Rams Failed in 2026 Draft Approach

[rdlkgliders]

I haven't posted in this thread due to this being so subjective.

If you are applying the draft to our present SB window, the only thing that really matters. It is fair to say the 26 draft has done very little to help facilitate that goal.

 

[Memphis Ram]

I haven't really posted in this thread due to this being so subjective.

If you are applying the draft to our present SB window, (the only thing that really matters) then the 26 draft has done very little to
help facilitate that goal.

Except with no Ty Simpson there's no Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald.

 

[rdlkgliders]

Except with no Ty Simpson there's no Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald.

That's fair for Garrett especially, AD who really knows. "To date it has done very little". The Garrett situation likely was an unfortunate surprise.

 

[Tumak61]

You have to look at the draft from a long way away. Revisit it in 3 years. Draft analyzing is a stupid science. Let's look at this draft in 2029.

 

[El Chapo Jr]

Agree

Personally, I'm of the belief you ALWAYS use the Draft for future use and NEVER use the Draft for the upcoming single season.

I honestly think this is the biggest misconception as the draft is always used for both. Its just that higher draft picks tend to be expected to provide help much sooner rather than later dependent upon the roster structure of the drafting team.

 

[El Chapo Jr]

From what I've read the forecast on Adams was 6-10 weeks but McVay said it was looking more like the short end of that one.

That potential better 3rd WR would still have to pan out, beat out Mumpfield, and earn Stafford's trust.

Besides WRs aren't interchangeable. For example. Not all can play X.

BTW, to date, the only drafted rookie WRs returning kicks with a better return average than Whittington are Josh Cameron (27.22) and Zachariah Branch (26.45) average vs. Whittington's (26.09 average). Not much difference and I have my doubts that Branch would beat out Mumpfield the way McVay talks about him.

The young athlete at TE to develop and possibly contribute on STs. That's Klare. But, again there are just so many active gameday spots.

I'm not going to believe McVay injury stuff because he even hinted to Garrett being back this week yet that didn't work out. I'm happy that Adams prognosis looks good, but we'll see how well his body responds and pray he doesn't have any set backs during that time.

 

[El Chapo Jr]

Except with no Ty Simpson there's no Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald.

I don't find that remotely true. Snead was chasing this dude for a long time. Never once has Snead outright admitted this. Snead gave a vague comment about the flexibility it gave him but I highly doubt his crazy dealing ass would have turned down a trade for a stud like Garrett.

 

[Pupped]

Oh. I missed this one.

I never made an argument about McVay not playing rookies so this was a waste of time.

My point was in regards to potential opportunities due to the talent on THIS roster and the more TE emphasis on offense.

BTW, it appears that you STILL aren't considering what's going on today.

Why? The Rams were running about 90% or so 11 personnel back during these guys rookie seasons, THUS MORE OPPORTUNITIES (well the TE shift occurred during the middle of Mumpfield's rookie year). That's not what going on today.

This imagines a situation where the first 2 WRs get 100% of the snaps.
What happens when you give that many snaps to a 33 year old WR with a history of injuries? He breaks down. And.. yes.. he broke down. His injury wasn't from a hit.. freak fall.. etc.. it was from usage. So.. again.. the Rams are looking at up to 10 weeks without Adams.. and he'll return as an oft-injured 33 year old.. you gonna give that guy 100% of the snaps?

You act as if I don't know that they use 13 personnel way more. Everyone knows. I've shown that there are still more than 500 snaps for the other WRs.. and that's in a world where, objectively, too many of the snaps are going to the top two WRs.

You fail to address.. in any way, shape or form.. real usage of WRs outside of the top two.
You fail to acknowledge the possibility.. that a higher quality 3rd WR would have an impact and possibly create more opportunities and EXPAND the offense.

 

[Pupped]

Except with no Ty Simpson there's no Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald.

Again.. in that alternate universe.. if you believe Snead 100%.. The Rams still have Verse and would've had more than enough draft capital to trade for someone like Buckner.

 

[Pupped]

Agree

Personally, I'm of the belief you ALWAYS use the Draft for future use and NEVER use the Draft for the upcoming single season.

I think there's a massive difference between drafting with an understanding of what your roster is, recognizing failure points and making an effort to address those and "drafting for the upcoming single season."

 

[Pupped]

You have to look at the draft from a long way away. Revisit it in 3 years. Draft analyzing is a stupid science. Let's look at this draft in 2029.

I'm not analyzing the overall quality of the draft. I'm not.

I'm saying that it was the wrong draft approach to take advantage of the current Super Bowl window. I see no evidence anywhere on this thread that that is an incorrect statement.

If you believe you can build for the future AND max out your present, that's fine. I don't think you can. And when I say build for the future, I mean drafting players in Klare and Simpson that are *only* about the future.

 

[Pupped]

I agree. Special teams is an issue.

But I disagree that a small rookie draft class would make that much of a difference because if they even panned out they would still be in a fight to be active on gameday. Again, as suggested earlier even though we don't have the injury stuff, try to forecast a gameday roster or inactive list.

Small draft class is part of the problem and I've already addressed it.
Trading up for CJ Daniels was silly.. should've been playing the numbers game at that end of the roster.. it's how they ended up with someone like Nick Scott. Multiple shots help.

 

[Pupped]

WR 5 & 6 wouldn't be seeing snaps in a more TE centric offense no matter who they were.

Thanks for missing my argument because that's where a rookie would probably initially land.
CJ Daniels is there now.

But they could be contributing as returners or gunners..
And.. again.. I'd be drafting for WR 3 as well.. and taking a shot later for the return guy.

 

[DzRams]

But the thing is that the biggest failure points are spots everyone knew could be issues.

Adam’s health.
Smith’s shaky performance.
Whit & Mumpfield’s limitations.

Special teams.

I’d argue they’re still playing with fire with the OT depth… and no idea why Rivers is on the roster.

Apart from special teams and Smith's performance, your biggest complaints are with the WR group. The problem with this is, I'm having a hard time connecting our losses to deficiencies in the WR room. I wouldn't say the WR room has been the biggest failure point this season.

The offense is at the top of the league in moving the ball - they're ranked 1st in yards per game. The two reasons are because they've failed to convert TDs in the RZ and have gotten more untimely penalties than normal. None of this has to do with Adam's health given he's played in 6 games or with Whit and Mumpfield's limitations.

I agree that they're playing with fire with OT depth. But it's not possible to plug every single perceived hole. It's common that depth at certain positions will be thin.

 

[Pupped]

Apart from special teams and Smith's performance, your biggest complaints are with the WR group. The problem with this is, I'm having a hard time connecting our losses to deficiencies in the WR room. I wouldn't say the WR room has been the biggest failure point this season.

The offense is at the top of the league in moving the ball - they're ranked 1st in yards per game. The two reasons are because they've failed to convert TDs in the RZ and have gotten more untimely penalties than normal. None of this has to do with Adam's health given he's played in 6 games or with Whit and Mumpfield's limitations.

I agree that they're playing with fire with OT depth. But it's not possible to plug every single perceived hole. It's common that depth at certain positions will be thin.

The WR thing is as much about where we've been.. as where we are now and for the next 6-10 weeks with Adams out. Not addressing that position appropriately was a terrible decision, imo.

And we do not know, for example, what adding Boston could do to improve the RZ opportunities. One PAINFUL memory last year.. Mumpfield's size being a detriment and allowing a defender to make a play in a Seattle game in the end zone. Better.. bigger player.. who knows. We also don't know how a legit 3rd option impacts defenses and coverages.. but I'm betting it helps.

I'm also, 100% of the belief that not having a 3rd WR they could turn to lead to too many snaps for a 33 year old WR who gets injured a bunch. It was just an obvious failure point.

 

[Memphis Ram]

I don't find that remotely true. Snead was chasing this dude for a long time. Never once has Snead outright admitted this. Snead gave a vague comment about the flexibility it gave him but I highly doubt his crazy dealing ass would have turned down a trade for a stud like Garrett.

Think about the chasing the dude for a long time part.

When Stafford was younger and the potential QB need didn't seem as serious.

And prior to the 2025 season when they didn't even know if he'd be able to play due to his back.

 

[Memphis Ram]

Again.. in that alternate universe.. if you believe Snead 100%.. The Rams still have Verse and would've had more than enough draft capital to trade for someone like Buckner.

Trade for 32 year old Buckner when you've got Kobie Turner, Poona Ford, Branden Fiske? It's possible. If they outbid the 49ers.

But he's not even in Myles Garrett's talent class. The Rams wanted and needed a closer on the DLine. That's Garrett. Not Buckner.

 

[Memphis Ram]

But they could be contributing as returners or gunners..
And.. again.. I'd be drafting for WR 3 as well.. and taking a shot later for the return guy.

I'm glad you said taking a shot. Because there's no guarantee that any rookie even pans out. And the Rams or any team would be foolish to take such a shot vs. nabbing a higher rated talent on their draft board.

CJ Daniels could possibly be contributing as a gunner, but he isn't.
Could a good part of that be because there are other guys on the depth chart ahead of him that has prevented him from being active on gameday?

Just out of curiosity.
If the Rams had drafted the way you wanted them to draft and it meant taking lower rated players on their draft board would their approach still be wrong?

Or if they drafted the way you desired and those players didn't pan out, would their approach still be wrong?

 

[DzRams]

The WR thing is as much about where we've been.. as where we are now and for the next 6-10 weeks with Adams out. Not addressing that position appropriately was a terrible decision, imo.

And we do not know, for example, what adding Boston could do to improve the RZ opportunities. One PAINFUL memory last year.. Mumpfield's size being a detriment and allowing a defender to make a play in a Seattle game in the end zone. Better.. bigger player.. who knows. We also don't know how a legit 3rd option impacts defenses and coverages.. but I'm betting it helps.

I'm also, 100% of the belief that not having a 3rd WR they could turn to lead to too many snaps for a 33 year old WR who gets injured a bunch. It was just a speculative failure point.

Fixed the last line for you. You're talking about failure over the next 6-10 weeks before we even see how the offense performs without Adams. This is obviously bad analysis.

I'm skeptical that a 3rd WR has much to do with Adams getting injured. McVay and Stafford have shown a bad tendency to over-rely on their star receivers. I'm certain we'd be playing Adams and Puka about the same number of snaps even if they did draft someone in the 2nd round.

Remember, our last 2nd round WRs didn't play much. Van Jefferson got 19 snaps and only two targets per game in his rookie season. Kupp and Woods were the two primary WRs who ate. Atwell didn't get any snaps or targets on offense in his rookie season before being placed on IR in November. McVay and Stafford have always primarily utilized two receivers.

On Boston...several people in this thread, including me, have stated that it would be nice to have Boston. He was drafted at 39. What would have been your specific plan to get him?

 

[Memphis Ram]

Small draft class is part of the problem and I've already addressed it.
Trading up for CJ Daniels was silly.. should've been playing the numbers game at that end of the roster.. it's how they ended up with someone like Nick Scott. Multiple shots help.

Multiple shots help a lot more in a deeper draft class.
And again, that player still has to pass for background, character, medical, talent, intelligence evalations. etc....

I forgot where I read it, but some were said to barely have 100 - 125 players on their draft boards.

And someone like Nick Scott could easier make the team and be active on a lesser roster.