Los Angeles Rams: Let’s slow down on the Greg Gaines hype

The Los Angeles Rams selected defensive tackle Greg Gaines in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft in a selection that is being a tad bit overblown.

The Los Angeles Rams had several needs heading into the 2019 NFL Draft and to be fair to the front office, the team was able to select at least one player to fill each of those needs.

Los Angeles selected a cornerback to add cornerback depth, an offensive lineman to help the depth of an aging offensive line and a defensive tackle to replace free agent Ndamukong Suh. The Rams also selected a safety in the second round and even went with a running back in the third round, although that seems like a mistake.

Because of the team’s ability to fill these positional needs in the draft, the Rams have gotten a favorable response from many in the days following the draft. And while the Rams did do a good job, the optimism around the rookies can sometimes get overblown.

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We have seen that happen with fourth-round selection, Greg Gaines, who many Rams’ outlets have been clamoring about since he was selected in the fourth round. Gaines certainly is talented and was a good selection for the round, but he has to prove something in the NFL before we get this excited about him.

Gaines is not one of the bonafide first-round picks that you know is going to come in and have an impact right away. It is easier to assume that selections earlier in the draft are going to make some sort of impact.

Gaines is someone who was passed on 133 times in the draft before the Rams finally selected him. There is a reason he fell this low, and as all picks late in the draft, it is because he is not a surefire thing. This does not mean that he cannot succeed, but it does mean that he is not a guaranteed success, which many people seem to already be assuming.

The intriguing part about Gaines and the entire reason why the Los Angeles Rams selected him is because of his ability to help in the run game. Ndamukong Suh was admittedly inconsistent in this department and Gaines is someone that specializes in stopping the run.

He is not an elite pass rusher but the best part of his game is being the stuffer at nose tackle that can plug running lanes. That was his bread and butter in college and will be his best trait in the NFL.

However, he is still making a pretty big leap from Washington to the NFL and to assume that he is simply going to come in and make the Rams’ run defense exponentially better is way too optimistic.

Washington did allow just the 15th-fewest rushing yards total last season but it was not like they were some kind of unstoppable force when stopping the run. The Huskies still allowed 116.1 rushing yards per game and Gaines only had three tackles per loss in the running game for the entire year.

Gaines has potential. We do not want to take that away from him and we are by no means saying that is he going to be a flop in the NFL.

However, right now, all Gaines really has is potential. Optimism is fine, but we should slow down on saying that Gaines is a better alternative than Ndamukong Suh for the Los Angeles Rams.