Per Tony Pauline the Rams number one draft target was Byron Murphy

[Memphis Ram]

Whether it's true or not (I don't buy it) I'm just glad it didn't happen.
I really don't believe Murphy was worth trading up for and I would have hoped the team passed on him even at #19.

 

[Jacobarch]

Apparently the rams wanted everyone in the first round.

 

[Loyal]

All sorts of stories out there ... no one knows what is and isn't accurate. Maurice Jones-Drew says the same thing or was perhaps who told them. Maybe.

Rams would have taken Seattle Seahawks' first-rounder Murphy

Rams color analyst Maurice Jones-Drew says Los Angeles would have taken Seattle Seahawks first-rounder Byron Murphy II with the 19th pick.

sports.mynorthwest.com

Maurice Jones-Drew, who calls Rams games on the radio, told Seattle-based podcast Bump and Stacy that Los Angeles was going to take Murphy at No. 19 if the Seahawks hadn’t selected him three picks prior.

“I know the Rams were going to take Byron Murphy if you guys didn’t,” Jones-Drew said. “He has the body type (and) the potential to be what Aaron Donald was for the Rams, a guy that can be disruptive, take over games from the inside. The guard position in the National Football League isn’t the best right now. So you get a piece that can really penetrate the pocket and put pressure on the quarterback. … To me, he was (one of) the top three pass rushers up there.”

The Rams did end up bolstering their defensive front three picks later by taking Florida State edge rusher Jared Verse, who was also considered among the top defensive prospects in the draft. Murphy indeed would have made a lot of sense for the Rams. After a decade terrorizing NFL offenses, star defensive tackle Aaron Donald announced his retirement this offseason, leaving a massive hole in middle of Los Angeles’ defensive front. Jones-Drew even sees a bit of Donald in Murphy.

“He has the body type (and) the potential to be what Aaron Donald was for the Rams, a guy that can be disruptive, take over games from the inside,” Jones-Drew said. “The guard position in the National Football League isn’t the best right now. So you get a piece that can really penetrate the pocket and put pressure on the quarterback. … To me, he was (one of) the top three pass rushers up there.”

Ridiculous.
I like and respect MJD, but he's insane to think anyone could compare to AD. We once had two first rounders in 2001 and we picked two Dlinemen: Damione Lewis and Ryan "Grease" Picket. Lewis was described by fan draftnicks as the next Warren Sapp, who was the standard for disruptive Dlinemen before AD. Lewis had the same sort of build as Sapp, but was an absolute bust for us. Pickett was decent, but not a 1st round phenom.

 

[fanotodd]

The pressure on Murphy would have been to replace AD despite it being impossible - because he has a similar game and physique and because he was a 1st round pick - that would be unfair but almost inevitable

It seems much more likely that they had Verse ahead of Murphy but one scenario was Verse had gone - draft Murphy - then pick an Edge in round 2 or 3

Eventually I came around and felt this was the way to go—Edge and IDL. I did not, however, think a guy like Verse would be there at #19, so I was of the opinion of going DL first.
Either way, I’m happy the way it went and extremely optimistic how it will turn out.
I do caution, however, that they might not come out banging right away. After all, this is the NFL, and everyone is good.

 

[fanotodd]

This just in:

Jack Nicholson wasn't the original choice in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

I believe you are correct.
I think it was Burt Reynolds.

 

[RamsFan4Life]

so?

Here is a lil if then for ya…….

if my Auntie had a willie, she’d be my uncle

 

[Ram65]

I’d guess that Verse, Murphy, Bowers were pod 1. Fiske was pod 2. Maybe Corum was a player in pod 3. Kinchens was in pod 4.

I base this on Snead’s interviews and reporters. Pod 1 seems clear. POD 2 likely was late round 1 or early round 2. Snead was going to trade back if Verse hadn’t dropped to them. So that takes Fiske out of Pod 1, but he was still considered a first round talent.

Snead said they were going to try to trade back in round 3, until they saw that Corum was still there. They didn’t think he would be. So he was likely in a Pod with a late round 2 grade. We won’t ever know who the other players in those pods were.

Very cool! So Corrum was a big fall to them and they bounced on him.

Oh to be the proverbial fly on the wall in the Rams draft room.

 

[Ram65]

I believe the pods per Jourdan's article were simply in reference to defensive line pairings to replace AD in the aggregate not pairings per round nor diverse positions.

I don't think so. As far as I can recall this is the first time Snead used the "POD" reference. He has talked about a grouping of players they liked that could be available at their pick in the past.

Les Snead Talks NFL Draft

View: https://youtu.be/u3XuB34EY0M?si=DPzYjGZlM2BGDDTZ

ramsondemand.com

Just before 6 Minutes Snead talks a group of defensive players in a POD.

 

[Varg6]

I would've been happy with Byron, but I'm actually really pleased with how it worked out for us.

 

[PARAM]

I happen to know for a fact, their #1 target wasn't the guy they picked. I can't prove it but that shouldn't matter. Nobody can prove me wrong! This is an easy game to play. Throw it against the wall. It doesn't have to stick. It's just got to hit the damn wall.

Reality. If you look at who they drafted. What they needed. How they followed it up in the second round. It's pretty fooking clear, they had a plan. But smart guys on the interweb.....smarter than our guys....know better.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Very cool! So Corrum was a big fall to them and they bounced on him.

Oh to be the proverbial fly on the wall in the Rams draft room.

Yeah. Snead said it in the Eisen video.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

I don't think so. As far as I can recall this is the first time Snead used the "POD" reference. He has talked about a grouping of players they liked that could be available at their pick in the past.

Les Snead Talks NFL Draft

View: https://youtu.be/u3XuB34EY0M?si=DPzYjGZlM2BGDDTZ

ramsondemand.com

Just before 6 Minutes Snead talks a group of defensive players in a POD.

I’m pretty sure Snead and many other GMs group players in tiers. He may call them pods now but it’s the same concept. If they can’t trade up to get one of the group or none of the round one pod is available when they pick, they try to trade back to the range of the next pod.

 

[OntarioRam]

The Rams have said a few times the rank players into tiers, as I am sure many teams do. It is pretty likely had 2-4 defensive players all ranked in that top tier, and with the way the draft fell with like 14 offensive players going off the broad consecutively in round 1, knew they would get one of them and ended up with Verse. Who their "first among equals" was, who knows. Maybe it was Murphy. I'd believe it as he has some AD99 similarities. I'd also believe it if that is just smoke.

What I am more curious about - the Rams seemingly had Fiske ranked as a 1st rounder... but just how high on their draft board was he? Was he in their top tier that they would have considered at 19 had the draft board fell differently? If so that would be a massive get.

 

[dang]

The Rams have said a few times the rank players into tiers, as I am sure many teams do. It is pretty likely had 2-4 defensive players all ranked in that top tier, and with the way the draft fell with like 14 offensive players going off the broad consecutively in round 1, knew they would get one of them and ended up with Verse. Who their "first among equals" was, who knows. Maybe it was Murphy. I'd believe it as he has some AD99 similarities. I'd also believe it if that is just smoke.

What I am more curious about - the Rams seemingly had Fiske ranked as a 1st rounder... but just how high on their draft board was he? Was he in their top tier that they would have considered at 19 had the draft board fell differently? If so that would be a massive get.

This.
We may never know but if the Rams had Fiske valued at the very end of R1 or the very beginning of R2 - then the Rams did not overpay in the trade to R2.39.

 

[Ram65]

I’m pretty sure Snead and many other GMs group players in tiers. He may call them pods now but it’s the same concept. If they can’t trade up to get one of the group or none of the round one pod is available when they pick, they try to trade back to the range of the next pod.

I'm sure they do. Sneads POD reference was a good visual.

The Rams had a plan and it worked out. They got three needed defensive positions and a surprising value in Corrum another need.

 

[Cjcinec]

Glad they didn’t try to draft the next AD and plug him into last year’s defense and expect AD like production because there’s no new AD. Rams took players that give them dramatically more scheme flexibility. They can develop their scheme that amplifies the strengths of the entire defense rather than trying to repeat the AD experience with players that will never match AD. They could have drafted Byon Murphy and cloned him and the two of them would not equal AD.

 

[Classic Rams]

I believe you are correct.
I think it was Burt Reynolds.

Kinda close. Burt was considered but I don't think he was offered it. James Caan reportedly was but said he didn't really understand the role.


On another note (was it this mentioned in this thread?), I think maybe the Rams wanted GRob as their 1st pick back in 2014... and then on the 13th pick said Donald is still there? Let's take him.

I'm sure we can find out about every team who wanted another player but got good returns on who they ended with. There's some tricky draft stories out there somewhere. John Turney maybe?

 

[WestCoastRam]

Sounds like the word "pods" had multiple meanings with Rams. Here's what I was referring to from Jourdan:

In early April, the staff held a series of meetings that argued for and against “pods” of defensive linemen and outside linebackers as potential tandems. Verse and defensive tackle Braden Fiske, teammates at Florida State, were identified among those tandems as having a unique chemistry. If the Rams could get Verse, they would also go after Fiske.

 

[PARAM]

We may never know but if the Rams had Fiske valued at the very end of R1 or the very beginning of R2 - then the Rams did not overpay in the trade to R2.39.

So true.

The fact is, if you get who you want, no matter what round, you didn't overpay. Funny how some will say, "the Rams overpaid for Fiske" without seeing him play 1 down in the NFL. Just like grading a draft, valueing a player can't happen until he's played.

The NFL in general, the Rams roster in particular is littered with players who were "undervalued" by the experts (and NFL teams). Puka, Kyren, Kobie Turner, Alaric to name some.

So we're supposed to trust guys who say "they paid too much for that guy" after they've undervalued so many other players?

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Sounds like the word "pods" had multiple meanings with Rams. Here's what I was referring to from Jourdan:

In early April, the staff held a series of meetings that argued for and against “pods” of defensive linemen and outside linebackers as potential tandems. Verse and defensive tackle Braden Fiske, teammates at Florida State, were identified among those tandems as having a unique chemistry. If the Rams could get Verse, they would also go after Fiske.

Yeah. That just sounds like pairings