Les Snead on Rams’ second-round pick Taylor Rapp: ‘We loved his instincts’

Questions lingered about Taylor Rapp running what was viewed as a slow 40-yard dash time of 4.78 seconds at the NFL Scouting Combine; 4.5 is considered the max for safety prospects.

The Los Angeles Rams were as aware of them as any other team.

‘I know he’s been knocked a little bit about the 40’

They just weren’t as concerned as some critics who believed it was a sign the former University of Washington standout wouldn’t be successful at the next level.

Los Angeles Rams safety Taylor Rapp. (SiriusXM NFL Radio Photo)

“It’s the football instincts grade that our scouts subjectively give, he scored really high there and it was the shuttle drills that mean something for safeties.”

“We loved his instincts,” Rams General Manager Les Snead told Bruce Murray and Bill Polian on the SiriusXM Blitz. “I know he’s been knocked a little bit about the 40. The main thing (members of the Rams’ analytics department have) been able to do is (answer the question), ‘Hey, what data points in our database mean something for a successful safety?’ And it’s the football instincts grade that our scouts subjectively give, he scored really high there and it was the shuttle drills that mean something for safeties.”

“At the end of the day, we think he can come in and next year fit with (Eric) Weddle and John Johnson in our dime situations as a dime linebacker, because he’s a heck of a blitzer.”