LA Rams rookie ILB Omar Speights' stock is rising rapidly to make 53-man roster

Always in the right place at the right time

While missing out on an invitation to compete at the annual NFL Scouting Combine is certainly not a positive development for a young college football player's chances to be drafted by an NFL team, it is by no means the end of the world. The annual scouting combine events are designed to measure the raw athleticism of players. But team's like the Rams pay almost no heed to the results.

The LA Rams scouting department emphasizes how fast, agile, strong, and consisten a college player appears on the football field. Do they work hard even if'/when the play goes in the other direction? Do they play faster and with more energy on the football field then in a straight line on the track?

There is something to be said about a defensive player who keys in on what an offense is trying to do and anticipates where he needs to be. And that is the case for Oregon State/LSU ILB Omar Speights, a defensive standout who seemed to create headaches for offensive coordinators by knowing where and when to be to break up offensive plays:

That reputation for being at the right place at the right time was not limited to small college football programs. Speight cut his teeth against some of the most dominating offenses in college football in the PAC-10. And he did so whether stuffing the run, breaking up the pass, or reading and demolishing a well-camouflaged screen play. Like a blood hound on the scent, he seemed to be able to sniff out the play with ease.

That is the stuff that excites Rams scouts. And that is clearly something that Omar Speights excelled at throughout his college football career.