Los Angeles Rams missed a huge opportunity in the third round

The Los Angeles Rams selected running back Darrell Henderson with the 70th overall pick when the team could have made a truly special selection.

The Los Angeles Rams were the most active team during the 2019 NFL Draft, making multiple trades to move down and up the draft order to fit the team’s needs.

The team selected safety Taylor Rapp in the second round to add depth and with its second pick in the draft chose Memphis running back Darrell Henderson with the 70th overall pick. If you are a frequent reader of LA Sports Hub, you will know that we were not a huge fan of the selection.

Instead of rambling on about why Henderson does not fit on the Rams, which we have already done, we are instead going to look at who the Rams could of had instead.

The person that the Los Angeles Rams should have selected was picked literally one spot behind the Rams with the 71st overall pick. With the 71st overall pick, the Denver Broncos selected defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones.

The Rams obviously had a hole to fill at defensive tackle heading into the draft with the likely departure of Ndamukong Suh. And the Rams actually did select a defensive tackle, although it took them until late in the fourth round when they picked Greg Gaines out of Washington.

Gaines has potential upside but is not much of a surefire thing. His most likely path in the NFL is becoming a rotational defensive tackle that does not play all three downs. While that does help the team, it does not help nearly as much as Jones would have.

Jones was fairly highly touted heading into the draft and arguably should have been a second-round pick in the draft. Walter Football ranked Jones as the fourth-best defensive tackle in the draft, projecting him to go in either the late first or second round.

Jones was voted first-team All-Big Ten after recording 8.5 sacks and 13 total tackles for loss. His athleticism and ferocious style of play gave him one of the biggest upsides of any defensive tackle in this draft.

There certainly was a reasonable worry that Jones would not pan out as expected but in the Los Angeles Rams’ defensive scheme he would have gotten the favorable matchups he needs to succeed. At the very least, the Rams would have gotten a consistent three-down defensive tackle that the team knew could disrupt plays.

And quite frankly, the Rams probably could have selected Henderson later in the third round. Ram fans will definitely be regretful if Jones ends up playing to his potential and having an impactful rookie season.