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Every offseason, NFL teams add and subtract players. For every rookie added, there is a veteran watching and wondering if his time is running out with his current team. There’s also players who have job security looking for their team to draft them some help. The Los Angeles Rams aren’t immune to this process and will eventually be parting ways with even more of the 2016 roster. Here a few players that the 2017 NFL Draft may have affected most.
WR Pharoh Cooper
Rams added two WRs in rounds 3 and 4 of the draft. Cooper Kupp and Josh Reynolds should be considered safe due to their recent draft selections as should FA signing Robert Woods and veteran Tavon Austin. After that Cooper will be in a battle between fellow second-year WRs Mike Thomas and Nelson Spruce as well as special teams ace Bradley Marquez. Thomas was a key contributor on coverage units while Cooper rarely took a return outside the end zone. Pharoh has a huge training camp ahead of him to prove his special teams worth and offensive ability. The new staff likely won’t care about his draft status.
TE Corey Harkey
The one thing going for Harkey is that Rams Head Coach McVay loves TEs and none of the current TE group are known for being great blockers. The bad is that Harkey is getting older and has been more of a FB in years past. The Rams drafted FB Sam Rogers who is a personal favorite of McVay (who also mentioned FB Zach Laskey by name) and can do everything Harkey has done on special teams. Harkey has been a vocal leader for the Rams but guys who don’t play at a high level have expiration dates. Is Harkey’s coming soon?
RB Todd Gurley
It’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t believe Gurley’s 2016 struggles were 95% of the offensive lines fault. Well, they didn’t add any OL talent through the draft and got much older at the C and LT position during free agency. It’s an offensive line that upgraded massively at LT but still has many questions along the rest of it. OL Coach Aaron Kromer went to bat for many of the lineman but if you believed the OL was the root of Gurley’s problems in 2016, its hard to suddenly feel that it won’t remain an issue for a good portion of 2017. There will be plenty of Kool-Aid to sip once training camp begins, I’m sure. There always is.
S Cody Davis
A Fisher holdover, Davis was a core special teams member and contributed on defense. After already signing former Broncos special teams ace and do-it-all DB Kayvon Webster, the Rams took S John Johnson in the 3rd round leaving Davis’ role on defense somewhat in question. Before the draft the Rams floated around the possibility of CB Lamarcus Joyner playing some safety too. Davis can still make the roster due to his abilities on special teams but any ideas of him playing significant snaps on defense after T.J. McDonald’s departure should be squashed.