LA Rams: Variants of Rams 1st round picks Multiverse

2018 1st round pick (23rd overall traded for wide receiver Brandin Cooks)

The next stop on this journey brings us to offensive tackle Isaiah Wynn. Wynn was chosen by the New England Patriots as a quality offensive lineman out of the University of Georgia. His 6-foot-3 (now listed at 6-foot-2) height and his 310-pound frame seemed ideal in pre-draft projections to slide inside as an offensive guard, but so far he has found work as a starting offensive tackle. When he starts, that is.

Drafted in 2018, he missed the entire 2018 season, played eight of 16 games in 2019, and played 10 of 16 games in 2020. He had to undergo surgery to repair a torn labrum before his last year at Georgia. After that, he tore his Achilles Tendon a few snaps into his rookie preseason in 2018. The following year, he found himself on Injured Reserve once more, this time for turf toe in 2019 that held him out of eight games. In his 2020 season, he landed IR once more with an ankle injury. While Brandin Cooks was injured, the LA Rams found him instrumental in earning a berth in their first and only Super Bowl appearance for head coach Sean McVay.

2019 1st round pick (31st overall traded back to Atlanta Falcons for more picks)

When the LA Rams opted to trade out of the 31st overall pick to the Atlant Falcons, the team surrendered the chance to add offensive tackle Kaleb McGary to the roster. Instead, the Rams parlayed the 31st pick into safety Taylor Rapp, cornerback David Long Jr., and more.  The biggest question is, did the Rams miss out on an offensive line star in McGary?

Per his Pro Football Focus grades? McGary has been a standard struggling young offensive lineman facing still NFL competition. As a result, his 2019 PFF grade was an alarming 53.0, while his 2020 PFF grade was a better 64.3. While a solid offensive lineman trajectory, his performance so far has been bested by the LA Rams’ own David Edwards, who was chosen much later in that draft. Once more, the Rams surrender potential value, but parlayed that into what early indications suggest is a better draft haul due to more stringent draft analysis and a better track record of developing younger players.