The Los Angeles Rams appear set at running back for the foreseeable future. They have two-time All-Pro Todd Gurley signed through 2023 as the highest-paid back in the league, while Malcolm Brown is a very capable backup for the next two years. Furthermore, they drafted John Kelly in the sixth round last year and he showed some ability in the preseason.

It would seem crazy to think the Rams might draft a running back early in the draft, right? Well, they’re looking at the position more closely than many people probably think.

They’ve hosted three running backs for official pre-draft visits: North Dakota State’s Bruce Anderson and FAU’s tandem of Kerrith Whyte Jr. and Devin Singletary. They wouldn’t have brought in those players if they had no intentions of drafting them, which is a sign in and of itself.

According to Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network, the Rams are doing extensive work on the incoming class of running backs. On a conference call Thursday, Jeremiah was asked about Penn State’s Miles Sanders, who was mocked to the Rams in Peter Schrager’s projection last month.

Jeremiah said it’s unlikely Sanders goes at the end of the first round, but it wouldn’t totally shock him if he did.

“In terms of how high he could go, I’d say it’s unlikely that he goes in the bottom of the first round,” Jeremiah said. “It wouldn’t totally shock me. A team like the Rams, that might surprise some people considering who they have in Todd Gurley, but they’ve done a lot of homework on running backs. Maybe that’s a scenario where they trade back if they looked at that position.

“But I’d say there’s a slim chance he could go bottom one, but I do think he’s a lock to go in the second round, and I would anticipate he’s somebody that goes in the top 40 to 50 picks. I think you’ll see him go in the first part of the second round. He won’t have to wait too long.”

The Rams taking a running back in the first round would be absolutely shocking. It would also drum up an abundance of speculation about Gurley’s health moving forward, and his longevity in the NFL.

Heck, the Rams selecting a tailback any time before the sixth round would be surprising. They simply don’t have a pressing need at the position, even if Gurley’s workload is limited some in 2019.

That being said, it’s impossible to ignore the work Les Snead’s staff has done on the incoming class of running backs.