NFL Mock Draft 2024: Rams Day 2 predictions

With the 83rd pick of the 2024 NFL Draft

The LA Rams select inside linebacker Junior Coleman, out of Michigan. Even as the Rams shopping list focuses on spotlight positions, I cannot shake the gut feeling that there is a lot of potential upgrade to this team if the partner to Ernest Jones is given a solid investment. And in Michigan inside linebacker, the Rams land an ideal pepper for Ernest Jones salt.

While it may seem to be a stretch of the imagination for the Rams to land arguably the best inside linebacker prospect of the 2024 NFL Draft in Round 3 with the 83rd NFL Draft, keep in mind that the draft has been overwhelmingly focused on offense, and there is no clear evidence that the trend changes on Day 2. After all, teams still need receivers, running backs, and offensive linemen, and there are many solid players waiting to hear their names called out at those positions.

Coleman is a 6-foot-2 238-pound powerhouse at inside linebacker who is the ideal tandem to hard-hitting veteran Ernest Jones. In Coleman, the Rams add a guy who can cover sideline to sideline with impressive pass coverage skills and still thump runners like a battering ram. Not only does he connect almost every time, but once he wraps up the running back, receiver, or tight end, they fall to the ground like timber.

Coleman may not be viewed as a 'need' here, but he is the best player available on the board at 83 and much like Jared Verse and Braden Fiske who were added previously, he fills a tremendous need on this defense.