Rams mailbag: NFL draft, position switches, Monty Python and missing socks

Staff Writer

April 14, 2017 5:05 PM PT

On this day last year, the Rams announced that they had traded up to the top of the NFL draft, a move that netted quarterback Jared Goff.

This year’s draft is less than two weeks away.

The Rams, who completed the first week of their offseason program, will not pick until the fifth selection of the second round, the 37th overall pick.

Now, on to your questions. Keep them coming at @latimesklein or gary.klein@latimes.com.

The Rams do not have a first-round pick. So, barring a trade that would bring them an extra pick in the first three rounds, they will emerge with two players after Day 2 of the May 27-29 draft.

They will pick 37th and 69th.

The Rams’ most obvious immediate needs are at receiver, cornerback and tight end.

They signed veteran center John Sullivan, but they also will be on the lookout for a long-term solution at that position. They will give cornerback Lamarcus Joyner an opportunity to help them at safety.

It’s difficult enough to project who the Rams might choose if they had a pick among the first 32. The fact that they don’t, and they will have to see how the first round plays out, makes it a total crapshoot.

So I’m not going to get into specific names.

But the best-case scenario is that the Rams come away with a receiver with size and a cornerback or tight end who can make an immediate impact.

Of course, that leads to the next question….

The Rams are set with veteran edge rushers Robert Quinn and Connor Barwin. But say, for example, that Texas A&M’s Myles Garrett or another elite pass-rushing prospect somehow slipped to the second round. The Rams might have to consider veering from drafting for need and taking the best player available. That scenario can be applied to just about any position other than perhaps quarterback.

General Manager Les Snead will oversee the draft but you can be sure new Coach Sean McVay will have an equal voice. Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips will probably have influence as well.

In a scenario such as 2016, when the Rams had the first pick, owner Stan Kroenke no doubt weighed in and had to sign off on the decision to select Goff. But Kevin Demoff, the Rams’ vice president of football operations, and Snead and company will not seek permission to make a slotted second-round pick unless, perhaps, it concerns a prospect with a troubled history that might bring public relations fallout.

This will be Snead’s sixth draft, his first without former coach Jeff Fisher.

It will tell us a lot, but I’m not sure we can make a true evaluation until we see how the players selected develop over the course of a few seasons.

Snead should come under scrutiny for picks such as offensive lineman Greg Robinson, the No. 2 overall pick in 2014, and receiver Brian Quick, a second-round pick in 2012. The selection of receiver Tavon Austin, at No. 8 overall in 2013, also has been criticized.

But players such as tackles Aaron Donald and Michael Brockers, linebacker Alec Ogletree and cornerback Trumaine Johnson have worked out pretty well.

The Rams have finished much of their pre-draft work, though players continue to come through for workouts. But with maneuvering by other teams and possible draft-day trades there will always be considerations that could affect their plans and projected scenarios.

What if a key player on the roster suffers a major injury during workouts in the next few weeks? What if a Rams player — or a targeted draft prospect — is involved in an off-the-field incident that puts his immediate future in doubt?

Unlikely?

Perhaps. But Laremy Tunsil’s gas-mask fiasco on draft night last year is a reminder that anything can happen.

First, for those who might have missed it, a review.

The Rams signed veteran left tackle Andrew Whitworth. McVay has said that Greg Robinson will move to right tackle and that Rob Havenstein, a two-year starter at right tackle, would work at right guard.

But remember: These are offseason workouts. My sense is that Robinson also will take reps at right guard so that McVay, offensive line coach Aaron Kromer and offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur can evaluate which combination works best.

I’m not sure if Jamon Brown has ever played center. But before the Rams signed center John Sullivan, McVay said that interior linemen would also be trained as centers.

Several good questions.

If Lamarcus Joyner does, indeed, make the switch to safety, recently signed Nickell Robey-Coleman could play as the nickel or slot cornerback.

Kayvon Webster will compete with E.J. Gaines to start outside opposite Trumaine Johnson.

As for grub, I have not tasted the offerings made available to players and staff at the Rams training facility. I have not heard the players complain.

Last season, there also were appearances from several food trucks, including actor Danny Trejo’s.

Now, when it comes to cookies, I am only a “monster” around the holidays. That’s when colleague Lindsey Thiry graciously picked up my family’s holiday order from a South Bay bakery and also brought some that she distributed in the press box. Needless to say, I ate, um, a few.

Here is a photo of one before it was gone.