NFL analyst compares Los Angeles Rams stud rookie to one of the best defensive players in the NFL
The Los Angeles Rams had a quality 2025 NFL Draft class, adding some quality players on both sides of the ball. While players like tight end Terrance Ferguson and outside linebacker Josaiah Stewart might play key roles early on, the player with the highest odds to start early for the team is fifth-round pick linebacker […]
The Los Angeles Rams had a quality 2025 NFL Draft class, adding some quality players on both sides of the ball. While players like tight end Terrance Ferguson and outside linebacker Josaiah Stewart might play key roles early on, the player with the highest odds to start early for the team is fifth-round pick linebacker Chris "Pooh" Paul Jr.
I was exceedingly high on Paul despite his lack of measurables due to his instincts and awareness in coverage. As it turns out, I'm not the only one who is high on the playmaking linebacker.
NFL analyst Doug Farrar dropped a lofty pro comp for the former SEC 'backer, comparing him to San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner.
Warner is one of the best defensive players in the entire league and far and away the best linebacker in the NFL, and has been over the last few seasons. If the Rams can get anything close to that, that pick would be a straight-up robbery so late in the draft.
Before the draft, I gave Paul a third-round grade as my seventh-overall linebacker prospect. From my scouting report,
"His size will turn him off some boards, but he is surprisingly physical despite it and works off blockers better than some bigger linebackers in this class. He’ll be inappropriately cast as a coverage-only linebacker because of his size. He might never be a high-end starter, but he’ll be a valuable one. Paul would be at his best as a WILL LB with the ability to handle responsibilities in a 4-3 or 3-4."
The Rams have never been a team that pays attention to measurables, often looking to a player's film as their main guide. That let them steal Paul in the fifth as other teams discarded him due to his size. He's a perfect complement to what Omar Speights brings as a player in the Rams' linebacker corps.
If he can live up to these expectations, the Rams will have once again stolen a talented prospect and made the rest of the league look like fools.
