LA Rams: 2022 pre-combine Mock Draft

With the 251st pick

of the 2022 NFL Draft, the LA Rams select Allie Green, cornerback, from Missouri.

If the NFL Draft was entirely about who looks the part, Allie Green IV might be a significantly higher draft pick. Unfortunately for Green IV, and perhaps fortunately for the LA Rams, the game requires more than looking the part.

At around 6-foot-3 and 206-pounds, Allie Green IV is a monster at cornerback, but the size comes with a sacrifice in speed. With the NFL players having faster speeds than most college players, being slow for college does not work.

His speed is even more of a problem because he struggles with biting on routes. If a player struggles with double moves, they need something tremendous to offset the issue, such as Trevon Diggs’ ball-hawking ability.

Allie Green IV comes with significant weaknesses, but any player taken at the end of the draft will have substantial disadvantages. The question is if his strengths warrant living with those weaknesses.

Green IV is a big, physical cornerback that could develop into a big, physical who can cover the elite receivers in the league. More importantly, the elite receivers in the NFC West.

Tyler Lockett, D.K. Metcalf, DeAndre Hopkins, and Deebo Samuel can all burn a player like Allie Green IV with his current ability, but he can get physical with all four if he cleans up his speed and technique enough.

Being bigger and stronger can mask some speed and technique issues, but he must improve enough that his size and strength can bail him out. Green IV is a project, but a project with a clear strategy to fixing him.

He’s a long way from being able to line up opposite Jalen Ramsey in a meaningful NFL game. Still, the possibility of developing him to be a long-term number one corner to pair with Josh Blackwell out of Duke is intriguing.

Jalen Ramsey is irreplaceable, but the day will come when it must happen. With that certainty being years away, taking a corner that could take years to develop makes some sense.