2016 NFL Draft Big Board: Top 75 Players

It's that time again!!!!!

Scouting and drafting time has arrived. The St. Louis Rams enter the offseason with the least amount of pressing roster needs they have had in a about four years. The problem is, their top needs have been the same top needs for that same duration of time...

Coincidentally it just so happens that the draft is it's strongest in the positions that aren't exactly top two or three needs For the Rams. Nevertheless, there is a solid overall amount of talent to help improve a team that, yet again, struggled mightily with consistency.

1. Laremy Tunsil OT Ole Miss

2. Jaylon Smith OLB Notre Dame

3. Desmond King CB Iowa

4. Vernon Hargreaves CB Florida

5. Laquon Treadwell WR Ole Miss

6. Emmanuel Ogbah DE Oklahoma St

7. Mackensie Alexander CB Clemson

8. Shilique Calhoun DE Michigan St

9. Ronnie Staley OT Notre Dame

10. Josh Doctson WR TCU

11. Jalen Ramsey DB Florida St

12. Taylor Decker OT Ohio St

13. Scooby Wright LB Arizona

14. Myles Jack LB UCLA

15. Joey Bosa DE Ohio St

16. Jared Goff QB Cal

17. Corey Coleman WR Baylor

18. Noah Spence DE Eastern Kentucky

19. Vonn Bell SS Ohio St

20. A'Shawn Robinson DT Alabama

21. Jayron Kearse SS Clemson

22. Nick Martin C Notre Dame

23. Paxton Lynch QB Memphis

24. Tyler Boyd WR Pitt

25. Kendall Fuller CB Virginia Tech

26. Spencer Drango OT Colorado St

27. Cody Whitehair OG K-State

28. Kentrell Brothers MLB Mizzou

29. Sterling Shepard WR Oklahoma

30. Ryan Kelly C Alabama

31. Rashard Higgins WR Colorado S

32. Robert Nkemdeche DT Ole Miss

33. Reggie Ragland MLB Alabama

34. Carson Wentz QB N. Dakota St

35. Michael Thomas WR Ohio St

36. Jack Conklin OT Michigan St

37. Darian Thompson FS Boise St

38. Jason Spriggs OT Indiana

39. Shaq Lawson DE South Carolina

40. Leonard Floyd OLB Georgia

41. John Theus OT Georgia

42. Tre'Davious White CB LSU

43. Darron Lee OLB Ohio St

44. Germain Ifedi OT Texas A&M

45. Kyle Marz OT Wisconsin

46. Eziekiel Elliott RB Ohio St

47. Tyler Matakevich MLB Temple

48. Vadal Alexander OG LSU

49. Kenny Clark DT UCLA

50. Jordin Jenkins OLB Georgia

51. Adolphus Washington DT Ohio

52. Josh Perry OLB Ohio St

53. Andrew Billings DT Baylor

54. Kyle Murphy OT Stanford

55. Sua Craven OLB USC

56. Derrick Henry RB Alabama

57. Cardale Jones QB Ohio St

58. Hunter Henry TE Arkansas

59. DeForest Buckner DE Oregon

60. Cody Kessler QB USC

61. Dan Voltz C Wisconsin

62. Alex Collins RB Arkansas

63. Jordan Leggett TE Clemson

64. Evan Boehm OL Mizzou

65.  Kenneth Dixon RB Louisiana Tech

66. Jonathan Bullard DT Florida

67. Josh Garnett OG Stanford

68. Le'Raven Clark OT Texas Tech

69. Braxton Miller WR Ohio St

70. Max Tuerk C USC

71. Connor McGovern OG Mizzou

72. Jeremy Cash S Duke

73. Connor Cook QB Michigan St

74. Deon Bush FS Miami

75. Michael Jordan CB Missouri Western

A FEW NOTES

• The quarterback position isn't as thin as it seems; however, it's not a particularly strong position. There's no one that anyone should bet the house on. There's no Jameis Winston in this draft. Still there's some good talent, and while there are probably only two legit first round talents in Goff and Lynch, quite a few are worthy of the second round.
• This draft isn't stocked with players who would go in the top 20 picks regardless of drafts. Initially, I compared it to the 2013 draft, but I do think it is slightly stronger than that one. Still, I feel that there are a plethora of second-round talents and not even a full 20 first-round talents. In my honest, yet early, opinion considering I have much more scouting to do, there's roughly 48 players with legit second-round grades. Again, it's still early and some grades will change, but that goes both ways as some will be added as well as removed.
• A lot of the most talented players in this draft should be drafted after some of the least talented players. Won't happen, but should. The less talented are some of the most polished I have seen in a draft class in quite some time. This should translate to a lot of players playing early and often during the 2016 season.
• Arguably the strongest position group is the defensive line. I can't remember the last time I saw this many quality defensive ends and interior defensive linemen in the same draft. It should be no surprise if we see 15-20 defensive linemen taken in the first 75 picks, and 40-45 overall. The depth here is great news for the Rams who surely will start looking for Chris Long's successor.
• The next best group has to be linebacker. Fear the backer in this draft. This is also more good news for the Rams as it will present an opportunity to draft a successor for James Laurinaitis and allow the reliable Mike backer to mentor the young stud for a year or two.
• Figured we should save the most obvious for last. The offensive line is loaded with talent. Though I still give the edge to the defensive line for most talented, this group is the cause of the statement starting with arguably. If that group is 1A this group is surely 1B. The Rams will be wise to strongly consider a permanent move to guard of Greg Robinson and drafting another tackle. In doing so Roger Saffold should become expandable. This would also be a great time to draft another center. Tim Barnes actually managed to get better as the season wore on, but he still lacks the raw physical talent and strength that the best centers have to go along with their intelligence. No one should question his effort or football IQ, but his physical limitations are apparent and can't be ignored.

So far, since compensatory picks have not been established. The Rams only have six picks overall. With the talent available in this draft, it would make sense to target either a receiver or quarterback fairly early this draft, as the talent drops off fairly quickly, and every other position can be loaded up on in the middle rounds.

The Rams biggest needs have to be Quarterback, Wide Reciever and Offensive Line. Anything after that should be considered a luxury. The opportunity to fix at least one of these holes once and for all, or at least the next 10 years, will be there. But it will be up to Jeff Fisher and the front office to finally put the emphasis on correcting the issue to make it happen before it's once again too late (third round and beyond)...