NFL Mock Draft 2024: Rams Day 2 predictions

The Los Angeles Rams have finally ended the Day 1 drought of the NFL Draft, and did so by selecting Florida State outside linebacker Jared Verse with the 19th overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft. But before we dive into that, and what Day 2 may hold for the LA Rams, let's hit the pause button and reflect on what was in 2023, and what may be about this team in 2024.

The LA Rams have been a profoundly successful organization since hiring head coach Sean McVay. And lost in all of the shuffle of power rankings and euphoria over the arrival of rookies to NFL teams is the basic principle that great coaching is needed for NFL success. I have already begun to see the annual very optimistic views that a solid rookie selection means instant success for a team hoping to earn a berth in the NFL Playoffs.

It doesn't come that easily.

What we know from the experience of the 2023 NFL season is that solid coaching does matter, and it is that resolve to focus on and play fundamentally sound football that leads to success in this league. How else can you explain the 5-12 team from just one year ago that made minimal investments in free agency from winning seven of their last eight games? What other reason can there be for the team that relied so heavily upon a rookie class that did not even begin to be assembled until Day 2 of the 2023 NFL Draft to earn a berth in the 2024 NFL Playoffs?

In the end, it was the synergy created by the front office working in lock step with the entire coaching staff that ultimately ended this team's 8-18 losing streak and reversed course to a dramatic 7-1 finish to the 2024 NFL season. Let me repeat that. This team pivoted from losing games at worse than a 2-1 clip to a team that rallied to win seven of their last eight games.

And the final victory was the Rams junior varsity squad taking the San Francisco 49ers to an old school drubbing.

A year ago at this time, the Rams had yet to make any selection in the draft. And yet, the team emerged with five starters and an entire ensemble of young talent who were all eager to earn their spot on the roster. This year, you can expect more of the same, complete with late round surprises and prospects who perform far better than their brochure.

Who have the Rams selected so far?

With the 19th pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, the Los Angeles Rams have already selected outside linebacker Jared Verse out of Florida State. Verse is one of the guys who many believed would be selected long before the Rams stepped up to the podium. But we re-learn the same lessons each year, and thankfully Verse's availability is a great stroke of luck for the team in Round 1.

It is never an easy task to enter an NFL Draft with very urgent and obvious needs for this roster. The team clearly wanted to improve the ability to pressure opposing quarterbacks, and Jared Verse is instantly penciled in as a starter for the team in 2024. He stands 6-foor-4 and weighs 254 pounds, a robust size for the position right out of the gates. But the LA Rams need more than size and power at the position. This team needs passion and production in getting after opposing quarterbacks.

Verse checks those boxes off as well.,

Want a real treat? How about one of the greatest head coaches in the NFL, Bill Belichick, breaking down the profile on newly draft Rams outside linebacker Jared Verse:

The Rams wanted to place the keystone to their draft on Day 1. Reaching for offensive skill players with glaring vulnerabilities on the defensive side of the football may have been a strategy of yesteryear. But the Rams have a new attitude that seems to consider investing throughout the roster. I, for one, like the new approach.

And now, who do we mock to the Rams on Day 2 of the 2024 NFL Draft?

Having not been here since the 2016 NFL Draft, it feels a bit awkward entering Day 2 of an NFL Draft with a prospect already added to this team. But as much of a fit and as high of a ceiling as OLB Jared Verse might bring to the Rams' defense, he is just one player. And like it or not, the Rams were incredibly spoiled by the rookie seasons of OLB Byron Young and NT Kobie Turner in 2023.

That is, even if he starts and plays a lion's share of the defense snaps, we cannot expect Verse to match the rookie season of Byron Young's 61 tackles and 8.0 quarterback sacks. Even Houston Texans' Will Anderson only put up 45 tackles and 7.0 quarterback sacks in his 2023 Defensive Rookie Of The Year season. So the front office needs to do more.

With the 52nd pick of the 2024 NFL Draft

The LA Rams select defensive lineman Braden Fiske, out of Florida State. While it may be a strange coincidence to double-dip from the Florida State defense with the two top picks out of the 2024 NFL Draft, I can assure you that Fiske at 52 is an incredible value. Standing 6-foot-4 and tipping the scales at a burly 292 pounds, Fiske is a versatile interior defensive lineman who has the agility, power, and low center of gravity to effectively line up anywhere along the 3-4 defensive fr

The LA Rams will need instant production on the defensive front, and there is something to be said about the synergy of selecting to players from the same college in the same draft to man that defensive front. But let's be very clear. This is not some experiment to see if two college football stars can recapture that magic in the pros. On many draft boards, Verse and Fiske were both separately among the Top 10 defenders in this rookie draft class.

Many of the traits that made Kobit Turner so effective for the Rams on the defensive line in 2023 also attract the Rams attention in 2024 to Braden Fiske. He is amazingly powerful, but he is as agile as a housecat, also seeming to stay on his feet as he powers through blockers to the ball carrier. He is in constant motion, like a jack hammer, who uses that relentless agility and powerful punches to gain and leverage his advantage at the line of scrimmage.

Because he is both swift and strong, he brings a solid bunker of pass rush move ammunition to blast his way through even the stingiest offensive linemen. And with the transition of NT Kobie Turner to a new defensive-lineman-at-large role in 2024, the team will need a new rotational partner to slide in with Bobby Brown III to anchor the center of the Rams defensive front.

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.

With the 99th pick of the 2024 NFL Draft

The LA Rams select Cole Bishop, the safety out of Utah. While so many fans insist that the Rams cannot and will not exit Day 2 without adding talent to the wide receiver room, the Rams cannot resist the attraction of adding the final piece to a completely refurbished secondary. In a previous draft, Bishop was the Rams selection at 83. In this revised mock draft, he is still on the board at 99. That makes him the best player available.

By selecting the 6-foot-2 206-pound defensive back out of Utah, the Rams draft strategy begins to form the image of a defense that is being built to defend the pass. With Jared Verse and Braden Fiske adding some horsepower to the quarterback pressure, Junior Coleman and Cole Bishop infuse a level of pass coverage that will almost certainly add greater time to a quarterback's time to throw.

Bishop is a prospect who touts his ability to defend the pass, and he will get his chance against some of the best receiver weapons in the NFL, including San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle. He has great football field presence, instantly diagnosing routes from formations and shifts, and anticipates where the quarterback wants to go with the pass.

Because he has engineered himself to stop the pass, he is quite comfortable in that role. But he also has ninja-like stealth at creeping into the box to shut down the run as well. He is a fearless and passionate defensive back who can add to the defense and to special teams right out of the gate. Best of all, he is a huge defensive back who can be deployed by new DC Chris Shula in games that needs a bit more physicality in the secondary.

By the end of Day 2, this mock draft sets up the defense as playoff-worthy. On Day 3, all that remains is rounding out the roster with depth and then calling it another amazingly successful draft.