LA Rams: 2022 NFL Draft holds plenty of intrigue

2022 Summary

Just as long as the LA Rams keep winning, it’s all good, right? Well, to an extent. It’s clear that in recent years, NFL teams continue to focus their own rebuilds upon grafting members from the LA Rams organization. Historically, that was limited to players. But 2021 opened the gates to positional coaches and now even executives.

So far, that depletion of talent across the organizational spectrum has been compensated by wise hires and solid drafting. The process has become a wash, rinse, and repeat of the Rams coaching up inexpensive young players who serve the team well for four years on their rookie contract, and then sign on for significant money elsewhere. The Rams then focus funds on their elite players, and harvest awarded compensatory picks the following year to repeat the cycle once more. The Rams, through the loss of one executive and four free agents, project to be awarded an unprecedented five comp picks in 2022.

That will bring the Rams 2022 NFL Draft picks to a total of eleven picks. Of course, these are only estimates. As teams sign players from free agency, their awarded comp picks may be canceled by offsets. And the total number of comp picks awarded each year is capped at 32. So if there are 32 picks awarded ahead of any or all of the Rams’ lost players, the Rams will not qualify for those picks.

The final estimated tally is as follows:
Second-round – 1 (one),
Third-round – 2 (two),
Fourth-round – 1 (one),
Fifth-round – 1 (one),
Sixth-round – 4 (four),
Seventh-round – 2 (two).
Total 2022 NFL Draft picks – 11 (eleven).

Will the Rams be able to convert their 2022 draft picks into impact players for next season? Will the class of 2022 be rich in the positions that the Rams need? For that matter, how many wide receivers will the team draft next year? In the end, that may be the most intriguing part of the Rams 2022 NFL Draft.