Rams would pick 7th

Rams would pick seventh in NFL draft if season ended today
[espn.go.com]
Nick Wagoner, ESPN Staff Writer

EARTH CITY, Mo. — As the St. Louis Rams’ place in the NFC West division standings continues to drop, the only good news is that their projected spot in the 2016 NFL draft order has continued to climb.

On Tuesday afternoon, ESPN NFL Nation columnist Kevin Seifert took a look at the teams that currently sit in the top 10 of next year’s draft. Although the Rams’ odds to climb to the No. 1 overall spot are still minuscule at 0.1 percent, according to FPI, they have climbed to the No. 7 overall pick with a record of 4-8.

The odds of landing a top-five pick have, however, improved to 19.6 percent. As it stands, the Rams are just one game behind Tennessee for the No. 2 overall pick, though there are tiebreakers that would still need to be sorted out.

For the Rams, the unfortunate truth is that they’d likely be better off not winning another game so as to have a chance to draft a potential franchise quarterback. The seventh pick almost certainly wouldn’t allow for that, and another win or two would have the Rams back in the middle of the pack where they’ve been the past three years.

That doesn’t mean they couldn’t get a good player, as they did with the likes of defensive tackle Aaron Donald and running back Todd Gurley, but it also doesn’t solve their biggest roster hole at the game’s most important position. With so many teams between three and five wins, there’s not much distance between picking second and picking 16th.

ICYMI

A roundup of Tuesday’s Rams stories appearing on ESPN.com: We began the day with a look at what Rams coach Jeff Fisher is hoping to get from new offensive coordinator Rob Boras. … The Ram-blings examined the rising costs of the St. Louis stadium proposal. … The Rams’ injury list just gets longer. … This week’s turning-point play looked at Arizona receiver Michael Floyd’s big catch that bailed the Cardinals out of a tough spot. … The Rams continued their free fall in this week’s ESPN NFL Power Rankings.