[Youngblood22]

These mock drafts are a joke, I know its just guess work and opinion but geez, I saw one today that had us trading away our #1 #3 and a #6 round picks for DE Hendrickson from the bengals, come on, not even a position of need, and his contract would be huge. I still say its TE at #26. Or a trade down but still a TE. Loveland and Warren will be gone, I'm thinking Taylor or Helm. I don't think we have the ammo to move up for Warren or Loveland.

[ramsman34]

Elvis took care of the answer. I would venture to say that every draft able player who fits their criteria are in one of their buckets/pods/levels. They have players they simply won’t draft so they don’t even put them in their system. The conundrum is when there are 2 or more players whom they have ranked very evenly available at a given draft spot. That is where it gets interesting. Especially when they have multiple picks in a particular round. Like the 4 5th round picks they had in 2023. They rely on predicting what other teams might have interest those players, and if they feel those teams will draft them before the Rams get their chance. And then luck plays a pretty big part. This system really lets the Rams hone in on the players they really want and also leaves them with other options of players who they also like. It’s almost a can’t-lose scenario. Almost - as the Rams have whiffed from time to time. They just do that less than a lot of other teams.

[ramsman34]

help me fathom this term in reference to a draft

a single "pod" implies a group/plurality of players ... "pods" implies a group of groups

so selecting from a "pod" of running backs may or not be as high of a priority as a "pod" of defensive backs .... how are pods evaluated against each other when a non-pod and higher-valued player is available?

Elvis answered and I added a little more opinion in the post above. I don’t think the pods are by position per se. The can cross reference where all the draft able RBs are in each pod/bucket. I believe the pods are similar rankings. So say pod 1 is the top draft able players and they drop in ranking from there. So they could have a situation where at a draft slot they have a bottom of pod 1 player and a top of pod 2 player both available. Sticking to their “board” they take the pod 1 player. But, they may have already drafted another player at that position or they may not have another player at the position of the pod 2 player ranked very high. That could sway them to grab the pod 2 player. All speculation but I have a feeling that is kind of how they flow. I’m sure it’s more complex than that.

[PARAM]

Elvis answered and I added a little more opinion in the post above. I don’t think the pods are by position per se. The can cross reference where all the draft able RBs are in each pod/bucket. I believe the pods are similar rankings. So say pod 1 is the top draft able players and they drop in ranking from there. So they could have a situation where at a draft slot they have a bottom of pod 1 player and a top of pod 2 player both available. Sticking to their “board” they take the pod 1 player. But, they may have already drafted another player at that position or they may not have another player at the position of the pod 2 player ranked very high. That could sway them to grab the pod 2 player. All speculation but I have a feeling that is kind of how they flow. I’m sure it’s more complex than that.

Or not and they end up with 3 safties. Or 3 edge rushers. It's happened.

I think you're right though, with respect to pods "of value".

[BobCarl]

.... say pod 1 is the top draft able players and they drop in ranking from there. So they could have a situation where at a draft slot they have a bottom of pod 1 player and a top of pod 2 player both available. Sticking to their “board” they take the pod 1 player. But, they may have already drafted another player at that position or they may not have another player at the position of the pod 2 player ranked very high.

ok, that helps with getting a grasp

how could the pod groupings concept have been playing out in 2024 with Jared Verse when the Rams tried to trade up to get pick #10 hoping to get Brock Bowers? Obviously they didn't think Bowers would be still on the board at pick #19

And then also, how could the pod groupings have looked like when the Rams gave up a lot of draft capital to move up 13 slots so as to pick Braden Fiske at #39?

And also this next question is (more serious than not):

Was Jarod Verse and Braden Fiske in different pods? Or were they "two peas in a pod"?

[Elvis]

Reports of Rams meeting with Milroe, sounds like it would be in LA and that would be a top 30 visit but Rams generally don't do those. So maybe a Rams scout is gonna meet with him near where he lives?

[actionjack]

What are the odds 1 will be a Ram?

Actually maybe a 10% chance, there are some dudes who could be avail. Hope Golden.

[Youngblood22]

I think the Rams trade back into the second round with the Browns. Browns get our #26 we get #33 and #67. Rams take TE Mason Taylor or Gunnar Helm with the #33 pick. A CB or WR with #67. Browns get a QB at #26 whoever that is. We take a QB in the 3rd or 4th. Ok let me have it guys.

[ramsman34]

ok, that helps with getting a grasp

how could the pod groupings concept have been playing out in 2024 with Jared Verse when the Rams tried to trade up to get pick #10 hoping to get Brock Bowers? Obviously they didn't think Bowers would be still on the board at pick #19

And then also, how could the pod groupings have looked like when the Rams gave up a lot of draft capital to move up 13 slots so as to pick Braden Fiske at #39?

And also this next question is (more serious than not):

Was Jarod Verse and Braden Fiske in different pods? Or were they "two peas in a pod"?

My guess would be Jered was a pod 1 and Fiske a pod 2 using my reading for what I think that means. They said they don’t grade by draft round. So there is likely a scoring/ranking system. They do, however, project where they think another team would draft a player. So that is sort of a de facto draft round rank. I believe they believed there were teams who would take Fiske somewhere in the mid second to early third round. So they felt they had to make a move to get him. I really wish I could get a behind the scenes look to confirm or refute what I think they do and how they rank players more specifically. The coolest thing to me is that they don’t rank like draft nicks or other teams. They identify all of the “Rams” draft able players. Then they use their unique system to categorize them. Then they basically rank them by guys they just gotta have all the way down to the “they have a shot at contributing soon on some level” players. I think that is why there are so successful. Especially lately.

[Elvis]

These are the buckets, from Jourdan's article last year:

1 Math changer | Total package
2 Reliable starter
3 Math changing starter | Range of caution flags
4 Impactful contributor | Clean profile
5 Talented enough to contribute but less predictable
6 Trustworthy but less talented
7 Late IQ or PQ
8 Major concerns | Off board or reconsider at end of draft
9 Likely drafted | Not a Rams fit