Would The Rams Trade Up For The No. 1 Overall Pick?
By Nate Latsch
http://www.scout.com/nfl/rams/story/1637441-would-rams-trade-up-to-no-1-overall
The Tennessee Titans are rumored to be shopping the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 Draft. Could the quarterback-needy Los Angeles Rams trade up?
The Rams are making their big move from St. Louis to Los Angeles for the 2016 season. Could they also be making a big move up the draft board to nab a franchise quarterback?
There’s some talk about that possibility coming out of Mobile, Ala., the home of the Senior Bowl, this week.
NFL Draft analyst Matt Miller of Bleacher Report wrote on Friday that the Tennessee Titans are shopping the No. 1 overall pick and the Rams and Cleveland Browns are the most likely to be interested in trading up to acquire that draft choice.
The talk of Mobile was North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz, a player who led his team to back-to-back FCS championships and may fit the bill as a prototypical NFL QB prospect with his arm talent, size and athletic ability.
Wentz, Jared Goff of California and Paxton Lynch of Memphis — in whatever order you’d like to rank them — are generally regarded as the top three quarterback prospects eligible for the 2016 Draft.
How do the Rams come in?
They are one of several teams still searching for the elusive franchise quarterback who can lift them from the ranks of the NFL’s downtrodden and elevate them into legitimate playoff contender and, if the stars align just right, a Super Bowl champion.
Let’s be honest. The excitement over the Rams return to Los Angeles will wear off pretty quickly if they continue to pile up non-winning, non-playoff seasons like they have over the last decade.
For all the praise Rams coach Jeff Fisher and general manager Les Snead have heaped upon incumbent starting quarterback Case Keenum over the last few months, Keenum is still the same guy who was let go from the quarterback-needy Houston Texans twice in the past two years and was also released by the QB-needy Rams once.
Keenum has proven that he can win games in the NFL. So has Nick Foles, Austin Davis, Shaun Hill, Kellen Clemens and Sam Bradford during the Rams’ recent run of mediocrity under Fisher.
But none of those players have shown the ability to take the Rams to the next level. That’s what the Rams are missing.
Fisher and Snead have built a roster that can win games and looks like should compete for a playoff spot next season.
The Rams beat the Seattle Seahawks twice and the Arizona Cardinals once this season on their way to seven wins. They also lost four games by one touchdown or less — the difference between a losing season or earning a playoff berth for the first time since 2004.
There’s no certainty that drafting a quarterback with the No. 1 pick will mean he is going to become that transcendent franchise player.
If Bradford had become the player the Rams hoped for when they picked him No. 1 overall in 2010 out of Oklahoma, the team wouldn’t still be searching for that guy. They might not even be packing up and relocating to the City of Angels this offseason.
It didn’t work out with Bradford, so the Rams are still looking.
What would it cost to move up to the No. 1 overall pick? That’s the question that will need to be answered in the next few months.
The Rams have selections in the first two rounds — the No. 15 pick in the first and the 43rd and 45th overall picks in the second round — as well as future first-round picks they could trade away.
The Rams got three first-round picks from Washington back in 2012 so the Redskins could select Robert Griffin III with the No. 2 overall pick. It’s probably unlikely any team would make that kind of deal, but if you’re the Titans you would try to maximize the value.
Over the next weeks and months teams will have to determine if Wentz, Goff or Lynch are worth that kind of investment. The Titans’ pick carries extra value for a team looking to draft a quarterback because the Browns, picking second, might take one.
The Rams need one but whether they are willing they pay the price to make that move is still to be determined. They are moving to a new city but still could stuck in neutral without the right quarterback.