Behind The Grind Ep. 2 | Inside The Draft

Behind The Grind Ep. 2 | Inside The Draft

So this is actually my draft night suit. Also wear this draft night and then they did like a closed. Suddenly you might have like 20 athletes on draft night. I wasn’t willing to play so I was like forget just uh same this or went di for the longest time. I like didn’t like have a wife. just kind of like get better, get better, go D1, did that, go to the NFL, all that stuff. Then like once you kind of cross that off, it’s like what’s next? My wife believes me. Wasn’t supposed to be here today. We hear the hard works. If you look at us like 2 years ago, we weren’t supposed to be in this position. We went five stars leaving high school and Verse who caused some havoc. We didn’t go to like any big schools out of college. My only offer was from the University of Albony. Jared Verse is really coming on and playing outstanding football. We want top dogs in the country or anything like that. Going to Floyd State was something that changed my life. Backed up and taken down by Jared first. So know that the work works. It’s hard. Like don’t get me wrong. Like it was a long path to get here. But the works. If you just keep stacking up days, keep working every day. I was never supposed to be in this position. I wasn’t even supposed to be standing here in front of you today. I was never, if you ask anybody in high school, I’m not supposed to be here today. You know, I’m still going to be working no matter where I go. I might have posted that 46 and been good. There it is. You know, every 100th of a second. Hey, now with the 19th pick in the 2024 NFL draft, the Los Angeles Rams select Jared Bur. [Applause] [Music] If I’m being completely honest, it means the world to me cuz you know the story is not told in the stand. I feel like I played very well this year. My god, Jared Bur destroys Jordan my lot. Damn, bro. They keep getting there. Damn. I’ve gotten a lot of attention. the offenses have to do this to slow me down. You can’t block me. You can’t block me. You can’t block me. But to know that people are still seeing the impact I’m able to make, even if without, you know, going out there and having all these stats and like going crazy like with a bunch of sacks and all that stuff, it’s it’s really nice. And the 2024 AP defensive rookie of the year is Jared Vers. I want to thank my teammates, my coaches, but I think it, you know, we have to take a second to realize the other recipients that could have been here today. It could have been any one of y’all up here and y’all would have deserved it. So, I just want to thank that and thank y’all for the night. Thank you for this. I don’t care if I have this that or if I do this or do that. My goal is just to be the best version of myself and I do that, I can sleep peacefully at night. [Music] We’ll try to keep this quick. Just going to chat through draft day operation. It’s always crazy to me how many people it takes to to pull off a draft, but could not do it without every single person in this room. The scouts getting back in the building. We all go back to those first day of schools. There’s a lot of energy. They’ve been away. They’ve been grinding. We will have eight picks. It’s the fewest number of picks that we’ve had in the past few drafts. So, it’s important to nail every pick always, but it’s especially crucial this year. I think we all feel like we have a really strong team. And if we can fill a few holes there, I think we can do something really special this year. Being able to sit down with them one final time and go, look here. Here’s the strategy. Here’s our board. Here’s the why it’s our board. Here’s who’s on it and where. I’ll go on record to say that feel their passion to bet on not necessarily a position but a person. That’s always great about the draft. The last two classes, it’s been really fun cuz we’ve had a lot of picks. What is the vision for how you use a guy and how it comes to life? I think we’re playing it right. you could really work the board. If one of those two were there, I’d say do that. Just go back to back and let’s take the best player and don’t feel needs. Every position was alive and well when you went to pick and you just tried to make the best right pick at that moment for the vision we had for the player. Steve. Yeah. Hey, this is Lesne Sneed, Los Angeles Rams. Hey, Byron. You ever dreamed of playing in the NFL? Hey, if we draft you, you want to come play for us? Oh, 100%. Oh, man. Then we’re going to do it. Hey, Puka, what if we draft you with the 43rd pick here in the fifth round? That make your day a little better? We’ve asked a lot of those young players and they’ve responded like pros. It’s the first time since 2016 the Rams making a pick at the first round of the draft. Last year, we always felt like this was going to be a draft that was going to be offensive heavy. The Chicago Bears select Caleb Williams, Jaden Daniels, Drake May, Michael Penn Jr. And it was going to push some really good defenders toward our pick. Denver has committed its pick. Las Vegas is now on. That’s unreal. Is it? Yeah. Bo Knicks. That is so awesome. How about that? That’s great for him. Six out of the first 12 picks. Not a single defensive player yet. We were intentionally trying to rebuild, reestablish a defense without Aaron Donald. So when you get that OP, you want to make the most of it. You want to bet on the right player. Hey Jared, hello. This is Lesne Sneed, Los Angeles Rams. We got the 19th pick here. We’re about to pick you and you’re going to be a Los Angeles Ram if you want to be. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I want to be. All right, man. that second rounder or we traded that extra second. He was sitting right there. Hey Braden, we just traded in a 39th and we’re going to draft you. What do you think? That’s unbelievable. I can’t think. Oh, I get to wait. I’m playing with Verse again. Not only were the partners at Florida State, they were sitting in the same, you know, audience, you know, waiting to see who was going to be that defensive rookie of the year. Hey Jared, talk to your new teammate Braden Fisk, man. Hey Fisk. Let’s go, boy. I can’t. I can’t wait, bro. Well, we going to do this, man. We going to do this. I’m so proud of you, family. And the knee thing. Hey, it’s come to fruition. We picked him. We had a vision. You know what they did? They did their part. Knocked out the spot. He’s going down. Kingpin got him. And there’s B8 revving up his engine. Dak the quarterback. Braden Fisk knocked it loose. Ball down. Scooped up. got it. Jared Vers has it down the right sideline. A leap in the end zone. The defensive rookie of the year with a scoop and score. So when players do their part, we do our part. We’re all working together. That’s how the weed, that’s how the team, that’s how the Rams get stronger. Hi, how are you? Good. How are you? Good morning. Good morning. Pastina Fire in the house. That’s right. Love it. So, when we first started talking about where we wanted to host this year’s draft, we knew it needed to be special. Kevin, this is Captain Eric Scott. Kevin, nice. He’s been awesome. What we’ve been able to do the past couple years is take our draft headquarters to different areas of the community. So, we’ve been in Malibu, we’ve been in the Valley, we’ve been in Hollywood Hills, we’ve been in the South Bay, but this year we knew the right place to be was LFD air operations. Yes, sir. You said you guys are out, right? That’s right. Oh, sweet. Thank you guys. Thank you for your service. You throw it good, Brownie. I got [Laughter] him inside for our players to respond in such a positive way and really want to be active and engaged at draft headquarters celebrating our first responders. It was just such a special moment. What’s going to happen is so if you can just actually you should put it low. Want to do it from the ground right here. All right. Watch. What’ll happen is so it’ll start to pick you up. Okay. I got you. Bring you all the way up. Too much weight. What we see with our community efforts is that our players really understanding there are things much more important than football. Thank you for doing this. It’s so special and it’s so wonderful to see the partnership. This is such a cool opportunity. I’m fired up that they decided to do it here. It’s It’s really cool. The rigs are cool, right? They are awesome. I’m looking at I’m like, “Oo, intense.” I think all of Los Angeles watched these guys and gals save homes and properties and lives of of their fellow Angelinos, many of whom they have never met, will never meet. It was just an awesome opportunity to to shine a light on these heroes. These are the people that allow us to to get to do what we get to do. You know, it’s an honor. I’m grateful to be a part of this and just get to meet some of these people that have been on the front line and some of our first responders that are protecting us. We knew this wasn’t going to be, you know, a quick fix, right? This is a long-term recovery. We knew this needs to be a sustained long-term action for the community as part of this fire recovery. You know, the Rams means so much to us and it’s just the outpouring. We appreciate it. We had the staffers. I took the opportunity to them letting them know that Pasadena High School had lost all their uniforms and their field equipment as well as the youth football program in Pasadena. And without hesitation, they said, “We’ll take care of it.” You know, I just wanted to say that we’re going to make sure you guys are suited and booted next year. We got all new uniforms for you guys. [Applause] It’s such an honor to be here with you guys today. You know, I look across and I see these eight players that are here that are representing everything that’s right about the Rams. And I think it’s so appropriate that we’re here with you guys. We talk about our culture all the time and I can’t think of better people to represent some of the core values and principles just based on the decision to do what you guys are doing as first responders. And when I look at what this group of people, these first responders did when you were truly called when real adversity hits, not missing a third down, missing a tackle, losing a game. You’re talking about making a choice to choose hard, to choose selfless things that are greater than yourself. The way that you guys acted, the way that you guys interacted, and the way that you guys responded, we couldn’t be more proud. Give it up for yourselves for that. what you guys do on a daily basis just by moving throughout the rhythm of your week. You guys are visionaries, your exemplars, your mentors. I know this for a fact and I couldn’t have been more proud to be the head coach of the LA Rams than watching the way that you guys inspired these guys, the way that you inspired me when we were sitting there preparing for the Minnesota Vikings playoff game. And I’m just going to tell you this, never been a part of a game where I’ve been more proud to be a part of that team that a boy than I was watching the way that these men, the way that they led. But I can promise you, and I speak for all of us up here, it was because you guys were such easy inspirations for us to say, “No matter what happens, you’re not going to say, “All right, that we let you down with the way that we played, the way that we competed, and the way we swung on something that is so much smaller, all right, than what you guys, the real heroes, were doing.” And I commend you guys, and I really just say to you, thank you. You inspire us. Let’s freaking ride. Go Rams. [Applause] We’re at this point on the roster where a little bit different from the the previous years. Here’s what we’re doing at 26 to really come make a difference on this team. You’re going to have to tilt toward a position. Well, it’s like Monday Night Football and we’re we just got through warming up and kicking off in 18 minutes. You’re at 26 and you’re like, you know what, these players, they’re probably not going to be there. If they’re there, let’s strike. We just need to know how much time. Let’s see. You got 6 minutes. You’re not going to strike or or attack or trade up for just anyone. It’s going to be specific people, specific players at specific position. There was a lot of planning with you know what the best thing for us to do is probably going to be to trade back cuz we have a lot of appreciation for some players right that will be there at 26 but also that will be there somewhere in that second round. Should I reach out to Gino on the tradeback team? This past draft was the 14th draft for Less here and I’ve been fortunate enough I’ve been along his side, you know, for all of them. And so you have a general sense of how Les operates. I think that continuity in our draft room makes things work pretty smoothly. Yeah, we’re definitely thinking about it. Yeah, I will do that. I was going to tell you too. There’s a there’s a few teams that want to come back. So, we’re just we’re just going to kind of navigate it and I’ll keep you posted. the GM, you’re sitting there trying to think, okay, what if this doesn’t go through, who do we pick? It’s Tony and Nicole that are really assessing this is a sound trade. Couldn’t do it without them cuz there’s a lot of chaos, especially as you closer to your pick. Are we on the clock? Not yet, but still, let’s get our ducks in a row here. You watch every draft, right? There are teams that are aggressive that are always moving around and there are other teams that kind of, hey, this is our pick and we’re going to just put it in. If this team’s moving up, what are they coming up for? or if we’re moving back, uh, what do we think we can get here or who’s in front of us or who do we need to get in front of? There’s a lot of moving pieces. We always discussed, is it better to accumulate more and then drop back, grab a quality player? I wouldn’t be scared to go back cuz you can always go back up, right? Oh, Atlanta still wants to do it. They do. What are you thinking? You want to come up? They have a familiarity with us, how things work. There’s plenty of people in that building that have been in our draft room. Did they say yes? We’re on the clock. [Music] The details of this trade. Atlanta giving up a lot of capital for this quick here. A second tomorrow night, a seventh on Saturday, and a firstrounder next year. And get a third from the Rams. The Rams now get a second round pick back. They didn’t have one this year because they flipped it to Carolina last year to take Braden Fisk. We were able to grab a firstrounder. This was one of those years I said, “You know what? The way the draft is, the way the players is, the way the board is, we’re probably going to have to hit a single. We’re going to have to steal second. We’re going to get bunted over the third and we’re going to get a sack fly to score.” The way it was all going, it was going to be one of those, let’s call it, grinded out drafts. And then with the advent of the trade, it allows next year to be maybe a draft where oh, by the way, we might hit hit a home run or two. Hey, good job, man. Good job, buddy. Good job. That was that was great. Couldn’t work out any better. So, the question is, how do we get back up in here in your mind while staying at 46 and 90 if if at all possible? Let’s just say it’s Ferguson. You get him. As you go into day two, you’re going to have I probably have it I call it my legal pad. It’ll be your positions and what you might need at each position. Where are you at, Les? I can actually say if I ever was confident in taking the risk knowing that you would be pissed losing your player. This is as confident as I’ve ever been. You might prioritize if the board worked out, this would be the position to take and so forth. So, you’re going to you’re going to work the board. We have too much conviction. No doubt. You know how I feel. I I from the first time we put this guy on, there was a vision. T Ferg at the end of the day as he walks in this building, how does he give the Rams an edge by just showing up for work? Touchdown Ferguson. And then as the process goes on, you’re still trying to answer those questions. Does that skill set, does that person right fit us? give us an edge and and we’re now at the margins and the nuance levels. Terrence, hey, this is Les Snee, general manager, Los Angeles Rams. What’s up, man? Hey, you know what my favorite thing is? Looking at that combine mug shot and seeing that tattoo with loyalty on your belly. Oh yeah, that’s the best. You know what? You got a new team to be loyal to, the Los Angeles Rams. We’re going to draft you right here. I’m going to put you on the phone with your new head coach, Shawn McVey. I appreciate it. Thank you so much. Thank you, Terrence. What’s up, coach? How are you? Oh, man. We are uh we are fired up. Congratulations. There is uh we we all loved you. And we were sitting here nervous waiting till 46 to see if we’re going to be able to get you. But love everything you’re about. Love your story, man. You’re going to love playing alongside some of these other guys. And I know Tyler Higgby will be fired up to play alongside you, man. But we are uh we are jacked up and you’re going to be a great player for us and can’t wait to get going with you. No, I can’t believe it. Appreciate you so much, coach. You’re going to get the best tight end in the draft right now. So, I appreciate it so much. I love that. With a 46 pick in the 2025 NFL draft, the Los Angeles Rams select Terrence [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Fergus 12 personnel now. Tony, where you at with I love the way Steuart plays. Yeah. No, you’ve always loved him. So, he’s a football player. Listen, I had a lot of low form right when I put eyes on him. This is a good pick. I I’m this nervous Jackson. This is a good pick, man. There was a couple guys that stood out that add to the violence of our front. He was one of them. You had a lot of love for him, and I second that. Listen, if you said a couple weeks ago we’d pull off Ferguson and this guy, we feeling good about that. Josiah. Yes, sir. Hey, this is Lesne Sneed, general manager of Los Angeles Rams. How you how you doing? I’m good, man. Hey, look, it was fun to watch you play the last couple years at University of Michigan. So, we’re going to draft you, sir. With the 90th pick and let you come play with our ferocious DL. See if you can add to it. Let’s do it. Let’s do it. Let’s do it. I’m going to put you on the phone with uh your new head coach, Shawn McVey. Josiah, you good, man? Yes, sir. Dream come true. Yes, sir. Oh, that’s awesome. Hey, you are uh you are our kind of guy. I love the way that you play. I know that I speak for all of our coaches and it’s awesome. Enjoy this day. I love hearing that emotion. You can see how important the game is. The way you play, you do it the right way. You’re going to you’re going to play with a lot of other great players and we’re excited to add you to the mix, man. Yes, sir. You going to get the best out of me, you know. Let’s do it. With the 90th pick in the 2025 NFL draft, the law and the draft select Josiah. [Applause] [Music] Woo. That’s cool. He’s crying big. Yeah, he was crying. That’s awesome. That feeling that emotion. That’s a G. Josiah’s just one of those guys that’s going to look like our defenders. Just talked about Josiah Stewart. He’s an elite pass rusher. Ro and dropped. Josiah Stewart was not going to let go. They’re ferocious. urgent attacking. He’s going to fit right in. He did that at Michigan. This is like Fisk and Burst, man. This guy transferred up an overachiever. That’s right. Le you do, right? Successful day two for us. Took us a while to pick, but here we are. So, uh, we’re jacked to have Terren from Oregon. When you hear the backstory, guy that’s overcome some adversity. I’m really excited to get him in that tight end room with with Tyler Higgby, with Kobe Parkinson, with Davis Allen. It allows us to be able to explore maybe doing some different things. Um, we’ll see where it goes, but he’s a stud. We’re very excited about him. Then we went we came back with Josiah in the third round. He just he’s a really fun player to watch it. Michigan stat sheet says it all from Coastal Carolina transfer up to Michigan. The scene play tough and physical in there. Kind of reminds us of a lot of the guys we have. Okay, let’s go. Hey, um, all things stay the same. Hunter, right? I’m a huge Auburn fan. We’ve talked about a back explosive back is I’m a huge fan of Hunter. Favorite running back. There’s no question that’s who I want. So, as we get closer, it’ll be it’s almost like which player do we not want to lose type deal. Not right. And would you ever because of that would you with having four sixes would you ever use one of those if you’re worried about losing them or do you feel good about just staying pat working that the bones for a six being able to maybe trade away a future asset in one of those later rounds. It’s always easier to find or create a fourth, a fifth, a sixth round pick than it is a first, second, or third. Hey Chris, just uh we’re sitting at 127. You’re at 117. I was wondering if you’d want to come back for a six. Okay. We were thinking 195, but 190 could be a possibility. So, I’m just You can hold me hostage. We’ll make a decision. Who are those guys that we feel like can come in and contribute? And that really led to a lot of our movement on day three. All right, that sounds good. [Music] Okay, that feels great. Don’t overthink that. Hey, that’s what we wanted. That’s one we wanted. That’s good. We needed to get home. Well, we’ve in a tough draft, we’ve gotten Indianapolis has traded a six. The Rams are on the clock. Call him. Jeff, you want Jarz Hunter? Jarquz. Jarquz. Hey, sir. Hey, this is Les Sneed, Los Angeles Rams. We’re going to draft you right here at 117. I’m going to put you on the phone with your new head coach. Yes, sir. How you doing? I’m good, man. We’re fired up to get you. We’ve loved your tape for a long time, man. You are uh you’re our kind of guy and uh we’re excited, man. It’s going to be a lot of fun. Yes, sir. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, sir. Hey, the work just begins now, but we’re uh we’re happy for you. Enjoy this day. You’ve earned it. Congrats, man. Thank you. Thank you. The Los Angeles Rams select Jarquz Hunter, running back Auburn. [Applause] [Applause] Oh man, that was good. I didn’t think we’d be able to get him today unless we did that. I didn’t think we’d be able to get him. That would be That was That was my That was my top player. This one right here. That was my top player for today. big. You know how you feel after a tough win? I’ll threading this needle. Yeah. Now it’s navigating. I think in the draft it’ll take care of itself. Man, it goes quick now, doesn’t it? Goes quick now. This group has been together for so long now and has a sense of where we are as a team, what works, what doesn’t. Um, it allowed us to be very targeted on day three. Hey, so what do you want to do to try to get this guy? The future 4 may give us a shot. You call it Chicago, right? History will tell you it’s a lot easier to add on the back end uh than it is the front end. I think that’s where we felt comfortable giving away some of those future assets in those later rounds. 195 in a future for Chicago 148. Let’s do it. Chicago has traded its pick. The Rams are on the clock. That’s good. That’s good. Good. Good. Right there. Oh man, we’re Let’s go. Come on. Let’s don’t waste time. Hey, Ty. This is Les Sneed, general manager, Los Angeles Rams. We’re going to make you a Ram. The Los Angeles Rams select Ty Hamilton. I think it was a really targeted approach, right? What is a specific thing we’re looking for? Who fits that bill? And how do we go get them? I like his movement. I like his trigger. Like he plays faster. I just see a more urgent pass. He’s a smoother guy. Yeah. Like when he sees it, he can go get it different. Would you want to do 172 for 2011 and 202? I’m all for it. What do you think? You going to do it? Yeah. No, we’re in. We’ll give you 2011 and 202. We’ll take 172. About time we did one. The Los Angeles Rams select Chris Paul Jr., linebacker, Mississippi. Hey, that’s a pick, man. That is Hey, that is five good players we’ve pulled off, man. That’s awesome. I like that. That’s really good. He’s the best receiver, right? Yeah. Mfield’s That’s not close. I mean, he makes some impressive adjustments, too. Now can change his route tempo. This is impressive. I like the way he’s wired, for sure. He’s wired different. Mfield seems like a good pick in the seventh. The Los Angeles Rams select Canate Mfield. You talk about exactly using the picks for what we said while still acknowledging the best players on our board. You go Dline, ILB, and then you go offensive skill, running back, tight end, receiver. That’s exactly how we said we wanted to play this. So, hey, it doesn’t seem like you had a lot of needs on this roster to fill in the draft. you see the more depth you guys added. What does it say about how you feel about this team and kind of where you guys are going that that is the draft you’re you can have where you can trade back out in the first round? You know, I’m jacked about this team, jacked to get started, but we’re going to, as Sean always talks about now, build the foundation for what we’re going, you know, attempt to do next season and then you take it a phase and a month and a day at a time from there. I think as you accumulate experience um there is an understanding of every year really is a new year and when you draw on previous experience to understand that you don’t take for granted setting the foundation the right way. That’s what we started talking about last week with the offseason program. I do think that we’re in a good position to be able to project a lot of confidence, but we’ve got to be able to go earn it and then they’re going to come in to uh a great group of guys that are going to welcome them with open arms. But these guys are people that we feel like will be a part of that, but they’re going to earn it. Okay. Thanks, guys. Thank you. Appreciate it. There’s a Rams mini camp, but it won’t be here in Southern California. And now our off season will end with our entire organization in Maui practicing for the state of Hawaii and for all of our fans from Los Angeles who want to come travel. This is really going to be a celebration of all things [Music] Rams. Thanks for watching. Make sure to like and subscribe so you don’t miss out on our videos.

In Episode 2 of Behind the Grind, the Los Angeles Rams give you an exclusive look into outside linebacker Jared Verse’s defensive rookie of the year campaign, the 2025 NFL Draft, and the first few days of Organized Team Activities (OTAs).

0:00 Jared Verse DROY
3:18 Prep for draft
7:36 Draft at LAFD Air Operations
13:08 Inside the Rams draft

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