Los Angeles Rams 2018 Draft Class Review

With the 2018 NFL Draft behind us, it’s time to begin the review process on how each team stacks up with the selections they’ve made. In completing our final team review, we finally land on the Los Angeles Rams, a team that too has traded away their first and second round selections making them the last team in the draft to have their first pick all the way into the third round. Even still, the Rams found their way to selecting eleven players to add to their squad with good levels of talent, let’s review… 

Los Angeles Rams 2018 Draft Class Review:

Round 3 – Pick 25 (89)

Joseph Noteboom (OL)

While the Rams look to be a club ready to make an all-out push for championship supremacy, they too understand the importance of having adequate depth on the roster in case injuries derail their plans. With their first pick in the draft the Rams chose to bolster their offensive line with Joseph Noteboom formally of TCU. While we’ve seen many scouts provide underwhelming reviews of the left tackle suggesting his uneven play could potentially continue into the NFL as the prototypical player struggles with consistency in his overall game. ADF doesn’t overly agree with these statements believing coaching will have a huge impact on his attitude and performance.

In terms of skillset, Noteboom has all the traits you would desire and covet from your left tackle but we do agree refinement of his game with be priority number one. Noteboom is very agile in his movements and seems to move his feet with great fluidity, an A+ measurable for sure. Joseph also has great strength as seen throwing defenders around like rag dolls from time to time. If the Rams do in fact find success in the coming years, their salary cap issues will continue to be an issue and players like Noteboom will be relied upon to ease that transition with sound play. He should find himself as a backup to begin his career.         

ADF Prediction: Good upside, requires coaching.  

Round 4 – Pick 11 (111)

Brian Allen (OL)

The Rams may have reached on Brian Allen in terms of where they could’ve snagged him in this draft, but General Manager Les Snead wasn’t taking any chances on a true as day football player. The former Michigan State product has received gleaming reviews for his leadership and hard-nosed mentality providing him the necessary edge required to make up for his lack of stature. Brian isn’t the type of player that will blow you away with gifted physical traits, but his strength will definitely make you take notice.  

The more evaluations we do, the common thread with players such as Allen always appears to have the versatility traits at the forefront. As of today and witnessing how the Rams are using Brain in OTA’s, his slot looks to be firm as the backup center with the potential to play the guard position. With these first two selections for the Rams it literally screams future starters as the main plan, with depth options for this season. 

ADF Prediction: Moderate potential.  

Round 4 – Pick 35 (135)

John Franklin-Myers (DE)

With perhaps one of the best defensive lines in the NFL assembled for this upcoming season, the Rams may have found a solid contributor late in the fourth round. Franklin-Myers passes the eye test as soon as you look at him with great stature and weight on his frame. Proving his ability at the combine absolutely inflated his draft stock allowing the Rams to take a chance on the small school product.

While ADF does like how John looks and the testing numbers also provide a reason to take notice, the concerns from a player coming from a lower division of football not dominating and producing glaring numbers can become somewhat of a red flag to us. Players like Franklin-Myers should’ve destroyed his opposition on a frequent basis which never really transpired. The largest benefit to John is that the Rams possess some of the league’s most talented players and one of the greatest defensive minds in Wade Philips to help round out his game. Time will tell on this one.

ADF Prediction: Low potential, requires coaching.

Round 5– Pick 10 (147)

Micah Kiser (LB)

When the Rams chose to move on and trade Alec Ogletree to the New York Giants, it left a glaring need to add depth to the line backer position. The Rams look to try and create a dominating group of line backers in the aggregate with a collection of players potentially rotating more frequently rather than having one elite level player. With that said, Micah Kiser is quite undersized to man the inside line backer position and is more quick than fast showing low level speed in pursuit.

What is very impressive about Kiser is that he somehow consistently just knows how to find ball carriers and make plays. After reviewing some of his tape and seeing those gouty statistics he produced, it definitely opened our eyes. Micah was an absolute stud generating a whopping 408 tackles, 33.5 of those went behind the line of scrimmage, he produced 19 sacks of the quarterback, intercepting one pass, and forcing 8 fumbles in the process, like we said just fantastic production. Kiser doesn’t look the part of a football player at first glance, but his tape and stats tell a far different story. He should have no trouble fitting in on this Rams defense.      

ADF Prediction: Potential to start in the future, surprisingly good upside.

Round 5 – Pick 23 (160)

Ogbonnia Okoronkwo (DE)

As the Rams continue to stock pile defensive talent, they add yet another rushing presence to the mix with Ogbonnia Okoronkwo. The book of Ogbonnia is that he is simply a football player that does things on a consistent level rather than flashing elite level traits. Becoming a starter in his junior season, Okoronkwo found his level of play producing at a good level and becoming something of a tackling machine for a defensive end. In his final two years in Oklahoma he saw inflated stats tallying 146 tackles, 29 of those going for loss behind the line of scrimmage, 17 sacks, and 5 forced fumbles, not bad at all.

While Ogbonnia is a little undersized for what teams normally look for from an edge presence, he certainly makes up for that with good technique and above average strength pushing offensive linemen where he pleases. This appears to be another sound selection for the Rams as adequate depth and rotational players should allow them to make that push deep into the season.   

Round 6 – Pick 2 (176)

John Kelly (RB)

During the draft ADF heard many groan when John Kelly was chosen by the Rams, only because his talents wouldn’t necessarily materialize the way they could, had he been selected by another squad that didn’t have a super-star like Todd Gurley as the clear cut number one back. While Kelly’s production in Tennessee wasn’t overly impressive, we truly feel like John could handle the duties of a full time running back in the NFL. As Kelly fell to the sixth round of the draft he definitely showed good skill to warrant a higher placement in this draft. John has good speed as shown from his pro day where he was able to muster a nice 4.5 40 time giving credence that he is faster than some perceive him to be. Holding a 215 pound frame, Kelly never shy’s away from contact while having a good cut move and jump step in the open field.

While most teams would continue to ride a player like Todd Gurley, Coach Sean McVay is an offensive genius that should have no shortage of plays to get Kelly involved. John should take the role as the Rams pass catching back in speciality situations while spelling Gurley when he needs a breather. Kelly has great upside and should provide a nice change of pace to the Rams backfield, great value in snagging him in the sixth round.        

Round 6 – Pick 18 (192)

Jamil Demby (OL)

The Rams continue to also stockpile offensive linemen with very good talent that could eventually round out the unit in the coming years at a lower cost. Having a mauler as your guard with great intangibles will go a long way in protecting your quarterback and producing in the run game. Jamil Demby formally of Maine is exactly that type of player and should carve out a role for himself in the future. Testing very well and showing his talents at the senior bowl gave Demby an edge and ultimately secured himself a spot in this year’s draft. Jamil possesses good speed and strength that was showcased every time he pulled to become the lead blocker for his running back. He will have to clean up some aspects of his game refining his technique to become more reliable in the pass game, but we feel this is simply a matter of coaching. He’ll begin his career as a backup with very good upside.        

Round 6 – Pick 21 (195)

Sebastian Joseph (DT)

With their last four picks in this draft, the Rams continue to add to the defense starting with defensive tackle Sebastian Joseph. While Joseph does possess good stature, he will surely be looked upon to add weight to fit the prototypical size most teams covet form players in the middle. Sebastian is very fast and a good athlete that could potentially be used as a defensive end if he could figure out how to become more of a threat at rushing the passer. Joseph is very good at diagnosing plays with good penetration disrupting run plays but does lack that instinct in getting to the quarterback. He should be able to carve out a role on special teams to begin his career but will have to show something in camp to remain on the roster.     

Round 6 – Pick 31 (205)

Trevon Young (DE)

When the Rams shipped Robert Quinn to the Dolphins early this offseason, General Manager Les Snead knew he had a task to find talent that could help ease the transition. Trevon Young is a versatile player that could man a defensive end spot with his hand in the dirt while easily moving to an outside Sam-line baker position strictly rushing off the edge. Young does have great size and speed teamed with very good agility that should allow him to stick around on this Rams team. While Trevon should’ve gone higher in the draft, the reason for his freefall was in tune with a major injury he suffered to his hip that could potentially give him problems his entire career. The Rams saw this slot as the perfect opportunity to take a chance on Young, holding out hope he can regain his health to possibly be a steal in their draft class in terms of value, time will tell.  

Round 7 – Pick 13 (231)

Travin Howard (LB)

The Rams enter the seventh round selecting line backer Travin Howard from TCU, a player that by consensus was pegged to fall out of the NFL draft altogether. ADF isn’t quite clear in the reasons why scouts looked upon Howard with such little favor, but we could envision Travin become a decent NFL prospect. His height and weight are the most glaring negatives as Howard is on the smaller end just reaching the 6 foot mark. Coming in at a slim 210 pounds, Howard will have to add at least 15 pounds to not get pushed around in the NFL.

In terms of intangibles Travin does run very well hitting a 4.56 40 time at his pro day and pushing the bench with 20 reps. What would’ve caught the eye of the Rams scouting staff is the amount of production Howard achieved at Texas Christian. In his three year career, Howard was a tackling force racking up 345 take downs, 20.5 of those going for loss, while adding 5.5 sacks and 3 interceptions, not bad for a guy who wasn’t supposed to be drafted. With that said, the hill should be steep for him to remain on the Rams final roster. Howard has practice squad player written all over him.      

Round 7 – Pick 26 (244)

Justin Lawler (DE)

Finishing off their draft class, the Rams selected yet another pass rusher to form immense competition during training camp. Lawler has good size coming in at 6’4” tall and weighing 262 pounds, which passes the eye test right from jump. It’s becoming clear when reviewing this Rams entire draft class that the objective was to bring in the most productive players they could find. Lawler fits the production mold to a tee, racking up 226 tackles, 40.5 of those going behind the line of scrimmage (very impressive), and dropping the quarterback 20.5 times. Scouts didn’t give Justin very good reviews in terms of his physical traits outside his top notch strength. It’s very possible Lawler finds himself on the final roster with greater potential to also land on the practice squad.     

2018 Undrafted Free Agent Signings

Steven Parker, DB, Oklahoma

Chucky Williams, DB, Louisville

Codey McElroy, TE, Oklahoma State

Steven Mitchell, WR, Southern California

Tegray Scales, LB, Indiana

Afolabi Laguda, DB, Colorado

McKay Murphy, DT Weber State

Dalton Keene, DT, Illinois State

LaQuvionte Gonzalez, WR, Southeastern

Ricky Jeune, WR, Georgia Tech

Jeremiah Kolone, OL, San Jose State