LA Rams Draft: 2 top OTs medically flagged, smoke or fire?

There is little chance for top offensive linemen to fall to the LA Rams who are inconveniently parked outside of the top 100 picks in the 2022 NFL Draft. But that is not to say that news that affects the Big Board will not impact the LA Rams in some way.  Such is the manner of the NFL Draft and the ‘leaked’ news that suddenly appears from out of nowhere hours before the draft gets underway.

What for a  recent example? Well, like this little nugget about two highly regarded offensive tackles who suddenly are linked to medical flags that are so significant that there are claims of NFL teams removing them from their draft boards.  In fact, on some Big Boards, I have seen both among the Top-5 OTs in this draft, and have routinely seen one hearing his name called among the Top-5 prospects on Day 1.  Who are they?

What could be the reason for this last-minute epiphany? Well, unfortunately, the period leading up to the draft has been ripe for decades as a time that misinformation gets ‘leaked’ to the press as an attempt to plant doubt into GMs of early selecting teams. That creates a scenario where a prospect unexplainable tumbles in the draft, and perhaps into the waiting arms of a team picking later that truly covets that prospect. So what do we know about these two OTs?

Alabama Slamma

Offensive tackle Evan Neal has several things going for him. For starters, his size alone screams power, as he stands nearly 6-foot-8 and weighs 337 pounds. His body weight is not from good eating, but rather from incredibly dense muscle mass. It is his size and measured athleticism that had created such a buzz in this year’s draft.

He has and can play either offensive tackle position, a huge plus of versatility that will allow NFL offensive line coaches to configure the best top five players. Neal is polished as well, a true plug-and-play prospect who has NFL refinement already on display.

Possible Medical Flags: His draft profiles do mention concerns over his ability to maintain his ideal playing weight. One report mentioned his weight climbing to 390 pounds earlier in his football career. If he had any significant increase in body weight, that could be a medical flag.

WR/TE to OT? Yes, it really happened

The story of Central Michigan’s Bernhard Raimann is a fascinating tale of an Austrian-born young man traveling to America as a foreign exchange student and finding a knack for the game of American Football. Because of his height, he reportedly began as a tight end/wide receiver for Central Michigan as a walk-on.  Fortunately, he had played American football in Austria for the Vienna Vikings.

In 2020, his biology forced him to transition to offensive tackle. Thanks to his bulking up to 290-pounds of muscle mass, he simply made far more sense as a blocker than as a pass catcher, and the results that year proved that to be the case. Because he was a former receiver, his ability to move on the football field is very impressive. And thanks to his late-to-the-party history on the offensive line, he is incredibly versatile and can be coached into practically any position, and will continue to develop.

He is more than an offensive lineman, as his collegiate success also occurred in the classroom. His approach is highly professional, and that will encourage coaches to lobby hard for him.

Possible Medical Flags: We had to do some digging to find anything on Bernhard Raimann. In December 2020, Raimann suffered an ankle injury but was able to suit up and play the following week. He will be a 25-year-old NFL veteran, a fact that some teams shy away from because his fifth NFL season on a rookie contract will have him pushing 30 years old.

In the end, this feels very much like the ole smoke-and-mirrors type of report that comes out at the last moments before the draft, fully intending to push any team that is sitting on the fence over multiple prospects into the arms of the ‘other guy’.

But if the news drives either prospect to the LA Rams at 104, or another talented offensive lineman, we’re all for it.