Rams Mock Draft: LA Rams draft 11, make 2 trades back

Round 6 – Pick 211 and 212

The LA Rams roll into round six armed with picks at 211, 212, 213, and 219. So the team can work on bolstering the roster,

The Rams immediately do so by selecting Edge Joshua Paschal out of Kentucky at 211. This is the second edge player selected by the Rams, and suddenly the depth at that position transforms from dangerously thin to solid depth. The Rams could be even more interested in Paschal as they will have a former Kentucky coach, Liam Coen, lobbying hard for this outstanding prospect.

While he could be cross-trained into a two-point stance outside linebacker, the ideal role for 6-foot-3 268-pound Josh Paschal is a 3-4 defensive end. With the LA Rams looking at both Greg Gaines’ and A’Shawn Robinson’s final contract year, it would be wise to add a just-in-case defensive lineman.  And Paschal is an outstanding prospect. He continuously improved in the Kentucky defense, getting 52 tackles, 15 tackles for a loss, and 5.0 quarterback sacks in his final year.

He puts 100 percent effort into every play, and his energy gives him plenty of versatility to slide in anywhere on the defensive front. He is always vigilant, and is keen on containment as well as collapsing the pocket. He will thrive under Coach Henderson’s watchful eye.

The defensive secondary gets deeper at 212 with the selection of Alabama’s CB Josh Jobe. Cornerbacks are not exactly among the most talented in this draft. But they are plentiful and quite good, so the fall of some of the better prospects is less about their play and more about the abundant supply exceeding the immediate demand. That bodes well for the late-picking Rams organization.

Jobe is one such falling star who had plenty of buzzing early in his college career but simply seemed to plateau in his senior season. That pause in his development allowed other collegiate defensive backs to leapfrog him on many draft boards. But he is still quite capable of becoming an NFL starter.

His plateau was the result of playing through a broken foot. While that explains the decline, it does not remove concerns entirely. Jobe plays a physical style of secondary play, quite comfortable with jamming at the line of scrimmage and sticking near his target throughout the play. He does get overly aggressive and needs to learn how to play the position with fewer holding penalties.

He has the feel of a hybrid cornerback/safety in his defensive deployment and would be a real gemstone in the LA Rams’ pass defense in 2022.