St. Louis Rams 2015 Draft: Aggregating Report Card Grades from Around the Web

The 2015 NFL draft is now complete, and the St. Louis Rams are surely excited to get their new players on the practice field. 

As a reminder, here's how the picks played out: 

Round 1, No. 10: RB Todd Gurley, Georgia

Round 2, No. 57: T Rob Havenstein, Wisconsin

Round 3, No. 72: OL Jamon Brown, Louisville

Round 3, No. 89: QB Sean Mannion, Oregon State

Round 4, No. 119: OL Andrew Donnal, Iowa

Round 6, No. 201: WR Bud Sasser, Missouri

Round 6, No. 215: G Cody Wichmann, Fresno State

Round 7, No. 224: LB Bryce Hager, Baylor

Round 7, No. 227: DE Martin Ifedi, Memphis

Now, the question on every St. Louis fan's mind is: "How did the Rams do?"

Thanks to the glorious 24-hour news cycle, every analyst and NFL enthusiast is able to answer that question in a timely manner by sharing their grades. Part of the draft-day fun is criticizing and praising the various picks by each team. 

The Rams are a difficult team to grade this year. They took a very unorthodox route by exclusively drafting offensive players in the first six rounds. Not to mention, nearly half the draft was dedicated toward the offensive line. 

It was an odd strategy, so it's inevitable that opinions on St. Louis' 2015 blueprint will vary quite a bit. 

This article will round up several of the grades assigned to the Rams' 2015 class by the media. I'll respond to each grade and let you know if I agree or disagree with the analysis.

Walter Football

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

WalterFootball.com: D+

"

Rob Havenstein was a late-round prospect. Jamon Brown was possible UDFA fodder. The Rams did look at big positions of need when selecting those two players, but they reached egregiously.

I guess they were asleep during Senior Bowl practices when Havenstein was abused against almost every pass-rusher he went up against. And yet, he's still better than Brown! 

"

WalterFootball.com seems overly harsh with its judgement of Rob Havenstein. According to the site, Havenstein was a possible fourth-round candidate. Other sites, such as CBSSports.com, had him going in the third round and no later than the fourth. 

As for the Senior Bowl comments, Big Ten analyst Gerry DiNardo was in attendance and was hardly asleep. Yet, his evaluations of Havenstein's Senior Bowl performance differs quite dramatically: 

"

Senior Bowl Rob Havenstein 78 #Badgers A lot of people that know NFL saying a bunch of really good things about him pic.twitter.com/VpccgZ8Oyg

— Gerry DiNardo (@gerrydinardo) January 21, 2015"

Sounds like a knee-jerk reaction and total exaggeration by WalterFootball.com. 

As for Jamon Brown, it's true that few would have predicted him being drafted so early. It's fair to call that pick a reach. We'll just let it play out and maybe we'll see what the coaching staff apparently saw in him.

Source: WalterFootball.com

Sports Illustrated

John Bazemore/Associated Press

Chris Burke and Doug Farrar: A

"

Offensive line was the primary need for Jeff Fisher's team, and the Rams certainly attacked that need with a vengeance. They took Wisconsin tackle Rob Havenstein in the second round, Louisville tackle Jamon Brown in the third, Iowa tackle Andrew Donnal in the fourth and Fresno State guard Cody Wichmann in the sixth. 

"

After drafting an elite first-round running back in Todd Gurley, it was time to start building around him. That's how good he is. He's a guy teams mold an entire offense around. 

The St. Louis Rams used four of its remaining picks to add offensive linemen. Not just any linemen, but mauling run-blockers. 

This draft was about transforming the offense into a hard-nosed, old-school, run-first attack. The Rams are about to get medieval on the NFL. 

Sports Illustrated apparently understands the beauty in that. 

Source: Sports Illustrated 

Turf Show Times

Jeff Haynes/Associated Press

Turf Show Times: D (Round 1)

"

This is baffling and I sincerely hope that this pays off in the future, but with his ACL history and a stable full of good backs, I find little sense to this pick.

"

The only thing baffling is how anyone can be "baffled" by this pick. 

The pick carries risk and was certainly unexpected, but what's not to understand about it? The inept St. Louis offense has been holding the team back for years. So how exactly is drafting the top offensive talent of the class a bad thing? 

The Rams had the 28th-worst offense in the NFL last season (314.7 yards per game). St. Louis' great defensive efforts are spoiled thanks to an offense that's incapable of sustaining drives. This pick, and the offensive line picks in the later rounds, will help change that. 

The Rams needed offensive line help, but they found that in later rounds. However, it's difficult to find an elite playmaker in later rounds, which is why they grabbed Gurley. 

Maybe angry fans will be less baffled once the long-forgotten "rushing touchdown" finally returns to the St. Louis offense. 

Source: Turf Show Times 

NFL.com

Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

Lance Zierlein: B-

Lance Zierlein was intrigued with the selection of Gurley in Round 1. He compliments Gurley's tough style and apparently understands that Fisher is looking for a true playmaker at running back.

Zierlein understood the need to add to the offensive line and called Havenstein a "fixture" at right tackle. However, he questions St. Louis' quantity approach with linemen from this draft.

"It felt like overkill a little bit, to be honest with you. That many offensive linemen." 

Considering St. Louis is returning just two starters on the line from 2014 (a group that was terrible to begin with), it's hard to agree with the "overkill" comments. 

It's certainly understandable why St. Louis took that route. None of the linemen drafted are elite talents, so the Rams want to ensure that there's a healthy amount of competition and that some of these rookies will step up. 

The Rams are hoping for strength in numbers, but Zierlein evidently does not like that approach. 

Still, he was complimentary of St. Louis' draft, even if he wasn't overly impressed.

You can see the full video of Zierlein's comments at NFL.com. 

Overall Grades

Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

Sports Illustrated (Chris Burke, Doug Farrar): A

WalterFootball.com: D+

Turf Show Times: D

NFL.com (Lance Zierlein): B-

The combined grades for the Rams are a totally mixed bag, and that's not surprising. Fisher and Snead entered the draft with a plan, and they executed the plan with no regard for popular opinion.

Either you understood what the Rams were going for or you didn't.

The goal of this draft was to totally transform the look of the offense. Fisher has wanted a run-first offense since day one, and he decided this was the year to make it happen. 

By drafting numerous run-blocking linemen and selecting an elite back, the Rams are going to run the ball until someone stops them. They have a capable quarterback in Nick Foles, but this offense will not be placed entirely on his shoulders.

This will be Gurley's offense. And as soon as he fulfills his potential, it will immediately transform St. Louis into a contender.  

Steven Gerwel is the longest-tenured Rams Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report and served as the Rams' game-day correspondent in 2014. You can find more of Gerwel's work by visiting his writer profile or following him on Twitter.