Braden Fiske is locked into making 2024 a season to remember for Rams fans

Is Fiske alone worth the cost?

On many draft boards, Braden Fiske as projected to be selected no later than very early in Round 2. So the act of trading up was not something that GM Les Snead pulled off by shooting from the hip. After Day 1 concluded, the team had plenty of time to regroup and strategize who would be their primary targets on Day 2. Clearly Fiske was it.

Even by trading up, the team was very fortunate that he was still on the draft board.

Fiske is more than a one-spot defender. Standing 6-foot-4 and weighing 291 pounds, Fiske has enough raw power, agility, and football IQ to slide to any one of the three defensive lineman positions on the defensive front. If the defensive line is willing to shift NT Kobie Turner from nose tackle to the 3-tech DT role while standing 6-foot-2 and weighing 297 pounds, then Fiske can slide all over the defensive front.

Fiske joins the Rams at 24 years old, a bit older than many NFL rookies. That is due to the fact that played five seasons for Western Michigan before transfering to Florida State for his final year of collegiate football. Much like the college career of Kobie Turner, Fiske is an interior defensive lineman who not only dominates at the interior line of scrimmage, but can muster a stampede after opposing quarterback form that spot.

Fiskie transfer to Florida State was a wise move for two reasons. The first was that it put him center stage on a major college football team, and proved that his Western Michigan numbers were no fluke. In one season with the Seminoles, Fiske put up 43 tackles, 9.0 tackles for a loss, and 6.0 quarterback sacks.

But best of all, he forged a forever friendship with teammate Jared Verse.