Report: St. Louis Rams Nearly Drafted Cowboys OL La'El Collins

Well, this is news.

Robert Klemko over at the MMQB has a great story up on how La'el Collins went from a possible top 10 pick to an undrafted free agent. In it, the piece runs down how his agents steered him through the draft after the news of Collins' tenuous connection to a murder investigation in Baton Rouge scared off all 32 teams from drafting him...well, maybe not.

At the end of day Collins' agents began pushing the idea that if Collins was selected in the draft, he would simply sit 2015 out and re-enter the 2016 NFL Draft.

It was BS.

Nevertheless, Collins slid out of day two contention and slowly crept to the backend of the draft. Then, this happened (emphasis mine).

"When we got to the last 10 picks I don’t think I’ve ever been so anxious in a draft," [agent Mike McCartney] says. "We were praying he didn’t get picked."

Before making its seventh-round selection, one team sends [agency partner Rick] Smith one last text message.

"There was a team that had drafted four offensive linemen," Smith says, "and they said, ‘We’re taking him.’ And I texted back, ‘You’re going to embarrass yourself. You’re going to waste this pick.’

"And they passed. And now he’s a UDFA."

There was only one team who drafted four offensive linemen in the 2015 NFL Draft: the St. Louis Rams.

If you believe the report, and I'll never argue against skepticism, the Rams were that close to taking La'el Collins in the seventh round.

We'll see what kind of NFL player he becomes and if the Rams will ultimately rue the decision or if the collection they've amassed in the last two weeks is enough to construct a viable line.

For now though, it's one hell of an almost.