2019 NFL combine Day 1: What we’ve heard about the Rams

Several NFL coaches and general managers held their annual combine press conferences on Wednesday, discussing everything from free agency to prospects set to suit up later this week in Indianapolis. The Rams weren’t among the teams to have a presser yet as both Sean McVay and Les Snead will speak on Thursday morning.

Still, we heard several things relating to the Rams, primarily regarding McVay and the job he’s done in Los Angeles.

Zac Taylor has nothing but respect for Sean McVay

Taylor spoke on what impressed him most about McVay during his time in Los Angeles. Among the things that stood out was McVay’s ability to connect with everyone and make all of his staff members feel valued.

Asked former #LARams QBs coach and now Bengals HC Zac Taylor what his biggest takeaway was from working with HC Sean McVay in L.A. for the last two years, and here’s what he said. More to come on the site. pic.twitter.com/IRMHgixqoc

— Myles Simmons (@MylesASimmons) February 27, 2019

Ed Oliver will draw Aaron Donald comparisons based on 40-yard dash

Oliver will be under a microscope this week in on-field drills and the timed exercises. Mike Mayock, now the GM of the Raiders, said he’ll draw comparisons to Donald if he runs a 4.5 40-yard dash, which would be faster than Donald’s 4.68 in 2014 – the best of any defensive tackle that year.

Anything under 4.6 would be wildly impressive for a man Oliver’s size.

#Raiders GM Mike Mayock said teams want to see the height and weight on Houston DT Ed Oliver. If he runs a 4.5 teams will compare him to Aaron Donald (and he won’t be available at 14 for the #Falcons.) pic.twitter.com/15Ly6uyLdg

— D. Orlando Ledbetter (@DOrlandoAJC) February 27, 2019

Matt LaFleur had high praise for McVay

LaFleur also spoke highly of McVay, echoing many of the things Taylor said about the Rams coach.

Today in “Myles is an idiot”: Earlier I tweeted a quote that I said was from Matt LaFleur, but I accidentally used the wrong screen shot and put out the same quote from Zac Taylor again. Oops. So let’s try this — LaFleur on #LARams HC Sean McVay: pic.twitter.com/rF5kAQYRai

— Myles Simmons (@MylesASimmons) February 27, 2019

Kliff Kingsbury is looking forward to facing McVay and the Rams twice a year

Kingsbury was hired by the Cardinals as their new head coach and while he’s friends with McVay, he’s also excited to face him twice a year. Kingsbury knows what a challenge it will be fore Arizona to take on the Rams, who reached the Super Bowl last season.

Kliff Kingsbury on McVay offer to join Rams: "He’s one of the best football minds there is and he’s a great person as well. So I definitely looked at that at the time. It will be tough coaching against him. He’s got it rolling."

— Gary Klein (@LATimesklein) February 27, 2019

Competition committee is exploring options with pass interference rules

There are still discussions surrounding Nickell Robey-Coleman’s pass interference penalty in the NFC championship game, helping the Rams reach the Super Bowl. The competition committee is exploring all avenues to ensure something like that doesn’t happen again, possibly making such fouls reviewable.

John Elway said the competition committee is still evaluating all the options about changes to the officiating and review process. "We’d like to not have the play that happened in the New Orleans (game), so we’re doing everything we can to try to limit those type plays."

— Josh Katzenstein (@jkatzenstein) February 27, 2019