Rams Fans United - Los Angeles Rams Fan Discussion Forum

The draft is finally here. I will posit this and it’s NOT a knock on McVay. Had McVay gotten the HC job a fews years earlier it’s highly unlikely Aaron Donald would ever have been a Ram. For starters AD was never going to go in the 2nd round and they likely wouldn’t have had a first round pick. IF McVay did it’s even more unlikely he would have selected a DT let alone a defensive player. That’s why, as much as I see and obvious trade up (they say the calls are being made) for a DT, Edge or CB, I am feeling a top OT is in the cards. I can’t see WR, RB, TE or even QB so OLine is my guess and OT the pick. Trading back will also be a possibility but ….here we go!

ramsww wrote:highly unlikely Aaron Donald would ever have been a Ram.

I don't agree.

Les Snead has proved himself as being able to recognize talent, McVay knows that and would utilize Snead's ability. McVay isn't a micromanager of drafting. Whereas Jeff Fisher was.

In 2014 it is HIGHLY likely that Fisher made his pick in the 2nd overall and he let Snead make the next choice. (I've seen this sort of thing happen in the NFL before)

Had McVay and Snead worked the draft, both 1st round picks might have been parlayed differently, they would still have taken Donald.

The only thing that Fisher did for the Rams was to tank the team in St. Louis so as to distance the local fans and enable to move to Los Angeles. Now since Fisher was 86'ed, the team has gone on to create amazing Los Angeles history.

Snead is going to go down as one of the top-5 talent evaluators.

ramsww wrote:The draft is finally here. I will posit this and it’s NOT a knock on McVay. Had McVay gotten the HC job a fews years earlier it’s highly unlikely Aaron Donald would ever have been a Ram. For starters AD was never going to go in the 2nd round and they likely wouldn’t have had a first round pick. IF McVay did it’s even more unlikely he would have selected a DT let alone a defensive player. That’s why, as much as I see and obvious trade up (they say the calls are being made) for a DT, Edge or CB, I am feeling a top OT is in the cards. I can’t see WR, RB, TE or even QB so OLine is my guess and OT the pick. Trading back will also be a possibility but ….here we go!

As a general rule, McVay has tended to dominate the first draft pick, and Snead seems to go right along with it. This has not led to a series of top first picks (first pick obviously, not first round pick).

Everett? Akers? Atwell?

/zn/ wrote:As a general rule, McVay has tended to dominate the first draft pick, and Snead seems to go right along with it. This has not led to a series of top first picks (first pick obviously, not first round pick).

Everett? Akers? Atwell?

I wanted one of the top 3 Edge picks and we may have gotten the best. Bigger than Chop, more versatile than Latu. Verse was a great pick! My theory on McSnead going Offense fell apart but to get a OT we would have given up a lot. I would have been fine with that too. Byron Young was a steal but I’ve been harping on a Verse type talent for 2 yrs. BTW, did anyone else notice McVay clutching his phone with a min 47 seconds left on the clock? Was he trying to trade back literally at the last minute? haha

This is shaping up to be one of the most complete rosters the Rams have had in a very long time. The OL looks like it could be a top 10 unit. The DL is absolutely scary now.

This offense can score on anyone.

This defense isn't going to play soft anymore. You don't draft Verse and Fiske if you are going to play soft. This DL is loaded if played in a one gap attacking style. Fiske isn't a 0T NT, he's a 1T penetration NT. Verse isn't a Fangio 1.5 gap DE. He's got the potential to be a young Von Miller type of edge. I'd be surprised if this defense isn't a top 10 unit by January.

This roster is the sum of many parts, not solely dependent upon just one part of it. Saturday's draft picks will be about improving depth and STs. This roster is essentially built not just for this year but beyond as well.

Dare wrote:...This defense isn't going to play soft anymore. You don't draft Verse and Fiske if you are going to play soft. This DL is loaded if played in a one gap attacking style. Fiske isn't a 0T NT, he's a 1T penetration NT. Verse isn't a Fangio 1.5 gap DE. He's got the potential to be a young Von Miller type of edge. I'd be surprised if this defense isn't a top 10 unit by January...

It seems like one plan this draft was to enable Schula the opportunity to go after the kinds of players he desired in order refashion the defense to what he envisions.

For us, it looks like the approach that will be used to counter the explosive, "fast" athletes that have multiple routes/choices in today's offense (e.g. Miami), will be to stock up on equally explosive athletes on the defense, as supposed to designing your defense/game plan around the one to two players who happen to possess those traits.

Increasing the defense's diagnostic burden by running lots of presnap motion out of identical formations to create mismatches and get particular players immediately going full speed becomes useless if the majority of the time after the snap, your defense is in their backfield.

Worth noting we're now significantly lighter in the front seven , compared to a few years ago. Hopefully this plays out well over the season.

When I watch video of the draft room when they're making decisions, I see a head coach and GM working very well together. In McVay's first year it was not like that. It was obviously Snead's show back in 2017. So maybe they still take Donald. Whatever the case it was fate. Aaron was destined to clinch a Superbowl win before he retires. I'm just glad he did it for us.