PFF Analyst Grading the Rams Draft

Erin Coscarelli is joined by PFF analyst Max Chadwick to breakdown the Rams’ 2024 draft. Max give’s his takes on the Rams finally having early picks and how the look to rebuild their defense after the loss of Aaron Donald. Be sure to subscribe to stay up to date on all of Bleav’s shows!

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bet online is your number one source for all your summer Sports this season from MLB golf NBA and NHL Playoff stats all the latest stats needs and scores available to follow your favorite teams get the latest odds and lines including the latest team matchups player props and odds on just about every sport out there head to the website today or use your mobile device to get in on the action but online where the game starts what’s up everyone eron Celli back with you welcome to believe in Rams part of the believe network uh be sure to subscribe comment rate follow this podcast you can also catch us on Bel TV and you know the drill follow us on all the socials all right so we just finished the draft we can all breathe a sigh of relief we can put our GM hats off and kind of dive in to these picks and really sort of analyze on a deeper level what they mean what lesne and sha McVey were thinking on draft they had 11 total picks and they went defense fairly early uh today we have an awesome guest Max Chadwick who’s going to be breaking it down for us he is the PFF college football analyst he’s also a co-host of the PFF college football show so he’s pretty dialed in on taking a look at the college game and seeing how that translates to the pros and I’m going to ask him all the questions I want grades I want I want good things I want bad things I want to see where they went right where they went wrong and really just sort of figure out what the Rams are going to look like especially without Aaron Donald this season so many questions let’s get some answers from Max all right without further Ado let’s welcome in Max so max you are the PFF college football analyst you are also the co-host of the PFF college football show so you have your finger on the pulse when it comes to the draft and who uh roster is looking mighty fine these days and this is a Rams show so I want to pick your brain all things Rams I think first question I have is like pulling out the the the the lens and looking at what they did overall without getting into specifics what grade would you give uh the Rams in terms of the draft right now oh good question so on the PFF website we give out grades for all 32 teams so I’ll try not to stray away from my company’s grading system uh I had we gave them a B+ for the draft which is pretty solid grade honestly and obviously it’s their first first round pick in eight years that they had this year so pretty new thing to see the Rams picking on on Thursday night but uh yeah B+ which is overall a pretty solid draft for sha MCB company yeah I mean I think we can like breathe a sigh of relief because there was so much speculation certainly in La what with the talk of are they going offense are they going defense obviously uh the big void to fill is Aaron Donald uh were you surprised with that first round pick that they decided to go defense or it made total sense to you that they were going defense in the beginning no I totally anticipated them going a defensive player whether that be a defensive tackle or a edge Defender uh they need help I think in that front seven on that defensive line I think Jared verse makes a lot of sense for them as as their new Edge Defender um I think Edge was actually a bigger need even with Donald retiring I still thought Edge was a bigger need than the D tackle for them so I really like The Pick of him at number 19 overall it’s pretty much the range that I would select Jed verse and yeah I thought they got a really good player and probably the best Edge defender on the board uh because I thought he was the number two Edge in the draft probably behind La Tatu who was obviously picked earlier than the number 19 overall so yeah Jared verse uh really good player for the Rams at number 19 I think he should be very happy with that one should Rams Nation be happy that Les needed gave up a pick for Braden Fisk I like Braden Fisk I actually I interviewed him funny enough a couple months ago and he was an awesome kid so you’re getting a great person in that locker room he’s a really good football player too I thought that trade was a little crazy not gonna lie giving up not only your second round pick this year but your second round pick next year only to move up for a second round pick this year as well um that was a lot but obviously lesne has proven as as we just talked about you know hav had picked in the first round in eight years he’s proven that hey I only care about getting football good football players I don’t really care about what the draft value chart say so as an analytics guy myself didn’t love that trade but he clearly loves Braden Fisk and pairing him together Jared vers is never a bad idea either so didn’t love the value of how much they paid in order to move up for him but I do like the player and I think it was a solid player for the Rams to get at number 39 Okay so we’ve discussed the first two picks which also we had Marshall faul on instant reaction what he liked about those first two picks of course were the guys both from the same school and that they kind of had each other and being a rookie and going to a new team or a new city it can feel really lonely so he liked the Synergy between the two former teammates now going to go play together in La my question though for you is that third pick they decided to go running back um with Blake corm out of Michigan when you mentioned lesy doing very well in the draft tyon Williams is an example of that do you think it was smart to have taken Korum when have a guy like Kiren Williams in the in the running back room good question I think I don’t hate it I I I think you need more than one running back in today’s day and age and I think you know having Kiren and Blake in the same room together which is pretty funny enough because they’re both kind of undersized backs um I think it’s a good room to have and I I think you need more than one running back in st’s NFL so I think Blake corm or kyen Williams they’re kind of be sharing backfield touches now as a for from a fantasy perspective some people who love KY way were probably a little bit like upset about that but just from an overall team building perspective I don’t hate it at all for Blake Corum to go to La was not the LA team I anticipated him going to I thought Jim Harbaugh would be taking his former running back if the Chargers but uh I guess you know the Rams really did like him a lot more and yeah again I don’t I don’t hate it number 83 overall is round where I thought Blake cor would go anyways so it wasn’t really a reach either um I thought it was a pretty solid pick by the Rams honestly I think you know getting another complimentary back to Kiren Williams is never a bad idea yeah get a little up there how about Matthew Stafford okay following that pick round number three number 99 they go with the safety out of Miami and Cameron kitchens um how do you feel about that because I think secondary was a point of need heading into the off season for the Rams how do you feel about his game and do you think it’s going to translate to the Rams defense well yeah I liked it he he’s a ball Hawk you know he has 11 interceptions since you know last season which are the most of any safety uh in the country the issue with him that he had a really really bad combine um and I think that dropped him on a lot of boards uh but he’s still a really good football player and he’s played at a really high level for a couple years now he got out some injuries his past year but the year before he was one of the best safties in entire country entire college football so cam kitchens I thought was a good player that they got and they needed some help in that secondary so yeah I think 99 overall again that’s where I probably would have taken him because I like the tape a lot and his tape alone said maybe second round pick the combine dropped him to the third round and end of the third round that at that so yeah they can’t kch is again solid player but uh that combine definitely did hurt a stock but I still think he’s a good enough player for the Rams to take and maybe be a starting safety for them next year yeah I want to ask you about uh the new defensive coordinator there now Kula um Raheem goes to Atlanta so now they have Chula and do you feel because you know the next question I want to get to is how you’re feeling about all of the Void with with Aaron Donald and if the draft respectively did the best it could to the the void which is sort of impossible when it’s a guy like Aaron Donald but um before we get to that Chris schula what’s your take on him and um do you think he’s gonna have fun with some of the new rookies that are in the building on terms of like the defensive side of the ball yeah I I definitely do think that I think he’s a guy that has been in the Rams building for a while now he’s been there since I believe 2017 yeah he’s been there for since 2017 so like seven eight years now so he clearly has learned a team a thing or two from rahee Morris um he was their p coordinator before that and I thought they had a really good pass rush so I I think it’s smart for sha MCV instead of going external to find a new defensive coordinator promote someone internally and get a guy like Chris schula in there so yeah I like to hire a lot and yeah replacing Aaron Donald is definitely a tall task when he might be the greatest defensive player to ever live but uh they definitely did attack defensive line early and often in this draft not only the first two picks that we talked about on day three they still attack defensive line so I think they had the approach of hey you know replacing Aaron Donal be impossible let’s draft like six players to make sure that uh that loss isn’t as big so I like that approach honestly because like you said Aaron Donald’s uh one heck of a player to replace right not only are they replacing Aaron Donald but they’re replacing the head CT the defensive coordinator who did so well last year obviously in R Morris who now has a head coaching job it’s a lot of change I think it’s an interesting point you make that they stay in the familiar territory by promoting a guy that’s been there uh is familiar with the franchise is familiar with with the system and uh you know hand the keys off to him now yes you kind of talked about it Aaron Donald um when we had Steve wean he’s like you don’t replace this guy in the draft uh but what you do is you try to find a way to compensate and when we had Marshall faul which you should listen to it was it was a very good instant reaction and I love the way he sees the game he said you know because we had talked after the first two uh draft selections by La he said if they go nine more and it’s defense they still can’t really figure figure out how to handle and solve the problem of of Aaron Donald you feel that they did as well as they could by uh addressing it I mean like you said in the um in round five they got like you mentioned Brennan Jackson out of Washington state there so you feel good I mean I think this is a ram show we as the uh you know Rams loyal Nation like all we care about is that the team is gonna stay intact and I think the biggest fear a lot of fans have is now that number 99 is no longer in the building they lose that guy in the lock room and they lose obviously his production on the football field yeah definitely and obviously aon’s gone you get Braden Fisco who I thought was probably one of the top three to four defensive tackles in the draft I really like Tyler Davis too in the sixth round I think that was a value pick for them another D tackle for them to add to that room he’s been a really productive player at Clemson uh throughout his career and you got to remember I mean Kobe Turner was awesome last year as a rookie he really was a really great player for them so um yeah you lose the goat but you still have some really really intriguing pieces at D tackle for them and and obviously adding to that edge room which again like I said I I thought because of Kobe Turner I thought that edge was a bigger need than D tackle even with Aaron Don’s retirement because I I Really they thought they needed a Difference Maker there and they got one in Jared verse and brenon Armstrong is a high upside player too in the fifth round that I’m excited I don’t know if he’s G to be a starter for them I probably won’t but uh I think he’s a really good dep piece as well so yeah they definitely attack defensive line I mean taking uh four defensive linemen in their first six picks uh pretty much says that so they knew what they needed going into the draft and they definitely attacked that with some very good players I don’t really think they reach on any of them honestly so that was I that’s a really smart play by uh LA to do that yeah and like you said uh you know last year they didn’t have a first round pick and so many of their uh you know puka and uh Kiren all of those guys middle late rounds uh shows that Les needed and and sha McVey kind of know what they’re doing in terms of talent evaluation another question uh as we kind of round out this sort of uh draft party because now we can all kind of take our GM cap off and put our mock drafts away um a kicker they got a kicker uh in Joshua cardi from Stanford uh round six number 209 um where do you rank him in the draft and is he an under the radar type of guy how do you feel about him Max I am so happy you asked me about him because I Josh cardi I was joking on I was actually on the day three draft show for PFF I was like listen there are like four three maybe generational talents in this draft you got Marvin Arison Jr you got Brock Bowers you got Joshua cardi Joshua cardi is a special special kicker Prospect he actually over his career so as you know PFF regraded every single player and every single play in every single game uh since 2014 we’ve been doing it for college football his 977 career grade is the best we’ve ever given to a kicker so he has been a dominant kicker uh in college football he’s seven for1 from 50 plus yards over the last two seasons 34 for 35 from 49 yards and in uh he’s only missed one extra point in his career and 73 attempts I think he’s the best kicker Prospect we’ve seen in the last decade he actually wasn’t even the first kicker taken Ro recer from Alabama was also a great kicker was taken before him um I know understand it’s not a sexy pick like U like another player would be but Joshua cardi I think he’s G to be a longtime starter I kicker in the NFL and a very very good one at that so I thought Joshua cardi was a uh really a fun pick and like I said I think he’s one of the best kicker prospects we’ve seen over the last at least decade honestly wow that’s amazing that uh he was ranked so high and uh you know at the end of the day kickers can determine the win or the loss of a team we’ve seen it happen many of times in the postseason and nothing feels worse than a kicker missing a one point that could have changed the course of the game um max thank you so much uh I’m I’m glad that we had you on to get some instant reaction now that the draft is over I can’t wait we have OTAs pretty soon football season will be around the corner you are PFF college football analysts and the co-host of the PFF college football show thank you again so much for taking the time and we’ll have to have you back on when you when you have time absolutely Aon I really appreciate you having me on all right