What should the Rams take away from the Senior Bowl?
The Senior Bowl has concluded with players finishing three days of practice in front of NFL coaches and executives. While the Los Angeles Rams famously don’t go to these events, I made the trip to Mobile and wrote about my experience below. Here are my 10 takeaways from the Senior Bowl.
The position groups that really stood out at the Senior Bowl were the ones in the trenches. Along the offensive line, Joshua Connerly Jr. showed why he’s probably a first round pick while Grey Zabel probably slingshotted himself as a high day two pick. That doesn’t mention Ozzy Trapilo, Miles Frazier, Jonah Savaiinaea or Anthony Belton. The Rams at the very least are going to need to draft a tackle to give themselves a future at the position and provide depth. They will have options.
On the defensive side is where the quality was especially impressive. Darious Alexander from Toledo stole the show, but there were plenty of stars in that position group. TJ Sanders had a good week as well as Deone Walker. Cam Jackson, Aeneas Peebles, and Ty Robinson also stood out in practices. The Rams could use some depth here or a gap-eating nose tackle. Someone like Robinson would make a lot of sense.
I remain skeptical that the Rams draft a quarterback. They remain in a competitive position and it makes more sense in a weaker quarterback class to supplement other areas of the roster than force an heir for Matthew Stafford. The Rams would be better off hoping they can get two years out of Stafford and waiting until 2026.
However, if the Rams do go quarterback, Dart is the one they should throw a dart at during the draft. Pun intended. He has the talent and tools to be successful and provides some mobility. Dart was the clear best quarterback in Mobile and the arm talent was evident. He needs to improve some of his decision-making and some of his mechanics which is why Dart needs to sit for a year.
One of the priorities of the offseason will need to be adding a coverage linebacker next to Omar Speights that can still hold their own in the run game. Speights showed that he is a solid player against the run. Adding a plus-coverage player that doesn’t get blown up against the run is a very big need on the defense.
The good news is that the Rams should have a choice of players to choose from in the draft. There were a few of those players at the Senior Bowl. Jeffrey Bassa from Oregon had a really good week along with Shemar James from Florida. Eugene Asante and Cody Lindenberg are coverage options as well. The Rams don’t value the linebacker position, but they need...