We’re in full swing when it comes to draft season, meaning the mock drafts wont stop. The latest mock is Draft Wire’s Luke Easterling’s four-round mock that covers every pick from every team, though its spiced up with plenty of trade up’s and down’s, giving the mock a nice twist.
Let’s jump into the picks:
Right out of the gate the Los Angeles Rams trade back with the Denver Broncos. A trade back seems like a very likely scenario in my opinion, so this makes a ton of sense. In this mock draft, the Rams trade pick #31 to the Broncos, receiving picks #41 and #71 in return.
Here’s the Broncos’ selection at #31:
31. Denver Broncos (From LAR)* | Daniel Jones | QB | Duke
Passing on a quarterback at No. 10 makes sense in this scenario, but for all of John Elway’s confidence in Joe Flacco being “in his prime,” I doubt he could watch Jones drop so far without pouncing. In return for at least their second-round pick in this draft, the Broncos land their franchise quarterback of the future to learn behind the veteran.
And now onto the Rams’ picks:
41.) Clemson Tigers DT Dexter Lawrence
71.) Alabama State Hornets OT Tytus Howard
Here’s the coup from the trade back. Easterling had the Rams trading pick #31 to the Broncos for #41 (second-round pick) and #71 (third-round pick). With those selections, Easterling has the Rams selecting a mammoth nose tackle in Dexter Lawrence from the Clemson Tigers, and a raw but high-upside offensive tackle in Alabama State’s Tytus Howard. SB Nation has been tracking the top-selected players for teams in mock drafts, and Lawrence has been the second-most popular option mocked to the Rams after C Garrett Bradbury.
94.) Notre Dame Fighting Irish ILB Drue Tranquill
99.) Utah Utes S Marquise Blair
133.) Washington State Cougars RB James Williams
With the remaining picks, the Rams selected Drue Tranquill to fill the role of athletic linebacker (which isn’t really a hole on the roster), Marquise Blair as a backup to safeties John Johnson III and Eric Weddle, and a running back in James Williams. In my opinion, this coup is not enticing. The running back doesn’t offer much to the RB room the Rams already have, and Tranquill is a great player with two major knee injuries under his name.
Ultimately, I don’t love nor hate this mock, it’s more just “meh”. Lawrence is a good prospect, but not one I’d personally take that high. Howard represents a raw offensive tackle prospect, though his upside is evident. I also don’t see the reasoning for drafting a running back that high with Malcolm Brown returning to the team and rookie John Kelly looking like an explosive weapon in the preseason.