Rams 2023 and 2024 drafts have been remarkable

[TexasRam]

Now that we are nearing the end of the 2024 season, I thought I would glance at the last two drafts.

Talk about an absolute reload of contributors.

I count 13 players that are weekly contributors and helping us win games (bolded below).

I see about 6 so far (highlighted red) that are Pro Bowl level potential. Insane.

2023
Round 2, Pick 36 Steve Avila, G, TCU
Round 3, Pick 77 Byron Young, EDGE, Tennessee
Round 3, Pick 89 Kobie Turner, DT, Wake Forest
Round 4, Pick 128 Stetson Bennett, QB, Georgia
Round 5, Pick 161 Nick Hampton, EDGE, Appalachian State
Round 5, Pick 174 Warren McClendon, OT, Georgia
Round 5, Pick 175 Davis Allen, TE, Clemson
Round 5, Pick 177 Puka Nacua, WR, BYU
Round 6, Pick 182 Tre???Vius Hodges-Tomlinson, CB, TCU
Round 6, Pick 189 Ochaun Mathis, EDGE, Nebraska
Round 7, Pick 215 Zach Evans, RB, Ole Miss
Round 7, Pick 223 Ethan Evans, P, Wingate
Round 7, Pick 234 Jason Taylor II, S, Oklahoma State
Round 7, Pick 259 Desjuan Johnson, EDGE, Toledo

2024
Round 1, Pick 19 Jared Verse, EDGE | Florida State
Round 2, Pick 39 (from CAR/NYG) Braden Fiske, DT | Florida State
Round 3, Pick 83 Blake Corum, RB | Michigan
Round 3, Pick 99 (Res. JC-2A) Kamren Kinchens, S | Miami
Round 5, Pick 154 Brennan Jackson, EDGE | Washington State
Round 6, Pick 196 Tyler Davis, DT | Clemson
Round 6, Pick 209 (Comp.) Joshua Karty, K | Stanford
Round 6, Pick 213 (Comp.) Jordan Whittington, WR | Texas
Round 6, Pick 217 (Comp.) Beaux Limmer, OC | Arkansas
Round 7, Pick 254 (Comp.) KT Leveston, G | Kansas State

 

[Londoner]

I’d have Limmer in red. He’s definitely got Pro Bowl ability, although he may not have the name recognition that is so important in the voting.

 

[DzRams]

I’d have Limmer in red. He’s definitely got Pro Bowl ability, although he may not have the name recognition that is so important in the voting.

I was about to say the same.

 

[DzRams]

If Davis Allen is not bolded, then Whittington shouldn't be either.

 

[TexasRam]

If Davis Allen is not bolded, then Whittington shouldn't be either.

Maybe true. But I see Whittington as our full time kick returner and as a key gunner making tackles on kick team.

Allen appears 4th on the TE depth chart with Higbee coming back this week.

 

[DzRams]

Maybe true. But I see Whittington as our full time kick returner and as a key gunner making tackles on kick team.

Allen appears 4th on the TE depth chart with Higbee coming back this week.

You're right when you consider Whittington's special teams contributions. My fault that I was mostly thinking of his WR snaps.

Allen has the 2nd most TE snaps on the team. So maybe 3rd when Higbee comes back, but since we haven't seen Higs in a long time, that's getting ahead of ourselves.

 

[jrry32]

You're right when you consider Whittington's special teams contributions. My fault that I was mostly thinking of his WR snaps.

Allen has the 2nd most TE snaps on the team. So maybe 3rd when Higbee comes back, but since we haven't seen Higs in a long time, that's getting ahead of ourselves.

Yeah, I think Hunter Long is the #4 TE at that point. Although, it appears McVay likes his blocking.

 

[Merlin]

I agree but drafts don't fully take shape until a few years out. So the draft to grade is the one that is 3 years in the past. I'm sure the 2021 draft would be an enjoyable review.

 

[tempests]

Puka was manna from heaven. And despite what the media said about the Rams mortgaging their future, the draft has always been the foundation and backbone of the Rams success. F them picks got the headlines, but our homegrown talent is what allowed them to trade away those picks.

Brad Holmes made valuable contributions, but the consternation over him leaving was misplaced. Snead has always been an astute talent evaluator, and he learned under Dimitroff, who was one of the best himself.

Les is a pillar of the organization just as McVay is. Expect the good drafting to continue.

 

[Ramstien]

I will say it once again, as Rams fans, "In Snead we trust".

 

[dieterbrock]

And some people thought the brains of the operation was Brad Holmes. Just turns out that he was just a great student learning from the best!

 

[jap]

I’d have Limmer in red. He’s definitely got Pro Bowl ability, although he may not have the name recognition that is so important in the voting.

The thing with Limmer is that this kid has not even had his first pro level off-season conditioning program yet. He is going to get stronger and more dominating.

Don't sleep on (Party) Karty either. He has had his issues this season, but he came up big for us this Thursday night, including a 48 FG. He is very capable of breaking the NFL record for the longest FG too.

 

[jap]

And some people thought the brains of the operation was Brad Holmes. Just turns out that he was just a great student learning from the best!

The opposition keeps trying to steal the next McVay or the next Snead, but we retain the real McCoys while they end up with good students at best or fool's good at worst.

 

[jap]

Now that we are nearing the end of the 2024 season, I thought I would glance at the last two drafts.

Talk about an absolute reload of contributors.

I count 13 players that are weekly contributors and helping us win games (bolded below).

I see about 6 so far (highlighted red) that are Pro Bowl level potential. Insane.

2023
Round 2, Pick 36 Steve Avila, G, TCU
Round 3, Pick 77 Byron Young, EDGE, Tennessee
Round 3, Pick 89 Kobie Turner, DT, Wake Forest
Round 4, Pick 128 Stetson Bennett, QB, Georgia
Round 5, Pick 161 Nick Hampton, EDGE, Appalachian State
Round 5, Pick 174 Warren McClendon, OT, Georgia
Round 5, Pick 175 Davis Allen, TE, Clemson
Round 5, Pick 177 Puka Nacua, WR, BYU
Round 6, Pick 182 Tre???Vius Hodges-Tomlinson, CB, TCU
Round 6, Pick 189 Ochaun Mathis, EDGE, Nebraska
Round 7, Pick 215 Zach Evans, RB, Ole Miss
Round 7, Pick 223 Ethan Evans, P, Wingate
Round 7, Pick 234 Jason Taylor II, S, Oklahoma State
Round 7, Pick 259 Desjuan Johnson, EDGE, Toledo

2024
Round 1, Pick 19 Jared Verse, EDGE | Florida State
Round 2, Pick 39 (from CAR/NYG) Braden Fiske, DT | Florida State
Round 3, Pick 83 Blake Corum, RB | Michigan
Round 3, Pick 99 (Res. JC-2A) Kamren Kinchens, S | Miami
Round 5, Pick 154 Brennan Jackson, EDGE | Washington State
Round 6, Pick 196 Tyler Davis, DT | Clemson
Round 6, Pick 209 (Comp.) Joshua Karty, K | Stanford
Round 6, Pick 213 (Comp.) Jordan Whittington, WR | Texas
Round 6, Pick 217 (Comp.) Beaux Limmer, OC | Arkansas
Round 7, Pick 254 (Comp.) KT Leveston, G | Kansas State

There is a trend here that was at least partially initiated by Aaron Donald himself. When the coaching brass explained to AD99 that they would be retooling the team around him, Matthew, & Cooper, Aaron made a request concerning the upcoming draft picks, "Just make sure they care!"

The coaching brass noticed during the 2023 training camp that Corey Turner and Brian Young had established a friendly wager between them about securing the most sacks. These two kept pushing each other throughout the season, and should have been ranked #1 and #2 in the DROTY ratings. This past off-season McSnead & Co., actively looked for recruiting similar compatible pairs and drafted two, which they called pods. The first of these pods were former collegiate teammates, Jared Verse and Brandon Fiske. Their dynamic symmetry is becoming more and more obvious as the season progresses. The second pod is Brennan Jackson and Tyler Davis. We have not seen too much of Brennan on defense as yet, but he looks like a man among boys already.

Aaron's advice concerning choosing recruits who cares can be extended to embrace the entire team, whether it is defense, offense, or special teams. If that drafting focus embraces Aaron's words as the guiding principle, along with having the requisite skills and football savvy, the chances of hitting on another Aaron Donald-esque talent goes up. In any regard, we should end up with a team super saturated with hungry, skilled, football savvy, "WE not ME" players with the right type of unselfish desire to succeed.

 

[Flatlyner]

Ethan Evans highlighted as pro bowl level I'm not sure I agree with. He has not had a great year.

 

[PARAM]

There is a trend here that was at least partially initiated by Aaron Donald himself. When the coaching brass explained to AD99 that they would be retooling the team around him, Matthew, & Cooper, Aaron made a request concerning the upcoming draft picks, "Just make sure they care!"

The coaching brass noticed during the 2023 training camp that Corey Turner and Brian Young had established a friendly wager between them about securing the most sacks. These two kept pushing each other throughout the season, and should have been ranked #1 and #2 in the DROTY ratings. This past off-season McSnead & Co., actively looked for recruiting similar compatible pairs and drafted two, which they called pods. The first of these pods were former collegiate teammates, Jared Verse and Brandon Fiske. Their dynamic symmetry is becoming more and more obvious as the season progresses. The second pod is Brennan Jackson and Tyler Davis. We have not seen too much of Brennan on defense as yet, but he looks like a man among boys already.

Aaron's advice concerning choosing recruits who cares can be extended to embrace the entire team, whether it is defense, offense, or special teams. If that drafting focus embraces Aaron's words as the guiding principle, along with having the requisite skills and football savvy, the chances of hitting on another Aaron Donald-esque talent goes up. In any regard, we should end up with a team super saturated with hungry, skilled, football savvy, "WE not ME" players with the right type of unselfish desire to succeed.

Agree with all that except the red part. Nobody will ever find another AD, IMHO. But of course getting close would be enough.

 

[PARAM]

In addition to those 2 drafts, how about the UDFA's?
Speights, Xavier Smith, McCollough, Josh Wallace, Dedich, etc.

 

[Memento]

In addition to those 2 drafts, how about the UDFA's?
Speights, Xavier Smith, McCollough, Josh Wallace, Dedich, etc.

Don't forget about Alex Ward. Widely regarded as the best long snapper amongst the UDFAs last year, and we needed one after we let go of McQuaide.

Ethan Evans highlighted as pro bowl level I'm not sure I agree with. He has not had a great year.

He's actually had a much better year than last year. Last year, he proved he could boom long ones, but wasn't doing it with consistency, and had a lot of touchbacks on punts. This year, while he's had his misses, has managed to pin people as well.

Is he Hekker? No, but nobody is, and he's been a solid replacement. Remember that he and Karty are the same age (23). Plenty of time to improve.

 

[RecklessRams]

View: https://youtu.be/WI1nqX5syKI?si=oHqgovY5hzEupxzS

 

[Memphis Ram]

I will say it once again, as Rams fans, "In Snead we trust".

My only concern is what would have happened if some of the trades attempted were to go through.

Would the team have Avila, Young, and/or Turner, too?
Might have gotten Bowers, but no Verse or Fiske.