Rams find perfect spicy rookie to pair with peppering Omar Speights at ILB

The Los Angeles Rams entered the 2025 NFL Draft armed with eight picks. But four of those picks fell in Round 6 of the draft, which by most accounts fell just beyond the reach of the talented players who were not stars but starters in this year's draft. After the first 10 players selected, the quality of talent tier fell, but not so much to make this a scavenger hunt.

The Rams did not have many needs for this draft. The needs named by NFL experts for the Rams were only cornerback and inside linebacker. The Rams failed to address the cornerback position, leading to the logical conclusion that they will pivot from the draft to active negotiations with the Miami Dolphins for DB Jalen Ramsey.

That only left the inside linebacker position. The Rams swapped out two Round 6 picks with the Minnesota Vikings to get back into Round 5 to select their inside linebacker: Ole Miss ILB Chris Paul Jr.

Chris Paul Jr. is another fine addition to the Rams' defense. He is a fierce competitor, a young workaholic who loves the game and will leave everything on the football field. He did not seem to generate much positive buzz from many Rams fans, but the welcome will warm up as fans learn more about him and see him at work on the football field.

He did have a pre-draft meeting with the Rams, and he had an insightful interview with The Draft Network's Justin Melo:

The theme for the Rams in this year's draft appeared to take on the ponder-twice-pick-once mantra. It was clear that the front office was making deliberate selections to fit specific roles, niches, and coach preferences. The team advanced to the Divisional Round of the 2025 NFL Playoffs, so the Rams roster was more about fitting specific players to specific needs, rather than just throwing rookies into training camp and hoping competition sorts everything out.

ILB Chris Paul Jr. appears to be ideally fitted to a role on the Rams roster:

Paul was projected as early as Day 2. He plays with excellent anticipation, is a pure phenomenon on special teams, and has far more under the hood in terms of defensive horsepower than many expect. The Rams are gifted to frequently find a diamond in the rough in Round 5. But Paul may be the second such better-than-expected rookie.

As always, thanks so much for reading.

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