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We’re almost at the weekly mock draft stage on the 2018 NFL Draft pathway. While we’re not quite there yet, we did get a new mock today from Mocking the Draft’s Dan Kadar just two weeks from his last mock.
Last time, Kadar had the Los Angeles Rams picking up Colorado Buffaloes CB Isaiah Oliver, the second mock in 10 days that had us taking Oliver after the Sporting News had done so no long prior.
So today’s mock from Kadar has the Rams locked in at the cornerback position albeit to a new name from a familiar program:
26. Los Angeles Rams - Joshua Jackson, CB, Iowa
The Rams, the NFL’s best story in 2017, are in a unique draft position after having top 10 picks for several years. Even in the back of the first round, Los Angeles can find a starting-quality player at cornerback. Jackson has had an incredible season at Iowa with five interceptions and 17 pass breakups.
What’s perhaps interesting here is the unavoidable emphasis on the cornerback position.
Given how clearly the position depth impacted the Rams’ regular season fortunes two weeks ago in the 7-24 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 11, it’s not hard to see it as a crucial position that obviously feels perilously thin. What makes it more interesting is the contractual timeline that’s being sync’ed up for this next offseason.
Both CB Trumaine Johnson and CB Nickell Robey-Coleman are scheduled to be unrestricted free agents with Tru unable to be tagged yet again after two successive franchise tags while CB Troy Hill and CB Kevin Peterson will be exclusive rights free agents. CB Kayvon Webster is only under contract through 2019, so there’s very little long-term certainty at the position, something that would obviously change with a first-round draft pick.
It’s just another reminder that the sheer scope of decisions coming on the roster front to players who are currently on the Rams will determine the roster needs to a much more severe degree than in recent years, this in the best season in more than a decade.
It’s going to be a wild, wild next six months for the Rams regardless of how it plays out...