LA Rams Draft: Impossible athleticism yields extraordinary results

The LA Rams are enjoying a streak of unprecedented success recently, but one of the reasons for the prolonged success is the team’s ability to anticipate and draft for the anticipated roster needs that will take place two or three years down the road. So far, the ability to forecast and address needs with Day 3 players in the NFL Draft has allowed the team to remain young, round out the roster with talented prospects who can be coached up, and focus much of their talent acquisition upon adding veteran game-changers

That process may have experienced a hiccup in the 2021 NFL Draft.  While the team showed significant opportunistic skill in trading back frequently to add more picks numerically, the results of the draft in year one were a bit underwhelming.  Of course, the LA Rams were in the hunt for an NFL Championship in 2021, and that left fewer opportunities to slow down the game for younger players.

Understanding that it takes three seasons after the draft to get a clear picture of the potential of rookie prospects, the Rams didn’t really have that chance with the class of 2021 as most rookies were injured for much of their 2021 NFL debut. That may reverse in 2022, giving the team ample supply of youth and talent to fuel their defense as NFL Champions.

Still, contract expirations and payroll limitations force the team to hit on their draft annually, not just alternating years. With that in mind, we’ve compiled our latest mock projection for the LA Rams 2022 NFL Draft, not with what the team may do in mind, but with an eye to the best player available and what makes sense for the team for both the 2022 NFL season and into the future.

That best player available (BPA) is subjective, and admittedly so. But any coveting, appraisal, and assignment of value fall into that category. Collectors of art, stamps, coins, and even sports trading cards know that the value of their collection is entirely dependent upon the value someone else places upon it. That’s how value works, it’s the consensus of what something is worth to people, not a person.