 draft class is severely limited for the time being. Trust me when I say we are looking over each drafted rookie intensively, and the more we learn, the more we appreciate this draft class.

In the past, the LA Rams seemed to lead the data analytics efforts through the team’s draft process and turned to the supporting documentation to support a decision. This year, it felt as though the decisions made relied far more heavily upon advanced data, and perhaps even where the data made the decision for the team.

If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then certainly the draft grade is as well. The true judgment of this year’s crop of rookies is to look back three or four years from today to see how they performed. I expect many to be more pleased with these players in the future. This draft class was about finishing off the team in terms of building a true championship caliber roster.

The LA Rams believe that they have found it.  I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt, for now.