Kiper: Rams have real interest in Bo Nix

The Rams could draft Bo Nix with their first pick, according to ESPN’s Mel Kiper

The connection between the Los Angeles Rams and Oregon quarterback Bo Nix may or may not be real, but analysts from every outlet including ESPN and NFL Network and all in between have continuously been beating that drum for weeks. Where there’s smoke, is there fire or is there screens? Count ESPN’s Mel Kiper as the latest to put a log on the flame, writing in his final mock draft and rumor mill article that the Rams do have interest in picking Nix in the first round.

I’m not sure anyone really knows what GM Les Snead will do; the Rams haven’t picked in Round 1 since 2016. But I do know they at least have some interest in Nix, and it wouldn’t be totally shocking if they picked him at No. 19 — or moved down a few spots to take him. I also see defensive tackle, cornerback and offensive line as possibilities, so it’s not like the Rams are loaded with depth in other positions.

Albert Breer casually mentioned that Nix to the Rams could happen on a recent podcast appearance, while Adam Schefter recently noted that Les Snead has a connection with Bo’s dad that goes back 30 years to Auburn. Are these people simply copying each other’s reports—Breer, Kiper, Schefter, etc.—or is it that this is a secret that they want to get ahead of because they keep hearing it’s real? Not that it matters what Field Yates thinks—I can’t really wrap my head around how ESPN replaced Todd McShay with Field Yates—but he did have the Rams taking Nix in his last mock. How many people at ESPN are hearing that L.A. really likes Bo Nix?

PFF’s Trevor Sikkema had the Rams picking Nix, but in the second round.

Kiper also throws in that the Rams have plenty of other needs though, so really the takeaway here is that nobody knows what Les Snead will do. It just sounds as though whether it is intentional or not—maybe the Rams want a team to trade up for Bo Nix—this is a rumor that’s coming from somewhere besides just realizing that Snead knows Nix; people who work in football for 30 years are bound to end up meeting people who have kids who play football.