Architect of Stafford trade proclaims Rams Verse/Fiske haul 'dream scenario'

Whatever you may or may not think that you know about the LA Rams draft board entering the 2024 NFL Draft, let's clear your mind. What I am about to share is not something I received via a draft day text from an LA Rams insider, nor is it information that is exclusively mine. It's public information. But connecting the dots is where the true story lies. And with so many narratives about the LA Rams strategy with Days 1 and 2 of the 2024 NFL Draft, it's easy to connect the dots out of order.

To start this discussion, we must travel back to the end of the 2020 NFL season, and revisit the mood of the Rams football team after failing to advance past the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field in the Divisional Round of the 2021 NFL Playoffs. At that time, the heroics of then quarterback Jared Goff, who braved the cold of the frozen tundra with an injured thumb on his throwing hand, was met with a pretty antagonistic reaction from Rams HC Sean McVay.

In the social media Tweet below, the Rams leak a preview of their Behind the Grind series. And at the 0:30 mark, something special happens.

LA Rams head coach is speaking while the video footage in the background plays the scene of Florida State outside linebacker Jared Verse learning about his selection by the Rams at the 19th overall pick in Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft. But the narration is coming from Rams Head Coach Sean McVay, who is telling a different story:

"If you told me that we would pull (OLB Jared) Verse and (DT Braden) Fiske off, that would be unbelievable. That would really be a dream scenario."

Rams HC Sean McVay

If you follow the narration, overlay that to the events that transpired, and then reconcile everything that happened with the knowledge that this team did not enter the 2024 NFL Draft, armed with their first Day 1 pick since hiring HC Sean McVay in 2017, without a concrete plan, you can begin to acknowledge and admire the tenacity and surgical skill of Rams GM Les Snead.

The Rams clearly sought drafting both of former Florida State Seminoles defensive stars: Outside linebacker Jared Verse and defensive tackle Braden Fiske. Now the question is, why?