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The St. Louis Rams may not be one of the teams in the Josh Gordon sweepstakes, but they are kicking the tires on another player available in this year's NFL Supplemental Draft. Carson-Newman linebacker Larry Lumpkin worked out for scouts on Wednesday, a day before the July draft.
Aaron Wilson of Scout.com reported that the Rams were one of several teams interested in Lumpkin. So who is Lumpkin?
Lumpkin is by all accounts a talented player. He measures 6-foot and weighs 240 pounds. Wilson says that he has run a 4.57 second 40 and shows the kind of range and toughness teams like in a linebacker.
But there's a catch. Lumpkin transferred to Carson-Newman from Alabama A&M. He had some issues with practicing, specifically being at practice on time and being there at all.
From the report:
"Larry is a tremendous young man and extremely talented player who has winning DNA," Martin said. "Despite having some missteps in his past, this kid has grown up, learned and matured from his experiences and is ready for the NFL."
Lumpkin could fetch a late-round pick in Thursday's supplemental draft. More likely, teams will bid on him as an undrafted free agent. As for the Rams' interest, it should be fairly obvious; they need linebackers. St. Louis has a handful of young linebackers in need of experience and practice. Lumpkin would have to be better than a member of the current group. One other item to note is that the Rams do have an open spot on their roster, with just 89 players instead of 90.