2018 NFL Mock Draft has Los Angeles Rams looking at cornerback reinforcement

Well, it’s mid-November. We’re at the point of the year when mock drafts begin coming out and we can begin looking ahead for which college prospects can come and save our Los Angeles Rams from next year to finally deliver a winning season.

Except it’s 2017! And we’re already winning! But that doesn’t stop the mock drafts. Nothing stops the mock drafts. The mock drafts are like the Terminator or the mailman or Fast and Furious sequels. They’re unstoppable. There’s nothing you or I or anyone can do except just prepare ourselves for an undending string of them that only ends in our deaths.

So mock draft time!

Two weeks ago, we got two mock drafts in: one from Pro Football Focus that had us taking Arkansas C Frank Ragnow and one from the Sporting News in which we selected Colorado Buffaloes CB Isaiah Oliver.

Today was our first mock from SB Nation’s resident draft expert Dan Kadar who threw the Rams toward a familiar name...

27. Los Angeles Rams: Isaiah Oliver, CB, Colorado

Colorado had two defensive backs taken in the top 100 of this year’s draft, and Oliver may be better than both Chidobe Awuzie and Ahkello Witherspoon. Oliver has length and speed, and he should fit nicely in the NFL playing on the outside.

While it’s pretty interesting that we have been mocked to the same prospect this deep in the 1st round twice in just three mocks, I’m just going to skip that for now. A third mock though, and we’re gonna need to talk about Izzy O.

The real story here is twofold.

The first is how the mock rolls through the first round. Five quarterbacks in the first 13 picks led by UCLA QB Josh Rosen going #1 overall. Four offensive linemen from #5 to #16. A run on defensive tackles from #18 to #21. UTEP G Will Hernandez going at #25 three spots ahead of Florida St. S Derwin James...

The second, and this is going to be something we’ll need to repeat ad nauseum until we get to March, is that our draft needs are going to be impossible to anticipate until we resolve the expiring contracts among the starters. While it’s relatively easy to tab cornerback and edge rusher with a nod toward a successor for LT Andrew Whitworth as the top needs as this roster stands, the Rams will not be drafting as this roster stands.

As it stands, the following Los Angeles Rams will not be Los Angeles Rams when the new NFL year begins: OLB Connor Barwin, RB Malcolm Brown, TE Derek Carrier, S Cody Davis, RB Lance Dunbar, DL Dominique Easley, CB Trumaine Johnson, S Lamarcus Joyner, DL Matt Longacre, CB Nickell Robey-Coleman, C John Sullivan, DL Tyrunn Walker and WR Sammy Watkins. That’s a lot of 2017 snaps that are scheduled to go poof. Should the Rams decide not to re-sign any of those players or should they decide to and fail nonetheless, that could have a huge effect on how roster needs look.

So yes, we can acknowledge mock drafts and roster needs even while we’re 7-2. The Rams have scouts at college football games. General Manager Les Snead can do his job while Head Coach Sean McVay does his.

But as we look ahead to the 2018 NFL Draft, keep in mind that the 2017 Rams roster is set to get cleaved right down the goddamned middle. And perhaps more than any year in recent memory, that’s threatening to take a chunk of a very successful team roster to this point and demand the Rams front office find a way to fill those spots with new players that can somehow replicate the to-this-point success.

Mock draft season is a go!