The rookie class of 2018 helped the LA Rams to win SB LVI
By Bret Stuter
The LA Rams succeeded in their goal to bring a Super Bowl victory to the city of Los Angeles California at the end of the 2021 NFL season. But isn’t it all a bit fitting that the NFL Championship victory was a crop that grew from the seeds of the team’s 2018 NFL Draft?
That 2018 Draft class is pretty impressive. How so? Well, you only need to see this tweet from LA Rams reporter and sports commentator J.B. Long to understand just how good:
And that success is what has powered the LA Rams so well for the past four years. And much like the 2022 NFL Draft, that class began with the team making their first selection on Day 2 in Round 3. So who did the LA Rams choose?
- Rd Name Pick Posn
- 3 Joseph Noteboom 89 OT
- 4 Brian Allen 111 IOL
- 4 John Franklin-Meyers 135 DE
- 5 Micah Kiser 147 ILB
- 5 Ogbonnia Okoronkwo 160 OLB
- 6 John Kelly 176 RB
- 6 Jamil Demby 192 OT
- 6 Sebastian Joseph Day 195 DT
- 6 Trevon Young 205 DE
- 7 Travin Howard 231 ILB
- 7 Justin Lawler 244 OLB
While only the top two prospects remain on the LA Rams roster for the 2022 NFL season, only three players – DE John Franklin-Meyers, RB John Kelly, and DE Trevon Young were not on the Rams roster at the beginning of the 2021 NFL season. However, John Franklin Meyers did sign on with the New York Jets and is playing incredibly well for them as a starting defensive tackle. In fact, he put up 35 tackles and 6.0 quarterback sacks in 2021, not too shabby eh?
In that 2018 NFL Draft, the LA Rams chose 11 times in the draft, only once in the top 100. Of that 11 player draft class, eight players remained with the team in the final season of their rookie contract. That’s a success rate of 73 percent.
If the LA Rams are equally as successful with the 2022 Draft class, the team will be extending or saying farewell to six players at the end of the 2025 NFL season. So while the 2022 NFL Draft is not the glitz and glory that less successful NFL teams will enjoy, it could very well be just as if not more important to the LA Rams’ success going forward.
As the LA Rams step up to the 2022 NFL Draft podium, just know that every name called out has a very difficult journey to make. Some will realize their dreams, and others will not. But all will try to make the LA Rams a better football team. And as we have seen from the draft class of 2018, we will all celebrate if they do.