Why the Slide?: Beaux Limmer, C, Arkansas

This series was created a number of years ago in response to questions about why certain well-known prospects went unselected in NFL drafts. For these articles, I reach out to sources with NFL teams to find out why their organizations passed on drafting a given player, and/or, what were the reasons for other teams to pass on that prospect. The positive response to “Why Undrafted” and questions from readers about why prospects were drafted lower than the media expectations led us to create the parallel series “Why the Slide?”

Both series are back this year. Feel free to email me requests for Why the Slide? and Why Undrafted? at [email protected]. I can’t promise to get to all of them, but I will do my best and definitely will respond to the email.

At the 2024 Senior Bowl, some in the media and Senior Bowl observers lent a lot of praise to Arkansas center Beaux Limmer. They noted Limmer had a good week of practice, and some team sources said they felt Limmer performed better than expected. He was a 4-year starter for the Razorbacks making starts at guard and center during his collegiate career. There were some projections of Limmer being a second-day pick, thus some were surprised when Limmer slid to the sixth round.

While some in the public were surprised, it was not a surprise to team sources that Limmer slid well into Day 3. Multiple sources said their teams had late-round grades on Limmer, so they did not see him having a significant slide. It sounds like the media and analysts were higher on Limmer than most teams were.

The Los Angeles Rams ended Limmer’s fall in the sixth round. The Rams were a mixed landing spot for him. On the positive side, Limmer went to a team that has had a lot of success developing and playing players who were mid-round or late-round picks. On the negative side, the Rams are set on the interior of their offensive line. They drafted center Steve Avila in the second round last year, and this year, they gave out huge contracts in free agency to Jonah Jackson and Kevin Dotson. Jackson does struggle to stay healthy, so that could help Limmer see the field if he makes the final 53-man roster. Limmer will have to make the team as a guard/center backup and excel when he gets an opportunity to play.