When will LA Rams select on day one of the NFL Draft?

The LA Rams last made a selection in round one of the NFL Draft in 2016. At that time, the Rams called out the name of University of California quarterback Jared Goff. The choice was made for a franchise quarterback, a Steve McNair type. Both quarterbacks possessed big-bodied long-armed throwing motion that could threaten a defense in many ways. But former head coach Jeff Fisher was not with the Rams organization long enough to develop Goff.

That task was inherited by the Rams 2017 head coach Sean McVay. He helped Goff to a 42-20 NFL record, as well as to a 3-3 postseason record. But by the conclusion of the 2020 NFL season, McVay no longer believed in his 26-year-old quarterback.

The cost for five years of Goff? Six picks. In 2016 alone it cost a first-round, two second-round, and one third-round. Then the Rams threw in a 2017 first-round and a 2017 third-round pick for good measure.  Six picks for five years.

The LA Rams were out of the first round until the 2018 NFL Draft.  In that year, the Rams traded their first and fourth-round picks for New England Patriots WR Brandin Cooks.  In 2019, the LA Rams traded out of round one (31st pick) with the Atlanta Falcons.  Then came the 2020 NFL Draft, and the Rams traded the first-round pick, a 2021 first-round and fourth-round pick for the services of CB Jalen Ramsey.

It appeared as though the Rams might step up to the podium on day one in the 2022 NFL Draft. But the team vacated another opportunity in trading away QB Jared Goff, a 2022 first-round, a 2023 first round, and a 2021 third-round pick for Matthew Stafford.

Will the Rams draft ever include a first-round pick again? As long as the team feels one or two key players away from winning it all, they likely will not do so. Right now, the team won’t have a first-round pick until 2024. That is likely a year when the Rams may be seeking to draft a new quarterback to replace Stafford.

Let’s not hope too fervently for the Rams to pick in round one. After all, the Rams have discovered a unique loophole that allows their organization the ability to convert the chance for an NFL game-changer into the real thing.  It seems that as soon as the LA Rams are content to pick in round one again, they will be rebuilding the roster from the ground up.