Los Angeles Rams: 7-Round 2018 mock draft for early April
As things stand now, guys like Samson Ebukam, Matt Longacre and Carlos Thompson are the Rams’ primary edge rushers for the 2018 season. With Robert Quinn gone and Connor Barwin still unsigned on the open market, I could certainly see the Rams investing heavily at the edge rusher position.
Adding Davenport in the first round would help, but it is not enough. In the third round of this mock draft, the Los Angeles Rams double up on the edge rusher position by taking Dorance Armstrong Jr.
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Armstrong is a quick and explosive athlete who shows an impressive combination of skills on the edge. He takes an explosive first step off of the snap, immediately gaining an advantage over the opposing offensive tackle. Armstrong is primarily a speed rusher, but he has great length and solid power that gives him a relatively balanced skill set.
The Kansas product has the speed and athleticism to bend around the edge and create immediate pressure off the edge. However, he also has an interesting inside spin move that ties opposing offensive tackles in knots.
His pass rush upside is awfully impressive and evident on tape, but his 15.5 sacks over a three-year college career leaves plenty to be desired. Armstrong was only fully unleashed at Kansas during his sophomore season of 2016. During that season, he piled up 10 sacks and 20 tackles for loss. However, Armstrong was asked to play more gap responsibility in 2017 and only had two sacks on the season.
His production was spotty, but Armstrong should not be fully blamed for that. He was simply doing what was asked of him by the Kansas coaching staff. Simply put, Dorance Armstrong is an extremely talented edge rusher who also shows strong skills against the run. He could come in and make an immediate impact for the Rams at an obvious position of need.