2024 Rams mock draft: Rams land elite CB and 2 vets in first mock of 2024

Round 4 - Rams add a rookie for the trenches

With the 95th overall pick, the LA Rams select DL McKinley Jackson, Texas A&M. McKinley Jackson is ideally suited as the next addition for the Rams defensive front. Jackson is versatile enough to compete for playing time at all three Rams defensive linemen positions, but will primarily play in the rotation at nose tackle.

Jackson has the size and power that the LA Rams are looking for in an NFL nose tackle prospect. Standing 6-foot-2 and weighing a burly 325 pounds, Jackson is built like a bowling ball, with all of the positives that entails. But he is more than a fireplug that cannot be moved. Rather, he has the agility of a cat, and can contort his body to always remained balanced at the point of attack. He also possesses strong violent hands, and he knows how to use them.

While he may not be fully developed in terms of lateral movement to string out plays just yet, he has no trouble moving north to south, which makes him ideally suited as a secondary pass rusher right up the middle. The Rams were overwhelmingly pleased with the success of rookie nose tackle Kobie Turner in 2023, so why not try to strike while the iron is hot?

The LA Rams will likely lose DT Larrell Murchison this offseason, and will need an immediate addition to the Rams roster to fill out the rotation. But Jackson possesses all the makings of a young defensive lineman who will deliver far more than that over the course of the season.

The LA Rams know that All-Pro defensive lineman Aaron Donald is a superstar for incoming rookie defensive linemen, and that he command significant influence over their NFL careers both directly nd indirectly. Jackson is the type of young football player who will absorb everything that he can from Donald, and use that excellence to inspire as similar a level of proficiency in his own game as possible.