7 NFL Draft moves from NFC West Division rivals that should alarm Rams fans

Ah yes, the 2024 NFL Draft was a pretty impressive display of strategy, choreography, patience, and a bit of resolve by the LA Rams front office. The Rams 2024 rookie class is a solid fit of players who land on a team that has immediate roles for each of them to fill. But it is not as though the team plans to anoint them as starters from the moment that they arrive at the team's facilities. Much like 2023, these new players will need to earn their place on the depth chart, and onto the football field.

The thing is, other NFL teams have made some solid moves too. The challenge with every new year is that the board is wiped clean, and the new NFL season translates into a fresh start for everyone. Everyone includes the three teams who compete with the Rams in the NFC Western Division.

So it's only fair to peek over the barricade and see what our rivals have done to improve themselves via the NFL Draft. Of course, this is all red carpet gala stuff, and the real work will be when these players toss aside their NCAA accolades and get right down to work in the NFL. But I have to say that each NFC West team front office has made strides in the right direction.

VII: 1 draft move by the Seattle Seahawks that could pose problems

While the Seattle Seahawks is under new management, I was not surprised to see that they had a solid, if not glitzy, draft haul this year. They did not go after a new quarterback, which made sense because the top QBs in this class were gone before the Seahawks stepped up to the platform. But they did add at least one player on the radar scope who seemed to have a solid fit for the Rams.

DT Byron Murphy II

Standing 6-foot-1 and weighing 297 pounds, former Texas defensive tackle/nose tackle Byron Murphy II has no shortage of confidence as he enters the NFL as a rookie defensive lineman for the Seattle Seahawks. While new, he is the first player drafted for new HC Mike McDonald by GM John Schneider. Keep in mind that McDonald was the Defensive Coordinator with the Baltimore Ravens, a team he served with for 10 years in ever-increasingly responsible roles.

McDonald will be calling the defensive plays for the Seahawks, so it's clear that Coach McDonald wants the oomph factor that Byron Murphy adds to their defensive front. There is a lot to like about Murphy, as he was able to generate 5.0 sacks and 29 tackles from his interior defensive lineman position in 2023.

Despite being a featured player in McDonald's defense, I suspect that a new defensive scheme will take time to adjust to for the Seahawks, and I'm not convinced that their offense is capable of laying waste to NFL teams in the interim. But Byron Murphy II certainly lands on a defense that wanted him. Let's see how that works out in 2024.