Each offseason, the Rams release a video series called “Behind The Grind” that takes fans behind the scenes of the team through offseason workouts, the draft, and summer camps. It’s a fascinating peek inside the organization, giving fans access that usually they can’t find anywhere else.
That’s especially true in Episode 2, which was all about the draft. The episode was released this week and there were several interesting draft nuggets throughout.
We have always known that the Rams dump conventional wisdom repeatedly throughout the draft and beat to their own drum. We learned in this video that they also categorize draft prospects by traits, like physical toughness. And using that, they selected the top two players in terms of physical toughness.
James Gladstone, the Rams' Director of Scouting had a interesting bit of dialogue with head coach Sean McVay over the team's fifth-round pick, Washington State edge rusher Brennan Jackson.
"Brennan Jackson, rankings for physical toughness, guess who he’s behind?” Gladstone asked McVay. "Verse." McVay replied.
"Yeah, so you would end up with No. 1 and No. 2 physical toughness."
Brennan Jackson was one of the Rams' best picks of the entire 2024 NFL Draft. From his scouting report I published right after the pick, "Brennan Jackson is one of the most motor-driven pass rushers in this entire draft class. He never gives up on a play and keeps working after the ball until the whistle is blown. He pairs that motor with good quickness off of the line of scrimmage and his very good play strength that he uses to swipe off blockers and make a play. Jackson is quick to sniff out plays and rarely gets fooled by misdirection or play-action fakes. Jackson is an average athlete who doesn't turn the corner well or move well out in space. He's a salty rusher but one who is a better run defender than pass rusher."
Given his scouting report and how the Rams viewed him in the draft process, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Jackson play a quality role early on for the team. He has the skill set to be one of their OLBs in their base packages and on run downs, something the team really didn't have outside of Michael Hoecht. Jackson improves their depth, and it seems the Rams think so too.
