[moklerman]

Basically, the approach many of us on here believe in.
A few still buy into the BPA myth.

https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2019/0 ... ssion=true

It doesn't seem to say that he doesn't believe in BPA, just that it's harder to gauge who's going to be there at the back of the first round. I believe he even says that they target the BPA but only at specific positions because they can only wait to see what happens after the first 10-15 picks.

Why do you say that the BPA is a myth?

[Flash]

The Los Angeles Rams haven’t had a first-round pick in either of the last two drafts because of trades for Jared Goff and Brandin Cooks. As of now, they hold the 31st overall selection in Round 1, but it’s far from a certainty that they’ll be the team making that pick on April 25.

Les Snead has a knack for trading picks and with the Rams’ selection being at the end of the first round, moving back a few picks to the second is definitely an option – especially if one of Los Angeles’ primary targets doesn’t fall to No. 31.

Snead recently discussed how the Rams plan to approach the draft this year and indicated that trading back is definitely an option, as it always is. They’ll also try to take the best player available “at a specific amount of positions.”

“I think the way we’ll do it is, we’ll have a priority of position we should target. Now, where we’re picking at 31 … it’s a lot harder to gauge who is going to be there,” Snead said, via the team’s official site. “Nowadays, it’s like, OK, you can probably guess the top 10 to 15 [draft picks], but after that, the order gets a little funky and harder to figure out. So I think what we’ve got to do is be disciplined and go, let’s call it, within a specific amount of positions if at that pick, or let’s say we want to trade back into the second round or something and acquire more picks — you then take who you subjectively think is the best player available at those positions. Because if you go into it with one position, that’s usually where you reach. Or maybe you get lucky and the position you really need is sitting there, but you always want to guard against, if you call it, the cognitive bias that comes into play.”

Right now, it’s difficult to predict exactly what positions the Rams will be targeting in the draft. Until free agency happens and players are signed, we won’t fully know where the Rams’ biggest holes will be.

Currently, they’re almost certain to address the pass rush with Dante Fowler Jr. hitting free agency, as well as the interior defensive line. Michael Brockers could be cut to free up $10.25 million, while Ndamukong Suh is also a free agent like Fowler.

Safety could also be a position of need, along with left guard. Lamarcus Joyner and Rodger Saffold are pending free agents and could price themselves out of L.A.

There’s still a long way to go before the Rams completely narrow down their positions of need, but they likely have a decent idea of which spots they’ll be looking at come draft time.



Am I the only one who has notice Les uses "let's call it" a whole lot?

[Elvis]

So I think what we’ve got to do is be disciplined and go, let’s call it, within a specific amount of positions if at that pick,

Am I the only one who has notice Les uses "let's call it" a whole lot?

You're not the only one and either he's doing it more lately or i'm just noticing it more...

[AvengerRam]

I don't know anyone who has expressed that we should use a pure BPA approach.

However, you're entirely incorrect in suggesting that the BPA aspect of draft analysis is a "myth" according to Snead. In fact, he confirmed what I, and many others, have said, which is that both "need" and BPA are factors:

Said Snead:

“I think the way we’ll do it is, we’ll have a priority of position we should target.

That's the "need" part.

"you then take who you subjectively think is the best player available at those positions. Because if you go into it with one position, that’s usually where you reach. Or maybe you get lucky and the position you really need is sitting there, but you always want to guard against, if you call it, the cognitive bias that comes into play.”

That's the BPA part.

So... yeah... your thread title is completely incorrect. Snead did not "blow up BPA."

[Elvis]

https://www.therams.com/news/the-legal- ... -free-agen

The “legal tampering” period in NFL will help clarify market for Rams in free agency

Myles Simmons
RAMS INSIDER

When free agency opens on March 13 at 1 p.m. PT, we’ll probably already have a decent idea of where some of the top players on the open market are going to sign.

That’s in large part because of the so-called “legal tampering” period that exists for teams and agents starting on March 11.

Per the NFL rules, “Clubs are permitted to contact, and enter into contract negotiations with, the certified agents of players who will become Unrestricted Free Agents upon the expiration of their 2018 player contracts at 4:00 p.m., New York time, on March 13.”

So while the teams and players cannot have any direct contact until free agency opens, their agents can still negotiate for them. That means for any of the Rams’ upcoming unrestricted free agents, Los Angeles will get a much clearer picture for what it may take to retain their services.

“[W]hat we have found too, in the past, is sometimes it’s really good for a player to — even if we want a player and they want to be here — to go test the market at least in that 48-to-72-hour window and get a feel for their reality,” general manager Les Snead said at the Combine. “That way they’re not guessing, we’re not guessing, and you get a true sense of what the market is instead of speculation.”

That could be a big deal for players like left guard Rodger Saffold, safety Lamarcus Joyner, outside linebacker Dante Fowler, and defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh, who each may have robust markets for their services in 2019 and beyond.

Snead used the example of wide receiver Sammy Watkins from last year to illustrate how this period can clarify things for both the club and player.

“We let Sammy Watkins go test the market, and really, that’s the best thing about the 72-hour window,” Snead said. “Last year with Sammy, hey, his asking price became too steep for us, so we decided to let him move on. So with that, how do we react after that? OK, we lost Trumaine and Sammy. If we’re disciplined in free agency, we could probably recoup two third-rounders. Oh by the way, though, we did lose a nice offensive weapon, so how are we going to solve that? Then, here’s what might be available in the draft. Then you go, OK, we’ve got a really good offense, so do we want to add a young guy in there or do we want to get a proven guy? But we’d still like a young guy, so then you start looking at who might be available. I think when you do this, you’ve got to have contingency plans. You’ve got to walk through the scenarios and then execute those scenarios.”

The Rams were able to do that by adding wide receiver Brandin Cooks via trade, and then extending him on a long-term deal — effectively making things work out for all parties involved.

So as the Rams continue to sort out free agency, look for early next week to be a significant checkpoint in Los Angeles’ endeavors to both sign its own players, and possibly start to go after new ones.

[Rams1PlateSince1976]

Thought we already did this thread. Anyway: BNPA

[AvengerRam]

Why do you say that the BPA is a myth?

Failed attempt at an "I told you so." (In fact, Snead confirmed that its not a myth at all but, rather, an important variable in the equation of draft analysis).

[AvengerRam]

Thought we already did this thread. Anyway: BNPA

"Ban Northern Pennsylvania Amish"?????

That's a very offensive thing for you to post (not to mention irrelevant).

[Elvis]

I think the biggest myth about BPA is you rarely know who that is. It seems extremely unlikely that at 31 it will be clear who the one BPA is.

OTOH, you make your board and you stick to it, trusting that over the long run you'll build the best roster that way, but is that what teams do? I think they tend to work more in groups of players more than a order...

[moklerman]

“BPA” is concept where a team takes the “Best Player Available”, regardless of need.
There are people who believe that if you don’t pick a magically designated “BPA”, you’re overreaching.
Conversely, they seem to believe that if a team doesn’t address an obvious need with their top draft pick, it means that they are drafting “BPA”.
My point has always been that the best drafting is produced by good player evaluation + assessing marketplace well + understanding your needs well.

Pure “BPA” is a myth. Need always plays a role.

I don't know. It seems that the definition of BPA might quickly become muddied when having this conversation. It has always been my impression that that philosophy was based on a true blue-chipper staring you in the face. As opposed to this example where the Rams are drafting late in the first and might have one player ranked marginally higher than the next but would be forced to draft him because he was the "BPA".

It's still difficult to determine a blue-chipper but if you think there is one, you take him over a JAG at a position of need. Which seems reasonable to me. At least, not mythical.