LA Rams pre-2023 NFL Draft meeting tracker

Meeting I: DL Desjuan Johnson - Feb 24, 2023

There is no shortage of interest in Toledo's versatile defensive lineman Desjuan Johnson, a 6-foot-2 285-pound versatile defensive lineman who many are projecting as a late Day 3 or even a priority free agent signed after the 2023 NFL Draft altogether. He was snubbed by the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine, but clearly, the majority of NFL teams believe that he has true NFL potential.

While currently projected as a seventh-round/UDFA prospect, his stock could rise rapidly once he participates in his Pro Day.

Meeting II: WR Jake Bobo - Mar 3, 2023

Anyone who has followed the LA Rams draft history knows that since hiring head coach Sean McVay, this team loves to draft wide receivers. It's inevitable, even if it translates into a rookie bumping a veteran out of the team's 53-man active roster. The latest wide receiver who has drawn interest from the LA Rams is backyard prospect Jake Bobo, a massive 6-foot-4 206-pound wide receiver who hails from UCLA. Well, his fifth and final season of college eligibility. He played his first four seasons at Duke.

He is a skyscraper type of receiver who possesses soft hands. Clearly the LA Rams like this young man from his natural size and strength, a player who could usurp the role once intended for TE/WR Jacob Harris, a big body who can flex in the Rams offense as both a tight end and a wide receiver. He is a five-year prospect, and as such may not offer as many years in the future as some rookies, but his maturity should allow him to compete for a roster spot from the get-go.

This young man truly began to excel in his final two seasons, putting up over 700 yards and catching most of the passes thrown his way. In any other draft class, he would likely be projected as a fifth round prospect. In 2023, he is no better than a seventh round/UDFA projection.

Meeting III: DE/OLB Nolan Smith - Mar 3, 2023

Okay, now we're getting serious. Georgia OLB Nolan Smith is a seriously talented NFL edge rusher prospect who many project to come off the board late in Round 1. He stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 238 pounds, and the LA Rams are wisely preparing for the possibility that he may fall to them early in Round 2. Because some draft profiles label him as undersized, he may fall right into the laps of the LA Rams. The question is, if he does, will the Rams call out his name?

The Rams found some success with OLB Samson Ebukam, who stood 6-foot-3 and weighed 245 pounds, so there is some reason to believe that Smith can excel in the NFL as well. The only challenge that I have is that if his NFL comparison is Ebukam, he is a late Day 2 prospect rather than a Round 1 prospect. So it goes with a deep draft class, particularly rich with edge rushers.

Nolan Smith is a competitor, a young man who checks all of the boxes in what the LA Rams are seeking at their outside linebacker position. With the Rams currently looking at Michael Hoecht as a key rotational piece on the outside, Smith projects as a player with great potential for the Rams defense even as a rookie starter.

He is one of the rookie prospects who is touted among the best of this draft class, while other analysts project him as merely among the Top-15. In any case, it's less about how analysts project him and how he fits the LA Rams defense. In a one word summary? Yes.

The LA Rams will continue to meet with and interview talented prospects until the NFL Draft arrives. While the fact that the Rams have met with a player may or may not indicate their intentions to select that player, the overall group of players who the Rams choose to meet with can provide some advance knowledge of the positions that are among the team's priorities. Then, when the Rams draft their new rookies, you can be prepared for the positions that are targeted in the draft.