merlin

Atwell’s got some good things to him. He has some things that can help us even as a rookie.

First his raw speed is ridiculous. The guy separates like crazy. He’ll get free releases in this offense from slot or trips or jet motions. With a free release there aren’t going to be a lot of DBs that can cover him even at the NFL level. His speed and suddenness are that good.

Second he can actually adjust to a ball in flight which is critical for a guy with as much speed and as little catch radius as he has. Small guys make it harder on the QB who has to fit the ball in tighter windows. So when they have good adjustment instincts to a ball in flight they can make up for that a bit. Unlike a guy like Tavon for example who never could judge a ball in flight when Tutu gets past a DB all Stafford has to do is float it up and let him run under it.

But he’s gonna be tough for defenses to stop because if you focus Tutu then guys like Kupp and Woody will eat your lesser DBs.

I get all the concerns with his pick and I share them but he might very well impact this offense in a big way. I’m not proclaiming this guy as a big hit or anything. But the truth is in the middle as always. He might be too small for the NFL. Or maybe he’s got enough dog in him to use those strengths to carve out a role.

canadaram wrote:

canadaram

Weird. I replied once to the photos that zn posted and it automatically disappeared. So I quickly put together a different reply. Now I see that that my initial post, the one that disappeared, has shown up as the most recent post. *shrug*

If a post disappears, never worry about it. It means our overly aggressive anti-spam system didn’t like a link in it. That only means that it marks it out as “pending.” I check constantly for pending posts to “approve.” So if a post disappears, either say something by using the chat icon in the lower right corner (click my name and use that as a private message system) or just sit tight because as I said I check regularly, and find them. It;s all a pain in the ass but, it’s still better than to be a target of spam posts. Last time that happened we were getting 1 or 2 every 10 minutes.

from 2021 NFL draft grades: Experts not high on Rams’ class

* https://theramswire.usatoday.com/lists/rams-2021-nfl-draft-grades-experts-class/?taid=608f3d03bde97b0001bad888&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=trueanthem&utm_source=twitter

Draft Wire: D

Luke Easterling is not high on the Rams’ class whatsoever, handing out the lowest grade of any expert on this list. He’s not necessarily wrong, either. Atwell was a risk, Harris is a raw prospect and there was no offensive lineman drafted.

I just don’t get this one at all. Tutu Atwell is explosive, but might be the lightest player in NFL history, which makes him quite the risky second-rounder (especially when you don’t have a first-rounder). Ernest Jones was a solid value that filled a need, and Jacob Harris is as intriguing as any prospect in this draft, but not much else makes sense. Hopefully, Robert Rochell can play safety.

Touchdown Wire: C

Doug Farrar and Mark Schofield also graded the Rams’ class lower. They pointed out the lack of offensive line help and also called Atwell an “interesting gadget player” with no easy way to add mass to his 5-foot-9 frame.

They called Ernest Jones more of a box guy and said Bobby Brown has “a ton of variance between his best snaps and his worst.”

The Rams took a ton of developmental players in this draft with immediate needs at pressing positions, which may indicate a schism in the front office between where this franchise is (playoff contender with a better quarterback that it had last year) and where this franchise thinks it is (Super Bowl contender?).

The Ringer: C+

Danny Kelly echoed the feelings of most other analysts. He sees the explosiveness in Atwell and applauded them for adding speed to their offense, but his lack of blocking ability could limit his role in McVay’s scheme, Kelly says.

Among L.A.’s later picks, Jones, Brown, and Rochell could all play situational or rotational roles in 2021, and I’m intrigued to see what the team can get out of Harris, a hybrid pass-catcher with rare athletic traits.

Sporting News: C

Vinnie Iyer called the Rams’ draft class disappointing despite the initial excitement that selecting Atwell brought on the second night. He says Les Snead and Sean McVay might have gotten “too cute at times with some superfluous reaches.”

The Rams also entered the draft late with no first-rounders and overall, despite the initial excitement over Atwell being a speedy and quick in Sean McVay’s offense, this was disappointing. McVay and GM Les Snead may have gotten too cute at times with some superfluous reaches as Brown was by far their best pick with a real need in mind. A fancy Malibu drafting house wasn’t matched with the picks made from it.

The Draft Network: C

Count Ryan Fowler among those who question the selection of 155-pound Atwell in the second round when most analysts had him as a Day 3 prospect. It looks especially bad in a wide receiver class that featured quality depth, as evidenced by Amon-Ra St. Brown and Simi Fehoko going as late as they did.

I know head coach Sean McVay has a type, but Tutu Atwell in the second round? At 153 pounds? In a deep receiver class? There were better players there. Otherwise, I like the selections of Robert Rochelle and Jake Funk, who could develop into a fan favorite.

2021 NFL Draft: Alaric Jackson Player Profile

* https://lastwordonsports.com/nfl/2021/04/26/2021-nfl-draft-alaric-jackson-player-profile/

Position: Offensive Tackle
Height: 6’5 3/8”
Weight: 318 LBs
School: Iowa University

Alaric Jackson 2021 NFL Draft Profile

In a loaded tackle class, Alaric Jackson is a name that isn’t garnering much attention. How is this so? A tenured left tackle, that started four seasons at one of the best offensive line programs in the nation should be getting more buzz, right? Simply, Jackson may have reached his peak in college. This isn’t a terrible thing as Jackson’s floor is relatively high. Jackson has good hands and enough athleticism to be a capable guard in the NFL.

Jackson played 35+ games for Iowa, anchoring a line that has produced NFL talent aplenty. His draft profile isn’t as good as his 2019 teammate Tristan Wirfs, but he still has characteristics that teams look for. Jackson is an above-average run blocker, with great drive and instincts. He was a leader of a line that produced great for his four seasons as starter and NFL teams value leadership characteristics in the mid-rounds.

The concerns surrounding Jackson are his length at the tackle spot and no elite traits. However, he is a versatile, experienced lineman, which is hard to find on the mid-days in the NFL Draft. Jackson can step in right away and offer depth to a team in need of bodies on the line. His weaknesses are more on physical traits than things that pop up on tape, meaning a position switch inside may benefit him.

Strengths
Experience at Left Tackle in college
Good pad level
Good explosion out of stance
NFL Size
Gets to the second level with ease

Weaknesses
Inconsistent with his feet, will cause issues at pro level
As a five year starter, his ceiling is relatively set
Lacks a nastiness in his blocks, finishes softly
Strength is an issue
Uses a false step, that he got away with in college, won’t cut it at NFL level

NFL Comparisons: Russell Okung

Teams With Need At This Position: Baltimore Ravens, Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos, Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings

Projection: Fourth Round

Bottom Line on Alaric Jackson
The 2021 draft is loaded with tackles, and Jackson seems to be lost in the mix. Even though he started four years at left tackle for Iowa, he may be better suited to kick inside to guard at the next level. He can still offer a team depth at tackle as a reserve, but to garner starting snaps the switch inside seems necessary. His lack of huge flaws minus the lack of length to play tackle, make his projection at guard a good one. Jackson wouldn’t be the first Iowa tackle to make the switch, joining all-pro guards Marshall Yanda and Brandon Scherff, and it turned out pretty beneficial for them. Jackson could be a plug-and-play starter at guard right away for a guard needy team.[/quote]

zn wrote:

If I recall Brown stood out immediately when they drafted him. We scrambled [in the chat] to find stuff about him and it was all very interesting

I’m assuming btw he’s a DE, not an NT. Brockers’s replacement. This is from something that got posted when he was picked:

…outstanding fundamentals. Fires off the snap, plays with excellent pad level, and draws the focus of opponents. Consistently gets leverage on blockers, shows agility, immediately alters his angle of attack, and redirects to the action. Moves well laterally chasing the play down the line of scrimmage. Aggressive. Tough to move off the point…. He boasts stellar upside and should only improve as he gets stronger with time.

InvaderRam wrote:

but bobby brown iii. what a pick. that pick made my day. that’s the guy i’ll be following as the new season approaches. so excited.

InvaderRam wrote:

6’4″ 321 pounds
34.75″ arms
10.5″ hands

not only is this guy big. he’s long. extremely long. so just in terms of physical size he is big in every sense of the word. he’s even got big mitts for hands to hold off blockers and push them to the side.

but then you got to the speed, agility, and explosion numbers.
40 – 4.98s
short shuttle – 4.63s
3-cone – 7.65s
vert – 33″
broad – 9’5″

there’s very few men who could put up the numbers brown put up at that size.

If I recall Brown stood out immediately when they drafted him. We scrambled to find stuff about him and it was all very interesting.

Harris, btw, while he develops at TE, is a special teams coverage guy. Snead said he was their highest rated special teams coverage guy in this draft. I said it above but a lot of this draft was about fixing special teams.

I agree with people saying that neglecting the OL is not a good thing.

But on the other side of the coin, this was, it looks like, a heavy special teams draft. That’s easy to see with Atwell (returner potential) and Jones (coverage potential). Here’s Snead & McVay on a few other different players (all from today’s transcript):

SNEAD

* Jacob Harris really played wide receiver at Central Florida and was probably our number one ranked special teamer, in terms of coverage, but he’s a fast guy that we project could go to tight end and just an interesting weapon based on the special teams and things like that

*Jake Funk, another guy that we had highly rated as a coverage player, for special teams he can return and so that’s a good thing.

* big (WR) Ben (Skowronek) … could project him being basically one of our better blockers on our team and a special teams projected.

* But what we did know is we had identified some guys with our personnel staff and Joe DeCamillis, our new special teams coach, the guys that could come in and hey, like a Jacob Harris, like Mr. Funk and some of those guys and ‘Big Ben’ and things like that that could help on teams too.

* Robert Rochell, it’s okay, if he’s our fourth corner this year, (Defensive Coordinator Raheem) Coach Morris was jacked to get ahold of him. … But Coach DeCamillis was also thumbs up on him as well because if you’re a fourth corner, what’s not a projection is him going down and maybe being a gunner and things like that.

MCVAY

* There’s a couple of guys that we felt like their value to our special teams unit was a really big asset.
…

With the Rams adding nine players through the draft, there are some winners and losers when looking at the team’s roster

Matthew Stafford stock 📈 https://t.co/kyB61Qp5wC

— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) May 2, 2021