Who did the LA Rams attempt to trade up to get in the draft?

Did anyone catch that post-draft interview held with LA Rams general manager Les Snead and head coach Sean McVay where Snead admitted that he did try to trade up for a player and failed? Now, the question is, who was the player that the Rams willing to trade up for in the 2021 NFL Draft?

Well, that a tough question to answer, and will likely fall by the wayside. After all, the Rams won’t name him now that he has been drafted by another team. But who might it have been? Well, it’s a safe bet that the LA Rams were not targeting any of the quarterbacks who came off the board early.  And with what we’ve seen from the Rams draft results, it’s safe to believe that it may have been a wide receiver.

Now, the question is…who?

Well, neither Rams GM Les Snead nor head coach Sean McVay will tell us now. But with a bit of deductive reasoning, we can close in on the most likely candidates. Based on the predraft signals, we have narrowed it down to three players. Who might those be?

With the 56th pick of the 2021 NFL Draft, the Seattle Seahawks chose Western Michigan wide receiver, D’Wayne Eskridge. Huh? Hey, I get it that the 5-foot-9 190-pound receiver is a dangerous weapon. He is one of the speed guys who adds return to special teams as well as home run to the offense. But how do the Seahawks plan to use him with D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett already on the offense?  The selection seemed less like an addition to the Seahawks roster and more like an end-around to prevent the LA Rams from selecting him.

Ties to coaches

With the 47th pick of the 2021 NFL Draft, the Los Angeles Chargers selected Florida State cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. After all, let’s face it, it was newly hired defensive coordinator Raheem Morris who coined the ‘Pool Party’ grade for rookies if the Rams happened to land one.  I have no doubt that 5-foot-10 180-pound cornerback Asante Samuel was one such player. He is a perfect fit for what the Rams intend to do on defense. And there is no doubt that Morris was keenly observant of Samuel’s collegiate career while he coached the Atlanta Falcons.

Finally, with the 45th pick of the 2021 NFL Draft, the Jacksonville Jaguars selected Stanford offensive tackle  Walker Little. It’s no stretch of the imagination to link Little to his former offensive line coach Kevin Carberry. At 6-foot-7 313-pounds, he is a massive blue-chip offensive lineman who would have placed the Rams offensive line status in much better shape facing the 2022 NFL Free Agency market.

In the end, there were no reports of anyone jumping into the pool, no ecstatic responses. In the end, the Rams may have been forced to option B, but I don’t think for a minute that the Rams settled for an inferior player.  The board simply never lined up to deliver the Rams’ top prospects. But that could work out just fine for the Rams, as the team now has more incentive to work diligently with the players who were selected in the draft.