Rams extend Sean McVay’s streak to three years without first-round pick

At the last minute, the Los Angeles Rams traded down from No. 31 in the 2019 NFL Draft to the Atlanta Falcons.

Entering into the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft, there was plenty of speculation surrounding the Los Angeles Rams, and whether they would end up pulling off a trade with the No. 31 pick, especially after the previous two years.

Thanks to trades that previously landed Jared Goff and Brandin Cooks, the Rams haven’t selected in the first round of the draft since 2016, which happened to be the year in which they landed their beloved quarterback at No. 1.

Depending on which players happened to be available towards the end of the first round, football fans knew deep down the chances of Los Angeles trading down would be pretty high if they felt confident enough in landing one of their potential prospects in the second round.

Turns out, this was exactly the case for the defending NFC champions after the Rams agreed to a trade with the Atlanta Falcons.

From a draft perspective, this seems to be a solid move for Los Angeles since they not only gained a selection at No. 45 in the second round, but also earned an extra third-round pick as well in the process.

Knowing Sean McVay and the Rams, they probably have their eyes set on a few players that could be available with that pick in the second round, meaning they used the No. 31 pick to their advantage knowing that some team would be willing to trade back up into the first round.

Speaking of McVay, this decision by Los Angeles also means the Rams head coach will have to wait at least another year before he makes his first official first-round pick since coming on board in 2017.

When taking into consideration that Los Angeles is coming off back-to-back NFC West titles along with a trip to the Super Bowl, it’s sort of amazing to see McVay and the Rams have all this success despite not having a first-round pick to work with for three years in a row.

Some fans will be disappointed by this decision, but at the end of the day, this was a great move by Los Angeles since the team has a history over the years of finding great value picks beyond the first round.