The Athletic’s Mike Sando sat down with a handful of anonymous NFL executives to take their temperature on the drafts of NFL teams. When it came to the Los Angeles Rams, one of the execs identified what he believes to be the type of player they target in the draft.
“They get guys that are usually gritty, some of them are older, four-year type players, team captain types, high character, rugged,” an exec said. “You might give up some of the size and the athletic traits, so that the potential for development could be less. Verse doesn’t have the best agility; he’s a tighter-wound dude, but a good football player. (Kamren) Kinchens is a good football player who does not have excellent traits.”
A Look at the 2024 Los Angeles Rams Draft Class
Looking at the draft profiles of the 2024 Rams Draft picks reveals that this particular executive has a pretty good read on what they were looking for.
- Jared Verse: 23 years old, competitive football temperament, punches above his weight class, fierce play personality, blue-collar background, great teammate
- Braden Fiske: 24 yrs old, plays with a worker-bee attitude and his motor doesn’t have an off switch … teammates rave about his competitive nature and the way he maxes out his ability during the week and in games
- Blake Corum: 23, maniacal worker, and the coaches forced him to rest and develop more moderation to his workout routines, Worked for his father’s landscaping business during the pandemic to complement his workout routine. Jim Harbaugh puts Corum in the same conversation as Frank Gore as the best running backs he ever coached.
- Kamren Kinchens: Miami defensive coordinator Lance Guidry: “It think he’d be a great coach if he decided to do that.” Emerged as a key leader for the Hurricanes defense,
- Brennan Jackson: 23, team captain, Plays with tremendous energy, his coaches describe him as a “relentless worker” and “very personable,” but he doesn’t take himself too seriously (NFL scout: “One of my favorite guys in my area to talk to. Ball and life.”)
- Tyler Davis: 23, two-time team captain
- Jordan Whittington: 23, college career was one of perseverance, a team captain as one of the more respected “program” guys on campus, head coach Steve Sarkisian: “I don’t know i f there’s
another guy in our locker room who’s more respected than Jordan Whittington. - Beaux Limmer: 23, developed a competitive edge as a blocker and has ironman toughness, rarely coming off the field (led Arkansas in snaps played in 2022 and 2023)
- KT Leveston: 25, went from almost getting kicked off the team in his first few years at Kansas State for inconsistent effort to maturing into a respected team leader his final two seasons
*Draft profile excerpts pulled from The Atheltic’s “The Beast” Draft Guide by Dane Brugler
