2021 NFL Draft: 3 key LA Rams defensive takeaways from day one

As the LA Rams watched from the sidelines, 32 new NFL rookies heard their names called out in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Of course, it was all expected, all part of the Rams annual strategy. It’s an annual pilgrimage, the NFL’s worst teams from the previous year select a rookie, a player who has yet to take a single snap in the NFL, and suddenly the discussion pivots from just how poorly the team played a year ago to how much more improved that team suddenly has become.

Day one of the 2021 NFL Draft was not at all like the trading floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.  There were only three trades, and they were logical moves, if not moves I would have recommended. At the end of the first night, all NFL teams are cozy about their NFL quarterback positions.

The Rams offered up muffled cheers when the Detroit Lions put a blindside tackle on the offensive line named Penei Sewell to protect former LA Rams quarterback Jared Goff. In a similar fashion, the Rams watched Brandon Staley oversee his new team, the LA Chargers, draft another offensive tackle named Rashawn Slater.  The Rams watched from the sidelines as the rival San Francisco 49ers drafted quarterback Trey Lance, and then as the Arizona Cardinals drafted his new nemesis in pass rusher Zaven Collins.

But after the smoke clears from the first day of the 2021 NFL Draft, the sense is that no team ‘improved’ significantly ahead of the LA Rams. The Rams have a pretty robust roster, and with the intimate knowledge that fans share, are a rather formidable team even now.  Still, the defensive lost two defensive linemen, several rotational edge rushers, and a starting cornerback. There is room to improve. So will the Rams make any progress on that front on day two of the draft?