Rams Top Draft Candidates, Backup QB, New Kicker, Who Fills in For Higbee, Keeping Noteboom and More

who do we want to see the Rams draft with their first round pick when will Tyler higgy be back what will they do at the tight end Position will the Rams keep Joe no will they draft a kicker who will be the backup quarterback next season that's coming up next on a mailback edition of locked on Rams you are locked on Rams your daily Los Angeles Rams podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day [Music] what is up ramley and welcome to the episode of Locked on Rams your daily podcast covering your Los Angeles Rams free and available R get your podcast locked on Rams part of locked on podcast Network your team every day we're also available over on YouTube so if you have not yet do us a huge favor so close to 12,000 subscribers so hit that subscribe button hit that notification Bell hit that like button and drop all your takes about your Los Angeles Rams and any questions you want to see featured on our mailbag episodes my name is Doug McCain friends call me dmac you can follow me on exit Instagram at dmac corla the cing LA Sports for over a decade 247 Sports SI Dodgers Nation lock on Rams and as always I'm joined by the Rams prea and postgame show host for the Rams flagship radio station ESPN 710 La he just finished his eighth season cover your Los Angeles Rams The Peoples Champ Mr Travis Rogers you can follow him on X at Travis Rogers and on today's episode we have a jam pack mailbag episode we're talking about who the Rams will be drafting at 19 will they trade the pig what will they do at the backup quarterback position the kicker position that so much more who' you rather see next year a Dodgers World Series or a Rams Super Bowl we're getting into all that here on locked on Rams but first today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more right right now new customers get $150 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet that's 150 bucks if your bet wins visit fanduel.com loock on to get started so Travis we're going to dive right into this mailbag episode the first question comes from Larry ster 318 will the Rams keep Joe no boom I think this is a pretty simple one if you heard Les needs comments the other day the reporters he said that they value him that they're searching for a win-win scenario they would keep him in the horns let me just translate that for Rams Fans it's take a pay cut or you're going to get relased that's that's kind of where they sit at yeah look and that's where they should be right this is a this is an easy one I I I have um a little bit of a of a soft spot for him as a Rams fan as someone who's watched his entire career here in Los Angeles he's stepped up at a very important time in the in the progression of this team he was the starting left tackle for a few weeks when Andrew Whitworth went down when they won the Super Bowl right that that's not nothing that that is something that he proved that he can do uh I think he's a much better backup a much better depth piece a much better swing player than he is a starting player he makes way too much money for what it is that he does for this team uh if he likes Los Angeles if he likes the culture of the Rams if he likes what he's been able to do here then I think what win-win means unless need parlament is take a pay cut or go find more money somewhere else because we're not doing that again um it just depends on whether he wants to be here and whether or not the Rams like that price I I would if I had to place a bet I think it's likely he's somewhere else next season yeah I think that we look at his experience and what he's provided as a dep piece yeah they're going to be some options it's not he's going to be out of the league if it's not with the Rams right other teams are going to take a flyer on Joe no Boom the only issue with the Rams is is a cap hit of $20 million in 2024 not bad if you're a starting left tackle or something like that but that's way too high for a backup for a guy who's not a starter so they're definitely have to work something out if he's going to be back with the Rams next question comes from Ant-Man 5682 when will Tyler higgy return and who will fill in for him next year while he's out so Les needy told reporters a couple days ago that higgy has undergone surgery to repair it AC on MCL there's no timetable for his return and for me I personally think that probably not going to be able to start the year Davis Allen he showed some flashes he's big he's got the catch radius Hunter long is still under contract we talked about Brock Bowers as a guy you could draft I think you can even dip into the later rounds a guy like J gavon Sanders out of Texas guys like that dalen Hawker out of Colorado State so I think they are probably going to draft the tight end but I don't anticipate Higg being ready for the start of the Season no not considering when he got hurt right he got hurt in the playoffs so you're talking about somebody that got hurt in you know towards the middle and end of January I know that that that injury that used to be a year has been shortened up to maybe you know eight or nine months typically but nine months from January is October and that's if everything goes exactly right and then you're back and everybody that has had this injury that I've talked to and heard about it you might be able to go but you're never really yourself until about 18 months after the injury so um if they get him back at all I think that that's probably you know an optimistic Viewpoint they're going to have to draft somebody or they're GNA have to sign somebody in the free agent pool or they're going to have to find a way to to maybe juice the Davis Allen experience moving forward who by the way played pretty well towards the end of the season he he started to pick up uh what the McVey offense is I know that we've talked about this before the everydays will know this uh the the tight end position in the Rams offense is probably the second most complicated position outside of the quarterback so that does take some time so you probably wants somebody that's been in the building and understands uh what it is you're trying to do as your first option that's probably Allen at this point but I do think that once you get past the Big Three Needs for this team you know we're talking Corner you're talking Edge you're talking offensive line tight end is probably very close to the top of that list so uh I I I wouldn't be surprised if you see some new faces at that position I don't expect Tyler higgy to be an impactful player in this upcoming season just because of the timing of the injury I agree even if they're high on Davis Allen they still don't want to put all their eggs in that basket right they're definitely going to have some options and they obviously you got got that can block too I mean that's very important for that position the way the Rams use it and the way that sne was talking about Higg saying okay we just got to get him healthy and then we can start talking about getting him to return to football action whether that's in August or October that remains to be seen so that's a pretty big gap so that tells me that they are not banking on him being back to start the season can I throw one more thing in there too D abely and that's simply that higgy's been here a long time he's played really well he's had some very nice moments he's been but he's it may be time to find someone that regardless of the injury that he suffered and I'm I'm sorry that anybody gets hurt obviously but this is something they needed to address even if he were 100% healthy this is something that they need to get better at at that position you look at their offense they got the quarterback they got the running back they got the wide receiver room that's kind of pretty much locked in with Thea and cup and Robinson the one missing as far as the skill sets go is that tight end piece and and now that higgy has been hurt it it just shoots to the top of the list of offensive needs and even if he were healthy I think that's so we saw Allen more and more towards the end of the year I think that may have been a thing they were thinking of regardless of his health absolutely and as you point out it's unfortunate the timing of when he got injured right their last game of the season he signed that extension last year he really the best tight end in Rams history but it's something that moving forward they were going to have to address at some point so that kind of puts the wheels in motion and forces them to do that now next question Travis it comes from Sandy all 1968 and he says I always say we when referring to my team guys at work call me out on it we Rams great show guys can Travis say we when talking about the Rams no no I'm not on the team you're not on the team you don't have a jersey you don't have a Rogers no look you are on the team you're the postgame show host the you are on the I am an employee of 710 ESPN I am an employee of the locked on podcast Network I am not a member of the I would love to be if they wanted to extend me an opportunity to join the family if they wanted to hire me as an employee I would start saying we the very moment that the ink was dry on the contract I'm not on the team I I I understand why people like that if you want to do it you know the the Royal wi you the Estes right knock yourself out I have rules for these things I'm I'm a they not a we you could have been a better Kicker than a lot of the guys that had last year yeah look I I tried I mean I just I just asked the question that was present I tried I tried guys he's not going to say we hey you guys know I get down I get all the gear and then all my friends send me that Meme where it says blood think he on the team okay so I always get made fun of give me a nice laminated thing I'll look like a coordinator on the sideline I mean I like to just try to play you know pretend here no no judgment for the we people out there in the universe if that what makes you K but that's what makes you tick knock yourself out it doesn't work for me okay so you hear that Rams you got to sign him to a one day contract and he will finally say we were referring to Los Angeles Rams but coming up our next s we're going to answer more of your questions who will the Rams draft at 19 will they trade the pick what they do at the backup quarterback position all that more coming up on lock on Rams get buckets with your first bet on FanDuel America's number one sports book because right now new customers you get $150 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet that's 150 bucks if your bet wins and of course you can bet on all your favorite NBA players and teams for instance you know maybe you took the Lakers and laid the points last night hope not because that certainly wasn't going to go your way hopefully that uh you don't have the Laker win total on the over for the season because that's going to be something that's pretty hard to get down but all of the stuff you love to bet in the NBA is right there on FanDuel there are quick bets there are live same game parlays there are exclusive prop bets and of course there is a whole lot more but you got to go to fanduel.com lockon that's fanduel.com l d n and shoot your shot FanDuel the official Sportsbook partner of the NBA and let's talk a little bit about logic's dmac you know that on this show we get a lot of in-depth analysis and hot takes right well let me give you the hottest take of the day the best lineup in LA right now is the lineup of auto loans at logixs they start off at the top with one of my favorites The Proven independable new and used vehicle loan you can count on these guys to give you low rates and save you big time bucks so next up they've got the exciting new rookie sensation in their electric vehicle loans with super low rates and flexible payment terms rounding out the lineup they've got their Auto refinancing loan and Lease buyout loans with these guys you could lower your monthly payments and get on the road to owning your car even faster it is a hot take to be sure but seriously no one can beat the lineup at Logix visit your local logixs branch right here in Los Angeles and let one of their amazing team members help you or just apply online in minutes at logixbanking.com that's logixbanking.com and we are off and running here on lock on Rams thank you for making locked on Rams your first listen every single weekday free and available wherever get your podcast locked on Rams part of locked on podcast Network your team every day and also a special shout out to those everyday listeners out there we appreciate you watching and listening to every single episode if you got friends you got family members that are Rams Fans give the gift of locked on Rams send them a link send them a YouTube link and definitely we appreciate it guys now here in our next segment Travis we're gonna pick up on some of these questions and this one's a little bit of a loaded one and it's from Edwin Rampage 39 says hey Doug and Travis love the show and listen every day I have two questions one if you could choose only one would you rather see the Rams win the Super Bowl this season or would you rather see the Dodgers win the World Series this season by the way both are happening two if you each could select the number 19 pick this year for the Rams who would you pick so you don't have to throw out a name for the draft pick we're definitely early on that I'll throw out some names I'm not ready to commit to a guy but uh for the first question the floor is yours that's a good question that's a really good question um both of them have R have won a championship recently here's where I'm going to Edge by the narrowest of margins towards the Dodgers the Rams Super Bowl at the end of the Super Bowl 56 is straight up a Super Bowl championship they went through a normal season with fans in the seats went through a normal playoff format and won the Super Bowl by beating the Bengals the Dodgers most recent World Series Championship is not less than but it's weird it was played in empty stadiums it was played with a portion of a season it was played on a neutral field in Dallas Texas against the Tampa Bay Rays it was just a bizarre set of circumstances it counts but I would still love to see them punch their 162 game ticket uh that hasn't happened since 1988 I was a junior in high school for goodness sake I mean it was a long time ago uh I want them both I like the I like the question I would love to see it but by the narrowest of margins I will lean towards the Dodgers interesting stuff I think for me to answer that question who would I rather see win the Super bowl next year would I rather see the Dodgers win the World Series or the Rams with the Super Bowl might answer that question is yes okay that's the answer but no honestly like you mentioned the 2020 World Series it was a series we had cardboard cutouts it was a shortened season we playing less than 40% of the regular season the Rams they're Super Bowl 56 that was the full monty right the full load of games the regular season and the playoffs the way they came back to win that Super Bowl also you had a parade okay Dodgers you did not have a parade run it back run it back run it back baby yeah Aaron Donald flexing it out I mean it was just beautiful it's a beautiful thing but I will say having said that man I mean I'm on a mission here in Los Angeles to try to get the Rams to just be that team in the NFL and if you get three Super Bowls you join that top 10 list of teams that has three Super Bowl titles you tie the Chiefs Raiders Washington now known as the commanders and the Broncos so you get those two Super Bowls out of this run I think when you look at the windows of both teams yes you just signed Otani for the Dodgers but yeah Mook have Freddy they're only getting older how much of their primes they have left and you look at where the Dodger where the Rams are at with Aaron Don and Cooper cup and Matthew Stafford I think both these franchises the parallels there are that you want to squeeze as many championship runs out of this core so I see the similarities but look let's just win both both is great but I think you bring up a really good point and that is that both of these organizations are set up for multiple shots at this it's it's so hard to win a title and and basically everything needs to break right for you to win a championship like Rams Fans know this jasi tart catches that ball for San Francisco and we're not having this conversation more than likely you know the the Dodgers have been the best team in baseball for over the last 10 years or so and they have one weirdo Championship to show from it because they get cold at the worst possible time or whatever it is it's so hard and the only thing you can ask for is give yourself a bunch of shots at it both of these teams have both both of these teams probably will continue to and while I know we talk about the window being Matthew Stafford and Aaron Donald and that's certainly a huge part of it I also think when it comes to the ram specifically the window is Shawn McVey Shawn McVey is not even 40 this is this is in Shawn mcvey's DNA there isn't a better job for him in football waiting for him somewhere else so the Rams are going to have multiple shots at it even after the quarterback defensive tackle window starts to close a little little bit I think they'll kick it open again because they got the right coach yeah absolutely I mean gun to my head I me you probably got to say the Dodgers because of like I've never seen a championship parade for the Dodgers in my life I've seen a ram Championship parade but I mean I want to see them both win I mean come on now now he also asked of course who would I take with a number 19 pick so look if I can have anyone at that pick it really depends on who's available I think terion Arnold is someone who's G to be picked probably in the top 10 quarterback out of Alabama I love what he said yesterday on his postgame press conference for the combine saying I'm going to be the best corner in this class if you could trade up to get him or he falls to you which is unlikely that would be my number one guy also look Olu fashanu out of Penn State you've seen some mocks that have had him towards the middle of the first round he's really him and Joe Al in my opinion are the only two Elite left tackle prospects in this draft Al's going to be taken higher than that fan is another guy you can maybe trade up a little bit to get if he's your guy and Cooper deene the quarterback out of Iowa not as high as other people on him but he's been mocked to the Rams but how about latu latu I don't know if you saw latu yesterday he was really good yeah look that that that's who I'd like to see I I think that's the one that is not only uh possible I think it's very possible I think that there's uh the the football player in him right I know that how big is his hands what does he run what does he lift what that fine right that's that's not my thing like the underwear Olympics are not super interesting to me what is look like when he plays football dude's a beast that that guy that guy is a monster and putting him on a team that has the other defensive players that it does right now especially along the defensive line and guys like Byron young that could be a real problem for teams so I would love to see the Rams land on latu yeah the thing with latu was like okay heading into the combine he wasn't supposed to impress and just wow Scouts with his 40 time and all of his metrics there it was about okay on tape he's a beast it's the 23 and a half sacks last couple Seasons it's the tackles for a loss it's the football speed but then you look at the numbers you put up yesterday then okay now he has both so he almost okay has he played himself out of the draft as far as where the Rams are going to be picking there at 19 and he ran a 46440 I mean that was a lot better than a lot of people expected he was happy with it and yeah he's someone like I said 21 and a half tackles for loss most by any player in the nation last season and he coming off that net contusion with Washington where they told him to medically retire so it's a great story Daniel Jeremiah has him as 21st on his big board so he hit his numbers a low 40 time and yeah if he were available it would be great to bring the hometown kid the UCLA Bruin to the Rams so had to mention that now he was waiting yeah at least it made it more than 10 seconds I mean come on now that was a that was the over under now we we'll do a quick one here before we hit the break and then we'll pick it up in the next one um this is uh from Nesco no F FRN k i k what's your favorite Rams uniform the last 10 years love the episodes fellas for me it is the modern throwback that they won the Super Bowl in the white with the yellow pants with the soul pants I think it's clean I think it's the best of all the new uniforms that they brought out so I gotta go with that one I I agree with of their modern combinations that's the best one couldn't agree more but if we're talking about anything that they've worn over the last 10 years I like when they went Throwbacks to like the late 80s you know and and the 70s that that that uniform the I think Eric Dickerson right that's the one that's always hit me the best I know that the Rams have worn that uh you know as a throwback over the last 10 years or so so that's just more of a of a personal choice for me because that's what they wore when I was a kid I'm sure if if you were a little bit older than me you go back to the white rans horns you go back to the Merlin olssen Deacon Deacon Jones days those are pretty sweet as well but give me me that uh that Jim Everett Eric Dickerson look and that that's always in my mind the Jackie Slater look that's always the one that I've Loved yeah if the Rebrand came about and they rolled those out exactly like they did as Throwbacks I'd be absolutely on board with that I actually think they should because I talked about on the show before Sports Illustrated had the Rams as their top uniform for years and years and years and the Raiders haven't changed the Packers haven't changed I think the Rams really should have stayed in that class I know you got to sell uniforms and you're starting franchise and everything like that but I really think they shouldn't have changed because of how iconic those uniforms were yeah they they're just they're instant they're instantly recognizable you know you see the Cowboys boom that's the Cowboys you see the Packers boom it's the Packers and that that era of rams uniform that ram horn helmet is as iconic as anything else they they couldn't if they go back I'll be the first guy in line I love them absolutely now coming up in our next segment though more questions from you will the Rams go big on a backup quarterback on a kicker that's coming up next here on lock on Rams this show is sponsored by better help let me ask you this how is your social battery right now right are do you feel like you're run down do you feel drained a little bit are you filled up are you ready to go are you ready to go do anything and everything so why do you feel that way right why do you feel like you could go do anything at any time or why do you feel like you just kind of need to chill out and recharge it can be super easy to ignore that social battery spread yourselves a little thin especially with it getting nice again and people starting to get together all over again after the rain and all that stuff we've had and therapy can give you the self-awareness to build a social life that doesn't drain your battery so if you've been thinking about starting therapy give better help a try it's entirely online it's designed to be convenient it's flexible and it's suited to your schedule you just fill out a brief questionnaire you get matched with to the licensed therapist and you can switch therapists at any time for no additional charge so find your social sweet spot with betterhelp visit betterhelp.com loock onay to get 10% off of your first month that's betterhelp.com H betterhelp.com lockon give it a shot and welcome back to locked on Rams thank you for making locked on Rams your first list in every single week Day free and available Rev Gear podcast now next question comes from Tom Stevens 92 what will the Rams do with the backup quarterback spot so GNA talk about what lesne mentioned a few days ago when he was asked about the backup quarterback moving forward in sne said what we do want to accomplish this year is making sure we have someone if we ever have to go play a game without Matthew in the lineup we want to be able to win it and also he basically admitted that they whiffed at that position last season he said and I think this year different than last year based on salary cap it could allow us to maybe have a veteran quarterback and we don't want to see what happened last year when it came back to hurt us definitely in one game of course he's talking about Brett riit and how they lost to the Packers 20 to3 in week nine without Matthew Stafford so it feels like they learned their lesson and they're going to bring in a viable backup quarterback option for 20124 I I think the answer from Sneed is exactly why I like this team as much as I do is ex actly why I'm so bullish on not just this upcoming season but their future generally speaking that what you just read dmac is is so uncommon to say you know what we kind of tricked that one off that that that was a mistake we we we we made an error and we need to make sure it doesn't happen again we didn't have a right guy in the right spot at the right time and it cost us a game and you know thankfully it didn't cost him a playoff spot but it could have you know one of those other games goes a different direction and we're talking about a totally different thing and they realize that and they're saying it I think that this has been something that they've gotten away with for a very long time and then they nearly had it bite him in the you know what with that Packer game that you're talking about I would be stunned if there isn't somebody that is NFL competent with a baseball cap on on the sideline to start that season Matthew Stafford is tough as you know what he takes shots but this is the NFL and guys get hurt and guys miss time and it's not the future the position it's not a guy that oh we got to go finish out the rest of the season although that sometimes can be the case it's a hey he's down for a couple of weeks or he's down for a game or two or three can we at least win as often as we lose kind of what Baker Mayfield did even with a really bad team a couple of years ago that they went two and three over the five games he started that's what you're looking for from a backup quarterback and that was with a team that wasn't very good so I think you're looking for something in there if it's Carson Wentz terrific that's exactly what it is but if it's somebody like that they need to be experienced or at the very least somebody that's played in a bunch of big-time college games that's ready to step into that role uh I I wouldn't be I I would be surprised if it's not somebody that has some NFL seasoning on them coming into the season yeah I agree 100% I think what they're going to do is they're going to wait to see which quality quarterback is going to fall into their lap that they can get value out of because that quarterback wants to join the ram to try to boost his stock like we saw Baker Mayfield like we saw at Carson Wentz now can they afford Wentz probably not but if you do look at the salary cap it did jump more than $30 million this year it's a record 25.4 million and that's what alluding to as far as having some more options as far as bringing in someone now you got guys like brassette and darnold and Huntley Tyler Huntley Carson went gner muu Jake Browning Tyrod Taylor Marcus Mariota I don't know if they're going to invest in that position early on I think they're going to kind of be patient but they're going to know that okay the wentz's the baker Mayfields they fell into our lap later in this season think they're going to kind of get the best guy they can before the preseason begins before training camp and they're gonna kind of go from there every guy that you just mentioned on that list fits the bill every single one of them right so it's not like we could argue that this guy's a little bit better than this guy but every name that you just rattled off dmac is a guy that is played in the NFL that has had to start in the NFL and has had to varying degrees success in the NFL this is not somebody that's I don't know let's see what it is the these are NFL quarterbacks these are for lack of a better word professional backups that this is what they do and if you had to play a game or two or three with them you got a shot and that's what you're looking for no doubt about it now I think this also can I squeeze some more of these in here and we head out of this one and I think this applies to this question too Dennis sakuro asks do you see the Rams drafting a kicker or signing someone in free agency got Cam little out of AR Arkansas he has a lot of potential and you got other guys out there we talked about kyi fair barar I'm not so sure who it's going to be right now but I think it's also something that's a lot like the backup quarterback position where they learned that lesson from that and I think they're going to learn this lesson from the kicker spot too that they really need someone they can trust if they're truly all in on making a run this season you can't fake that spot you can't and you you want to try to do it on a little bit of a budget if you can but you you need a guy that hey look got I need a 48 yard field goal here to win a game and you can't think twice about sending him out there it can't be one of those hey would we rather go for it on Third and 19 and try to or fourth and 19 because that's the conversation we were having last year anything under 50 yards you have to at least be comfortable enough sending them out there to give it a run that's something they didn't have last year draft trade free agency free whatever it is you need to start figuring that one out and because you can't do what you did last year yeah you also got Joshua cardi out of Stanford I'm just trying to drop some of these names so if they drop I can take full credit and just take my Victory lap but we'll answer more of these questions on Monday but thanks guys for all of your questions for the this week's mailbag and definitely keep dropping those for the entire season because we read the comments after every show we Bank them for episodes like this one but that's going to do it for this episod of lockon rams my name is Doug McCain you can follow me on exit Instagram at dmac corla and you can follow the Peoples Champ Mr Travis Rogers at Travis Rogers until next time whose house it's locked on Rams house