Los Angeles Rams fans shouldn’t expect any Round 1 surprises by team

As tempting as it may seem for the Los Angeles Rams to trade back up in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft, fans shouldn’t expect any surprise moves on Thursday.

After all of the months spent waiting, the 2018 NFL Draft will finally get underway on Thursday night, although all signs at moment point to the Los Angeles Rams waiting until Friday before any moves are made. For the second year in a row, the Rams will be without a first-round pick after the Tennessee Titans had their selection last April as a result of the Jared Goff trade, but when looking at the situation this team is in at the moment, that’s completely fine.

Unlike last year, expectations are at an all-time high for Los Angeles, as the team is made all sorts of big moves over the last month or so to give them a better chance at making a run at the Super Bowl in 2018, including the recent trade that brought Brandin Cooks on board. In fact, the trade to acquire Cooks is the main reason why the Rams currently don’t have a pick on the first round since that selection will go to the New England Patriots, but at the end of the day, this will all be worth it for the NFC West champions.

Despite being in good shape with Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp, there was a tiny void left by Sammy Watkins in the passing game after the speedy wideout departed for the Kansas City Chiefs in free agency. So when seeing how the Rams upgraded in a way by bringing Cooks on board, there’s no question that giving up a first rounder in this year’s draft would be well worth it in the long run.

Los Angeles was already considered a heavy Super Bowl favorite before the Cooks deal went down, and seeing how those expectations hit a whole new level after the trade was announced is one of many reasons why fans were able to accept the team being without a selection on Thursday. Obviously, when seeing how the Rams have been full of surprises over the last couple of months, nobody would really be surprised at all if the team somehow worked their way back into the first round out of nowhere to help fill one of their needs, whether it happens to be at linebacker or the offensive line.

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However, when looking at all of the draft picks the team previously had to give up dating back to last year along with the fact that Los Angeles is without a second rounder as well, it seems highly unlikely the team does anything significant on Thursday. At the end of the day, the Rams and their fans can afford to go without a surprise move to get back into the first round while waiting for Friday night to see the action begin instead.