LA Rams NFL Draft 2021: A deep-dive dissection of all selections

Stuck in the middle with you

We mere fans and observers of the draft process can pore over their picks’ pre-draft ratings, their pre-draft value grades and compare that against our own pre-conceived notions of what we think the team should have done. Then render our verdicts.

Ah, but what fools these mortal GMs for a day be. How they mistakenly fashion themselves as knowledgeable draftniks!  For they know not of what they speak (or write).

Indeed, the allure, the fascination, the magnetism of the NFL draft is that for three days, we are all GMs. We are all Les Snead and Sean McVay. We are all sitting by the pool in a Malibu beach draft house and listening to the soothing crash of the surf.

We are all Raheem Morrises, too, eager to cannonball into the pool, to rejoice in our team’s wisdom and clairvoyance after making such an excellent pick. Because man, that guy we just took got 34 and 3/4 inch pythons! Or, that one runs a 4.27-second 40-yard dash time with a vertical jump of 36 inches and a broad jump of 10-feet-7! That dude’s an athletic freak!

Conversely, we instinctively react to what we perceive as a bad pick by saying to ourselves, the Rams did what?  Who? Whoa, they coulda’ picked up that guy in the third round, but instead, they pulled the trigger on him in the second? WTF?

Now, I doubt any of us hang a painting of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on our man-cave walls, however, ‘cuz, well, that’s just a bit much. Penalty flag for unsportsmanlike conduct. 15-yard penalty, from the spot of the foul.