How Seahawks NFC West foes should approach the 2021 NFL draft

Los Angeles Rams

Whilst the Rams have no first round pick as it stands, they do have six picks to add to what is already one of the strongest rosters in the NFL. As I say I rank them fourth, PFF.com rank them 11th, but 31st in current draft capital.

First of all I will look at  where the Rams could still improve their roster further.

Musts – Center

Needs – None

Nice to haves – Two safeties, two defensive ends, two linebackers, wide receiver, tight end

The Rams, therefore, have six picks to ideally fill nine roster spots, so they will need to choose where and when is best to fill each need and which ones to leave as unfinished work.

To help me plot a possible course, I will refer to my own mock draft as we come to each pick.

Round 2

The first pick for the Rams comes with the 57th overall pick in the draft.

The one must for the Rams is at center, with last season stater Austin Blythe having departed for KC via free agency they currently have Brian Allen slated to be their starting center. An upgrade on a 2018 fourth round draft pick has to be a priority for the Rams

Late in the second round is not a bad spot to pick up a center either, Rashawn Slater is likely to go in the first round, Trey Hill early in the second and will probably be deployed at guard rather than center in the NFL, so Landon Dickerson out of Alabama or Oklahoma’s Creed Humphrey seem the most likely candidates to be the Rams selection.

Intriguingly the Rams pick is directly after the Seahawks at pick 56, so the ‘hawks have the option of taking the center the Rams would have taken as an upgrade on Ethan Pocic.

Round 3

With the 88th overall selection, the Rams should go for a safety, a defensive end or a linebacker.

Options at safety would likely be Joshua Bledsoe (Missouri), Jevon Holland (Oregon), Talanoa Hufanga (USC) or Caden Sterns (Texas). Another of these would represent the fifth safety off the board in my mock draft.

At defensive end, the likely options are Ronnie Perkins (Oklahoma), Dayo Odeyingbo (Vanderbilt), Patrick Jones III (Pittsburgh), Payton Turner (Houston) or Quincy Roche (Miami) and would likely be the ninth DE off the board.

Linebacker wise they could be looking at Dylan Moses (Alabama), Pete Werner (Ohio State), Baron Browning (Ohio State), Paddy Fisher (Northwestern), Tony Fields (West Virginia) or Hamlicar Rashed (Oregon State) and would possibly represent the twelfth LB off the board.

So on the basis of taking the best player available, they should take a safety with pick 88, They could then take an LB or a DE without their other second round pick at pick 103 overall.

Round 4

The Rams next pick comes at 141, so with this pick they would take either the DE or LB they did not select with pick 103 or a WR/TE if they feel one has dropped too far in the draft.

Rounds 6 & 7

When you come to these late rounds, you are either taking a punt on a player or selecting a specialist such as a kicker, punter, full back or kick returner.

So for the Rams this is likely to be taking a punt on a WR or TE or go for a kick returning WR to cover two options. Jaelen Darden (North Texas) or Reggie Roberson (SMU) might be options still available in the late rounds.