The Los Angeles Rams’ 2016 NFL Draft was all about sizzle. Their 2017 draft better be about the steak.
The Rams lacked the beef up front on the offensive line to be competitive in the NFC West last season. Los Angeles finished last in the league in both scoring average (14.0 points per game) and total offense (262.7 yards per game).
Running back Todd Gurley, the 2015 NFL Offensive Rookie of the year, gained 221 fewer yards in 2016 (885) than the previous season, and he played four more games.
L.A. quarterbacks has the second-lowest passing rating among the 32 NFL teams at 69.5. Both the Rams rushing (78.3 yards per game) and passing attacks (184.4 yards per game) ranked 31st among the 32 teams.
Unless general manager Les Snead and the organizational brass have some unique scheme to recoup the draft picks they lost in moving up last year to select quarterback Jared Goff with the No. 1 pick in the draft, their focus should be investing in a line that can protect their signal-caller for years to come.
Even if the club can sign a prized OL free agent (anybody up for a Richie Incognito return?), it has to think offensive line first (hello, Alabama’s Cam Robinson?)—unless by some miracle Clemson wide receiver Mike Williams still is on the board.
USA Today’s RamsWire set out four scenarios for the first four picks in the draft. In one scenario, the Rams have Western Kentucky offensive tackle Forrest Rupp as their first pick, No. 37 overall, in the second round. Another has the Rams taking a wide receiver first, Eastern Washington’s Cooper Kupp, but then two linemen in the third and fourth rounds.
The 2016 Dallas Cowboys provided a blueprint for the Rams to follow if they want to compete immediately for a playoff spot. If L.A. can sign an Alshon Jeffery or DeSean Jackson as a free-agent wide receiver to keep defenses honest, it can rely on Gurley to take a lot of the pressure off Goff.
The Rams would appear to have a better defense than the Cowboys and could elevate in an unpredictable NFC West.
None of that happens without a revamped offensive line.
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