Rams Value 'Comfort' Over Championships in National Title Selections
The Los Angeles Rams just can't stop clinging to the nostalgia of championships past ... though this type of trip down memory lane conjured far more recent memories.
Los Angeles' 2023 draft class, which fully formed on Saturday, features several familiar names from anyone who took in the action of a memorable College Football Playoff.
Four members from the two victors are on their way to Southern California: the Rams opened their draft proceedings by choosing TCU center Steve Avila on Friday before adding his teammate and cornerback Tre'Vius Hodges-Tomlinson four rounds and one day later. In between, the Rams made one of the biggest Saturday splashes in the form of Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett, who was later joined by his former Athens guardian Warren McClendon Jr.
Though the Rams' championship gambit forced them to take a muted prescience at the draft, they made some of the more intriguing moves of the latter rounds. Some observers, both professional and amateur alike, are perhaps already envisioning Avila snapping to Bennett, widely seen as a potential successor to Matthew Stafford, before long.
"You get into the versatility, a guy that can definitely play three spots, left (guard), center, right guard, those type (of) things," general manager Les Snead said of the Avila pick. "(At the) end of the day, like (head coach) Sean (McVay) said, ‘Turn on the College Football Playoff and he plays against two first rounders back-to-back and then goes to the Senior Bowl and plays against guys that definitely got drafted over the last couple of days, and you get to really see him evolve and improve and go, ‘Wow.'"
McVay dispelled the notion of Bennett benefitting purely from Georgia's fearsome group of blockers (which included McClendon) but spoke highly of his success story, which saw him go from walk-on at Georgia to a two-time national champion thrower.
"People take for granted that this guy is just a really good football player," McVay said. "The background and the way that he became the starter at Georgia is a little bit unconventional and it wasn't the five-star route, but I think it minimized the athleticism, the ability to create off-schedule. He's a natural thrower of the football. He can play with great anticipation, throws the ball with accuracy, plays within the timing."
The Rams' decision-makers noted that championship expertise played a marginal role in the lauded quartet's selection but they appreciated the connections built en route to groundbreaking history on each side: Bennett and McClendon's Bulldogs are the two-time reigning national champions while Avila and Hodges-Tomlinson guided their Horned Frogs to their first-ever CFP appearance.
"I don't know if I've thought about it like that, but I do think they'd be better equipped to tell you," McVay said of the national championship coincidences involved. "I'm sure there's a certain level of comfort. You're coming into a new atmosphere, a new environment, there's always a comfort and a familiar face and somebody that you can kind of go to as you're getting to know other people. I wish I could say we were that smart thinking about that but I do think it certainly is helpful.”
"Anytime the rookies come in, I'm like, ‘Okay, first day of school, right?’" Snead added. "There is the element of butterflies, but it’s neat to make teammates out of it. I think when these guys go and maybe train together for the let's call it pre-draft, pre-combine training, go to the combine, they bond ... As Sean said, it definitely helps them when they do go to that first day of school, like, wow, I got a buddy here, so it's not so bad.”
Such "buddies" are well-used to high-profile gridirons, their next being the turf of SoFi Stadium.
Both Georgia and TCU were well-represented over the weekend after the two partook in the most recent national title game, with the Bulldogs demolishing the Horned Frogs by a 65-7 final. Georgia was tied with SEC foe Alabama for the most draftees with 10 while TCU had eight Frogs hop to the NFL.
Those three schools, along with TCU's CFP victims from Michigan, were the only establishments in the country to hear their names called on eight different occasions throughout the draft. McVay showered praises upon Bulldogs boss Kirby Smart as well as TCU head coaches Sonny Dykes and Gary Patterson, the latter being a former Fort Worth leader who coached another sixth-round pick, running back Matt Evans, before he transferred to Mississippi.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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