5 positions that the LA Rams will ultimately address via 2021 UDFA

We know that the LA Rams have a formula: grab elite players at key positions and then round out the roster with affordable talent. Unfortunately, the definition of ‘affordable talent’ has plummeted from the ranks of the NFL Draft to the undrafted free agents. And so, once more, the LA Rams must be very deliberate and strategic about their roster-building efforts.

In 2020, the LA Rams found abundant talent in the draft class at wide receiver, safety, and defensive lineman that the team was able to stockpile surplus talent at that time to ensure talent is available to round out the 2021 roster. This year, the team can employ a similar strategy to round out the roster.

Not that the team will have much of a choice. With six picks, the Rams will need to have their smartphones set to over a dozen names for priority free agent signings after the NFL draft. And after 22 UDFAs signed on with the Rams in 2020, 11 of whom carried over into 2021, the Rams will look to lock up another 17 or so UDFAs of young talent to ensure that they have tough choices to make when it comes time to whittle down their roster to 53 players.

LA Rams depth chart needs talent

Of course, the NFL expanded the roster of the practice squad from 12 to 16 for the 2020 NFL season to aid NFL teams in managing positive COVID-19 test results before game day. The same NFL/NFLPA compromise that resulted in expanding 2020’s practice squad roster has yet to take place in 2021.  Still, organized team activities (OTAs), training camp, preseason games, and the timetable schedule will all be up in the air until the NFL deliberates and confirms what will happen in 2021, and when.

So as the NFL owners meet at the end of March 2021 to decide those and many other choices yet to be made, the LA Rams organization truly doesn’t have the luxury of choosing other alternatives. The team’s roster needs another infusion of young talented players. And for all intents and purposes, the Rams will rely very heavily upon players sign after the NFL draft to fill those roles.