Turf Show Times
The Los Angeles Rams have found success over the past few seasons when it comes to scouting undrafted free agents. Last year, they found linebacker Omar Speights who ended up starting 10 games and made the Rams feel comfortable enough to move on from Ernest Jones. That doesn’t mention another contributor in Jaylen McCollough or past pickups such as Christian Rozeboom and Alaric Jackson.
When it comes to teams finding late-round or undrafted talent during the draft process, few, if any teams has done a better job than the Rams. That positive trend has seemingly continued heading into 2025. While undrafted free agents such as Brennan Presley and Nate Valcarcel certainly impressed in the Rams preseason opener, nobody caught more attention than interior offensive lineman Willie Lampkin.
The preseason can be a difficult time to evaluate as half of the players on the field likely won’t be on an NFL roster come September. While it can be easy to overrate what we see during the preseason, it’s also not something that can be completely written off either. It’s still part of the process and unfortunately it’s the only part that most fans get to see.
However, the preseason might be the most important part of the process for a player like Lampkin. One of the biggest question marks for Lampkin coming into the draft process was his size and more specifically his height. Lampkin is officially listed at 5’11, 290-pounds. While the 290-pounds isn’t necessarily a concern, there’s a reason there aren’t many offensive linemen under six feet tall. To say the least, Lampkin is an anomaly.
Still, throughout the week of Senior Bowl practices, Lampkin showed that he belonged. Brandon Thorn who is one of the best at evaluating offensive lineman said about Lampkin,
“Lampkin is an all-time outlier in terms of height and weight, but those traits are balanced out by his closer to average wingspan and big hands. Regardless of his measurables, Lampkin’s 2024 tape was objectively excellent, and he more than held his own at the Senior Bowl.”
In Thorn’s draft profile of Lampkin, he wrote,
“Lampkin is a leverage monster in the run game with a refined skill set and a keen understanding of how to stick on blocks. He can hold the point in the post on double teams, strain, and wall-off rush lanes when isolated on drive blocks and regularly intersects targets on pulls and climbs. Once latched, Lampkin is a chore to shed due to his tremendous ability to fit, clench, and take away space for defenders to operate.”
Despite showing out at the Senior Bowl, Lampkin was not given an invite to the NFL Combine. Despite being arguably a top-75 talent, teams didn’t take the risk during the draft and he went undrafted. The fact is, despite Lampkin showing otherwise, teams weren’t sure if he could hold up on the interior in the NFL. There was some thought that Lampkin may need to be moved into a Patrick Ricard...
