LA Rams 2021 NFL Draft: 5 post-draft surprises

IV – Rams selected four offensive skill players

Heading into the 2021 NFL Draft, the LA Rams had five running backs, four tight ends, and seven wide receivers. While there is always room for more, the starters for the Rams offense seemed to be firmly established, not just for 2021, but for years to come. The Rams running game would be handled by two players drafted in 2019 and 2020 respectively. The Rams wide receivers boasted two just recently extended veterans, a returning rookie, and a just-signed veteran wide receiver.

Even the tight end picture was in focus, as the Rams had a returning veteran starter and a redshirted player who looked forward to an ever-increasing role on the offense. Even if the Rams find room to carry four more skill players on the roster, there is little chance that even two of them see much action on the offense.  And of those, the Rams will still be forced to distribute one football.

Can the Rams truly convert all of the new additions to the roster via the 2021 NFL draft to rostered players? Well, if the Rams are prepared to part ways with WR/KR Nsimba Webster, WR Trishton Jackson, RB Raymond Calais, and perhaps even TE Brycen Hopkins, then the answer is yes.  The question then becomes was that the plan all along?

Each offseason, teams must rebuild the roster with two objectives. First and foremost, the team must ensure that the depth at each position is sufficient to last the entire season. Secondly, the team must take any opportunity to improve the overall talent on the roster.  If that involves replacing a formerly rostered player, the team only improves by the difference of the new player from the former player.

So four players added at positions where the team seemed to be nearly set before the draft. If nothing else, it most certainly was a surprise.