Titans Trade #1 Overall Draft Pick to Rams

April 14, 2016 theguru Need to Know 0

From left: NDSU QB Wentz, Cal-Berkeley QB Goff, Memphis QB Lynch

The Los Angeles Rams have acquired the #1 overall pick in this year’s NFL draft from the Tennessee Titans. This virtually guarantees that they will be drafting a quarterback in the first Round this year, namely Carson Wentz or Jared Goff. For a franchise that has had 3 franchise quarterbacks suffer physical breakdowns over the past 15 years, there seems to be no price too steep to pay in their pursuit of one to begin this new era in Southern California.

To be specific, here is what the Rams are giving up:

2016 15th overall, 2nd round #43, and #45, 3rd round #76; 2017 1st round and 3rd round picks.

They have acquired the following from the Titans:

2016 1st overall, 4th round #113, 6th round #177

St. Louis Rams quarterback Case Keenum sets up to pass the football in the second quarter against Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis on December 17, 2015. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
St. Louis Rams quarterback Case Keenum sets up to pass the football in the second quarter against Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis on December 17, 2015. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

I suppose that touting Case Keenum as their starting quarterback going into 2016 was making Rams brass uneasy, and in today’s NFL you are nothing without having and elite player at the quarterback position (see Cleveland Browns). The question remains, are we getting a Peyton Manning or a Ryan Leaf? The Rams, the team that traded draft rights to RG3 a few years ago for a bunch of draft picks, have now found themselves in a similar situation the Redskins were when they were positioning themselves to draft the standout QB out of Baylor. Considering they Redskins made the playoffs twice in the years immediately following that deal, an argument can be made that they were the “winners” of that trade, regardless of RG3’s injuries due to his mishandling by former ‘Skins coach Mike Shanahan.

The Guru knows the #1 pick is going to be one of these 2 outstanding college QB's.
The Guru knows the #1 pick is going to be one of these 2 outstanding college QB’s.

Franchise quarterbacks are worth their weight in gold. If Wentz is as good as they think, the Rams will be set at QB until roughly the year 2030 and have a marketable face of the franchise to help sell jerseys. The Titans have problems all over the field and a slew of draft picks will help them rebuild. The Rams didn’t give up as much as you would think:

  1. Their number one pick in 2017 should be towards the end of the first round.
  2. The pick they gave up this year was a middling #15
  3. They received the Titans #4 and #6 picks this year and gave up their #3 next year. This is roughly an equal little trade-off here.
  4. All things considered, the Titans traded the top pick for two middle round #1 picks. I would call that an even trade.

Strong Mind,

The Guru