The St. Louis Rams on Thursday selected Clemson offensive tackle Isaiah Battle in the fifth round of the NFL Supplemental Draft. The cost of picking in the Supplemental Draft is potentially prohibitive, too; a team that uses a pick in these proceedings forfeits their pick in the same round in next year’s full NFL Draft.
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Battle, a 6-foot-6, 312-pound offensive tackle, announced on June 25 that he’d be passing up his senior season with the Tigers to make himself eligible for the supplemental draft.
He was dismissed from the Jayhawks before appearing in a game in 2014.
If the team took Battle, he could immediately have an impact on their offense.
While undeniably gifted, Battle remains quite raw and some scouts questioned whether he had the competitiveness to ever take full advantage of his talent. They now have just five picks in the 2016 draft. In Battle’s case, he claims things changed in his personal life that resulted in him needing to turn pro sooner rather than later.
There are seven players available for selection in the draft.
For a short answer, Norris mentions that Battle has issues waist bending and does not have an strong anchor – which teams like their offensive linemen to have.
The supplemental draft is very different from the media bonanza that occurs each spring.
Of the remaining prospects this year, the two former West Georgia standouts – Caldwell and Stuckey – are likeliest to attract attention as undrafted free agents.
There have been eight players who entered the league as first-round picks in the Supplemental Draft, a lot of them quarterbacks and most during the 1980s. There was speculation he could go somewhere in the first four rounds, but he fell to the Rams with the eighth overall pick in Round 5. He instead went to Division II West Georgia and had 4.5 sacks, nine tackles for loss and three forced fumbles last fall.
Havenstein was running with the first team during Rams OTAs, thanks to his solid run blocking, while Brown moved inside as the No. 1 right guard.
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Stuckey initially signed with Florida State out of high school but also struggled with academics. Past year Eiland recorded 44 tackles, including 3.5 for loss and half a sack for the Cougars. Rhaney was the Rams’ seventh round pick in 2014 and got national attention after being selected immediately after defensive end Michael Sam. The Rams cut Sam after training camp after he was beaten out by undrafted rookie Ethan Westbrooks.
