LA Rams' NFL Draft deal with Tennessee Titans could backfire
Monday 18 April 2016 08:40, UK
The Los Angeles Rams have made a super trade with the Tennessee Titans that guarantees them the first-round NFL Draft pick in 2016. Alex Ferguson tries to work out why the deal was made….
The NFL Draft almost guarantees crazy deals as teams swap players and prospects in an attempt to reach the top of the food chain.
The Rams have this year's No 1 pick after being given it by Tennessee Titans in exchange for their 15th pick, two second-round picks, one third-round pick and their first and third-round picks in 2017.
In other words, Rams owner Stan Kroenke has exchanged the house for what could be a franchise quarterback.
If the next Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning or John Elway were in the offing, then you could understand the deal.
The Rams aren't too far away from being a good team. They've got a great, young running back in Todd Gurley, a freak-like defensive tackle in Aaron Donald and other good young players.
But the cupboard for quarterbacks in 2016 certainly isn't as tempting as it was in 2015, when two Heisman Trophy winners went as the first two draft picks.
This year, the cupboard is pretty bare. Many seem impressed by California quarterback Jared Goff, but in his final year in college football for the Bears, he didn't produce many "excuse me while I stand up and applaud" moments.
Goff was susceptible to interceptions (he led the Pac-12 Conference with 13). Though he had more than 4,700 passing yards last season, he also had an offense that set him up to throw (a lot). Will he be good enough for the NFL?
The scouts will point to his 6ft 4in frame and say "yes", but was he worth the deal with the Titans?
Alternatively, people love Carson Wentz, the quarterback who wasn't particularly talked about when he was being recruited for colleges.
He decided to play his football at FCS powerhouse North Dakota State (NDSU), the equivalent of playing in the Championship in English football compared to the Premier League. Wentz's hands were measured at ten inches in width - an inch bigger than Goff's. Even at FCS level, he was stunningly good.
He's 6ft 6in, a powerful runner (1,028 yards and 13 TDs) and threw the ball excellently (5,115 yards and 45 TDs) in only two years of starting. But will he be able to understand the complex NFL offensive schemes and play against NFL defences? I saw Wentz play several times last season for NDSU and didn't think he would be the first draft pick.
There's another reason why I don't like this monster deal with Tennessee: the Titans weren't planning to get another quarterback.
They already have a franchise quarterback in Marcus Mariota (although, frankly, they should do something about their offensive co-ordinator if they want to see the true greatness of Mariota), and they aren't about to get rid of him.
They could have made this trade with Cleveland or San Diego and still got a quarterback. It seems unlikely that Cleveland were going to draft a quarterback and San Diego had Philip Rivers and the no trade clause, which he had put in place after his contract extension in 2015.
Unless the Rams are going to draft brilliant Ole Miss offensive linesman Laremy Tunsil because their offensive line isn't doing great (ranked 28th out of 32 in the Pro Football Focus rankings), this may be a truly terrible decision.
