Rams dream mock draft: The perfect haul for LA in 2022

With the 142nd selection of the 2022 NFL Draft

In the fourth round, the LA Rams select

The LA Rams secondary truly felt the presence of veteran DB Eric Weddle, and their postseason was all the better for it. But let’s be honest. If Weddle can come out of a two-year retirement to elevate the play in the Rams’ secondary, then there are more opportunities for improvement than we originally expected.

J.T. Woods may fall to the LA Rams at 142 because he has the two qualities that seem to attract the Rams and repel other teams: Big, and raw. J.T. Woods stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 193-pounds, blazes the 40-yard dash in 4.36 seconds, and has a 39.5-inch vertical leap on top of that.

Great on paper, right? Well, this is one player who puts all of that to work on football fields. Like this:

Because he is a former track star, he can quickly fill up the highlight reel. But because he is a former track star, he sometimes is more interested in chewing up real estate and has momentary lapses in tracking the football. That, and electing good angles to ensure maximum opportunity for tackling.  For that matter, tackling too. But we already admitted that he was raw. Don’t confuse raw with uncoachable. Woods ‘gets it.’ He simply has not focused all his athleticism on football yet.

In four college seasons, he put up 157 tackles, two quarterback sacks, eight interceptions for 201 yards, and one touchdown. Because he is that big, that fast, and that able to jump so high into the air, coaching him up is a fair investment to make considering the potential result.

Woods is the secondary’s solution to the fast big receivers who are making names for themselves. Well, Woods is the type of DB who can frustrate the hell out of fast and tall targets. The LA Rams have big hitters at safety. Now, they add a big playmaker as well.