Two-Round 2017 NFL Mock Draft Shows Tough Decision Point For LA Rams

Over at B/R a bit back, Matt Miller’s weekly NFL Draft notebook included a two-round 2017 NFL Draft mock which we’re going to need since the Los Angeles Rams are without their first-round pick in next year’s draft due to the 2016 NFL Draft trade the Rams pulled off to take QB Jared Goff #1 overall.

In his mock, the Rams siphon off the #6 overall pick to Tennessee who uses it to take Clemson WR Mike Williams, the first wide receiver off the board.

So in the second, who does Miller send to the Rams with the 38th pick?

Dan Feeney (G, Indiana)

Feeney’s one of the best guards in the country who made the All-Big Ten First Team this season which is no small feat considering how good that conference was this year in general let alone on the offensive line. I think you might have a question as to which side of center you’d want to plug him in at, but unlike how Rams Head Coach Jeff Fisher brought in former #2 overall pick OT Greg Robinson or 2015 third-round pick Jamon Brown, it might be wise to draft him for a particular position and then school him up at that position through all the offseason work and through training camp and the preseason and into regular action instead of pushing him around different slots.

One thing to consider is the sheer breadth of draft selections the Rams will have to wait through. The Rams aren’t scheduled to be up in the third round until the 70th overall pick as it stands. That means the Rams will have just one pick among the first 69 (nice) selections in the draft. That’s a TON of talent to watch as it filters out to your opponents...

One other thing we’re going to have to track is how offensive player stock changes throughout the process as it pertains to the day 2 options (this isn’t to say the Rams are locked in to offensive picks with their early picks, but the Rams aren’t going to fix the NFL’s worst offense by drafting defense, sooooooooo yeah).

The Rams take Feeney at 39, just a few picks after Clemson QB DeShaun Watson and Wisconsin OT Ryan Ramczyk come off the board. More interestingly, the pick after Feeney is one that I’d think would tempt the Rams: Alabama OT Cam Robinson. Ten picks after the Rams at 38? USC WR Juju Smith-Schuster goes to the Green Bay Packers. The final pick of the second round is Virginia Tech WR Isaiah Ford, someone we’ve already seen mocked to the Rams previously.

So while the season is two games from its conclusion for the 2016 Los Angeles Rams and the coaching search is heating up, keep an eye on draft developments as we continue to creep toward the 2017 NFL Draft.