The Los Angeles Rams surprisingly stayed put with all four of their picks on Friday night, making each selection without trading up or down the draft board. That’s a testament to their confidence in each player they drafted, feeling good enough to stand pat and draft them rather than trading back and recouping more picks.
So it comes as no surprise that GM Les Snead and coach Sean McVay had some high praise for Cam Akers, Van Jefferson, Terrell Lewis and Terrell Burgess after the conclusion of the third round on Friday night.
Here’s a sampling of what McVay and Snead said of their four new draftees and what they bring to the table for the Rams.
RB Cam Akers
McVay said he isn’t sure how the share of touches will work out at running back next season, but he loves Akers’ ability and feels “he adds great value” to the Rams’ backfield.
Snead: “First of all, go back to high school, he runs like a warrior, he runs angry, he runs like he wants to punish a defense. One of the things you really appreciate about him is, they struggled a little bit at Florida State these last few years, wasn’t as stout upfront on the OL. He was one of their better players. A lot of teams went into those ACC matchups saying, ‘We’ve got to stop that man.’ They had a hard time stopping him, so you get an appreciation for someone who looks like he’s enjoying running into, I call it a lot of defenders. A little bit more defenders than maybe guys at Clemson run in to based on the skill they have on the field. I think that’s the thing other than, ‘Hey, this is a big man that’s fast and explosive and powerful and looks like he has fun punishing defenses.’”