LA Rams 2023 Mock Draft featuring 3 blue chip OL prospects

Round 6: Pick 197 (via Tenn Titans)

In the wake of the LA Rams cutting three of their veteran outside linebackers before the 2022 NFL season ends, you can bet that the Rams’ draft priorities will target multiple edge rushers. And when the Rams find that University of Pittsburgh EDGE rusher Habakkuk Baldonado is still on the board in Round 6, you can almost predict a pool plunge from one or more of their coaches.

This 6-foot-5 260-pound defensive outside linebacker has a projected value of a Round 3 prospect, but the supply is so very great that he falls to Day 3. He is a powerful but lanky edge rusher whose long meat hooks are excellent at grabbing and bringing down quarterbacks. Those long arms of the law will give him plenty of chances to prove himself, and opposing quarterbacks headaches trying to pass beyond his long reach.

Baldonado is a gifted outside linebacker whose mere presence on the edge gives the Rams’ pass rush a boost. He loves to anticipate the snap count, oftentimes getting to and around an offensive lineman before that blocker can get out of his stance and kick out for proper leverage.

Baldonado is a full-service outside linebacker. He can defend the run, shed blockers, set the edge, rush the quarterback, and even drop back and offer decent pass defense. While the Rams have gone dangerously thin at the outside linebacker position this season, the potential crop of significantly talented rookies in the 2023 NFL Draft lures the Rams to double up at the position.