2015 Senior Bowl: Rams Talking to LBs, WRs; Prospect Buzz

Rams Talking the Talk

Don't read all that much into this, but the Rams have been spotted talking to a couple of WRs and LBs down in Mobile. That doesn't mean GM Les Snead is actively scouting these guys; it's just NFL.com reporters passing along some prospects they've seen someone affiliated with the Rams talking with.

The prospects include:

• Harvard LB Zack Hodges
• Alabama OL Austin Shepherd
• Oklahoma LB Geneo Grissom
• Texas LB Jordan Hicks
• Ohio State WR Devin Smith
• East Carolina WR Justin Hardy

Again, I have grains of salt for you to take. I just found the positions interesting because I'd figure those are the three, along with QB, in contention early on.

Conflicting Reports

Scouting's subjective. That's the case for different members in the Rams' scouting department, it's the case between scouting departments across the league and it's the case for the scouting/draft media as well. That's why I don't pay a ton of mind into reports during the Senior Bowl.

Here's Mocking the Draft's Dan Kadar whose work, I assume you know, I respect deeply:

There wasn’t a lot to note with Nebraska running back Ameer Abdullah. One of the better players at this year’s game hasn’t had many splash plays and struggled some in pass protection.

And this is Bryan Fischer at NFL.com citing another media evaluator calling Abdullah a day 2 standout:

Abdullah did show enough between the tackles Wednesday to turn some heads. "He's interesting to me," [NFL Media's Curtis] Conway said. "I like him a lot, but I don't know if scouts are going to be turned off by his size. He's an explosive kid."

The only time to really put much stock in them is when you're getting unanimous raves. From that angle, it sounds like Washington NT Danny Shelton, LSU OT La'el Collins and Wisconsin OT Rob Havenstein are the only ones doing well to their individual draft stock. I've seen mixed reports on nearly everyone else...save for the quarterbacks who are getting widely panned....

QB Class...Thinning?

Many NFL fans were hoping the Senior Bowl would elevate a QB or two to help buttress what seems like a pretty weak class for the dozen or so teams who could use a new signal caller, including the Rams.

Not happening.

Nearly everyone quarterback in attendance has drawn "meh"s at best. Nick Marshall preemptively made the move back to cornerback, his position prior to transitioning to become Auburn's QB a few years back. If a diamond's coming out of this class besides Jameis Winston or Marcus Mariota, it's either the only other underclassman in Brett Hundley or someone who didn't even get a Senior Bowl invite. Finger crossing time.

Bottom line

This is shaping up to be a pretty soft top of the draft. Moreso than usual, teams are going to have to have quality scouting to work off of and the conviction to go with their assessments. Rams HC Jeff Fisher alluded to the weakness of this overall class as a factor in prompting the Mark Barron trade. Perhaps that's indicative of his scouting department's ability to see the forest for the trees or even better, an ability to have already isolated which trees they're interested in.