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

To the Roadhouse

Before we can jump in on the picks, let’s start by assessing the lay of the land of this Rams draft from the scenic vista roadhouse rest stop overlooking the scene. The farther away from the draft you go, the less likely you are to catch the minutiae, the hustle, and bustle, the frantic pace of it all.  From a distance, it all appears tranquil, orderly. . .and peaceful.

To draw a better bead on this Rams draft, we need to re-orient our compass, Synchronize our watches, and zero in our rifle sights to better align and sync up with the Rams’ front-office perspective.

This outfit’s board of directors is recommending its shareholders take the long view on this draft and is advocating that they invest more capital to make the company more sustainable. Resist limiting ourselves to only thinking about the here-and-now present.

Drafting for more than just immediate needs, but drafting for long-term strategic goals, objectives.  Eyes on the prize, yes, but a quick glance up at the rear-view mirror every now and then, too. What do we need to do to beat the Niners? They sure had our number last year. Rubbed our nose in it. That stung.

Remember, we are all GMs for a day, right?

We can all play the online simulated games, make all the mock draft trades via computer software algorithms, and get immediate feedback from all that stuff, designed solely to better inform us of which selections were good, and which ones sucked. But it’s easy to lose track that the ‘grades’ are built upon formulae from team needs and a mock board that had no interaction with LA Rams’ executives.