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Mock Draft Roundup: Linebackers and offensive linemen are popular picks for Rams three weeks away from draft week

It is Mock Draft Monday on theRams.com, where we will be taking a look at various experts' projections for who the Rams will select in the 2021 NFL Draft.

With three weeks until draft week, several experts forecast the Rams taking an offensive lineman or linebacker:

210405_Mockdraft_Round_up1600x900

Date: April 1

Expert: Drae Harris, Senior NFL Analyst, seven-year NFL scouting veteran and former San Francisco 49er.

The pick(s): Alabama OL Landon Dickerson (No. 57 overall), Michigan LB Cameron McGrone (No. 88), Miami EDGE Quincy Roche (No. 103, compensatory)

Notes: A junior, started in the Crimson Tide's first 11 games before suffering a knee injury that forced him to miss the rest of the season. However, his overall body of work in that span earned him the Rimington Trophy – awarded annually to the nation's top center – and a unanimous First Team All-American selection. He also shared the SEC Jacobs Blocking Trophy with his Alabama teammate Alex Leatherwood.

McGrone started all five games he appeared in as a junior last fall, making 26 tackles, two for loss, and a half-sack en route to All-Big Ten honorable mention recognition from coaches and media.

Roche posted 45 total tackles, including 14.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks while starting all 10 games of his redshirt senior season, also tying for the ACC lead with three forced fumbles and chipping in two fumble recoveries. His 14.5 tackles for loss ranked second on the Hurricanes and third in the ACC.

ESPN (subscription required to read)

Date: April 1

Expert: Todd McShay, NFL Draft Analyst

The pick(s): North Carolina LB Chazz Surratt (No. 57 overall)

Notes: Voted team captain and defensive MVP for the Tar Heels, Surratt produced 91 tackles, and was also second on the team with 7.5 TFL and six sacks, en route to First Team All-ACC honors.

CBS

Date: April 1

Expert: Josh Edwards, NFL Draft Writer

The pick(s): Wisconsin-Whitewater OL Quinn Meinerz (No. 57 overall)

Notes: Despite not having a fall season, the Division III prospect helped himself with a strong Senior Bowl in January. Meinerz started ever game at left guard for Wisconsin-Whitewater in 2019 and 2018 (a total of 29 games), but some analysts project him as a center in the NFL.

CBS

Date: April 4

Expert: Tyler Sullivan, NFL Draft Writer

The pick(s): BYU OT Brady Christensen (No. 57 overall), Boston College TE Hunter Long (No. 88), Alabama OL Deonte Brown (No. 103, compensatory), Iowa EDGE Chauncey Golston (No. 141, compensatory), Oregon CB Thomas Graham Jr. (No. 209), Texas A&M LB Buddy Johnson (No. 242, pictured above)

Notes: While Edwards' mock draft focuses on the first two rounds of the draft, Sullivan's is Rams-specific and covers their full current allotment of selections.

A three-year starter at left tackle for BYU (38 total during that span), Christensen capped off his career with First Team All-American recognition from The Associated Press in 2020.

Long collected 57 receptions for 685 yards and five touchdowns in 11 games as a junior last fall, earning a spot on The Associated Press' All-American Second Team and First Team All-ACC honors.

Brown, a guard, helped anchor the interior offensive line of the No. 1-ranked scoring offense among the Power Five conferences last year. In 843 snaps during the 2020 season, he missed only two assignments while committing four penalties and allowed half of a sack, one pressure and five quarterback hurries, according to his school bio.

Golston primarily played defensive end at Iowa, collecting 45 total tackles (8.5 for loss), plus 5.5 sacks, one interception, one forced fumble, one pass break-up and three pressures while starting in all eight of the Hawkeyes' games last year. Big Ten coaches and media both named him to their all-conference first teams.

Graham opted out of the 2020 season; however, prior to making that decision, he entered last year with 39 consecutive starts and as the FBS active leader in passes defended (40) and pass breakups (32).

Johnson led Texas A&M in tackles (86), tackles for loss (8.5) and forced fumbles (2), and ranked second among Aggies defenders with 4.0 sacks while starting in all 10 of their games.

Date: April 5

Expert: Cory McCann Ezring, NFL Draft Analyst

The pick(s): Northern Iowa OT Spencer Brown (No. 57 overall), LSU DL Tyler Shelvin (No. 88)

Notes: Brown, a redshirt senior, was a three-year starter at right tackle for Northern Iowa from 2017-19 (31 total starts during that span) who elected to pursue the next level instead of playing one final season of college football after Northern Iowa postponed its fall season.

Listed as a nose tackle on his school bio, Shelvin opted out of the 2020 season but is praised by that same bio for his strength, power and ability to command the attention of multiple blockers. In 2019, he tallied 39 tackles (including 3.0 for loss) while starting in 14 of the national-champion Tigers' 15 games.

Take a look at experts' projections for the Los Angeles Rams first draft pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

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