Who will the Los Angeles Rams Select with the 1st Pick in the 2016 NFL Draft?

By Ha Kung Wong

Twitter: @FBGarbageTime

As you’re all probably aware of by now, the Los Angeles Rams has basically “sold the farm” in order to get the first overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.

In case you missed it, here’s the breakdown:

Los Angeles Rams GET:
  • 1st Pick in 2016 Draft
  • A fourth round pick in 2016 Draft
  • A sixth round pick in 2016 Draft
Tennessee Titans GET:
  • 15th Pick in 2016 Draft
  • TWO second round picks in the 2016 Draft
  • A third round pick in the 2016 Draft
  • A FIRST round pick in the 2017 Draft
  • A third round pick in the 2017 Draft

Quite a haul for the Tennessee Titans, I’d say.  But let’s focus on the big news first: Why did the Los Angeles Rams give all that away to get the first pick in the 2016 Draft?

Clearly, the biggest need is at quarterback.  I’ve already broken this down earlier this offseason, but I mentioned that the Rams were basically among the bottom in all passing metrics last year.  Nick Foles nor Case Keenum were the answer, and it was clear that they needed to get a quarterback.  It’s such a desperate situation in LA, that I even recommended potentially reaching at the 15th pick to take Paxton Lynch.  So it’s pretty clear to me that this move was done to obtain a quarterback to play now.  One doesn’t give up essentially all the important picks over the next two years to draft a guy to hold a clipboard on the sidelines.

With that in mind, I think it’s pretty clear that they’ll be looking to take Carson Wentz.  I summarized Wentz when I discussed the Browns’ quarterback options earlier this offseason, but I’ll repeat that again here.

carson-wentz-11-of-the-north-dakota-state-bison

Carson Wentz

There’s been a ton of press regarding Wentz, basically due to his outstanding interviews and his performance at the Senior Bowl, more so in practices than in the game itself.  He has great physical attributes at 6 feet 5 inches, 232 lbs. and with a 32 and 3/8 inch arm length.  He has excellent accuracy and mobility in the pocket and played two years in a pro-style offense, largely under center.  In 23 starts in college, he threw 42 TD passes, rushed for 12 and threw only 14 INTs.  The NFL comparison made by NFL.com was Blake Bortles, which actually sounds worse than it really is.  With these types of measurables, he could end up being closer to Ben Roethlisberger.  But Wentz played in the FCS, so its even more unclear how he’ll transition to the big stage, or how representative his competition was in college of what he’ll have to deal with in the NFL.  So there’s still a significant leap of faith taking Wentz early in the draft, particularly seeing as how he basically was off the map until a month ago.

His Combine results actually solidified his position in the draft (though, interestingly, he was not selected in our staff mock draft).

  • 40 Yard Dash: 4.77 seconds
  • Vertical Jump: 30.5 inches
  • Broad Jump: 118.0 inches
  • 3 Cone Drill: 6.86 seconds
  • Passing Drills:

Wentz looked pretty good in on-field drills, having slightly better measurable than his closest competition, Jared Goff.  In addition, nothing at Wentz’s Pro Day changed the calculus, as he performed admirably on all drills and was reportedly very impressive.

But perhaps most important is the fact that Wentz has more pro-style offense experience than his closest competitor, Jared Goff (who was scouted by Joey Alibro, so check out his article here), so he’ll presumably have an easier time immediately sliding into the Rams offense.

So I’m calling it now.

With the first overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, the Los Angeles Rams will select Carson Wentz.

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