Though they don’t have a first-round pick this year, the Los Angeles Rams are still equipped to add some young talent to their roster in April. They’ll pick at No. 57 overall and are projected to have two third-round picks in the form of compensatory selections for the departure of Dante Fowler Jr. last year and Brad Holmes being hired by the Lions this offseason.
So in total, they’ll have three picks in the first three rounds, even after agreeing to trade a third-rounder to the Lions in the Matthew Stafford trade. In Chad Reuter’s latest three-round mock draft, the Rams make three selections, as he’s assuming they traded their original third-round pick to the Lions.
Reuter has them making picks at Nos. 57, 101 and 104 overall. Here are the players he mocked to the Rams.
- 57. UCF CB Aaron Robinson
- 101. Duke OLB Chris Rumph II
- 104. East Carolina OT D’Ante Smith
The Rams aren’t desperate for cornerback help in 2021, but it’s certainly a position they should address at some point. Troy Hill will be an unrestricted free agent, while Darious Williams will be a restricted free agent.
It’ll be hard for the Rams to keep both, and David Long Jr. may not have shown the coaching staff enough to make them feel strongly enough about him as a lock to start. Robinson has good size and speed, especially for a slot cornerback. He would be able to replace Hill in the slot, which would allow Williams and Jalen Ramsey to remain outside the majority of the time.
In Round 3, the Rams address what might be their most pressing need: edge rusher. Leonard Floyd and Samson Ebukam will both be free agents and Terrell Lewis struggled to stay healthy as a rookie. Rumph had 17.5 sacks and 33 tackles for loss in his career and could be a Day 2 pick.
Three picks later, the Rams add Smith. He only played one game in 2020 due to injury but was UCF’s left tackle the two years prior. Andrew Whitworth is unlikely to retire this offseason but he could be done after the 2021 campaign, at which point the Rams will need a replacement. Smith shouldn’t be seen as an immediate starter, but in the Rams’ case, he could sit for a year before getting a chance to replace Whitworth protecting Matthew Stafford’s blindside.