RAMS DRAFT BUZZ: NFL Insider Predicts Who Rams Will Pick at #13, McVay Talks Puka, Backup QB Plan!

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]It is the eve of the NFL draft. What did Shawn McVey have to say? What did Lesne have to say? Where are the Rams leaning?

[00:00:11]We got the latest Rams draft buzz.

[00:00:13]That's coming up next on Locked on Rams.

[00:00:22]You are Locked on Rams, your daily Los Angeles Rams podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network. your team every day.

[00:00:32]>> What is up Ramly and welcome to another episode of Locked On Rams, your daily podcast covering your Los Angeles Rams.

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[00:01:01]I've covered LA sports for over a decade. 247 sports, Bleach Report, SI, Dodgers Nation. Also do NFL radio for Westwood one. Today I'm flying solo. The people's champ, Mr. Travis Rogers, be back tomorrow. And on today's episode, what are the streets saying about the Rams in the NFL draft? What is that latest draft buzz? We'll get into what Lesne and Shawn McVey had to say in their pre-draft presser. But first, today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and get $250 in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Head to fandal.com to get started. All right, so what is the buzz? Well, our friend Peter Shrager, he had this to say about the Rams. Shawn McVey loves Kenyan Sadi. They love Mai Lemon in that building. They do. And he might be the pick at 13. And that's clean and that's easy. I do know McVey has an affection for getting a receiver or a tight end in this draft. And if it's not Lemon, I think Sadique would be great. So, are they really leaning towards Mai Lemon? Now, first and foremost, if you guys have been watching the show, you guys know that I said lemon a lot. I said a lemon during the season. I mean, I I don't I there's no way that anyone had the lemon going to the Rams before me, but I just I wonder if there's something else there. Shreger would also talk about the Kenyan Sadi angle, and we've talked about Kenyan Sadi because you theoretically could line him up at the wide receiver three spot and then he is an athletic player.

[00:02:40]And we know that the tight end room is getting older because of Higgby back for his final season. But you still have Kobe Parkinson. You still have Davis Allen. Kobe Parkinson, though he's in the final year of his contract. Higgby's 33. Higgby is back on a two-year deal.

[00:02:56]So theoretically, it's a it's an extended last dance. We'll just see how it goes year to year with Higgby, though. I mean, I think he's here for Look, you can't underestimate the guy.

[00:03:06]The guy makes plays. He really does. and especially in big spots. So, do they preserve him throughout the regular season? See what they get out of him towards the end of the postseason?

[00:03:16]That's another thing they could do as well.

[00:03:19]But Sadique is the the player that was the former teammate of Terrence Ferguson. So, I mean, that's going to be a pretty loaded tight end room if if it's that. But if the Rams would like Lemon or Sadique in the first round, that just gives Matthew Stafford some more weapons to work with, some more firepower. And Lesne Sneed did say about Lemon that he is a quote fun player. You always felt like he'd bring the ball down when it was passed his way. So, kind of showed his hand a little bit there. We'll see. I mean, this is a lying season. This is a smokeokc screen season and it would be really interesting considering the Rams especially if they go the Sadique route that the Rams the last two seasons take a tight end essentially a tight end with their first pick. So I mean the thing too is that Sadik could also possibly be a tradeback guy when you kind of think about it. Um, but either way, it does look like the Rams want to go offense there. We've got Todd McShay. He's convinced that the Rams want to take Ty Simpson and they're going to take Ty Simpson at 13. Now, it it would be I He also thinks the Rams are going to keep the pick. If the Rams were to trade back, Kenan Sadi could be a tradeback guy, which would make you feel like he got some more value out of that pick because then you would get some more draft picks later down the line.

[00:04:55]And Sadik is a great talent. He's a very unique talent. He really truly is. He's got height. He's got speed. He's athletic. Uh he he's a serious serious playmaker. And he's someone that when you put him in space, it's very difficult to match up with him. It's tough to match up with him. And Shawn McVey, he knows how to scheme up getting guys into space. So, there are some tradeback guys. You've heard talk about Emanuel McNeel Warren, the safety out of Toledo.

[00:05:25]We've got Kedrick Faulk, the edge from Auburn. Faulk is, I think, becoming one of the more underrated players in this draft. And McVey did say that you can never have enough edge rushers.

[00:05:36]But there's other rumors, too, that the Rams had a private visit with D'Angelo Ponds, the quarterback out of Indiana. This one, I think, makes a ton of sense. I think that Pawns, who did confirm to Sports Illustrated that he met with the Rams, he said, "I went to Indianapolis, Miami, and Dallas for visits with the Colts and Dolphins and the Cowboys. The Los Angeles Rams came to visit me in person in Bloomington. I believe I met with all 32 NFL teams in some capacity. I met with the Houston Texas, Texans, New York Giants, Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New York Jets, Seattle Seahawks, and Las Vegas Raiders virtually to name a few. My final zoom was with the New Orleans Saints. So Ponds, he is one of the better quarterbacks in this draft. I mean, there's a winner. He played for the national champions, the Indiana Hooers.

[00:06:35]He's not the biggest guy. He's 5'9, but the speed is, I think, what is very intriguing. He's got on tape football speed, but he also has combine speed, too. A 431 140. Also an impressive 43 and a half vertical. 43 and a half inch vertical. So, he has athleticism. He is feisty. He he definitely I think it's kind of one of those things where oh you want him to be fast, you want him to be uh feisty, right? But then you you complain about his size. And what I always say to that is isn't part of the reason why he's feisty is because he's 5'9, right? It kind of gives you that edge. And look, that's the thing. I mean, if he's 6'2, he's does he have that same feisty edge? I don't know. I I can't prove that, but I certainly think that with some of these guys. So, now he's shorter, but he can play in the slot and he can play on the outside. So, the Rams, they could use him in both spots. It's not clear how they're going to envision playing him, but I do like this idea, especially because I think you can find value in the fact that you can be developed with Trey McDuffy and Jaylen Watson and you have veterans that can kind of develop a quarterback's room. We saw with Cooper Cup and the impact he had on younger guys like Buka.

[00:07:57]I think now is the time to draft a corner because I think that you can get value from just getting that player now.

[00:08:05]Now now they're going to have a culture at that position. I wouldn't quite say they had a culture at that position for the last couple of seasons. So I I think that's kind of where where they're at now. I mean just going all over the place. It is a lot of uh a lot of rumors. There's another rumor that the Rams are interested potentially in Ruben Bane, who we've talked about, and Jeremy Fowler did report that there's rival general managers that think that that the Rams are leaning edge rusher, which is interesting because of course you have Byron Young who's eligible for a new deal this off season. He's due for a new contract. He's going to be a free agent after the 2026 season. And then with their first pick in 2024, they took Jared Verse and he's going to be entering his third season and he's a guy that is in is going to be eligible for a new deal next season. So the franchise tag obviously is an option for both players. We haven't seen the Rams use that in quite a while, but that would be a costly franchise tag. Verse does have that fifth year option because he was a first round pick. So, you don't have to make that decision as soon as you might have to. But this it is a big development. It would be a major indicator that they're not going to pay Byron Young.

[00:09:29]And you look at some other guys. I mean, there's Ruben Bane, Arl Ree. He's going to be a high pick. And you could also go day two. I wouldn't I wouldn't put it past him to go day two on that pick as well cuz you got your 61 pick. you have the 93 pick and if they get their offensive weapons in the first round it that's kind of the other route they could go. So, I mean, there's a lot of guys to pay. Pukanua, Kobe Turner, Steve Avala, the Rams might want to do this now because then at the time they have to pay those guys. This player can be developed because Kobe Turner, we know they're going to pay. Puka, they're going to pay Avala. Depends. You might want to keep if Ava can stay healthy for an entire season, he really was the 11th highest graded guard in the NFL. I still think there's a world where Steve Avala can emerge. I mean, look at Warren McClendon emerged in one year when he when he started 13 games and took over right tackle. And the thing about Avala, he hasn't been bad in any sense. He's been above average for sure. It just he's been injured at times that has forced him to miss significant time. And then also, he just hasn't performed like the pick level that he's at. So, I still I still think that there's a world where Avala can be more valuable to this team than even Byron Young just because of how valuable a really good offensive lineman is and the fact that you have Jared Verse who should develop into an elite edge and then if you can find another guy you almost got to think about pairing him with Verse. So, if you can imagine Bane and Verse, I mean Byron Young is good. He really is. Byron Young has uh has had an impressive run for himself considering that he was late into the draft. He he's already 28, believe it or not, which is kind of crazy. You would think he's younger, but hey, last year Byron Young was a top 10 edge, but it's such an important position. It's such an impactful position. I would not put it past them to go that route. But uh coming up next, we are going to continue to talk about the draft buzz for the Los Angeles Rams.

[00:11:36]Feels like Christmas Eve. That's coming up next on Locked on Rams.

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[00:13:01]And welcome back to Locked On Rams.

[00:13:03]Thank you for making Locked On Rams your first listen every single weekday. Free and available wherever your podcast.

[00:13:08]Locked on Rams part of locked on podcast network, your team every day. Also a big shout out to the Everydayers on the Everyday Club. And if you haven't yet joined the Everyday Club, go to lockdown rams.supcast.com today. It's $5 a month, $50 for the entire year. You get access to adree audio. You get access to exclusive merch, exclusive content. It really supports this show and it takes your Rams fandom to the next level. So go to locked on rams.supcast.com today to check it out. All right, here in our second segment, we're going to talk some bestase scenarios and worstcase scenarios. What are the best case scenarios? What do the Rams want to happen in the first round? Well, that depends on what you think they're going to draft and who do you think they have at the top of their draft board. Because if the Rams are trying to get a playmaker and the best possible playmaker that not only helps them this year, but also replaces Devonte Adams next year. Well, then you want them to hope that you get some of those edge rushers taken early, some of those offensive linemen take it early. I think you look at guys like Ruben Bane Jr., even though the Rams have expressed some interest in him, well, if that's just a smoke screen, I think they get an edge rusher later in the draft. Ruben Bane Jr. goes, David Bailey goes, Arll's Ree, they're gone.

[00:14:37]It's this one's less likely, but a guy like Aake Mezador, a lot of people think he's a sleeper. If he goes into the top 10, that would help. Then you go beyond that, the lineman and the safety where you got Dylan Athena, or you've got Kaden Proctor, or you've got Ione the offensive lineman. Guys like that. If they're not going to take an offensive lineman, you want the offensive lineman and the other players, they're not thinking about going high. I think the only safety they would go high on would be Caleb DS if he was available potentially. But there's other guys, too. I mean, if that's how the draft plays out, where there's a lot of edge rushers plus Mendoza, plus Jeremiah Love, you have to believe, and then you've got some other other kind of sneaky picks in there where it's the guards and tackles.

[00:15:31]Well, then the perfect scenario is imagine if the Rams, you're looking at Carnell Tate or Jordan Tyson and Mai Lemon. the more they fall, the better because if they're available later, then there's a higher probability of an easier tradeup or they just become available at 13. Other guys would be Sunny Styles. I think that's a pick that you might not think feels like a Rams pick, but he is a very talented football player. And then Mansour Delane. So Dellay would be an interesting one because he's a guy that you feel like the Rams would have targeted for sure had they not traded for Trent McDuffy and gotten Jaylen Watson. But still, I mean, if they're looking for the future, I mean, that completely solidifies that side of the football at a position that really hurt the Rams in the last couple years. A position that if you're going to list the position groups that led to the Rams not winning the Super Bowl, it certainly would be that. So, I mean, that's the thing. You're not saying that those guys are falling to 13, right?

[00:16:34]Carell Tate falling to 13 is extremely unlikely unless I don't know, unless there's a video that surfaces of him like, you know, pushing some kids ice cream off in front of an ice cream truck or something crazy like that, right?

[00:16:49]Unless something really happens or there's really nothing that's going to really lead to that. But the the lower those guys fall, the higher the probability of them at least making some calls to see if a trade up is possible, right? I mean, if Jordan Tyson is at 10, if you're at 13, you can make that call and try to see if you can trade up. Now, worst case scenarios, though, is that I mean, the truth is the elite blue chip talent, they're not going to just fall into your lap at 13, right?

[00:17:23]you're usually that kind of next tier player most years. I mean, of course, Aaron Donald was not that example, right? Drafted at 14. But I think you look at the flip side of that, it would be if one a lot of teams started drafting receivers. If Mai Lemon was taken top 10, if Jordan Tyson top 10, Carnell Tate we expect to be top 10, but and then at that point you're like, is there is Omar Cooper Jr. worth the 13th pick? I don't think he is receiver out of out of Indiana. And then also if Sunny Styles, man, Jeremiah Love, if they are all top picks and there's no chance the Rams could get them at that point either. I mean, the other route the Rams could go is if is if Maguire and Spencer Flano are available in the T if they want to go tackle that could be a pivot option and since they already kind of fill their biggest need in the free agency period, you could see him go for that. But I don't think that's where they want to go. I mean, there's uh it's a lot of picks to kind of get to you. And I guess it could go back to the guy you talked about at the top, which is a Kenyan Sadi, but would you really want Kenyan Sadik at 13? That feels like it's a little too early for him. And what I mean by that is if another team has a 13th pick, he's probably not on the board. So, you probably would want to look to trade back at that point. Depends how far back you would want to go.

[00:19:01]You can look at a Denzel Boston, Omar Cooper Jr. again. I don't love those picks either, but that's kind of where where I would say that's kind of where I would say I still I still ah so exciting just because you just never know what direction Lesne is going to go. I mean, he they could just go the safe and sensible pick and go with Mai Lemon and and hope that he hasn't been picked before that. It kind of feels like Lemon could be one of those guys that on the day of the draft, everyone's like smoke screen against him is up and then all all of a sudden people just say like this dude's a gamer. Like he really is. This is a guy that's going to make plays. So that is my one concern about about Lemon is when too many teams are saying that a guy's slipping, that's when it kind of makes you think like, wait a second, there's kind of some strategic ploy in play here. So yeah, that's kind of where we're at on that. Now coming up next, what did Lesne, what did Shawn McVey have to say the night before the draft? That's coming up next on Locked on Rams.

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[00:21:47]and welcome back to Locked On Rams.

[00:21:49]Thank you for making Locked On Rams your first listen every single weekday. Free and available every year podcast Locked on Rams part of Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Okay, so we're going to break this up into a couple segments because Shawn McVey and Lesne spoke to the media for almost 30 minutes and I got the nuggets for you guys, things you need to know about. And the first thing that he was asked Shawn McVey was about Pukanakua. That was the first question and also what Puka's role would be and the activities he would go through in these offseason workouts. And McVey said that Puka is a full participant, will be a full participant, said he looks great. He was asked if McVey had any conversations with Puka about some of the off the- field stuff this transpired this off season and McVey said that he's going to keep those between us. He does say that he feels great about the direction that he's heading in. And I think this kind of goes back to what we talked about on this show on numerous occasions that McVey and Puka have a very very strong relationship. And yes, they've moved off of guys. Yes, they've moved off of guys.

[00:23:02]A lot of times those guys were kind of done. Let's be honest. Cooper Cub was done for being a wide receiver one. Even Jaylen Ramsay had slipped. Pukanua I don't even think has peaked as a player yet and I know that should enter the equation and I'm not saying that's why Shawn McVey is doing that but I do think that like if Puka was the last guy on the roster would it be different probably just because for better or worse he'd be a distraction right but I al also think that the reason why I say this is because I think that Shawn McVey almost can have a relationship with Puka to where it almost feels like he's a college coach mentoring and helping a young player get better. I go back to kind of what Nick Sabin did a couple years ago where he was just defending a player who who was uh got into some trouble and he basically said, "Yeah, like in this day and age, every time every time something happens, we just we just want to kind of write people off, right?" I mean, I think that for Puka I and McVey, I think that yes, he's a great player, but I also think it's because McVey thinks that he can have a positive impact on his life, and I think that he can help him get him to be the player and the person that he wants to be. So, yeah, the good news is it feels like the vibes are shifting with Puka. It feels like he's focused on football now, which is a great thing. It's a very long off season in the NFL. So, yeah, let's all keep uh keeping the vibes up for Puka.

[00:24:41]We know the guy deep down. We know who he is. Even not even deep down at the surface level. He's a guy with a great heart. And he's he's someone who loves his teammates, loves the coaches, treats everyone in the building with a lot of respect and kindness. Um, and I I I've seen that firsthand my own eyes. So, I will say uh yeah, Bugadua, things are looking up for him.

[00:25:02]Hopefully this uh offseason will be a major blip on the radar of the Puka Nakua story one day. All right. He also was Lesne was asked about the Matthew Stafford situation as far as his contract and this really made me feel good to hear. He said that there's no drama with the Stafford contract.

[00:25:24]doesn't have a timeline, but he got a big smile on his face kind of thinking about it. And yeah, I mean, look, we had that whole off season where he was in Wyoming at Tom Brady's mansion and all this all these uh these incorrect fake news stories and now it's hey, Stafford coming off an MVP season. You added the win now pieces, there's zero doubts about where he'll be playing football next season. I think that yes, even though that I think he's going to get the money he deserves based on his current level of performance, I will also say that I do believe that with with this contract, it is kind of a little bit of a hey, like we take care of our own and look for him to sign a deal. Two years, 110 million and uh he deserves it, man. He's still one of the best at what he does at 38 years old. So that that is a great thing. And now D he was McVey and Sneeed they kind of talked about the the backup quarterback spot and this is where it got very interesting as well. So he was asked with the backup quarterback spot and he was asked if they're going to fill that position in the draft or in a veteran player. and they asked if about Jimmy Garopppolo and Sneeed made it very clear Jimmy Gimmy Garopolo is still priority number one and he acknowledged that there were some reports out there about possibly retiring and McVey jumped in and he said that hey we've had good dialogue we want to give him his time and then this was the biggest takeaway is McVey said when the time is right hope he'll change his mind. So that definitely adds validity to the rumors that he wants to retire. At least he's contemplating retirement. So that tells you right there. It's certainly possible, but yeah, I mean, we'll see. Could they could they draft someone high McShay has them going with Tai Simpson? Do they want a veteran? We talked about some names yesterday or they could go with. I feel like based on what McVey was saying, I don't think it's a guarantee or anything, but it feels like internally they at least have some hope that Jimmy G is going to continue his career. Was that a negotiating ploy? I'm not so sure. But even if it is, the Rams might the Rams might budge a little bit because of like I can they absolutely love Jimmy G in that building. like he is a very respected member of the team.

[00:28:09]Like his charisma, his personality, gets along with everyone. So, at the end of the day, he's a backup quarterback, but still, I think they value that position more than ever. They know that they do want to make sure that they're not running Stafford into the ground. And of course, Stafford's going to play, but if he's nicked up, if he's banged up, it's the difference of, hey, playing through something or going to a capable backup quarterback. And that's what they view Jimmy Garopolo as. So it sounds to me like they still believe that there's a chance at least. So you're saying there's a chance in the words of the great Lloyd Christmas from Dumb and Dumber. So you're saying there's a chance he could be back? Well, it's a possibility. But that's going to do it for this episode of Locked On Rams. My name is Doug McCain. You can follow me on X and Instagram at Dmac LA. Until next time, whose house? It's Locked on Rams House.