Building a successful roster has many paths; the Draft is one of them, so below we will review what the Los Angeles Rams did in the most recent Draft. Were there rookies who made an impact throughout the 2021 NFL season that help explain their path to the Super Bowl?
The Rams’ 2021 NFL Draft
The model of this team commanded in the front office by General Manager Les Snead is somewhat distant, at least in recent years and in the immediate aftermath, to building its roster by developing talent that they acquire in the draft. In 2021 it is not that they have made few selections, in fact they ended up with nine players:
- WR, Tutu Atwell
- LB, Ernest Jones
- DT Bobby Brown
- CB, Robert Rochell
- TE, Jacob Harris
- DE, Ernest Brown IV
- RB Jake Funk
- WR Ben Skowronek
- DE, Chris Garrett
A diverse class in positions, but that at first glance leaves something to be desired in terms of impact.
Rookie playing time
When examining the degree of participation of the rookies on this team the situation looks alarming, since the only one who had a relatively constant participation was Ernest Jones with 37.83% of the defensive snaps plus 30.52% on special teams.
Robert Rochell was just getting involved in the secondary, but suffered an injury that sidelined him for the rest of the season, leaving him with only 20.12% snaps on defense.
At the next level is Ben Skowronek, with a share of 16.35% of the offensive snaps plus a significant contribution on special teams.
At the opposite extreme, there are several cases of players who did not even reach 2%, such as Tutu Atwell, Bobby Brown, Jacob Harris, Jake Funk and Chris Garrett.
Ernest Brown didn’t even make the final roster and was rehired to be part of the Practice Squad.
Main contributions of the rookies of the Rams
In this category we have to talk about the fact that they used their first selection from the last draft to bring in Matthew Stafford, a movement that, although it diverges a little from the pure essence of the Draft, converges in the spirit of recruiting the best talent available and to improve the roster. With this player, the Rams’ offense reached a higher level than it had been a year before.
To add the key pieces this team needed, they not only invested this year’s picks, but also used future resources; Stafford himself will cost next year’s first-round pick. Von Miller and Sony Michel will involve second, fourth and fifth round picks.
Conclusion to the Rams Super Bowl
When we try to make sense of the Rams’ approach, we realize that while they don’t use their picks on players fresh out of college, they do use them to acquire proven veterans.
With this approach, what they do is greatly reduce their chance of failure. Taking a rookie expects them to work through the adjustments that go from college to pro, while taking a veteran knows exactly what you’re getting.
Against him, this can be very short-term and high risk, since the future projection is totally compromised.
If they manage to rise as champions, the pains of rebuilding the franchise will surely be less.
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Super Bowl Impact Rookies: The Rams’ Class of 2021