Rams Mock Draft: Team add elite run stuffer and pass rusher in latest mock

With the 83rd pick

. . . the LA Rams select Jonathon Brooks, running back, out of Texas. Curiously, the team returns to the Texas Longhorns for their next selection, a feisty rusher who many consider to be one of the best running backs in this draft class. The problem is that the position is not valued as highly as it had been in the past, and several strong veteran runners have signed on with new teams via free agency.

Even with the emergence of feature running back Kyren Williams, the team has room for a 6-foot-0, 216-pound workhorse who can lower the boom and plow through the holes to daylight. Brooks has only 238 carries to his college career, and he is coming off an ACL injury suffered on November 11, 2023. His goal is to be ready to play football at the start of NFL training camp.

Even while Brooks remains the top running back prospect on many draft boards, nobody can predict how NFL teams will view Brooks in the 2024 NFL Draft. In 2023, Jonathon Brooks rushed 187 times for 1,139 yards and 10 touchdowns. He also caught 25 passes for 286 yards and one touchdown. To say that Brooks would be an ideal offense weapon in HC Sean McVay's offense is a gross understatement.

Brooks may be selected before the Rams 83rd overall pick, but I suspect that his lack of college reps as well as his ACL injury may make teams hesitate. There are a number of quality running backs in the 2024 NFL Draft, many of whom has clean medical history and plenty of compelling rushes to give teams a bit of certainty over who they are getting.

Jonathon Brooks is an irresistible prospect for this offense. While you may view wide receiver or offensive tackle as a greater need, the front office sees 11 touchdowns out of Brooks, his 6-foot-0 216-pound frame, and his powerful strides as part of the solution to the team's red zone struggles.

But he is just the beginning of the team's offensive solutions.