7 worst case nightmares that could befall Rams in 2024 NFL Draft

VI: Overdraft on offense

Let's flip the script a bit to address another matter that could be fraught with disappointment in the 2024 NFL Draft for the LA Rams, and that is the risk of the team focusing too ardently on the offensive side of the football. This year, many of the positions that run deep are those that perform with the football, and that could pose a challenge for the front office.

In a year when the team has leveraged the roster with veteran experience on the offense, the draft surplus in terms of deep positional groups tend to line up with those same positional groups. So the chances of stepping up to the podium at any given pick is greater to find a more talented offensive player than defensive player.

Can this team exhibit self discipline to find and select the best defensive fits if there is greater offensive talent? Or will the team go with the flow, and add offensive players to the point where even rapid rotations cannot get them all onto the football field to make any material impact for the team in 2024.

V: Draft a tight end in early rounds

Along the same lines, there are those who may have interest in the LA Rams drafting Georgia TE Brock Bowers early. The thing is: Why? The current roster currently boast veteran Tyler Higbee (likely starting season on IR/PUP), Hunter Long, Colby Parkinson, Davis Allen, as well as practice squad players Miller Forristall and Nikola Kalinic. If the Rams draft Brock Bowers, what will become of the other six players?

We can recognize the fact that the team view newly arrived Colby Parkinson as the natural successor to Tyler Higbee. We can also acknowledge that based on their 2023 season numbers, Allen is ahead of Long in terms of securing a long term future role with the team.

If the Rams invest in Bowers, they will need to get him onto the football field. That will not only negatively impact the development of second-year TE Davis Allen, but could put a damper on how the team uses Colby Parkinson as well. And then, complicating the matter further, what will the team do with the entire TE rotation if and when Tyler Higbee gets back on the football field?

As much as I'd love for the team to make greater use of the 12-personnel package on offense, it's not going to grow to the point of requiring the likes of Brock Bowers on this team, particularly not for the cost of a Top-100 pick.

WR Tutu Atwell is a perfect example of this effect. He is a solid player who does everything that is asked of him. But his utility on the offense is insufficient to offset the investment of a Round 2 pick to draft him. That makes a huge difference in a football player's career.