Senior Bowl week and its workouts have become essential for the Los Angeles in recent years. Last season general manager Les Snead and newly appointed head coach, Sean McVay, drafted six players from the Senior Bowl, including their first four picks.
To put even more importance on this, one of the players the Rams interviewed on the first day, Gerald Everett, became their second round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.
As far as I know, the Rams have interviewed a total of four players, although it could be more. Those four players are:
1. TE Tyler Conklin – Western Michigan
2. TE Durham Smythe – Notre Dame
What does this mean?
Well, it’s pretty obvious. It looks like the Rams are not happy with the tight end position. The fact that they interviewed three shows that.
This is interesting considering that the Rams just drafted Everett last year and they have a high-potential guy in Tyler Higbee. Either the Rams don’t believe in Everett’s future potential or they don’t believe in Higbee’s current ceiling.
My best guess is that it would be the later. Tight ends typically don’t put up huge numbers in their rookie year and outside of Evan Engram, Everett was right there with the rest of the rookie class.
The rookie out of South Alabama was sixth in both receptions and receiving yards and he was the fourth tight end taken in last year’s draft. David Njoku, O.J. Howard, and Engram all finished with more yards and receptions, which is to be expected considering they were drafted higher and are presumably more talented.
Higbee on the other hand could take over that third tight end, Derek Carrier-role next season. It should be remembered that Higbee wasn’t drafted by this head coach, so he may not fit McVay’s scheme.
Most likely McVay is going to expect Everett to take over the No. 1 tight end role that Higbee held this year. The Rams would then slide Higbee down a slot or two if they do bring in or draft a tight end.
McVay flourished with Jordan Reed in Washington, who will be a free agent by the way. Unfortunately, his success didn’t translate in 2017, mostly because the Rams lacked talent and were young at the position.
Conklin, Smythe, and Thomas are all 6’3+ and pass catchers, which shows the Rams’ desire to bring in big bodies at tight end.
As far as Tuesday’s practice went, Thomas had a rough day dropping multiple passes in practice, while Smythe caught the ball well and looked terrific as a blocker. Conklin may have the highest upside of all three although there wasn’t much to report on him after Tuesday’s practice.
I put down Welsh as a guy to watch in the Senior Bowl and he is rising according to reports.
Ohio State edge defender Jayln Holmes (80.5 overall during 2017) vs. Iowa guard Sean Welsh (74.4) at the #SeniorBowl pic.twitter.com/fknkgLDBRs
— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) January 23, 2018
He would be a great piece to add to the offensive line on the inside. Jamon Brown played well at times last season and Rodger Saffold was a borderline All-Pro. However, Saffold is getting older, and the Rams could certainly use an improvement over Brown. That’s where Welsh comes in.
Final Thoughts
It’s still early in the week and there will be a ton to report on as the Senior Bowl draws near. However, it is clear that the Rams are not satisfied at the tight end position.
Who knows if any of these guys are wearing horns come April, but going off of last season, it’s obvious that these meetings and this week matters.
Blaine Grisak is a staff writer for Rams Talk. He currently works in athletic communications for the University of Pennsylvania. For more of his opinions, follow him on Twitter here.
