NFC Notes: Cardinals, Rams, Seahawks

Cardinals

• The Cardinals have come up as a team potentially interested in trading up from No. 16 for a receiver. On Thursday, GM Steve Keim compared LSU’s Ja’Marr Chase to former Texans WR Andre Johnson, Alabama’s DeVonta Smith to Hall of Fame WR Marvin Harrison, and Alabama’s Jaylen Waddle to former Panthers and Ravens WR Steve Smith, per Kyle Odegard of the team website.
• Cardinals HC Kliff Kingsbury said “nothing has changed” regarding Larry Fitzgerald‘s potential decision to retire: “Nothing has changed on that front.”  (Darren Urban)

Rams

• The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue connects the Rams again to Stanford C Drew Dalman as an option to develop for the future. New OL coach Kevin Carberry comes from Stanford and is intimately familiar with Dalman, whose weight at 299 pounds won’t make him a fit for some systems but won’t be an issue for Los Angeles. 
• Despite signing WR DeSean Jackson in free agency, Rodrigue writes the Rams are looking to add someone in the draft with a similar skillset who can be a deep threat and gadget-type player. She adds the team is keeping its eyes open for a contested-catch receiver as well. 
• Some names to keep an eye on in the draft, per Rodrigue, include Michigan WR Nico Collins, Western Michigan WR D’Wayne Eskridge, UCLA RB/WR Demetric Felton, North Texas WR Jaelon Darden, Iowa WR Ihmir Smith-Marsette and Auburn WR Anthony Schwartz. 

Seahawks

Seahawks WR Tyler Lockett recalled a 53-yard reception in Week 2 of 2016 against the Rams, where he re-entered in the fourth quarter with an injured knee. He believes that play taught him to “make it work” after receiving his recent four-year, $69 million extension.

“I told Russ to throw me the ball,” Lockett said, via Brady Henderson of ESPN. “And he said, ‘Well, what percentage are you feeling, like [what] out of 10?’ And I don’t remember what I said. I think I said like seven and he was trying to figure if that was good or not. I was just like, ‘Throw it. I’ll catch it.’ He threw me the ball and I caught it. That was probably my favorite play because I did not think I was going to be able to go back in. And people were shocked and I was shocked because I went out there thinking I wasn’t going to play and I went back in the game and caught the ball.”

Lockett reiterated that he learned to “make it work” despite dealing with adversity. 

“The reason why I tell that story was because I’ve learned you’ve got to learn how to make it work,” Lockett said. “You never know what’s going to happen. You never know what adversity is going to come your way but you figure out how to make it work.”

Lockett also talked about his recovery from a compound fracture sustained in Week 16 of 2016 and having to, once again, battle adversity. 

“That sucked,” Lockett said. “But I had to learn how to be able to make it work. I had to learn how to walk. I had to learn how to crutch around. I had to go through the process and even after that I couldn’t sit on my butt and complain about what I missed out on or what didn’t work out for me. I had to come back and figure out how to be able to play my best ball maybe not feeling the way I … used to feel. I had to learn how to still get open. I had to learn how to still beat people man-to-man.”