PFF's Top 100 Rams big board has several surprises in store for the draft

When it comes to the Los Angeles Rams, we are all facing a bit of speculation and past trends when trying to decipher what the team may do on draft day. But even if armed with insider information, the gyrations of the live draft day transactions create a nearly impossible scenario to have solid knowledge about what the Rams might do. After all, the Rams tried unsuccessfully to trade up for the best tight end on the draft board in each of the past two drafts.

If not for the rejections of their prospective trading partners, the Rams past two drafts may have played out far differently.

Even the most popular NFL Draft moguls like ESPN's Mel Kiper or NFL.com's Chad Reuter have no inside track on who the Rams might select. But fans who aggregate their insights do get a glimpse of a clearer picture as to who the Rams may be looking at. And if you are among those fans interested in where the Rams are aiming, you will be interested in Pro Football Focus's Top 100 Rams Big Board.

While the 'Big Board' itself lists multiple rookie prospects who will almost certainly be off the board by the time the Rams step up to the podium for the first time, PFF author Trevor Sikkema does an admirable job of taking a swing at the team's priorities, and when the team may address those positions,.

While Sikkema offers no better insight than other mock drafts, his presentation of listing positional n needs in categories, and then listing prospects who fill those positional needs is solid. It's the type of presentation that acts to foster draft discussions among readers and fans. Ultimately, that is where the real fun lies for fans. It's the vigorous discussions that is truly the earmark of a good article, whether everyone nods in agreement or everyone passionately decries the topic.

In the big board, the primary needs of the team are limited to just linebacker and outside cornerback. Of course, the number of positional needs skyrockets for secondary needs, and includes:

• QB
• Slot WR
• Man CB
• Nickel DB
• Edge rusher
• OT
• TE (receiver)

With LB and CB, the number of positional needs with the inclusion of secondary needs already exceeds the number of picks available for the team. So, at least one secondary need will go unfilled if the Rams do not trade back and multiply the number of picks available in this draft.

Perhaps the most curious part of Sikkema's hierarchy of needs is based on a vanilla NFL team and which positions appear to be most in need based on the current depth chart. Based on past drafts, I simply do not believe that the Rams will aim for a linebacker early. Since hiring HC Sean McVay, the Rams drafted a linebacker four times.

The team drafted LB Travin Howard in Round 7 in the 2018 NFL Draft. The team selected LB Dakota Allen in Round 7 of the 2019 NFL Draft. The team drafted LB Clay Johnston in Round 7 of the 2020 NFL Draft. Finally, the team drafted Ernest Jones in Round 3 of the 2021 NFL Draft. The Rams have not drafted a linebacker in the past three drafts.

Still, reference guides are always helpful during the draft. I am particularly looking forward to NFL.com's Draft IQ, an interactive, real-time draft guide to use throughout the draft. While some staunch Rams fans may elect to go it alone throughout the draft, we will be online and eager to do the heavy lifting for those fans who cannot dedicate three consecutive days to monitoring the event.

As always, thanks for reading.

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