Rams fans should want this Round 1 secondary target after 2024 NFL Combine

The LA Rams have a number of picks to spend during the 2024 NFL Draft. 11 picks to be exact. But the team has just one pick in Round 1, the 19th overall pick. That's something of a novelty for this team, as they have not stepped up to the draft podium on Day 1 since the 2016 NFL Draft. And that occasion was to make the first overall pick of that draft, selecting quarterback Jared Goff.

This team is not desperate. In fact, by all account, the team embraced its 2022 adversity, and grew into an NFL Playoff team in the process. This is not a team that wonders if they can win any longer. That is all behind them. Now, the front office must scheme and strategize how to win playoff games once more. To do that, the formula is pretty simple.

The Rams roster must find and secure a top quarterback, a blind side offensive tackle, at least one elite wide receiver, an unstoppable pass rusher, and a shutdown cornerback. While you can argue about the quality of left tackle Alaric Jackson, I believe that he is up to the task. But as of right now, there is a huge vacancies in the Rams roster in terms of shutdown cornerback. So how can the team fix that?

Toledo cornerback Quinyon Mitchell is one of the rapidly rising stars in the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine. He put on a clinic of pass defense this year in the Reese Senior Bowl and immediately jumped onto draft radars as a result. He possesses all of the attributes that the team is looking for in a starting defensive back, including a fearless attitude and the belief that any football in the air is his to claim.

Mitchell shared his Senior Bowl motivation, which was as entertaining as it was insightful. It was his Q&A session at the Combine podium that truly enhanced his stock as a rapid riser. He even put up an incredible 4.33-second 40-yard-dash time, which cements his standing as one of the best defensive backs of this class. Currently projected as a Round 1 selection, Quinyon Mitchell brings an immediate upgrade to the team's secondary, as well as the ability to neutralize the best receiver of opposing offenses.

Getting after the quarterback is indeed part of the equation. But the Rams have OLB Byron Young, NT Kobie Turner, and DL Aaron Donald already hunting quarterbacks. There is no Jalen Ramsey, or even Ahkello Witherspoon, in the Rams' secondary right now.

I not only love what Quinyon Mitchell brings to the Rams secondary in 2024, but what he brings in 2025, 2026, and even 2027. This team is just one or two key pieces away from competing in Super Bowl LIX. I believe that Mitchell can be one of the pieces to push the team over the top.