There were a number of different ways the Los Angeles Rams could’ve gone in the draft, needing help at so many different positions. They decided to address the trenches, beginning the draft by taking an offensive lineman at No. 36 overall.
Their approach tells us a little bit about how they viewed their roster, from the pass-rush group to the offensive line. Some incumbent players got a vote of confidence based on the Rams’ picks, while others will be fighting for their spots on the depth chart.
Here are Los Angeles’ winners and losers from the 2023 draft.
Winner: Stetson Bennett
Bennett couldn’t have landed in a much better spot than Los Angeles. Sure, he’s not going to get the chance to start right away, but in the fourth round, there wasn’t a team that was likely to give him that shot as a rookie anyway. With the Rams, he gets to learn behind fellow former Bulldog, Matthew Stafford, and he joins an offense that’s very quarterback-friendly.
Sean McVay, Mike LaFleur and Stafford will help Bennett become at the very least a quality backup in Los Angeles and in the event that Stafford retires in 2024 or 2025, he could get an opportunity to take the reins.
Winners: Quentin Lake and Russ Yeast
The Rams could’ve gone safety early in the draft after losing both Taylor Rapp and Nick Scott in free agency. However, they waited until their second-to-last pick in the seventh round to finally address the position by drafting Jason Taylor II. Taylor is a good player who can help the Rams early on, especially as a deep safety, but it’s not as if they made this position a priority in the draft.
That’s a vote of confidence for Lake and Yeast, the two frontrunners to start alongside Jordan Fuller. The path is now clearer for one of the two to line up next to Fuller in Week 1 – if they can hold off the seventh-round rookie Taylor.
Winner: Matthew Stafford
After Day 1 of the draft, there were questions about whether the Rams might take Will Levis in Round 2 if he slipped to No. 36 overall. We didn’t get a chance to find out because the Titans traded up for him, but it would’ve been fun to see whether the Rams would take a potential heir to Stafford’s throne with their top pick.
Not only did the Rams pass on trading up for one of the top five quarterbacks in the class, but they took an offensive lineman first, thus helping protect Stafford in the pocket. Then they drafted Bennett, a quarterback who experts view as a career backup in the NFL.
He’s not going to be a threat to Stafford’s job this year or next.
Winner: Bobby Brown III
Yes, the Rams drafted two defensive linemen, including one with their third pick on Day 2. However, they didn’t draft a nose tackle, which is exactly the position Brown plays. Kobie Turner and Desjuan Johnson are both about 6-foot-2 and 285 pounds, which is a similar size to Aaron Donald. They project more as 3-technique defensive tackles or defensive ends in the A’Shawn Robinson role, not true nose tackles like Greg Gaines was.
That keeps Brown as the likely starter at nose tackle in Week 1 with the Rams lacking much size at that position. The next-heaviest defensive player after Brown is Michael Hoecht, who’s listed at 310 pounds but will play edge rusher to begin 2023.
Loser: Brian Allen
Steve Avila played both center and guard in college and while many viewed him as a guard coming out of TCU, he’s very capable of playing center. There’s a legitimate possibility that even if Avila begins his career at guard this year, he could replace Allen as the starting center in 2024.
It’s also possible that Avila beats out Allen at center this season and the Rams try to trade Allen this summer to save $2 million in cap space. Regardless, the Rams strategically drafted an offensive lineman with guard-center flexibility, knowing Allen has an out in his contract next year. That doesn’t bode well for his future with the team.
Loser: Kyren Williams
We could probably put Cam Akers in the “loser” category, too, after the Rams selected Zach Evans in the sixth round, but we’ll keep it to just Williams for now. Evans is a running back with starting potential, showing a vicious stiff-arm, breakaway speed and good power during his time at TCU and Ole Miss. What hurt his draft stock a bit was the fact that he was never a true lead back in college, but that shouldn’t prevent the Rams from giving him a shot as the starter this year or next.
At the very least, Evans could unseat Williams as the No. 2 running back this season and become a change-of-pace player on offense behind Akers. He’s not a proven receiver, which limits him a little bit on third down, but he could develop that skill at the next level.
Losers: Michael Hoecht, Daniel Hardy and Keir Thomas
Everyone knew the Rams were going to draft an edge rusher, probably early, too. We even thought they’d double-dip at that position by taking two outside linebackers. Not only did the Rams draft an edge rusher with their second pick by taking Byron Young, but they took a second one in the fifth round (Nick Hampton) and another in the sixth (Ochaun Mathis).
It’s clear the Rams were dissatisfied with the edge rushers they had on their roster before the draft, which included Hoecht, Hardy and Thomas atop the depth chart. None of the three was guaranteed to be a starter this season, and it’s possible that none of them will be now that the Rams added a trio of rookie pass rushers in the draft.
Young has a very good chance to start and with Mathis’ size, he could line up on first and second down opposite Young. A starting rookie tandem at outside linebacker is risky, but it’s also possible for the Rams.
